The Lakers Backpedal; And Ron Artest Is Unplugged

Whoops. So it looks like the Lakers are having a few regrets about not running the Mike Brown hiring by Kobe before pulling the trigger. Why would you want to discuss who your franchise player and future Hall-of-Famer would be playing under for at least the next year? It’s not like he had endorsed another candidate in the Lakers’ head-coaching race (oh wait). It’s also not like he’s been a pivotal player in five of the organization’s championships (oh wait again). Is this a hint of things to come? Are the Lakers already planning for a Kobe-less future? Can’t they make one more solid run for the ring? Not according to Magic (a buddy of Lakers owner Jerry Buss), who claimed this team needed to get “blown up.” Buss said he did follow Kobe’s “defense first” recommendation, but was sorry he didn’t inform Bryant that he was going with Brown. We’ve all seen what Kobe can be like when a teammate screws up, but what happens when it’s the owner? … Jason Terry came out and said he’ll get his tattoo of the Larry O’Brien trophy removed from his right arm if the Mavs don’t bring home the real one this year. He got the tattoo at a get-together at DeShawn Stevenson‘s place in Orlando before a preseason game. Apparently, Stevenson had his own personal tattoo artist at the soiree. Terry says that he’s “very superstitious” and that he’ll believe the tattoo is bad luck if they lose. The real bad luck might have been drawing LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in the Finals. And Jet, we generally don’t recommend taking tattoo advice from a dude with a giant $5 bill inked across his throat. Nobody should like Lincoln that much … While some persist nothing is official yet, sources are telling ESPN that the Detroit Pistons will be breaking up with head coach John Kuester. This isn’t a huge surprise considering Kuester had issues with just about everyone on the Pistons roster this year – to the point where a bunch of vets boycotted a midseason practice. If you add in their 30-52 record, and the fact that he’s 50 games under .500 in the two years he’s been in Motor City, that looks to us like a great way to get yourself canned. Ironically, Kuester is a possibility as a Laker assistant … We’re not saying it matters, but D-Wade, Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem and James Jones were all held out of Heat practice today. It’s probably not serious (except maybe for Jones, who barely played in the Chicago series), but these guys all looked to be struggling through some pain in the Eastern Conference Finals. It’s really pretty crazy to think about all that Miami has accomplished (58 wins, an NBA Finals berth in their first full year playing together) with all the injuries they’ve had to deal with. They’ve been like the New York Mets of hoops (minus the crazy owner). Imagine if your team had to go extended periods of time without two of their top five rotation guys. They’d be in the cellar faster than that homeless guy that hangs around your block. Maybe the injury bug flying around South Beach is bad karma they racked up with the whole championship-style-celebration-before-the-regular-season-even-started deal. Just something to keep an eye on until Tuesday night … Apparently, J.R. Smith was arrested this weekend in Miami for operating a scooter without a valid license. That doesn’t even need a joke … And is anyone at all surprised that Ron Artest had Dennis Rodman in his top five players of all-time (ahead of MJ)? That wasn’t even the most surprising thing he tweeted, somehow including Venus Williams in his “Top five best buttocks glutes of all time” … We’re out like Kuester.

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