LOS ANGELES — I’ll have much more on this in my column that appears in the morning, so be sure to check it out for more details. But in short: The Lakers were definitely trying to put a disagreement between Trevor Ariza and Sasha Vujacic behind them — which was easier to do after an easy victory.
Ariza passed the ball from under the basket out to Vujacic on the wing three minutes into the second quarter, and rather than move the ball back to Ariza or someone else, Vujacic settled for a 3-pointer that missed badly. Vujacic then was called for a foul at the other end, and Ariza got in Vujacic’s face as the two of them walked from one corner of the court to the other to reach the Lakers’ bench at a timeout.
Pau Gasol went toward Vujacic and Kobe Bryant shepherded Ariza on the far side while Ariza kept pacing in circles, all fired up. Phil Jackson walked down to the end of the bench after the timeout to have private words with Ariza. Assistant coach Kurt Rambis had a long discussion with Vujacic at a timeout later in the game.
Worth noting: Vujacic was upset because he had aggravated injuries to his left ankle and left elbow early in the game. Ariza was grumpy with an upper respiratory infection. The Lakers were winning at the time but not playing well.
Jackson: “It’s just something that we want to keep internal. So I’d just as soon not talk about it. Trevor let it out, and it was unfortunate to see that on the court.”
Ariza: “It wasn’t anything big. We both want to win. We’re out there and we’re competing, and we just had a little disagreement, that’s all.”
Vujacic: “I wasn’t doing anything. I was playing basketball. … Everything’s great. … Have I done anything? Have I reacted inappropriately? Was I unprofessional?”
Recent headlines …
viclue Says:
November 19th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
OK! Listen fellas. I’m going to need an ice tea drink after I address this LeBron James youngest to score past Kobe. While I understand the NBA’s effort to use James as a marketing tool for the league, I must state that the truth and logic ought to applied to the scenario. Let me get straight to it. Lebron is nearly 24 years of age, right? right. He just broke Kobe’s record of reaching 11,00 points the youngest right? right. Ok. I wonder with all the hoopla about James and all that he is accomplishing in passing Kobe as youngest in scoring, if anyone has thought about the real reality that James has only done this a little more a year earlier than Kobe. This is tricky because Kobe really didn’t start starting untill his 3rd year in the league. His first year, Kobe only averaged about 3-4 points a game off the bench. The next year, Kobe averaged 7 points a game off the bench. His third year, Kobe averaged 13 points a game as a starter. His fourth year Kobe averaged 17 points a game as a starter. Then he just blew up and began rounding into what we know him as today. That is four years that Kobe wasn’t scoring even 20 points per game. If you ask me, if James had been drafted by a team that was not so God awful, he would not have surplanted Kobe as the youngest. All I’m trying to say is, nobody in the league can compare to what Kobe has done since cominiing into the league. Take Kobe’s crown from James, and give back to whom it rightfully belongs. One Kobe Bean Bryant.
Yes, I agree with what you say because it’s all true. I guess alot of the time when something happens like that, no one takes the time to really investigate the reality of what has occured. They just yell out a headline and gloat! Thanks for listing all your points. I’ll remember them the next time I talk to a person who is trying to demote King Kobe!!