Lakers in the News: 12/25 & 26 - "Rookie forward Ryan Kelly earns role in Lakers' rotation" by E.P.

 
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Cha*n
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 8:41 pm    Post subject: Lakers in the News: 12/25 & 26 - "Rookie forward Ryan Kelly earns role in Lakers' rotation" by E.P.

Merry Christmas LGers


Quote:
Heat beat Lakers for sixth straight win, fifth straight Christmas victory

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Lakers missed having Kobe Bryant out on the court on Christmas Day. Same for LeBron James.

Playing without its biggest star, Los Angeles stayed right with the Miami Heat for most of the day before slipping to a 101-95 loss against the defending NBA champions on Wednesday.

Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade had 23 points apiece, and James added 19 points in the Heat's sixth straight win. Bosh grabbed 11 rebounds and Ray Allen made four 3-pointers for 12 points, helping Miami improve to 5-0 against the Lakers on the holiday.

"I knew we would get a good game out of them, and I think the NBA wanted a good game," James said, noting the blowout results of the first two games on the league's holiday schedule.

Bryant was relegated to the sideline with his fractured left knee, leaving him unable to extend his NBA record for Christmas Day appearances to 16.

"It's not as special when Kobe's not out there," said James, who shared a postgame hug with Bryant



http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=400489293


Last edited by Cha*n on Thu Dec 26, 2013 5:18 pm; edited 5 times in total
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 8:45 pm    Post subject:

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Lakers fall short against the Heat, 101-95

By Melissa Rohlin
December 25, 2013, 4:50 p.m.
Sorry Laker fans, Santa Claus couldn't work a miracle this time around.
The Miami Heat beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 101-95, during their Christmas Day showdown on Wednesday afternoon at Staples Center.
In a closer-than-expected game that saw seven lead changes, with each team taking leads by as much as 10 points, and eight ties, the back-to-back champions proved too strong and too fast for the hobbled Lakers.

The Heat outshot the Lakers, 51.2% to 41.8%. They outhustled the Lakers on fast-break points, 21-11. And they had 58 points in the paint while the Lakers had only 26.
The Lakers opened the fourth quarter with an 8-3 run to take an 81-79 lead over Miami near the 10-minute mark.
The Heat then went on a 13-2 run.


http://www.latimes.com/sports/lakersnow/la-sp-ln-lakers-vs-miami-heat-game-updates-20131225,0,1309313.story#ixzz2oYRIM7Ja
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 8:49 pm    Post subject:

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HEAT 101, LAKERS 95
A Rivalry Goes Unfulfilled as the Lakers Fall to the Heat
By BILLY WITZ
Published: December 25, 2013

LOS ANGELES — Kobe Bryant, a creature of habit and one of symbolism, too, acknowledged it was a strange feeling to wake up on Christmas morning for the first time in 15 seasons without a basketball game to play.

While other Lakers arrived in garish red outfits, Bryant wore a funereal suit with a black T-shirt underneath. It was a fitting accompaniment for the dark days that surely lie ahead, if not for Bryant — whose fractured kneecap is his second major injury in 2013 — then certainly for the Lakers, who considered it a victory of sorts that they lost to the Miami Heat by only 101-95 on Wednesday.

This was the type of moment — a national television stage with a worthy foil — that Bryant has always relished. He and LeBron James jawed at each other when they last met on Christmas Day three years ago. But their only interaction Wednesday came after the game: James made his way to the Lakers’ bench, where he and Bryant shook hands, hugged and said a few words.

It was more respect than James paid the Lakers for much of the afternoon.


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/26/sports/basketball/without-bryant-a-rivalry-goes-unfulfilled-as-the-lakers-lose-to-the-heat.html?_r=0


Last edited by Cha*n on Wed Dec 25, 2013 8:52 pm; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 8:52 pm    Post subject:

Quote:
Opportunity knocks now for Lakers


LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Lakers may have achieved a mythical moral victory with their 101-95 loss to the Miami Heat on Christmas Day.

In reality, they're as bad as they've been all season, at least record-wise.

The Heat defeat dropped the Lakers to 13-16, the most games L.A. has been below .500 since it started the season 4-7.

Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images
Nick Young and the Lakers have a chance to clean the slate and get back to an even record before ringing in the new year.
Eighteen games later a lot has changed in terms of who has been in and out of the lineup and the latest Lakers drama-grabbing headlines (Kobe Bryant vs. Jim Brown; Pau Gasol on the trade block; Mike D'Antoni vs. ungrateful fans), but not a whole lot in terms of their win-loss rate.
The Lakers are far from must-win territory, having played 29 of the 82 games on the schedule. But at some point they cannot simply keep kicking the can down the road, waiting to become the team they hope to be. At some point, you are who you are.

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/10194230/with-soft-schedule-los-angeles-lakers-get-back-500-2014
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 8:55 pm    Post subject:

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Kobe: More 'locked in' than ever


LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant has no plans to shut it down for the season and says he is as determined as ever to play despite suffering a fracture of the lateral tibial plateau in his left knee just six games into his return from an Achilles tear.

"I think I feel more locked in now than I've been my entire career, because of this," Bryant said before Los Angeles hosted the Miami Heat for their Christmas Day showdown Wednesday. It was his first media session since being diagnosed with the fracture last week. "The spirits are fine, the focus is great. Just going to see what happens when I come back."

Bryant is nearly one week into the six-week timetable that was set when he underwent an MRI on his left knee following the Lakers' 96-92 road win over the Memphis Grizzlies. He said he was "not aware" of any reason he would be sidelined any longer than that.

"My philosophy on that kind of stuff is: Do your job," Bryant said. "You owe it to the organization and your teammates to get ready as fast and as quickly as you possibly can and to come back as strong as you possibly can."


http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/_/id/10193447/kobe-bryant-los-angeles-lakers-knee-injury-more-locked-ever
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 8:58 pm    Post subject:

Quote:
No Kobe on Christmas; says recovery is ‘slow’

By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, December 25, 3:07 PM
LOS ANGELES — Kobe Bryant wasn’t happy about spending Christmas Day on the sideline, unable to help the struggling Los Angeles Lakers.

It’s a place he’s unaccustomed to being on the holiday. Bryant leads the NBA with a record 15 appearances on Christmas Day, but he’s out an expected four to six weeks with a fracture in his left knee.


“It’s strange to be coming in on Christmas and not playing,” he said before the Lakers hosted the streaking Miami Heat on Wednesday. “It’s a foreign feeling, but I’m here to support my guys.”

LeBron James and Co. had won five in a row; the Lakers had dropped two straight.

“We need you tonight,” Lakers guard Nick Young told the crowd before tipoff.

Bryant’s injury was diagnosed last week, his second major one of the season.

He didn’t play his first game until Dec. 8 after nearly eight months away while recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. Then he got hurt again Dec. 17 at Memphis while playing his fourth game in five nights.

“I was fortunate that it was not a meniscus,” he said.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wizards/no-kobe-on-christmas-says-recovery-is-slow/2013/12/25/7c9c77da-6db0-11e3-a5d0-6f31cd74f760_story.html
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 9:00 pm    Post subject:

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Learning to love the moral victory in L.A.

LOS ANGELES -- The only thing achievers hate more than failing is being told that their failure isn't all that devastating relative to the norm. They want to shoot better than par on a friendly course and for people who enjoy constant success, life is a friendly course.

In the broader context of history, the Los Angeles Lakers are undeniably an achiever franchise. We can debate their exceptionalism, or whether they’ve deployed a sound investment strategy while building their current roster. What’s irrefutable is that the Lakers derive more value from mystique than any franchise in the NBA. Much of that value is largely symbolic, but a considerable amount of it is very real.

Mystique is built with championships, but maintaining that mystique comes with expense. When the Lakers reupped Kobe Bryant for two additional seasons at a sum of $48.5 million, they were vesting in mystique: The Lakers are the kind of organization that takes care of its legends.

It’s a short list of icons -- on average, one is born only about every 10 years. When their time is up, they’ll be honored with the best-produced farewell in sports, even if it defies good sense and costs a couple of seasons of contention. Let the aspirational franchises worry about something as transient as cap management; the Lakers are engaged in the long game of brand management.


http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/65006/learning-to-love-the-moral-victory-in-l-a
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 9:01 pm    Post subject:

Oh wow, looks who's back.


Merry Christmas Cha*n.
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 9:02 pm    Post subject:

Quote:
Lakers' world begins, ends with Kobe
As long as its franchise player is out, Los Angeles will be different kind of team

To this day, Jordan Farmar is not entirely sure the call really happened. It was early, and he was still emotionally spent from the excitement of the day before. The Los Angeles Lakers, the team he'd grown up rooting for as a boy in the San Fernando Valley, had made him the 26th pick of the 2006 NBA draft, and now, first thing the next morning, his phone was ringing and Kobe Bryant was on the other line?

"I thought I was dreaming still, to be honest with you," Farmar said. "I woke up early in the morning, the phone rang and he's like, 'What's up man? It's Kobe. Welcome to the Lakers. Are you ready to get to work?'"

As introductions go, it was about as straightforward as they come. Had he been fully awake and alert, everything Farmar needed to know about playing with Bryant and the Lakers was embedded within that early-morning phone call.


http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/10189115/kobe-bryant-future-unclear-los-angeles-lakers
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 9:07 pm    Post subject:

Quote:
Kobe Bryant is upbeat before Lakers' game against Heat
Despite being sidelined again, this time because of a fractured knee, he shows a positive attitude in meeting with reporters leading up to Lakers' 101-95 loss to Miami. 'The knee is not really a concern to me — a fracture will heal,' he says.

Kobe Bryant wasn't depressed. He wasn't inhaling chocolate-covered caramels and peppermint bark while trying to digest the latest injury that wrapped itself around his left leg.
Also

Lakers can't keep up with the Heat, 101-95

He shrugged off a fractured knee as if it were a torn toenail or mildly sprained wrist, even though he'd probably sit out another five weeks.
He's paying attention, though, once again monitoring who's saying naughty and nice things about another Bryant injury.
"Same old tune, it's just being sung a little more loudly now. Those types of things just really help me lock in more than ever," Bryant said Wednesday before the Lakers lost to the Miami Heat, 101-95.
Bryant was upbeat while meeting with reporters for the first time since being injured Dec. 17 in Memphis. No one's feeling sorry for him. This isn't a Derrick Rose situation.



http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakers-fyi-20131226,0,5489017.story#ixzz2oYWLxYlw
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 9:09 pm    Post subject:

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LeBron James, Heat pushed to limit in win over Kobe Bryant-less Lakers

Bryant was relegated to the sideline with a fractured left knee, while James scored 19 points in the Heat's 101-95 Christmas Day victory. Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade had 23 points apiece.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2013, 9:23 PM

CHRIS CARLSON/AP

HEAT 101, LAKERS 95

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade had 23 points apiece, and the Miami Heat beat the Los Angeles Lakers 101-95 on Wednesday for their sixth straight win.

Bosh also had 11 rebounds in the Heat’s fifth consecutive victory against the Lakers on Christmas Day. LeBron James added 19 points and Ray Allen had 12.

Miami shot 51 percent (41 for 80) from the field while improving to 7-0 against the Western Conference this season. It was its 19th straight win overall against West opponents.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/lebron-heat-pushed-limit-win-lakers-article-1.1558469#ixzz2oYXEg9uc
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 9:11 pm    Post subject:

City_Dawg wrote:
Oh wow, looks who's back.


Merry Christmas Cha*n.


Thank you my frend and glad to be able to come back.

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PostPosted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 9:14 pm    Post subject:

Quote:
Quality prevails in Lakers' loss to Heat
The Lakers were in contention with persistence and long-range shooting for much of a 101-95 loss to Miami, but the Heat was able to execute down the stretch.

By Helene Elliott
December 25, 2013, 8:15 p.m.

When it was over, when the Lakers' heave-three-pointers-and-hope strategy failed Wednesday and the Miami Heat showed the heart of a champion and the hunger to win again, Kobe Bryant embraced LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, exchanging kind words and pats on the back in the true Christmas spirit.

The problem for the Lakers was that Bryant was in street clothes, a black jacket and pants and sparkly black sneakers. James and Wade were in uniform and in a state of contentment after their 101-95 victory over the Lakers.

"You have to make shots, you have to execute. We did a little of both," James said. "Down the stretch, that's what it comes down to."


The Lakers executed in spurts, staying in contention on persistence and long-distance shooting until Miami's quality won out.

Bryant's absence because of his fractured left knee took a lot of the luster off this marquee matchup, but James, Wade and Chris Bosh did their part to entertain the crowd at Staples Center and a national TV audience.



http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakers-heat-elliott-20131226,0,129881.column#ixzz2oYY0NhAL
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 9:16 pm    Post subject:

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Three-Pointers: Heat claim courteous win over Lakers on Christmas Day
2013 NBA ON CHRISTMAS, BEN GOLLIVER, DWYANE WADE, LEBRON JAMES, LOS ANGELES LAKERS, MIAMI HEAT, NICK YOUNG
BY BEN GOLLIVER

LeBron James (back) and Dwyane Wade connected on a Christmas highlight. (Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports)
In a Christmas day matchup, the Heat defeated the host Lakers 101-95 to claim their sixth consecutive win and improve to 22-6 on the season. L.A. dropped to 13-16 with their third straight loss.

• Heat do just enough to win comfortably. Fans of the injury-ravaged Lakers could be forgiven if their Christmas goal was simply for their team to avoid the type of homecourt embarrassment endured by the Nets and Knicks earlier Wednesday. L.A. indeed managed to achieve a level of respectability that eluded both Brooklyn (lost by 17) and New York (lost by 29), but they never truly threatened a grooving Miami squad capable of dispatching half of the NBA while playing in fourth gear. The Heat seemed to take a gentlemanly approach to the night: they dictated the action when it mattered and they offered moments of excitement without embarrassing a Lakers team playing in the holiday showcase without Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Steve Blake.



http://nba.si.com/2013/12/25/lebron-james-dwyane-wade-heat-lakers-christmas/
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 9:17 pm    Post subject:

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Lakers' rally falls short as Heat hold on for 101-95 win
Wed Dec 25, 2013 9:05pm EST

Lakers' rally falls short as Heat hold on for 101-95 win

LOS ANGELES - Despite the struggles of the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade expected a stiff challenge. Being the two-time NBA champions brings out the best in teams.

"We get a tough game every night out. That's just the way it is," Wade said.

And a stiff challenge is what the Lakers provided. However, Wade and Miami center Chris Bosh scored 23 points apiece as the Heat held off the Lakers for a 101-95 victory before a sellout crowd of 18,997 at Staples Center on Wednesday.

Forward LeBron James finished with 19 points and eight rebounds, while guard Ray Allen added 12 points for the Heat.

Reserve guard Nick Young led with the Lakers with 20 points. Guard Jodie Meeks scored 17, while guard Xavier Henry came off the bench for 14 points. Center Pau Gasol had 13 points and 13 rebounds.



http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/26/bkn-heat-lakers-writethru-idUSMTZE9CQE2LPI320131226
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 9:20 pm    Post subject:

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Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade, LeBron James put on a show in Christmas win over Los Angeles Lakers

Bolstered by 23 points each from Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, the Heat won its sixth game in a row and its fifth consecutive on Christmas Day.


CHRIS CARLSON / AP
Heat at Lakers | Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2013


LOS ANGELES -- The first alley-oop was a gift-wrapped present under the tree. The second, well, the second reality-bending alley-oop dunk from Dwyane Wade to LeBron James on Wednesday at Staples Center felt more like a Christmas miracle.

Running at full speed in the second quarter, James delivered one of the signature highlights of his time with the Heat when he caught a lob off the backboard from Wade and dunked it with his left hand. The play sent the crowd into a frenzy and inspired one of the Lakers’ most iconic figures to take to Twitter.

“The lob D-Wade threw to LeBron was one of the greatest plays I’ve ever seen!” wrote Hall of Famer Magic Johnson on Twitter.


Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/12/25/3837694/miami-heats-dwyane-wade-lebron.html#storylink=cpy
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 9:29 pm    Post subject:

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Kobe Bryant injury decreases national interest in Miami Heat’s game against Los Angeles Lakers

National fan interest in the Heat’s Christmas game is decreased because of the Lakers’ struggles and the absence of star Kobe Bryant.

BY JOSEPH GOODMAN
JGOODMAN -at- MIAMIHERALD.COM
LOS ANGELES -- It wasn’t just a Christmas game that first year. It was something so much bigger.

When the NBA schedules were released for that first season with LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade together in Miami, the Heat’s Christmas Day game against the Lakers in Los Angeles instantly became the marquee event of the regular season. It was billed as a possible preview of an epic coast-to-coast NBA Finals series and, once Dec. 25, 2010, finally arrived, the buzz surrounding the game was evidenced by the ring of celebrities crammed around the arena’s floor.

On Wednesday, four years to the day after that memorable game, the Heat and Lakers return to Staples Center for another Christmas Day gift to the fans. But whereas that 2010 matchup was a gift-wrapped gem, this present seems more like a fruitcake.


Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/12/25/3836902/kobe-bryant-injury-decreases-national.html#storylink=cpy
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 11:55 pm    Post subject:

City_Dawg wrote:
Oh wow, looks who's back.


Merry Christmas Cha*n.
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 1:07 pm    Post subject:

wolfpaclaker wrote:
City_Dawg wrote:
Oh wow, looks who's back.


Merry Christmas Cha*n.





Good to see you wolf and glad I could come back to do this.
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 1:08 pm    Post subject:

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Reality is, no easy fixes in L.A.
Unlikely LeBron or other elite free agents will choose Lakers in the short term
Updated: December 26, 2013, 2:47 PM ET
By Ramona Shelburne | ESPNLosAngeles.com

LOS ANGELES -- There were a few chants ringing through Staples Center during the Miami Heat's 101-95 Christmas Day victory over the Lakers. A few creative types brought some posters along, hoping to get air time during the nationally televised game.

None of them were for LeBron James.

There was no wooing or pleading or begging him to sign with the Lakers this summer when he can opt out of his contract and become a free agent. No neon green "Come Home, LeBron" T-shirts like the locals in Cleveland passed out when James and the Heat passed through town earlier this season.

The only thing that came close was Sean Jackson, the son of L.A. Gear CEO and Lakers superfan Steve Jackson, sitting courtside in a Lakers jersey with "James" on the back.

But for the most part, the Lakers and their fans seem to have moved on from the idea that they will be among the teams in the running for James this summer.

Some of that, of course, is the tight ship James and the Heat have run regarding questions about his future in Miami. He said during the preseason that he won't be discussing it during the season and he's stuck to that.


http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/10195704/reality-no-easy-fixes-la
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 1:11 pm    Post subject:

Quote:
Kobe Bryant on his Injury
December 26, 2013 8:27 am PST

Kobe Bryant addressed the media for the first time since suffering a fracture of the lateral tibial plateau of his knee at Memphis. He discussed how he feels physically, what he learned about his game in the six contests since returning from his Achilles injury and much more.Below is a transcription of his comments:


Q: On how he would describe the last week, coming back from his Achilles injury, and then suffering a fracture in his knee after playing six games:
Bryant: Slow. It’s just been a slow in terms of trying to lay off it a little bit and letting it heal. Been doing the right things interms of when you don’t have activity, you really have to watch the other parts of your life like nutrition and things like that. You don’t want to take a step back and gain weight or anything like that. You got to make sure you do thenecessary things to stay where you want.

Q: On the injury happening as it did:
Bryant: It’s funny hearing all the comments and things like that. It can’t help but enhance my focus more. Obviously it’s not something I wanted to have happen, but there’s nothing you can do about it. From that standpoint, you have to look at an injury for exactly what it is, which is something that’s going to heal, and be as strong as it ever was. I was fortunate it wasn’t a meniscus or anything else. There’s nothing I really have to do from from a recovery standpoint other than letting the bones heal and letting the fracture heal. You kind of just have to look at the injury in a vacuum.

Q: On what he can do and what he can’t do while he allows the fracture to heal:
Bryant: What I’ve been able to do is some bike work – a lot of that. They won’t let me put any pressure on it – not yet, in terms of standing or putting too much force on it.

Q: On if there’s any pain – if at all:
Bryant: It’s really not painful, which kind of concerned me after the game. Since I got in the locker room, it just felt like something was off. It felt weird because there was a lot of swelling inside of the knee. It was a different feeling. It wasn’t a painful feeling. When it’s something like that, it always worries me a little bit.

Q: On if he was relieved that the injury news wasn’t an ACL tear or something more seri


http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/131225kobebryant_media
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 5:17 pm    Post subject:

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Rookie forward Ryan Kelly earns role in Lakers' rotation


Laker forward Ryan Kelly tries to block a shot by Suns guard Ish Smith during a game Monday night in Phoenix. (Christian Petersen / Getty Images / December 23, 2013)
By Eric Pincus
December 26, 2013, 2:49 p.m.

Rookie forward Ryan Kelly has found a way into the Lakers' rotation, playing a career-high 17 minutes on Wednesday in the Lakers' 101-95 loss to the Miami Heat.

"He knows how to play, defensively and offensively," said Coach Mike D'Antoni after practice on Thursday. "Defensively he's the first one to get to the right spot. I think that going forward, he can keep earning more time. I'm pretty excited about him."

The Lakers drafted Kelly with the 48th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft.

Through seven appearances, the 6-foot-11 Duke forward is averaging 2.1 points a game on 45.5% shooting from the field as well as 42.9% from three-point range. He's played 49 minutes this entire season.

D'Antoni didn't let Kelly know ahead of time that he'd be playing a bigger role.

"It just happened, that's kind of what's been my motto the whole year, is to be ready for any opportunity that comes your way and take advantage of it," said Kelly. "I've put myself in a position where [D'Antoni] can trust me, to call my name. Now I have to go out there and get him to trust me, to keep me out there."




http://www.latimes.com/sports/lakersnow/la-sp-ln-ryan-kelly-earns-role-lakers-rotation-20131226,0,601028.story#ixzz2odRCPxny
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 7:05 pm    Post subject:

Quote:
Ryan Kelly carving out his niche
December, 26, 2013
DEC 26
6:42
PM PT
By Dave McMenamin
ESPNLosAngeles.com

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The role of defensive ace on the Los Angeles Lakers has been vacated since the team used the amnesty provision on Metta World Peace in the offseason.

So with the best basketball player on the planet, LeBron James, in town Wednesday, who would have thought that second-round draft pick Ryan Kelly would be auditioning for the stopper spot by guarding James in the fourth quarter of a close game against the Miami Heat?


Ryan Kelly is finally getting a chance to be part of the Lakers' rotation, and he hopes to make it last.
"I was like, 'I got to find a way to stop him.' Didn't. But that's a learning experience and something to grow on, and I'll watch the film and see what I could have done different," Kelly said after practice Thursday.

OK, maybe it's being a tad facetious to suggest Kelly would go from bench warmer and errand-running rookie to the all-defensive team, but even if he didn't have much success against James, he suddenly finds himself part of the Lakers' rotation.


http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/lakers/post/_/id/38330/ryan-kelly-carving-out-his-niche
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eddiejonze
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 7:14 pm    Post subject:

Cha*n wrote:
Quote:
Ryan Kelly carving out his niche
December, 26, 2013
DEC 26
6:42
PM PT
By Dave McMenamin
ESPNLosAngeles.com

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The role of defensive ace on the Los Angeles Lakers has been vacated since the team used the amnesty provision on Metta World Peace in the offseason.

So with the best basketball player on the planet, LeBron James, in town Wednesday, who would have thought that second-round draft pick Ryan Kelly would be auditioning for the stopper spot by guarding James in the fourth quarter of a close game against the Miami Heat?


Ryan Kelly is finally getting a chance to be part of the Lakers' rotation, and he hopes to make it last.
"I was like, 'I got to find a way to stop him.' Didn't. But that's a learning experience and something to grow on, and I'll watch the film and see what I could have done different," Kelly said after practice Thursday.

OK, maybe it's being a tad facetious to suggest Kelly would go from bench warmer and errand-running rookie to the all-defensive team, but even if he didn't have much success against James, he suddenly finds himself part of the Lakers' rotation.


http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/lakers/post/_/id/38330/ryan-kelly-carving-out-his-niche

I really see Kelly at LEAST being as good as Bargs
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Cha*n
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 11:03 pm    Post subject:

Quote:
Kobe needs a co-star

Posted: Thursday, December 26, 2013 6:08 am
By Ishmael H. Sistrunk

Last season as a then-24-year-old Derrick Rose rehabbed his hobbled knee, the basketball world clamored for his prompt return. The former NBA MVP was cleared for duty by doctors with several months remaining in the season but chose to sit out and play it safe.
Kobe Bryant should take a page from Rose’s notebook. Not because it worked out so well for Rose, who shares a membership with Bryant in the sideline suit fraternity, but because it didn’t.
Before Rose’s injury, he was an uber-athletic guard whose prime athletic years were still ahead of him. He sat with hopes of protecting his NBA career. Bryant is a 35-year-old with 18 years of NBA wear and tear on his body. Following his recent knee injury, he needs to sit out the rest of the season in hopes of protecting his career as a human who can walk upright without assistance.
I’m not calling for Bryant’s retirement. Knowing the supreme sacrifice and dedication professional athletes give to their sports, they deserve to go out in whatever way they see fit. Some choose to go out on the mountaintop, a la John Elway and Ray Lewis. Others choose to hang around on scholarship with just the occasional flash of yesteryear’s brilliance. With the exception of boxing, where hanging around too long can cause obvious and unforgettable reminders of the bitter end, great players’ lackluster career finishes are largely forgotten a few years after they retire.



http://www.stlamerican.com/sports/sports_columnists/in_the_clutch/article_63e95b6e-6cce-11e3-8f96-0019bb2963f4.html
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