HoopsHype.com Rumors

With the Heat up 94-90, James took the ball out of the perimeter, motioned for his team to calm down and ended any hopes of a Lakers comeback by nailing a pretty 6-foot, pull-up jumper with 49 seconds left. The Lakers immediately called timeout while their fans said good night by immediately taking off to the exits. "When he has his mind set to do whatever he got his mind set to do, you can't stop him," Jamison said. "He makes the game so much easier. He knows how to put the pressure on the defense as well. During that one stretch in the third quarter going into the fourth, he took over the game and made it look easy." Yahoo! Sports

Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, LeBron James, Antawn Jamison 

Although the Lakers have been down lately, having lost six consecutive games, no one around the league is feeling sorry for them. The Lakers know that, too. “Nobody is going to feel sorry for this team that has been assembled,” Antawn Jamison said. “If things go south, not the way we want them to go, people, other teams are happy to see that.” Orange County Register

Los Angeles Lakers, Antawn Jamison 

Antawn Jamison: "I’ve been through so much throughout my career, I’m not going to let missing a couple of games bring me down to the point where I’m not myself." Sulia

Los Angeles Lakers, Antawn Jamison 

Antawn Jamison: "You’re not going to hear me complaining about it. I want to be a part of a winning organization. That’s what we’re doing now and while we’re doing it I’m not playing, but that’s the task at hand. For me, I’m going to continue to come in here, I’m going to work, make sure that I’m still in shape and when that number is called, I’m going to compete. Even when it’s tough and I’m not playing, I’m still having fun." Sulia

Los Angeles Lakers, Antawn Jamison 

Dave McMenamin: Antawn Jamison said he would not demand a trade or "rock the boat" because of his lack of playing time. He's in it for the long haul. Twitter @mcten

Los Angeles Lakers, Trade, Antawn Jamison 

Mike Bresnahan: Lakers' Jamison apologizes for complainig about playing time, says he's "disappointed" he "expressed my frustration the way I did." Twitter @Mike_Bresnahan

Los Angeles Lakers, Antawn Jamison 

Dave McMenamin: D'Antoni on any Jamison controversy: "There is nothing there." Mike D joked that he was upset Antawn didn't get him a Christmas gift though Twitter @mcten

Los Angeles Lakers, Mike D'Antoni, Antawn Jamison 

Antawn Jamison has seen just about everything in his NBA career. “Not this,” he said Friday after sitting out a fifth consecutive game via the dreaded DNP-Coach’s Decision. “Fifteen years,” the Lakers forward said, recapping his career. “My only thing is let me know why. I don’t think you go from starting and 30- something minutes to not in the rotation whatsoever. And not explaining to me what exactly happened, that’s the toughest thing. There’s nothing you can do but be positive and support your teammates. The only reason I came here was they said I was going to play and to win a championship.” Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Antawn Jamison 

It was assumed his stats would drop after he averaged 17.2 points last season for Cleveland. It wasn’t assumed he would sit on the bench for entire games. “There’s a competitor in me that wants to compete and I know I can help the team,” Jamison said. “Whenever I get answers, I guess I’ll feel more better about the situation but nothing has been told to me why nothing has happened or that I did anything wrong. “DNPs for the first time in my career. I have not had a conversation with [D’Antoni] about anything about the situation.” Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Antawn Jamison 

Mark Medina: Antawn Jamison to me about 5 DNP's: "It doesn't make sense at all. They're pretty much telling me my services are no longer needed." Twitter

Los Angeles Lakers, Antawn Jamison 

In the Lakers’ 101-100 victory Tuesday over the Charlotte Bobcats, Jamison went through one thing for the first time in his career. He didn’t play. “I’ve never had this,” Jamison said in a quiet moment with this newspaper. “I’m going home and going to pray. I’m doing something I love to do. You just have to find the positives in life. We won.” Los Angeles Daily News

Los Angeles Lakers, Antawn Jamison 

“You just have to stay positive,” Jamison said. “It’s difficult. You never know. Next week, there might be 37 minutes again. You just have to stay positive and have to ride this ship until we find out what are we going to do. Right now, we’re all confused by what’s going on.” Los Angeles Daily News

Los Angeles Lakers, Antawn Jamison 

So until then, the experiments will continue. Metta World Peace might start as a small forward one night or come off the bench as a power forward as he did Tuesday. Devin Ebanks might start the first half, come out after five minutes, then never get off the bench. Antawn Jamison might star one night, then take a DNP-CD as he did against the Bobcats. D'Antoni might play 10 guys or seven. "We're all basketball players," Bryant said. "We moved Metta down to the 4, but he's a basketball player. He does everything anyway." But can't experimenting become unsettling? "Yeah, but the thing about Mike that's different from a lot of coaches is when you get your minutes, you have the green light to be aggressive," Bryant said. "It's not like you go in there for four or five minutes and you're reluctant to shoot to be aggressive. You have the green light. Antawn didn't play tonight but when he gets in there he'll have the green light to shoot and be aggressive, same thing with Devin. So it's not like we can't get in rhythm." ESPN.com

Los Angeles Lakers, Devin Ebanks, Antawn Jamison, Metta World Peace 

It didn’t take long for Antawn Jamison to grasp the odd atmosphere that is Lakerville. “Never a dull moment here,” Jamison said Tuesday morning as the Los Angeles Lakers’ game-day shootaround broke up. “We all know what the expectations are.” Charlotte Observer

Los Angeles Lakers, Antawn Jamison 

When he made his decision last summer, Jamison called Bobcats president of basketball operations Rod Higgins to explain himself. These two have known each other since Jamison’s rookie season with the Warriors. Jamison said Higgins respected his reasoning. And what about a homecoming? “If they still want me back home, I’d sure listen.” Jamison said. “I have another couple of years in this body. If they want me, I’d have no reservations about putting on a Bobcats uniform.” Charlotte Observer

Charlotte Bobcats, Los Angeles Lakers, Antawn Jamison 

Jamison is fine with the scrutiny attached to a major media market and the Lakers’ winning tradition. What he didn’t anticipate was Los Angeles firing coach Mike Brown five games into the season. Former Bobcats coach/general manager Bernie Bickerstaff filled in before D’Antoni took over. “We had three different training camps with three different coaches,” Jamison said. “So it’s been a lot of confusion on the players’ parts, trying to figure everything out.” Charlotte Observer

Los Angeles Lakers, Mike D'Antoni, Bernie Bickerstaff, Mike Brown, Antawn Jamison 

All that different? “It’s night-and-day between Mike Brown and D’Antoni. Bernie was somewhere in between, trying to hold things together,” Jamison described. “It was totally different, as far as the things each wanted offensively and defensively.” Charlotte Observer

Los Angeles Lakers, Mike D'Antoni, Bernie Bickerstaff, Mike Brown, Antawn Jamison 

Under typical circumstances, when a player signs as a free agent over the summer, they cannot be traded until Dec 15. Now that that date has been reached, the Lakers are now able to deal most of their free-agent acquisitions. This isn't to suggest the Lakers are actually looking to make any specific moves, but technically Jodie Meeks and Antawn Jamison are now trade eligible. Additionally, Devin Ebanks and Darius Morris can be dealt but under the strict rules of the league's collective bargaining agreement, both have the right to block any trade after signing one year-deals (with Bird or Early Bird Rights upon completion). Another wrinkle to the equation is Jordan Hill, who can't be dealt until Jan. 15 after getting a raise greater than 20% from the Lakers. Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Trade, Devin Ebanks, Antawn Jamison, Jordan Hill, Darius Morris, Jodie Meeks 

Samuels is doing his best to stay positive despite the inactivity, but conceded the limited playing time makes him more anxious when he actually does get an opportunity. “I want it to happen now,” Samuels said. “Sometimes it’s like you want it so bad and you’re waiting and waiting, then when it does come, your mind starts racing. You’re overthinking everything. I miss a shot and it’s like, ‘Oh [shoot], I can’t miss a shot.’ “It’s like a broken record, waiting for your opportunity. I wake up like, ‘When is this opportunity going to come?’ That’s the tough part.” Akron Beacon Journal

Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers, Antawn Jamison, Samardo Samuels 

Jamison felt like he was talking to a different Samuels. It certainly wasn’t the same teammate he had the past two years. Jamison said it was “definitely” the most committed he’d seen Samuels to basketball. “He surprised me this summer,” Jamison said. “He was outdoing me. He was there before me lifting in the mornings, working on ball-handling techniques. Then we’d get shots up in the afternoon. He was kicking my [butt]. He was dedicated.” Akron Beacon Journal

Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers, Antawn Jamison, Samardo Samuels