ESPN

Four years ago this summer, Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul were two of 12 NBA players determined to restore America's standing as the worldwide kings of basketball. In a classic game against Spain (featuring none other than Pau Gasol), Team USA won the gold and showed fans how a team of elite superstars can push egos to the side for the sake of a larger goal.

With Lakers-Clippers on the docket this evening, various ESPN scribes (including the K Bros) gathered thoughts from Bryant's and Paul's Olympic teammates and coaches about the experience of working with them. Click here to make a patriotic trip down Memory Lane, and below are excerpts with Kobe's and Paul's recollections about one another:

Kobe on Paul: He's tough. He's tough as nails, man; he doesn't back down from anything or anybody. I'd never been as close to him, but when I was [on the Olympic team] I'd try to challenge him, see what he's made of and he's a tough little sucker.

Paul on Kobe: Me and Kob really figured out how much we had in common on that trip. That Olympic experience is when we got a lot closer. Me and my wife send him Christmas cards and his family sends us Christmas cards, and now we talk on a regular basis. We both want to win so badly. It's one of those things where as great a relationship as we have, as long as we're playing on the same court against each other, we're always going to get into it, you know what I mean? That's the respect factor, because you know that he wants it just as bad as I do.

There's a lot on the line Wednesday when the Lakers "visit" the Clippers (7:30, ESPN), starting with positioning in the Pacific Division. The Lakers will wake up Thursday in first place no matter the result-- they're 1.5 games up heading in -- but a victory for the LAC would pull them even with the Lakers in the loss column, and more importantly the winner takes the season series 2-1, earning what could be a very useful tiebreaker.

Andrew Bynum, absent from Tuesday's win over New Jersey, will obviously play a huge role in the outcome. Defensively, he provides a major deterrent/shot altering deterrant in the lane for Chris Paul, a guy who (for those new to the game) makes his way to the paint with regularity. At the other end, not only is Bynum a key weapon for the Lakers as a source of points in the post and a means of drawing double teams, but his presence guarantees Blake Griffin has to play defense, matched up against Pau Gasol.

Unburdened from responsibility on his side of the floor, Griffin is far freer to load up on highlight dunks and soaring rebounds.

The Lakers are riding what might be the most unsatisfying three game win streak in sports history. With only 12 games left before the playoffs, they don't have a lot of time to coalesce, and their apparent allergy to comfortable leads obviously won't play well in the postseason. The LAC, meanwhile, have quietly posted a six game win streak, their longest as a franchise since March of '92 (an NBA record for largest gap between five win streaks), including a thumping of Dallas Monday night. Before, though, they'd lost 12 of 19, and still have some work to do convincing observers they're truly on track.

Add in a quickly developing, very chippy rivalry and, to paraphrase Rasheed Wallace, both teams have good reason to play hard.

To get a better feel for Wednesday's battle royale, we sat down with Kevin Arnovitz and Jordan Heimer, hosts of ESPNLA's The Clipper Podcast (among other things) for an audio preview. Click here to listen. To serve the more literary crowd, Arnovitz was nice enough to answer a few questions...

1. Maybe 10 days ago, we were all speculating about Vinny Del Negro's job security. Now the Clips have won six straight. What has changed?

"The Clippers had a relatively easy homestand against of slew of really, really bad road teams. But in the process, they've started to figure out some stuff defensively. On top of that, they've gotten some otherworldly shooting performances from all over the roster. The average NBA team puts up an effective field goal percentage of 48.6 percent. The Clippers over their six-game winning streak? 54, 55, 54, 57, 61, 54."

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Lotta talk about Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol and even former D-Fender/current Net Gerald Green. See what you missed by clicking on this here link.

The room has closed for business, but you can still check out the conversation. Among the talking points: Gilbert Arenas vs. J.R. Smith... Mike Brown vs. Metta World Peace... and the trade deadline vs. the limited resources at Mitch Kupchak's disposal.

Plus, a reader suspects the Kamenetzky wives don't realize how fortunate they are being married to Lakers bloggers. Clearly, luckier stars have never been discovered.

Everything can be found by clicking the link here.

Wednesday night, the Lakers knocked off the Clippers in what was their 19th game of a lockout-shortened 66-game campaign. For those not doing the math at home, one month in the Lakers have already completed 29 percent of their schedule.

A lot of time? No, but by this season's standard not a bad sample size, either.

From a scheduling standpoint, Wednesday also marked a natural dividing line between the home-heavy start and what amounts to a national tour for the purple and gold, as 11 of their next 16 games come away from Staples Center. Put together, it makes for a natural moment to stop and assess what we know about this season's Lakers. When the lockout (tentatively) ended back on Nov. 26, we published a list of 34 questions facing the team this year in the wake of last spring's playoff disaster.

Why 34? Because 20 isn't enough when the league lets you sit around all summer thinking about stuff. Below is that list, each with some answers.

Strap in, people. We've got a lot of ground to cover.

1. Who wins the battle between the well-rested knee of Kobe Bryant (and his ankle, back, finger and general skeletal structure) and a compressed schedule?

Knee? What knee? I thought we were worried about his wrist. (Which, by the way, we’re increasingly less worried about.) Meaning 19 games in, the answer is Bryant in a walk. He leads the league in scoring (30.2), a nearly five-point improvement over last season, while maintaining a solid shooting percentage (45 percent). Asked to carry an almost comical burden in the Lakers offense, at least as measured by his league-leading usage rate (35.9), Bryant has been outstanding. And spry. Very, very spry.

Basically, the man is a running, leaping billboard for German medical engineering.

2. Who wins the battle between the well-rested will of Bryant and the authority of Mike Brown?

The relationship between Kobe and Brown has been a success. Bryant has expressed nothing but admiration for his new coach, praising on multiple occasions Brown’s work ethic and emphasis on defense, noting the team wants to win for him because they see how much Brown wants to win, too. They know he puts in the work.

Doesn't mean the questions about Bryant's shot selection, balance, or how he's used offensively have stopped, but those would be asked whether the coach was Brown, Phil Jackson, Brian Shaw or Rick Adelman. They are, in sports terms at least, eternal.

To this point, though, one major concern -- Brown's ability to "manage" Kobe, has been a non-issue.

3. What will Brown's system look like, and how quickly will the Lakers be able to pick it up?

Not totally sure, and not very.

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Mike Brown can insist he's not worried about the Clippers. Matt Barnes and Blake Griffin can claim there's no bad blood between these teams (if not necessarily each other). And people can debate whether the Lakers and Clippers have entered a "rivalry." Some will say the Clippers need to win more games (or banners) to make this a "rivalry." Others won't be able to agree on what constitutes a "rivalry" to begin with.

But this much can't be disputed. There are stakes riding on this game.

The winner of the Pacific Division is probably guaranteed at least one round of home-court advantage in the playoffs. The runner-up could end up fighting just to make the postseason in a loaded Western Conference. If the Lakers can't snap a three-game losing streak with a win against their Staples Center roommates, they've lost any shot at forcing a tiebreaker. Winning the division would require leapfrogging the Clips, which means making up the ground of four losses in the standings. With only 47 games remaining afterward, the mission's not impossible, but it won't be easy.

Here are four items to watch once the ball is jumped:

1. Bench production

The upside of Metta World Peace's 11 points against Indiana on Sunday? It provided hope of a corner potentially turned, or at the very least, evidence of a concerted effort to park him in the lane that essentially makes or breaks his effectiveness. The downside? It was a stark reminder of how rare such an outburst is for a Lakers reserve. Before this night, the last Lakers reserve to hit double figures was Steve Blake on Jan. 8 against the Grizzlies.

The second unit's struggles to chip in points is an issue during any game, but could be spotlighted in particularly painful fashion against the Clippers. In an extreme example, you have Mo Williams, whose 14.5 points off the bench bests the combined averages of MWP (5.5), Josh McRoberts (3.7) and Darius Morris (3.6), the top three scorers among healthy reserves. There's even a reminder in the form of second-leading bench scorer Randy Foye, whose 7.9 points is hardly eye-opening ... except on the Lakers, where he'd be the clubhouse leader among subs. And despite Williams' presence, the Clippers remain just the 28th-ranked team for bench scoring and 29th for efficiency ... and still beat the Lakers on both counts.

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Dwight Howard is, and will continue to be the superstar most heavily rumored to land in L.A.. Still, as ESPNLA.com's Ramona Shelburne notes, it's worth keeping New Jersey's Deron Williams on the radar:

"While the Lakers had extended conversations with Orlando about Dwight Howard last month, it is lost on no one that when they actually pulled the trigger on a blockbuster deal, it was for a point guard -- Chris Paul -- not Howard.

With that deal long since scuttled by the NBA, would the Lakers ever make a play for Williams?

Judging by the reaction that Williams admits to getting as he's walked around Los Angeles the last couple of days, Lakers fans certainly hope so.

"I've had that since I was in Utah, Laker fans wanting me to come here," Williams said Monday. "It's definitely flattering. I'll address all that when the time is right."

When my colleague J.A. Adande asked if playing at Staples Center and walking around town the last couple of days made him think about spending more time here one day, Williams smiled and said, "I like the warm weather out here. I live right up the street in San Diego."

It was a vague answer to be sure. But it wasn't a shutdown answer, either.

Indeed.

Keep in mind, nothing is happening on the D-Will front until Howard's future is set. Not traded somewhere, set, but signed on the dotted line, set. If Howard doesn't move in March, the Nets will hold on to Williams and make a play this summer to get/keep both. Bottom line, it's a slow process.

Constructing a trade for Williams-- the only way he's coming here, given L.A.'s cap issues-- isn't a snap, either. Then again, putting one together for Chris Paul wasn't easy, and the Lakers managed to figure it out.

NBA commissioner David Stern appeared on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on Wednesday morning and discussed the vetoed Chris Paul trade that would have landed the All-Star point guard on the Lakers, as well as several other topics. You can listen to the interview here, or read the transcript below.

Colin Cowherd: How rough has it been personally, the last 2-3 weeks with the Chris Paul stuff?

David Stern: I call it interesting. But, there has been something of a storm. I’m happy to talk about it or answer any questions you have.

CC: How much did that Chris Paul-Lakers situation hurt the brand?

DS: I think that come Christmas Day when the five games tip off, the brand such as it is will be very much alive and well. Not a problem. But I’m sorry, I didn’t listen to your show so I don’t know what the basis of your view is, but I think that what happened there is that people thought that I was somehow stepping in as commissioner and undoing something under the broad powers of the game and that couldn’t have been further from the truth.

What I was doing … Picture this team being owned by the NBA. You could have had a vote by the board of governors, whether the trade should be approved or not. Maybe it would be 15-14 and have each governor vote on perhaps whether they wanted Chris to go into their division or their conference or do something that was extraneous to the one issue which was: What’s best for New Orleans? Actually, that’s an area about the voting, is exactly the reason why it was decided by the various committees on the board that ultimately the league office would make the final decision on what’s good for the New Orleans Hornets, and that’s what we did.

CC: But, but as Phil Jackson predicted, it was a messy situation. Ideally, you don’t want to own a team. Assuming a Dwight Howard trade meets all salary cap parameters, how possible is it that you would step in on a Dwight Howard trade?

DS: You’re not listening to me. We don’t own Orlando. That was the problem with the media coverage. I was not acting in my role as commissioner to approve or disapprove every trade. I was acting on behalf of New Orleans and the people who are day-to-day in New Orleans know that the league office signs off on all trades and we received the parameters of that trade on Thursday afternoon at 5:30.

I know it because I had just finished a board meeting and was heading down to the media and we said, "No, we’re not ready to make that trade." Not to approve it. We weren’t ready to make it. I want you to focus on it, Colin, because the example you just used, of course there’s no conflict. I wouldn’t step in and deal with a Dwight Howard trade between two teams. I didn’t have to step in here. In New Orleans the normal process is for the league office to approve it and when it was presented for approval the league office said, "No."

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Vibrant conversation this morning. No surprise in light of Monday's result.

If you missed it, or simply want to re-live it, click here for the transcript.

Here are your 10 additional things to take away from the Lakers' 114-95 preseason loss against the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday ...


There wasn't much for Mike Brown to smile about after the Lakers trailed by as many as 27 en route to a 19-point rout.

But, after opening his postgame remarks by admitting it was an "ugly game from us," Brown couldn't help but break out a grin and chuckle a little bit when talking about how rookie point guard Darius Morris played.

"The rook came in and he was either feast or famine, which was OK," said Brown. "It was his first taste of NBA experience."

That first taste was more than just a nibble because starting point guard Derek Fisher sat out Monday as a preventative measure as he continues to work himself back into playing shape. And so Morris played just 34 seconds less than Steve Blake on Monday and was the lone true bright spot for the Lakers, finishing with 11 points, three assists and three rebounds in 24 minutes.

"Coming out that tunnel, it was just an honor," the L.A. native and Winward School graduate said of wearing his No. 1 Lakers jersey for the first time.

Morris made an immediate impact when he checked into the game as Brown's first substitute midway through the first quarter.

After Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum combined for three straight turnovers, Morris found the ball in his hands as the shot clock was winding down on the possession. Rather than playing hot potato with the ball and dumping it off to a teammate, Morris rose up and connected on a 22-footer before the 24 seconds had eclipsed.

"I think that was like the ice breaker for me," Morris said. "For that one to go in was a huge boost for my confidence."

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Actual footage from outside Staples Center following the Los Angeles Lakers' 114-95 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night:



In virtually any other year, a lopsided score in a preseason game would likely be ignored. This is not any year. The mood among fans surrounding this season's Lakers team heading into Monday night's preseason game was already dark. Fair to say the evening's events won't add any light.

Below are five takeaways from the game:

1. Kobe Bryant looked good physically

The score is the score and the aesthetics were bad, but is anything really more important than this? There will be plenty of time to worry about the bench, point guard play and more, but if Bryant isn't whole, none of it really matters. Monday, Kobe appeared relatively spry en route to his 22 points, whether working on the ball in the pick-and-roll or running from the weak side to catch-and-shoot from midrange. Even in his heart-stopping moment -- falling awkwardly on his right wrist after DeAndre Jordan swatted away a dunk attempt -- had a silver lining. Kobe showed some nice hops on the play, and if Jordan would have simply moved out of the way, Lakers fans would have had a nice highlight to offset the final score.

Perhaps the best sign of Bryant's health were his 15 trips to the free-throw line.

Yes, there were too many turnovers (seven), some coming off mishandled plays on the dribble, a problem he had during Friday's scrimmage as well, but a lot of that is related to the general difficulties the Lakers had executing their offense. Those are things that can improve with time. Had Kobe started this season behind the eight ball physically, that wouldn't change.

2. The Lakers look like a team learning a new system

The starters, particularly in the first half, were fine. But generally speaking, even with the high-end talent on the floor the Lakers appeared indecisive in their offense. (Things were even worse with the reserves.) They often got up the floor quickly, but when limited to the half court they took a while to make choices on and off the ball. Very little looked automatic. Of course, all of this should be understood. The Lakers are a team learning a new system while integrating new pieces almost daily, something that has gone a little under-discussed given all the action surrounding the roster. It is going to take time, and some regular-season games, for this to work itself out.

Not saying there aren't going to be problems or shortcomings down the road, but it would have been more surprising if the Lakers looked efficient offensively.

3. It's hard to gauge the defense, for many of the same reasons

Lakers coach Mike Brown won't be happy, but the same lack of cohesion they saw offensively shows up at the other end, and particularly in the third quarter when the Lakers turned the ball over nine times and were outscored 36-17, the horrible offense made it tough to maintain a solid defensive posture.

Before the wheels came off, the Lakers showed some decent activity on that side of the floor. Pau Gasol kept a lid on Blake Griffin, Andrew Bynum (despite rhythm-less moments offensively) got after the boards, and overall the effort seemed reasonable. Now the results have to improve, and fast.

4. The lack of a secondary shot creator is going to hurt

There were some good performances off the bench. Jason Kapono hit both his 3-pointers, Troy Murphy hit the only triple he took (from his favored spot at the top of the arc), and Josh McRoberts was a flurry of activity, running the floor and displaying some nifty passing skills. Devin Ebanks, starting the second half at small forward, had some of the only bright spots in the final 24 minutes. But the Lakers were short on ball handlers and shot creators before they shipped Lamar Odom to Dallas, and the hole felt acute Monday night.

Particularly until the Lakers reach some level of proficiency in their execution and can generate good chances without relying too much on one-on-one play, they're going to have some problems. Or they'll have to rely far more on Kobe to create for his teammates, which isn't a great option, either, given how much is already on his plate.

5. Metta World Peace as bench spark ... not a good debut

The forward formerly known as Ron Artest went 0-8 from the floor, 0-5 from 3, plus had a turnover and some curious moments.

A funny thing happened on the way to a fairly humdrum preseason home-and-home between the Lakers and Clippers. Chris Paul became a Laker, or so it seemed, before ultimately landing with the LAC and completely changing the context of professional basketball in L.A.. No longer are the Clips Blake Griffin and a bunch of promise. Instead, they're headlined by two young superstars, anchored by vets Chauncey Billups and Caron Butler, and in the eyes of many don't simply have a potentially brighter future than their traditional Staples overlords, but a brighter present.

So yeah, Monday's game doesn't count for anything, but definitely takes home the title for Most Interesting and Anticipated NBA Exhibition Game in Los Angeles History. That should be worth something.

Here's what to watch...

1. Griffin vs. Pau Gasol

Last season Griffin was a force en route to a unanimous Rookie of the Year award, but struggled against the Lakers, posting numbers below season averages in points (19.5 vs. 22.5), rebounds (10.5 vs. 12.1) and field goal percentage (40.8 vs. 50.6). One big reason was Gasol, who effectively used his length and size to limit Griffin in the Clippers' half-court sets.

Gasol is, at least on paper, still a superior player overall to Griffin, with a wider offensive repertoire at his disposal, plus better passing skills. He's also the superior defender. At least he was last year. While Monday's game doesn't mean anything in the standings, it will serve as a measurement of Griffin's progress from Year 1 to 2, and Gasol's state following a horrible 2011 postseason.

2. Chris Paul vs. Mike Brown's defense

Via ESPN Stats and Info, last season Paul generated the league's third-highest rate of points-per-play as the ballhandler on pick and rolls, at .981. (LeBron James was second. Who was first? Scroll down to find out.) And while the season long numbers weren't as bad as the aesthetics, you may have noticed the Lakers periodic struggles to defend the P-and-R, particularly in the playoffs.

Talking to Andrew Bynum this week, from a schematic standpoint he said defensively the Lakers won't change much this year relative to last. They'll show more aggressively on pick-and-roll, but the other fundamentals remain about the same. What Brown preaches is execution. Crisp rotations, aggressive close outs, multiple helps. He is a defense-oriented coach, who has emphasized defense heavily over the course of training camp. Energy and attention to detail on that side of the ball should improve.

The Lakers last year were at their core a good defensive team that lost its way. Monday provides an early gauge of Brown's progress rehabbing the group.

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A week ago, this post might have looked very different. Now, with Chris Paul a Clipper, Dwight Howard still in Orlando (for the time being) and Lamar Odom in Dallas, for fans particularly the focus is more on who isn't around rather than who is.

That said, the Lakers have some important new blood, on and off the court, and how they perform will play a big role in determining this team's level of success. No surprise, it starts with ...

COACH

Mike Brown

You're replacing the most successful coach in the history of professional basketball, and arguably professional team sports. After having your offseason and any contact with your players obliterated, you'll get about half the preseason practice time and a quarter of the exhibition games to work with, during which your roster will be in serious flux. Your fourth-best player, highly versatile, the emotional core of the locker room, and gold-plated insurance policy for your talented-but-brittle center, will be given away for nothing. The mood locally will be dark, trust of management will be low, concerns your star player might not buy in high, and in some circles at least, belief you were a smart hire wanting. Oh, and if you don't win a title, people will consider the season a failure.

Welcome to your new gig, Mike Brown!

It's hard to construct a more brutal set of circumstances under which to take a head coaching gig in the NBA, but this is basically what Brown is facing. Early returns have been promising. Kobe Bryant has praised Brown's attention to detail, and players appear amenable to Brown's defense, defense, defense mantra. His incredible willingness to prepare makes Brown as likely as anyone to weather this storm.

We'll just have to see how it all translates to wins and losses during the season, and particularly the playoffs.

PLAYERS

In a vacuum, there's no problem with the guys the Lakers have brought in. It's only in combination with the dude's no longer around that folks get nervous.

1. Jason Kapono, SF (FA, 1 yr, $1.2 million)

Often times for a veteran's minimum contract, a team buys one skill. Maybe it's size. A big body to back up the frontcourt. Could be rebounding, could be perimeter defense. In this case, the Lakers spent a million bucks on shooting. It's that simple. Kapono isn't a strong defender, doesn't put the ball on the floor very well and doesn't do much for you on the boards. But, when he's right, there aren't many guys who can plant himself at the arc and drill 3-pointers like Kapono. In theory, at least.

Kapono barely played last season with the Sixers (4.7 mpg) and shot only 12.5 percent. The year before in more substantial burn (17.1 mpg) he was at 36.8 percent, at the time Kapono's lowest mark as a pro. He'll be better than last season, but should Kapono settle into anything in the mid-30's, it becomes harder to play him thanks to deficiencies in other areas. Conversely, should Kapono rise back into the 40's he'll provide Brown with a needed spot-up outlet off the pick and roll, and a counter to opposing defenses trying to pack the lane.

The need is strong. A successful Kapono means the offense will have a weapon lacking last season.

If he's not ... well, at least they didn't pay much to fail.

2. Josh McRoberts, PF (FA, 2 yrs, appx. $6 million)

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Kobe Bryant said Thursday he believes NBA owners definitely scuttled the Chris Paul trade to prevent the Lakers from getting another star. He'll get no argument from our mother.

Her take:

"It's like when you go shopping with the girls and you tell your friend a dress looks bad on her, because you're jealous and don't want her to look better than you."

A reminder never to hit the department store with Dan Gilbert.

Finally, at long last, the Chris Paul circus has mercifully packed it's league-owned bags and left town. After much hulabaloo, the Clippers and the Hornets/David Stern reached terms to find CP3 a new home. He, along with two future second round draft picks, will run the point for L.A.'s "other team," while Eric Gordon, Al-Farouq Aminu, Chris Kaman and an unprotected pick from Minnesota (likely high) belong to New Orleans. With that settled, we can focus less on the rumor mill and more on our daily lives. (At least until the Magic inevitably start listening to offers for Dwight Howard again.)

Brian already broke down this deal's immediate impact on the Lakers, so I won't rehash that angle, beyond saying the that they should avoid moves designed to steal back some of the Clippers' thunder. That's a recipe for regret. Yes, the Clippers have seized the spotlight, but the Lakers have enjoyed more shine than just about any team in league history. They can afford to surrender some of that light. Worry about improving the roster as you would any season, not sports talk show hosts asking if this is now a "Clipper town." Trust me, we're not there yet.

As for the actual trade itself, I have a fair amount of misgivings.

For starters, the abuse and misappropriation of power on Stern's part, plus the glaring evidence of his inability to avoid a conflict of interest as the Hornets "owner" and league commissioner. Though he explained that he rejected the Lakers-Hornets-Rockets deal for "basketball reasons," the move appeared to have been a reaction to complaints from the likes of small-market owners like Dan Gilbert, and because of his apparent distaste for any transaction where a superstar leaves a small market for his first-choice larger-market franchise. That the deal was actually fair for the Hornets, and that his actions cut off G.M. Dell Demps at the knees was apparently irrelevant.

From there, he ultimately forced the Clippers to surrender more for Paul than typically expected, even for a superstar. Why? Because it's impossible to negotiate in earnest with an "owner" who's also holding the league approval rubber stamp and has a vested interest in New Orleans basketball. Anybody, including Stern, who claims this was standard operations is delusional. The Hornets landed a fantastic haul because they were able to capitalize on a messy, untenable ownership situation. And that's just not right.

I'm all for the Hornets getting a good deal to safeguard against Paul's departure, but not through advantages the other 29 teams can't possibly have.

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