Eric Umansky

Espectacular!

The Lakers just landed this Spanish fellow. Despite all the plaudits about the trade, I'll admit to being nervous.  Partly because Pau has a somewhat balky back, partly because trading youngin's for expensive vets often ends up biting you in the tush. But mostly, I suspect, it's just because I'm a nervous nellie.

Keeping it Classy, Kobe

When Kobe Bryant had his summer hissy-fit and demanded he be traded, I said I hoped the Lakers simply ignored him. Thankfully, that's what the Lakers have done. They didn't cave gave. They didn't send Kobe walking. And they didn't trade away any of their up-and-coming talent.

So now that youngsters like Andrew Bynum are delivering, and the Lakers are beating expectations, what does Kobe do? He apologizes. Um, make that: He takes credit for others stepping up,  and suggests the  petulant, disloyal outburst pointed encouragement was all part of the plan:      

"Sometimes you have to kind of put a fire to them a little bit so that they understand that we're playing for higher stakes," Bryant said of his teammates. "Once they understood that and saw me come into training camp saying 'Look, I'm tired of playing for the playoffs. I'm not playing for that. I don't know what you guys are playing for, but I'm not playing for that.' Once they understood that 'Hey, this guy's head is on a championship level, this is where we need to get,' then it kind of ignited another side of them and they started looking at this thing a little differently.