Following Monday’s practice, Phil Jackson revealed a silver lining in the two-game suspension of Andrew Bynum:

He knows it’s to his advantage at some level to have an opportunity to work on his leg strength and get some things done that perhaps game-by-game where he had to go on and play rather than stop and do some strengthening things and things that can help his game out. I think in the long run, it might help him.

Emotionally, Jackson said, was another story.

"Emotionally it’s hard to take, being away from the team. He was here this morning, obviously but at game time he can’t be at the arena, so that’s difficult. Especially watching a (close) game like (Sunday) night. He’s frustrated.”

Prior to L.A.’s game against Miami last Thursday, we had a few minutes to chat with Pau Gasol in a discussion that was initially about the improved play of Andrew Bynum, centered upon his willingness to focus on defense and rebounding.

"I think it’s a very mature thing for Andrew to understand,” said Gasol. "Just like when I got to this team, you have to understand, where can you contribute the most, what can you do to be the biggest contributor. What do we need out of a player the most?”

That got us to thinking. What does Gasol consider to be the areas in which he can most contribute? Our ensuing discussion involved his mindset in general with the team, his ever-developing relationship with Kobe Bryant (Black Swan, Black Mamba?) and more. Below is a transcription of the conversation:

MT: Versatility and efficiency are two things upon which I know you pride yourself. Do you have to re-eva... Read more »

Kobe Bryant has used the 2010-11 season to amass an assault on the NBA’s all-time record books, putting yet another Hall of Famer in his rear view mirror by surpassing Moses Malone for sixth on the scoring chart with a free throw in the second quarter of L.A.’s Tuesday evening win at Atlanta.

Needing 12 points to match Malone’s 27,409 heading into the game, Bryant had 13 by the second quarter, and finished the contest with a game-high 26 points on 8-of-18 field goals plus 9-of-11 free throws.

Prior to shooting past Malone, Bryant had surpassed John Havlicek, Dominique Wilkins, Oscar Robertson, Hakeem Olajuwon and Elvin Hayes.

There are only five players left for Bryant to catch: Shaquille O’Neal (5th/28,590); Wilt Chamberlain (4th/31,419); Michael Jordan (3rd/32,292); Karl Malone (36,928); and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387).

Throughout the season, when asked about passing players, Bryant has been both humble and also a bit dismissive, saying that the only person he’s really chasing is Bill Russell, who of course won 11 championships with the Celtics.

Could Kobe Bryant’s 12th All-Star game, in which he locked up his fourth MVP award to match Bob Pettit’s all-time record, have been his finest?

His first came way back in 1998, when at 19, he was the youngest All-Star in NBA history. On Sunday afternoon at STAPLES Center it was 13 years later, but his legs looked explosive like they had in the late 90′s.

No. 24 looked more like No. 8 as he rose for an array of dunks from various angles, including a baseline reverse early in the first that may have been the best dunk of a game in which he tallied a personal career high of 37 points.

"He’s one hell of a player,” said Western Coach Gregg Popovich. "He’s Kobe. He does things like that, we shouldn’t be surprised.”

Five dunks, an array of jumpers and drive... Read more »

While clicking through some hoops articles before the Lakers tipped off in Memphis on Monday night, I noticed the following stat from a Yahoo.com post by Joe Dorish on the players who’ve played the most games in NBA history:

Right now, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan have played the exact same number of NBA games: 1,072.

Bryant has actually already played more playoff games, 198-179, but the regular season number seemed worthy of its own post.

For the fourth time in his career Pau Gasol has been named to the Western Conference All-Star team.

Gasol has averaged a double-double on the season with 18.4 points and 10.6 rebounds to go along with 3.7 assists and 1.92 blocks per game while starting games at both center and power forward.

Pau made his All-Star debut in 2006 in Houston but failed to record a point as he went 0-for-3 from the field in just under 15 minutes of play but did grab a game-high 12 rebounds for the West. Since then he’s gone for double-digit points in both appearances, tallying 14 in Phoenix in 2009 and 13 last year at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.

The 60th All-Star Game will be played at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 20.

From the Lakers game notes regarding Pau Gasol being named 2010 European Player of the Year:

In January, La Gazzetta dello Sport, one of the premier sports journals in the world, named Pau Gasol European Player of the Year for the THIRD consecutive year. The prestigious award was decided on by a panel of judges comprised of players, coaches and basketball journalists. Gasol beat out Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki (2nd), who had won the award five consecutive years from 2002-06, and the Spanish League’s Juan Carlos Navarro (3rd) of FC Barcelona. The first Spanish player to win the award, Gasol joins Nowitzki as the only other player to win the award three-straight years. Other notable past winners include Arvydas Sabonis (6-time winner), Toni Kukoc (5-time winner), Drazen Petrovic (4-time winner) and Tony Parker.

26,972 Points scored in the career of Kobe Bryant, which places him at No. 8 on the all-time scoring list. With his 13th point in the first quarter that came on a one-handed dunk, Bryant surpassed Hakeem Olajuwon (26,946 points).

That Kobe Bryant will be elected as an All-Star starter for the 13th consecutive season was a foregone conclusion, particularly after the NBA announced that he led all players with 1,757,216 votes after the fourth round of ballot returns.

During Thursday night’s special All-Star Selection Show on TNT, it was announced that Bryant will indeed start at guard for the Western Conference, where he’ll represent the Lakers in front of a hometown crowd for the second time in his career (2004).

Bryant finished with 2,380,016 votes, and with his 13th straight selection, is only one behind record holders Jerry West, Karl Malone and Shaquille O’Neal, earning 14 consecutive nods apiece.

It will be the 12th A.S. game in which Bryant plays, as he missed last year’s contest due to a sprained left ankle. To account for the other two seaso... Read more »