With the addition of Matt Barnes to the roster, minutes for even a healthy Luke Walton could be hard to come by. Of course, his health is in serious doubt, thanks to the major back issues sidelining him for so much of last season. How's he feeling? Walton gave an update to Mike Trudell of Lakers.com:

"My back feels great right now. It’s a lot stronger. I’m feeling confident in it and am excited to test it out. That being said, at the same time I’m a little nervous, just because I know how much of a grind the season and training camp can be. I dedicated the whole summer to making it strong enough to last, and that’s what I’m hoping for. If it doesn’t, I’m in a pretty bad spot. But I’ve put together a great team of people to work with, with our strength coach with the Lakers (Chip Schaefer), a back specialist for some exercises, a Pilates teacher and a yoga teacher. I’ve just been mixing and matching all of those people every single day for the past two months to get this as strong as I can."

"A pretty bad spot" translates to back surgery, which would almost certainly end his season, and perhaps threaten his career. But as much sympathy as fans might have for Walton (some of them, anyway), they're really interested in Kobe Bryant. Walton dishes on 24's rehab, too:

"I’ve seen Kobe at the gym the last couple weeks rehabbing his knee. He’s itching to get back on the court. He shows up every morning at 7 a.m. at the team’s facility and is kind of wrapping up around the time I get there at around 9 a.m. Kobe looks great – he says his knee feels great. He’s just about to start doing basketball workouts again and can’t wait for it.

Overwhelmingly enlightening? No. But when it comes to Kobe's health, any bit of happy news is enough to elevate a holiday weekend for the faithful.