One sequence defined last night’s Lakers/Nuggets national TV preseason game: In the second half, after Kobe Bryant had already come out of the locker room with That Look in his eye, he pulled off his new favorite move on Kenyon Martin; getting him in the air with a pump fake and spinning a quick 360 to his left, dropping a jumper as K-Mart harmlessly floated back to Earth. Then on the Nuggets’ ensuing possession, Kobe jumped a passing lane and finished with a breakway one-hander, slapping on the bottom-teeth snarl as an exclamation point … Read More »

Even after a breakout debut season at Pepperdine, most people don’t know about 6-3 Keion Bell. But with 11 clips on YouTube that include a dunk over a 7-footer and a poster on DeMar Derozan, he’ll soon become a household name. This summer Keion and his 41-inch vertical found his way to the Kobe Basketball Academy where he won the Camp Slam Dunk Contest judged by Kobe, Ice Cube and Josh Powell.

This was supposed to be Jordan Farmar’s season to shine. Having earned some decent playoff and Finals experience in ‘08, the third-year pro would conceivably establish himself as a quality NBA point guard in ‘09, maybe even steal Derek Fisher’s starting job by midseason, and set himself up for a long-term contract extension at the beginning of next season.

Didn’t work out that way. Bothered by injuries and inconsistency, Farmar’s numbers dropped across the board. Read More »