Shaquille O'Neal will get his Lakers statue on Friday, and Kobe Bryant couldn't be happier: Only in looking back can Kobe Bryant truly appreciate the impact Shaquille O’Neal had on his career. In basketball history it is impossible to mention one without the other. “When you win three titles together and you’ve had so much impact on one another’s legacy as a player and as a champion,” Bryant said by phone this week. -- Los Angeles Times
Long trips for one game don't sit well with Los Angeles Lakers Coach Luke Walton: In the NBA’s attempt to reduce games on consecutive nights and stretches of four games in five nights, the league has created a schedule quirk that annoys Lakers Coach Luke Walton: One-game trips several time zones away.