Laker Linkage – 10/23/09
October 23rd, 2009 | by Garrett Wilson |- The Story: Will Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol continue to play nice this year? The Fire Says: Kevin Ding thinks so, but sooner or later Gasol could get tired of Kobe shooting him dirty looks whenever he makes a mistake, then again, winning a championship certainly makes stuff like that easier to swallow.
- The Story: Andrew Bynum is experimenting with wearing a brace on his other knee. The Fire Says: I know he is just trying to be better safe than sorry, but this makes me very nervous.
- The Story: In his upcoming book, co-authored with Larry Bird, Magic Johnson claims Isiah Thomas started spreading rumors that Magic got HIV from being homosexual. The Fire Says: Isiah adamantly denies that claim and also rips several other negative stories about him that Magic re-tells in the book. Considering Isiah’s track record of doing, well, anything since he stopped playing, I am going to go ahead and side with Magic on this one, although I am not sure I am ready to let him get away with collaborating with Larry Bird.
- The Story: Every single ESPN expert predicts the Lakers to be the best team in the Western Conference this year. The Fire Says: I am Jack’s complete lack of surprise. Anything could happen, but the Lakers are pretty much a shoo-in to win the West and do so by a decent margin.
- The Story: A sore right hamstring will keep Pau Gasol out of the team’s remaining pre-season action and possibly the regular season opener. The Fire Says: This certainly isn’t the ideal way to start the season, but the Lakers are wise to play it safe with their top big man at this early point of the season.
- The Story: There is a good chance that Phil Jackson won’t make this his final season. The Fire Says: Jerry Buss seems to think Phil will continue to coach the Lakers as long as his health allows.
Tags: Andrew Bynum, Daily Links, injury update, Isiah Thomas, Jerry Buss, Kobe Bryant, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Pau Gasol, Phil Jackson, predictions
