Cabbie gets to sit down with the Black Mamba during his trip to practice, and it doesn't get much better than traveling in a helicopter.
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On Wednesday night, Kobe Bryant scored 29 points and Andrew Bynum added a season-high 27 to help the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Indiana Pacers 118-96.
Bryant also had nine rebounds and seven assists, and Bynum had 12 rebounds. Pau Gasol had 21 points and 13 rebounds and Lamar Odom added 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers, who won at Washington on Tuesday.
The Lakers set a season rebounding high, outrebounding the Pacers 62-42.
Just before the break Bynum scored 22 points, Odum hit a 3-pointer to give the Lakers a 59-56 lead.
In the first minute of the second half Derek Fisher hit a 3-point play. The Lakers took a 10-point lead with Kobe hitting a 3-pointer and Gasol dunking with being fouled that got turned into a three-point play.
Los Angeles kept the pressure on and led 92-78 at the end of the quarter.
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On the day after the president honored players, coaches, management, staff, family and friends of the defending NBA champion Lakers in a ceremony, Kobe Bryant and his wife, Vanessa, plus girls Natalia and Gianna returned to the White House.
The Bryants met privately with Obama and first lady Michelle Obama for about 20 minutes before Bryant joined the Lakers for their morning shoot around several blocks away at the Verizon Center.
"It was great," Bryant said of the family get-together. "He spent a great deal of time talking to my kids. We talked about the season and how it's progressing. It was good just to have that time. Just catching up, because I had never met him before."
Bryant said he spoke with Obama about another visit during the offseason.
"We talked about getting together over the summer and playing a little pick-up basketball at the White House," he said. "That would be great."Continue reading
On Monday January 25th, the Los Angeles Lakers got to take part of the tradition of the NBA champions to visit The White House, and meet with the president.
“A lot of us never thought we would see this day,” said Jordan Farmar before even attending the event. "I feel very special to be apart of it and to have the chance to share this with my teammates – we all get along and really care about each other, so it’s really meaningful.”
During the presidents nine-minute speech, Obama managed to get frequent laughs from both the audience and the team. The best part of his address came right after he expressed his excitement about being introduced to Phil Jackson, when he mentioned Lakers legend Magic Johnson (standing next to Kobe Bryant) while acknowledging Jackson's championships.
"I do want to point out that six of them came with the Bulls," said Obama, a big time Chicago fan. "You remember that, Magic?"
That comment had the audience in tears, especially after Obama looked towards Magic to pantomime Michael Jordan's right-hand-to-left-hand layup in the 1991 Finals, when Jackson's Bulls defeated Johnson's Lakers 4-1.
"It was really a special moment in time that I'm going to always remember that the President of the United States trash-talked Magic Johnson," said Johnson. "And me restraining myself not to come back at him. He was the only man on earth that ever trash-talked me and I (didn't) say anything ... it was a great moment."
He then began to talk about, Kobe Bryant.
"Of course I have to acknowledge Kobe Bryant, one of the most competitive players I've ever seen," said Obama. "He has MVP's under his belt, he's the youngest player to ever reach 25,000 points in his career, and he's playing with a broken finger."
"It was nice that he had done his homework," said assistant coach Brian Shaw. "He knew a little bit about everybody from Kobe to the coaching staff ... I was impressed."
"Absolutely," Bryant agreed. "I know that everybody understood the significance and the magnitude of it. It's great to see that ... (President Obama) is someone who I obviously got behind and he's in charge of the country, so it's just a special feeling being the first NBA team to come to the White House."
The President made sure to mention the contributions that Pau Gasol and Jordan Farmar made to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, and thanked the team for putting together a Monday morning community event with fifth graders from a local Washington D.C. school.
The last words Obama offered were:
"I want to thank the entire Lakers organization for your service, for the great joy that you have given the city of Los Angeles and also the incredible competition that your organization has graced the basketball court with for decades now.
"If this season is anything like the last one, I know you have your sights set on the NBA Finals, so we might see you here before long."
In addition to the visit to The White house, Bryant will get some private time with the president this morning. They are scheduled to have breakfast together.
"I spent time with President Bush as well, but you know President Obama's knowledge about the game is a little bit more extensive," Bryant said. "President Bush is more of a baseball guy."
Source: ESPN LosAngeles, Huffington Post, LA Times, Lakers.comContinue reading
January 28, 2010
Cabbie gets to sit down with the Black Mamba during his trip to practice, and it doesn't get much better than traveling in a helicopter.
Continue reading
On Wednesday night, Kobe Bryant scored 29 points and Andrew Bynum added a season-high 27 to help the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Indiana Pacers 118-96.
Bryant also had nine rebounds and seven assists, and Bynum had 12 rebounds. Pau Gasol had 21 points and 13 rebounds and Lamar Odom added 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers, who won at Washington on Tuesday.
The Lakers set a season rebounding high, outrebounding the Pacers 62-42.
Just before the break Bynum scored 22 points, Odum hit a 3-pointer to give the Lakers a 59-56 lead.
In the first minute of the second half Derek Fisher hit a 3-point play. The Lakers took a 10-point lead with Kobe hitting a 3-pointer and Gasol dunking with being fouled that got turned into a three-point play.
Los Angeles kept the pressure on and led 92-78 at the end of the quarter.
Continue reading
On the day after the president honored players, coaches, management, staff, family and friends of the defending NBA champion Lakers in a ceremony, Kobe Bryant and his wife, Vanessa, plus girls Natalia and Gianna returned to the White House.
The Bryants met privately with Obama and first lady Michelle Obama for about 20 minutes before Bryant joined the Lakers for their morning shoot around several blocks away at the Verizon Center.
"It was great," Bryant said of the family get-together. "He spent a great deal of time talking to my kids. We talked about the season and how it's progressing. It was good just to have that time. Just catching up, because I had never met him before."
Bryant said he spoke with Obama about another visit during the offseason.
"We talked about getting together over the summer and playing a little pick-up basketball at the White House," he said. "That would be great."Continue reading
On Monday January 25th, the Los Angeles Lakers got to take part of the tradition of the NBA champions to visit The White House, and meet with the president.
“A lot of us never thought we would see this day,” said Jordan Farmar before even attending the event. "I feel very special to be apart of it and to have the chance to share this with my teammates – we all get along and really care about each other, so it’s really meaningful.”
During the presidents nine-minute speech, Obama managed to get frequent laughs from both the audience and the team. The best part of his address came right after he expressed his excitement about being introduced to Phil Jackson, when he mentioned Lakers legend Magic Johnson (standing next to Kobe Bryant) while acknowledging Jackson's championships.
"I do want to point out that six of them came with the Bulls," said Obama, a big time Chicago fan. "You remember that, Magic?"
That comment had the audience in tears, especially after Obama looked towards Magic to pantomime Michael Jordan's right-hand-to-left-hand layup in the 1991 Finals, when Jackson's Bulls defeated Johnson's Lakers 4-1.
"It was really a special moment in time that I'm going to always remember that the President of the United States trash-talked Magic Johnson," said Johnson. "And me restraining myself not to come back at him. He was the only man on earth that ever trash-talked me and I (didn't) say anything ... it was a great moment."
He then began to talk about, Kobe Bryant.
"Of course I have to acknowledge Kobe Bryant, one of the most competitive players I've ever seen," said Obama. "He has MVP's under his belt, he's the youngest player to ever reach 25,000 points in his career, and he's playing with a broken finger."
"It was nice that he had done his homework," said assistant coach Brian Shaw. "He knew a little bit about everybody from Kobe to the coaching staff ... I was impressed."
"Absolutely," Bryant agreed. "I know that everybody understood the significance and the magnitude of it. It's great to see that ... (President Obama) is someone who I obviously got behind and he's in charge of the country, so it's just a special feeling being the first NBA team to come to the White House."
The President made sure to mention the contributions that Pau Gasol and Jordan Farmar made to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, and thanked the team for putting together a Monday morning community event with fifth graders from a local Washington D.C. school.
The last words Obama offered were:
"I want to thank the entire Lakers organization for your service, for the great joy that you have given the city of Los Angeles and also the incredible competition that your organization has graced the basketball court with for decades now.
"If this season is anything like the last one, I know you have your sights set on the NBA Finals, so we might see you here before long."
In addition to the visit to The White house, Bryant will get some private time with the president this morning. They are scheduled to have breakfast together.
"I spent time with President Bush as well, but you know President Obama's knowledge about the game is a little bit more extensive," Bryant said. "President Bush is more of a baseball guy."
Source: ESPN LosAngeles, Huffington Post, LA Times, Lakers.comContinue reading