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» Wednesday, May 15 2013

Kobe Bryant comes in at fourth on the SI list, thanks in part to his cap-destroying 27.8 million in salary last season (that jumps to $30 million next season, so expect him back on the list). He also still has $19 million in endorsements. He’s got a sweet Nike deal, too. Third among NBA players and seventh overall on the SI list is Derrick Rose. And the entire city of Chicago rolled its eyes at once. He made $16.4 million in salary and had $17 million in endorsements thanks to a massive Adidas deal. NBCSports.com

On Dwight Howard and Chris Paul. Dirk Nowitzki: We'd love to get one of those two. We'd love to get a player in here who can create his own shot and be a superstar-type player. It's still a long way to go until July. Those guys need to clear their minds a little bit and get away and then start thinking what they want to do with their futures. Hopefully, that's where we come in and put a great pitch out there and see what happens. Dallas Morning News

How big of a boss is Phil Jackson? A fan asked him to showcase all 13 of his NBA championship rings (11 as a coach, two as a player), and he pulled them out like it was nothing. The two rings in the front are from his time as a player in New York. The six in the middle are from his years in Chicago and the five at the top are from when he held it down with the Lakers. Dime

 

» Tuesday, May 14 2013

Game 3 of the Thunder-Grizzlies playoff series on Saturday afternoon managed only a 16.9 rating, the second- lowest rating ever for a Thunder playoff game. The lowest rating, 14.5, also was a second-round playoff game on ESPN on a Saturday (May 7, 2011) in Memphis. The poor rating lowered the four-game series average to 22.1, 18 percent lower than the first four games of the Thunder-Lakers series last year. Oklahoman

Pamela Bryant insists her son gave her the items, which include jerseys, trophies and rings from his high school and professional career. Kobe Bryant denies that, saying he wants to give the items to his children. In a court filing here Monday, Pamela Bryant claimed sworn statements from her son and daughter-in-law contained "many false statements." She rejected Kobe Bryant's account of a May 2 phone conversation, in which she allegedly agreed he never had told her she could have his belongings. "This conversation never occurred, and I never made that statement," Pamela Bryant said. USA Today Sports

After Kobe Bryant sent a cease-and-desist order, Goldin Auctions sued May 2 in a bid for court approval. The firm noted that it has paid a $450,000 advance to Pamela Bryant, who used it to buy a house in Las Vegas. Kobe Bryant filed his own lawsuit May 7 in California, seeking to block the sale. Bryant's sister, Sharia Washington of Las Vegas, supported her brother in a filing Saturday in the West Coast case. "I have frequently heard my mother talk about how the family can make money on items associated with Kobe," she said. USA Today Sports

Metta on whether he’s going to opt out of his contract: “I don’t really know yet. I want to be a Laker for a long time, and hopefully it will work out. Hopefully I can be a Laker for a long time, but at the end of the day I will have nothing to be upset about because there’s so many teams out there. Overseas is paying well now, the Lakers are paying well, everybody is paying well. Lakers Nation

During the interview, Michael Cooper and Lisa Leslie questioned World Peace on myriad topics that included, but weren’t limited to, his thoughts on Dwight Howard, his own contract situation this off season and Mike D’Antoni. Here are some of the highlights from the World Peace interview: Ron on whether Dwight’s joking nature bothered him: “At first it did. When I first met Dwight in our first practices together and our first games in the regular season I was like, ‘he’s joking a little bit too much.’ But then I decided not to judge people and I decided to work with my teammates — so as I got into more games with Dwight — I did see him working really hard, blocking shots, playing with a back injury, but he was still playing hard. So then I said, ‘you know what, we just have to work with what we have.’ But at first, it was a little bit frustrating.” Lakers Nation

Metta on the coaching situation: “I think the difference between the coaches is that Phil obviously has a lot of rings and has coached some great players. I just think Phil is a little bit more demanding of the superstars. I think collectively we may have taken advantage of Mike Brown and Mike D’Antoni, not really giving them enough respect, which wasn’t fair to them. Next year we just have to make sure that we let these coaches coach, because these coaches are great coaches for a reason — they’re Lakers coaches for a reason. If we let them do their job, we’ll have a successful year. Lakers Nation

 

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