Swimming in cash
July 30, 2008 | 1:17
pm
If you've ever wondered whether 111 mil really does offer you the ability to have just about anything, the answer appears to be a pretty resounding "yes." Because that's a serious swimming hole Agent Zero has got going. Multiple fish tanks. Grotto. A "basement" area of sorts that somehow connects to the pool. Probably a few of them inflatable dinosaurs. Quite the setup, to say the least.
Unfortunately, and I hate to mention this after the fact, but when my pool was built, the large stone brought in to serve as a "mountain" cost only $200,000. I'm not sure who Gilbert's "stone guy" is, but he could have gotten a better price than half a million.
I'm just saying.
AK
Let's Go C's,
>>>Cheaters?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbB731KpKuw
yes. Cheaters.
Unless Garnett thinks he's playing football, of course.
Posted by: Long Time Laker Fan | July 31, 2008 at 01:25 PM
RICO TICO,
You forget. Lamar Odom is like Magic Johnson in the sense that he can play any position.
I'd like to see Phil Jackson experiment by using him as a point forward.
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | July 31, 2008 at 01:29 PM
Manny Ramierez going from Sox to Dodgers?
Posted by: dave m | July 31, 2008 at 01:35 PM
Rico Tico,
Also, keep in mind that when it becomes a matter of resigning Lamar Odom, he's going to take a lot less money.
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | July 31, 2008 at 01:36 PM
>>>Deng still doesn't have a deal in place
Yes he does. Six years for 71 million, with performance incentives
that could bring it up to 80 million.
Second big contract this summer with a big chunk of performance
incentives built in.
>>>and Ben Gordon may have been the dumbest of
>>>them all, turning down $10 million only to be left
>>>with no suitors.
No kidding. My guess is that he takes the 1-year tender
and tries again next summer and gets something starting
at around 7 or 8 million.
Posted by: Long Time Laker Fan | July 31, 2008 at 01:40 PM
As much as I love Ron Artest's game and physical impact, I must say that his racially ignorant mentally warped comments which show he has not grown much at all since the end of the Indiana Pacers days makes Artest a major wildcard.
I still want to see us move Lamar Odom before the trade deadline. We lose a top 50-75 player by letting Odom roll off the books and don't tell me ARIZA is just as good. We like Ariza but we got him for guys that he was comparable to in Brian Cook and Maurice Evans so lets not act like Ariza is a great player.
We need to find someone else at the 10 million a yr we would want to slot Odom at.
GERALD WALLACE is the ANSWER.
I'VE SAID THIS ALL SUMMER.
HE GIVES YOU ARTEST and other athleticism without any baggage at all.
Micheal Jordan wants to clear cap space and build around Okafor.
Posted by: Lakerbake | July 31, 2008 at 01:45 PM
So much for starving the troll.
I liked it better when it was just me talking to myself.
You all can just shuts up!!
Shut up I say.
Red is smiling in heaven and Starlet hasn't won anything without Big Brother Shack.
hahhaahahhahaah
Also, Celtics are the Champions of the World.
And, Lakers are the Chumps for the World.
hahahahhah
Take that!
Posted by: Let's go C's! | July 31, 2008 at 02:02 PM
Getting MANNY RAMIREZ for almost nothing doesn't make up for the loss to the CELTS, but it sure does put some disinfectant on it.
Posted by: Kyle | July 31, 2008 at 02:02 PM
justanothermambafan,
Why is it that the whole notion of Red Auerbach being in Heaven just doesn't intuitively sit right with me?
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | July 31, 2008 at 02:05 PM
LTLF -
Didn't know about Deng. Thanks for the update. I think that's pretty close to a fair deal. Maybe a tad overpaying, but probably had to do it to keep him from taking the 1 year tender.
Posted by: puddle | July 31, 2008 at 02:13 PM
RICO TICO,
>>>Does anybody have a link or the exact figures Salary
>>>figures of this coming season and the next?
http://hoopshype.com/salaries/la_lakers.htm
Note that they don't have Sasha's numbers in there yet.
Posted by: Long Time Laker Fan | July 31, 2008 at 02:14 PM
artest....perpetual madness.
thank god we dodged that rocket??
Posted by: jandro | July 31, 2008 at 02:15 PM
Let's Go C's
Thanks for giving the Dodgers your best player and the only clutch guy the red Sucks have ever had.
Here's to another 100 years with no title.
Now that's laughable.
Posted by: HmrHed | July 31, 2008 at 02:28 PM
Let's Go C's:
Did you ever wonder why everyone wants to leave that God awful city -- I mean even the dudes you stroke over like Pierce and Garnet live here -- they don't even want to be around you losers in the off season -- yet you imbeciles still worship them – Don’t worry you still have the Teaaaa Paaaaattyyy.
Posted by: HmrHed | July 31, 2008 at 02:36 PM
This is my first post... Go Lakers!!
Posted by: Benton | July 31, 2008 at 02:40 PM
Sorry blog brethren I couldn't help feeding the troll shizzle – I'll censor myself.
Posted by: HmrHed | July 31, 2008 at 02:45 PM
Welcome Benton!
Posted by: Faith | July 31, 2008 at 02:49 PM
Manny's a bum. Lazy as hell.
Hmr: 2 championshipS in the last 4 years is pretty good. How many championships have the Dodgers AND Lakers have in the last 4 years?
NONE.
NONE.
NONE.
HAHHAHAHHHA
Posted by: Let's go C's! | July 31, 2008 at 03:09 PM
Jon K,
Culture is a continuum. It's not represented by self contained icons. All demographics have positive and negative aspects of "culture", and some of these aspects are shared by the demographics.
Black culture includes components of ghetto mindsets. Of course it does, it's very much observable (which defines culture). Just as Latino culture has it's barrio mentality, white culture has it's "redneck" mentality, blacks have the "ghetto" mentality.
Problem with the cultural continuum is that persons who have biases focus on one aspect of the continuum and deliberately ignore others. In the black race, you have the highly educated (Colin Powell, Thurgood Marshall, Condi Rice, B. Obama) and you have the thugs (Ron Artest, insert name of any rapper here, so forth).
There are some parts of black culture I hate, some I like. I can say the same thing about any and all other demographics as well. When we as a society can get to a point where white folks in Kentucky and Orange County can recognize that yes, there are the annoying ghetto blacks, and they annoy everyone including other blacks...but not not all blacks are ghetto just like not all whites are rednecks, I think we'll take a collective step forward in minimizing racism and bias.
Posted by: troy | July 31, 2008 at 03:19 PM
HmrHed,
"Sorry blog brethren I couldn't help feeding the troll shizzle – I'll censor myself."
All love man. Represent. I personally feel that dude is a regular posting as someone else just to entertain him-herself.
Posted by: Charles | July 31, 2008 at 03:23 PM
wow.....NASA finds water on Mars and Colletti finally pulls the trigger on a trade involving young "talent", and the silence from the Lakers' front office is reminicent of the Gasol trade. Makes me wonder if Mitch might acctually has something up his sleeve.
I really do hope they take a look at the Kobe, Fish, Bynum, Gasol, Odom quintent before deciding on what to do.
Posted by: The Infamous El Guapo | July 31, 2008 at 03:27 PM
LakerBake,
"player by letting Odom roll off the books and don't tell me ARIZA is just as good. We like Ariza but we got him for guys that he was comparable to in Brian Cook and Maurice Evans so lets not act like Ariza is a great player."
First of all, we also need to realize that Odom is not a great player either. He occasionally has great games, he has good all-around statistics, but he has a tendency to not make the great play when needed.
Secondly, Ariza would be filling a different role than Odom filled last season. And Odom's role from last season will likely no longer exist, because of other players on the roster filling it. I believe that Ariza is better suited to the role of SF than Odom, which is the role that will need to be filled.
Posted by: exhelodrvr | July 31, 2008 at 03:28 PM
Charles, no I believe that is not the case with Pau Gasol. The magazine is just demonstrating that Pau has gone Hollywood becuase his image has blossomed like a Rock Star on the Global Scale, particularly with his Hispanic community, obviously thanks to the trade involving the Lakers and Memphis. Thanks for checking out the pic though, I thought it was funny actually.
MikeandMike
Posted by: MikeandMike | July 31, 2008 at 03:28 PM
Latopia,
Thanks for the remedies suggested.
I have put the digg.com in the restricted site and place the security on High as suggested. I got better results, no need to wait a minute and still have the explorer as browser. I suspect Digg site want us all to go to Firefox in order to push their agenda.
With regards to Lakers, F. C. Barcelona the team of Shammond will be coming here during preseason as well as the top team of Lithuania.
Wow, Dodgers and Angels beaten the Lakers in improving the team. Lakers are just focused on a tax dodger, old, heavy and may have history of crack - Tractor Taylor. How can you mix a slow tractor and a grader like Walton to play side by side with Kobe, LO and Gasol in a fast break game? This is like getting a Walrus and Hippo expect them to run with the Cheetahs.
Posted by: Edwin Gueco | July 31, 2008 at 03:41 PM
Charles
Unless he's moved recently I'm pretty sure Gasol lives in Redondo Beach.
Posted by: giantsquid | July 31, 2008 at 03:48 PM
Lakers in the night, exchanging glances.
Wondering in the night, what were there chances.
With Ron Bill Artest, you take your chances in looooove.
Let's Go C's, blathering relentless.
Paul Pierce says he's the best, and he's demented.
Kobe shakes his head, and jumps over fences for Niiiiiike.
Dooby dooby doo...
People, we ain't gotta worry about a thing. All signs point to teams loading for bear to defeat...not the Celtics, the Lakers.
Why? Why not the chumps? They won it all, but you don't see East teams going after a defensive stopper for cheap in Ron Bill Artest to shut down Ray Allen or Paul "Deluded" Pierce. You can't stop KG, so teams don't try, but you can slow down the rest of the team. When the Lakers were steam rolling the NBA, you not only saw teams loading up on big men to wail on The Diesel, but the NBA even changed the Illegal Defence rules making it very difficult for Shaq to camp out in the paint. As if the 3 second rule wasn't enough.
Stranglely this hasn't happened, probably because the Celtics have only won it once, recently. But, teams are loading up to combat our Monstrous Four (Big Three just doesn't apply), por que?
Por Que?!?!?!?!?! (screaming to the heavans)
Training Camp arrive now, please.
Woo-Hoo!!!!!
Posted by: Jamie Sweet | July 31, 2008 at 03:53 PM
JSNV MikeandMike and Gianstquid,
Thank for the reply! Have a great one all my blog fam!!!
Posted by: Charles | July 31, 2008 at 03:58 PM
Lamar to Memphis for Javaris Crittenton and Marc Gasol.
Backup center, point guard of the future, and instant cap
space all in one deal.
Posted by: Long Time Laker Fan
Salaries don't match. Is there a way you can make that work?
Posted by: Charles | July 31, 2008 at 04:01 PM
Benton,
Welcome to Laker Nation!
Good to have you on board.
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | July 31, 2008 at 04:03 PM
troy,
I agree.
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | July 31, 2008 at 04:04 PM
Charles, much love. I'm sure the dude is sitting in his boxers in his mom's garage in Phoenix.
Oh -- one more ... LAZY! LAZY! you ignant court jester -- the dude hit .450 in the playoffs --
and love your argument regarding championships -- and tailoring the time to 4 years -- must be a magic number -- how many have Boston teams won the last 15 days? LOL
OK, I'm done.
Posted by: HmrHed | July 31, 2008 at 04:09 PM
troy,
One of your best posts. Solid reasoning applied well. Can't say that I disagree with anything you said OR with how you said it. Thanks for sharing.
Tom
Posted by: | July 31, 2008 at 04:12 PM
Right on Jamie Sweet. I've said it before, I'll say it again. They scrred...
Sadly, so are many fans on this Blog (cough-TROY!-cough).
Posted by: utzworld THE BANNER HOLDER | July 31, 2008 at 04:16 PM
Why is it that the whole notion of Red Auerbach being in Heaven just doesn't intuitively sit right with me?
Posted by: Jon K.
_____________
LOL - maybe cuz he was a tool.
Posted by: justanothermambafan | July 31, 2008 at 04:23 PM
YEP.....LA'S BEEN STEALING PLAYER LEFT AND NOW RIGHT.........
FIRST PAU GASOL.....FOR KWAME AND A BAG OF CHIPS....
AND NOW........
MANNY RAMIREZ.....FOR ABSOLUTLY NOTHING AND HIS CONTRACTS PAYED..........
SWEET DEALS OF 2008.......
NOW IF WE CAN MOVE VALD RAD OR LUKE FOR SOME ONE GOOD THIS YEAR....
HOW SWEET IT IS.......
Posted by: pruple&gold 4 eva | July 31, 2008 at 04:57 PM
Long Time,
"Odom and Farmar to Charlotte for Gerald Wallace and
DJ Augustin."
I don't think Michael Jordan would be for it, but I love this trade. Maybe we could add a draft pick or two?
Posted by: LAKER TRUTH | July 31, 2008 at 04:58 PM
Toad/Fatty/Bozz/Just,
Thanks for the props on the game show victory this morning. I hope to continue doing the blog well and proving that Lakers fans truly are omniscient! Well, mostly anyway! From what I hear, I'll be on next Wednesday at 8:30AM. Next prize is a trip to Vegas (which is hilarious since I go all the time).
Tully
PS Bozz - anytime you want to find a place with NTN or an online trivia game, e-mail me, and we'll hook up. I always relish a challenge! If you win, you get to say you beat down a Jeopardy! champ.
Posted by: Tully Moxness | July 31, 2008 at 05:33 PM
Who stole my name and what's this Digg sludge clogging our blogging veins?
This was workin'. If it ain't broke...
Posted by: Vman | July 31, 2008 at 06:17 PM
puddle,
>>>>>In my opinion Bynum is worth more than Biedrins who is
>>>>>worth more than Okafor who is worth more than Bogut.
>>>>>But these guys are getting paid inversely to what I perceive
>>>>>to be their relative worth.
>>>>> So this makes me curious as to what Bynum will command
Here is the reason in the muddle. Biedrins and Okafor were already free agents, although restricted, which meant that their teams did not sign them to extensions the summer after their 3rd year, with the result that they could not negotiate or re-sign with their teams until they became free agents. Their deals were both new 6-year contracts – not 5-year extensions.
Bogut’s signing was just another case of a small market team like the Bucks realizing that Bogut was probably going to be the best center they were going to be able to get and overpaid in order to get him to bite to a 5-year extension. The one thing that these three contracts demonstrate though is how valuable and rare quality big men are in the NBA. With all of the signings suddenly happening, I don’t think we are going to have to wait until October and camp for Drew to sign. I think the Lakers will go down to Atlanta and run Drew through some grueling game style tests and assuming he passes sign him to a $65M to $70M 5-year extension that would start the year after next.
There is intense pressure for the Lakers to sign Drew to an extension this summer or the team will NOT be able to negotiate or re-sign him until after he becomes a restricted free agent, which is inevitable since the Lakers will make Drew a qualifying offer of 120% of his 4th year salary in order to get the rights to match any offer Drew would receive. That would put Drew in the same situation next year as Biedrins and Okafor were this year, except that other teams would pounce with huge front loaded contracts that the luxury tax paying Lakers might hesitate to match.
Of course, in the worse case, Drew may not want to get any offers, after all he came in looking for a max deal and is obviously willing to discount that deal in return for the security of a 5-year extension. If there’s no extension, the chances are that Drew will not be happy and maybe affronted. The scenario then is that Drew just accepts the qualifying offer, plays out the year, and becomes an unrestricted free agent who would prefer to sign with a team that appreciated him rather than one who wouldn’t step up when it really counted. We all saw this free agency how quickly loyalty can shift and how dangerous it would be to allow a potential franchise player like Drew to be a free agent.
And anybody who thinks that Drew will wear purple and gold for anything less than the max better be hoping I am right and Drew will be signed for $65M to $70M before October 31, 2009. Otherwise, the Lakers may end of losing the Beast to somebody like the Phoenix Suns or New York Knicks –
or, God forbid, the Boston Celtics. It would be eerily similar to the Warriors giving up Robert Parrish and Kevin McHale for Joe Barry Carroll.
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | July 31, 2008 at 06:37 PM
humanomaly,
I tend to agree with you about Houston. When the GHE crew talks about a team that is fraught from top to bottom with players who are vulnerable to injuries, known not to be clutch, or thought of a threat to team chemistry, you know it’s Houston they’re talking about. LOL. I am not even confident that a perfect storm of good fortune like the Lakers got this year could carry the Rockets past the second round of the playoffs with so many questions. And frankly, I thought they played way over the heads last year.
Hey, thanks, Paul Pierce. Kobe will tack that up front and center on the virtual 10 Most Wanted Poster that simmers deep in his competitive heart and soul. Add all the “soft” crap from the media and his not playing up to his standard in the Finals. Then throw in the most physical center in the NBA in the Beast along with the Celtics being favored and the Lakers having home court this time and you have the perfect recipe for the Lakers redeeming themselves. Last year was just the tune-up and warm-up.
IMO, the Lakers burned themselves out in the Western conference playoffs, listened to the media and knew they were playing on borrowed money and got complacent and overconfident. Meanwhile, the Celtics were bored and looked lousy in the eastern conference playoffs, leading the media to disrespect them by favoring the Lakers and came into the series playing with a chip on their shoulder and a whole lot more desire than the Lakers. The Lakers youth proved the adage that you can’t get all the way there in 1 season. Of course, the Celtics experience proved that with great effort and luck of not having to face Drew, they could go all the way in 1 year.
Hey, nice cars, h. I love the lines on the Porsche Boxster. It is one of the most graceful convertibles ever in my opinion. And the Cayenne GTS is right up there with the Range Rover as my favorite SUV, although I would never drive one them in this environment. I’ve been thinking about garaging my Beemer and getting a Mini to commute and drive around town. A friend has one and I have to admit I never had so much fun as driving that little beast early on a weekday morning in West Marin – the only time you can drive FAST without risking killing a damn bicyclist (of which I used to very guilty of). Have you seen the Bentley? Great lines. A Boxster kind of guy would love them. I’ll check out the Aston-Martin. We, boys do love our rides, though.
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | July 31, 2008 at 07:07 PM
Dalton,
>>>>>Dude, ghetto culture is a culture of death and violence; of drugs
>>>>>and illiteracy; of unwed mothers and abject poverty. What's there
>>>>>to glorify? People will excuse his comments and his outlook,
>>>>>tell me I just don't understand, that he's really just showing love
>>>>>for his neighborhood, but to me, it's a silly life-long pose to try to
>>>>>act the thug when, being a millionaire, you are merely acting the fool.
Great job, Dalton. What a contrast African-Americans are seeing between two prominent black men who love basketball. One man has been nominated for President of the United States and is idolized for being a shining example of just how far this country has come from the shame of slavery and just how high a black man or woman in this country can aspire. The other man just made me considerably happier and more satisfied that we didn’t trade a class guy like Lamar Odom who is loved by his teammates for this cancer who wants to glorify the very same things that are devastating his people.
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | July 31, 2008 at 07:26 PM
They said in the news print that Turkey were competitive against USA. It is like the NBA players playing with college hoops, they can keep up for 48 minutes nor the consistency keeping with USA. Our players were bored to death as well as basketball watchers here in US with delayed telecast and a bunch of boring announcers. Why don't they find announcers like Bob Miller or Vin Scully who could make a boring game into an interesting one? At first two quarters, they are freakin' out the score was close. Of course, it was just starting, and kept on discussing how tough the future opponents against Spain, Greece and Argentina and they have caught with USA and in the 2nd Q, they are talking about Josh Childress. By the mere fact that the game is broadcsted delayed, audience don't have any suspense at all on the results. Why not talk about the game itself and make it interesting?
From the Turkish team alone, I saw a couple of PF's who are better than the Tractor trailer powered by crack. Why are the Lakers fond of collecting scrubs and China eggs on their bench? lol!
Posted by: Edwin Gueco | July 31, 2008 at 07:36 PM
pruple&gold 4 eva,
The comparison is not between Manny and Pau; it’s between Manny and Ron. Manny wore his welcome out in Boston despite being their most productive player. Same with Artest in Sacramento. And they both will be free agents next season unless they show enough control that the Dodgers or Rockets decide to give them a new contract. My bet is that both are on probation right now. And that is all the further I would bet in this case.
Pau on the other hand was a great deal for financial reasons, not personality reasons. Nevertheless, as diehard Yankee fans, Kobe, Lamar, and I are happy to not see Manny in a Red Sox uniform ever again. And so are our pitchers, except for Joba who doesn’t care who he whiffs. Of course, Manny is still not enough to help the hopeless Dodgers, who are as irrelevant as the Red Sox used to be. I mean, when is the last time the Dodgers won anything?
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | July 31, 2008 at 07:37 PM
MUSINGS ON MANNY, RON-RON, FARVE, FARMAR, AND KOBE:
I'll bet the K-Bros are drowning in an onslaught of comments on the Dodgers blog. Manny Ramirez playing for Joe Torre is just a beautiful concept.
I admit to being amused that all the Artest fans have been noticeable by their silence and absence.
Green Bay would be setting a dangerous precedent by paying Brett Farve NOT to play. What agony the Cheeseheads must be going through.
I'm disappointed by everyone ready to give up on Jordan Farmar after only two seasons. He has the potential to be a Jason Kidd style point guard without all of Kidd's character flaws.
And if you haven't seen them, there are some beautiful ESPN highlights of Kobe, LaBron, and Carmello.
Posted by: Rick Friedman | July 31, 2008 at 07:50 PM
Did anyone see Yahoo's BDL where Pierce said he was the best in the world right now? That was I think yesterday or the day before, now they have a youtube vid where MJ says that was playing in his prime against Kobe one-on-one, he (meaning MJ) would win "no contest." I really hope Kobe has seen/heard about these to things so next season he does everything in his power to win it all.
Posted by: laker hopeful | July 31, 2008 at 07:58 PM
Rick F.
I still think Ron Bill would have been a nice addition to the Lakers. Rick Adelman and Yao Ming are not Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant.
He'll probably be a Laker after this season anyway.
I'm still not worried
Ron ruins another team
Yao not pleased with Bill
Lakers title bound
09 year of the Lakers
Bynum emerges
Posted by: "Pig" Miller | July 31, 2008 at 08:04 PM
Regarding all the financial decisions the Lakers should make, I think that it would be smart for Kobe to take a paycut next off-season. Just in terms of his image, which is obviously better now than it was in 2004 with the whole rape case, but definitely nowhere near where it was pre-2004. It would show that he cares enough about the team to take less money and keep the team together. If he could take a contract that starts with around 16-17 mil and increases every year, that would be pretty good. Obviously though, it really doesn't matter what I say, but I'm just hoping it happens.
Posted by: laker hopeful | July 31, 2008 at 08:09 PM
Pig Miller,
We obviously disagree, but I salute you for coming forward.
Posted by: Rick Friedman | July 31, 2008 at 08:30 PM
"Pig" Miller,
I'm not sure if the first one is a haiku,
"I'm still not worried
Ron ruins another team
Yao not pleased with Bill"
It's supposed to be 5, 7, 5 right? Yao is pronounced "Ya-o," so that has two syllables, and if you add up the rest of the syllables in the line, it comes out to 6, not five. Good semi-haiku still.
Posted by: laker hopeful | July 31, 2008 at 08:58 PM
testing
Posted by: Michael C. Teniente | July 31, 2008 at 09:03 PM