Just wanted to drop a note that I’ll be on leave till the end of the regular season for the birth of my second child. Phil Jackson and I had a humorous exchange about it Friday night during his pregame press gathering in which I noted how I’d covered every game to date and would be back for the playoffs — and he said: “No one’s questioning your valor.”
Until then, Curtis Zupke will take good care of things in my stead, and here are a couple of new pieces from me: one for SoCal Sports Now about the Lakers’ hopes of landing the West’s No. 1 seed and a column endorsing Kobe Bryant for NBA MVP.
