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Cover Me

Outside's the rain, the driving snow
I can hear the wild wind blowing
Turn out the light, bolt the door
I ain't going out there no more


Nothing like Christmas time in New York City where we enjoyed two off days before playing the Nets on Saturday … arriving in the wee wee hours Thursday morning, we were smiling ear to ear, riding the wave of yet another Kobe thriller (buzzer-beater), this time over the Bucks in Milwaukee on Wednesday evening. Now, we finally had a chance to unwind, catch our breath and allow the inner motors of our mind to churn on this extended road trip .During this time of year, the entire city is lit up like a Christmas tree, lights strewn everywhere you turn ... walking up and down Fifth Avenue, checking out the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, the hustle and bustle, the sounds of Salvation Army bells ringing in the background – ding, ding, ding. I love the whole scene.

Nothing better this time of year. A tad different feel than California in late December. When we didn’t practice, I had a chance to Christmas shop and in New York City, there are too many choices. I shopped on Fifth Avenue for my girlfriend Bre, my mom and even did a little for myself . My brothers and I decided we weren’t going to exchange gifts this year. The team has a secret Santa exchange and I drew Adam Morrison’s name … .I haven’t bought him anything yet and I suppose I should in order to meet Friday’s deadline. We have a cap on how much to spend -- $250 -- I honestly don’t have any idea what to buy him … .If you have any suggestions, I’m all ears, so please send me your thoughts!

Snow Storm

When I wasn’t watching a movie – I saw several in my hotel room – Invention of Lying, Gamer and Law Abiding Citizen, which was my favorite (that movie just took off from the beginning and Jamie Foxx was really good in it.) you couldn’t escape the weather reports, all of which were predicting a huge storm expected to blanket the East Coast Saturday night. We arrived at the Izod Center by 5 p.m. and by then, it was snowing lightly. By the time we left the arena, it was a completely different story. More than a foot of snow had blanketed the area and you honestly couldn’t see more than two feet in front of you in either direction. Phil told everyone after the game to make it as quick as possible. The earlier we left the better the chance we had to take off to Detroit for Sunday night’s game. After showering and a quick media session with reporters, we boarded our bus and headed South on the New Jersey Turnpike.

What normally would be a 20-minute ride, took us more than two hours to arrive at Newark Airport. There was next to nothing in terms of visibility. Cars were banked on the side of the road, some were spinning out of control, falling victim to Mother Nature. But our bus driver was in full command, safely navigating through this frozen tundra. We quickly boarded our plane, which had to be de-iced two times. When we finally got airborne, the flight was a little choppy for the first 10 minutes but once we flew over the bad weather, it was a pretty smooth flight. We arrived a little after 3 a.m. (3:08 to be precise!) and walked into our hotel around 4 or so ... this is my seventh season in the NBA and I can’t ever remember as narrow of an escape out of a city due to weather than Saturday night.


Back Update

I’ve played only nine games this season ... I’ve had back spasms which were caused by a pinched nerve in my lower back. The back spasms are now gone and every day I’m trying to build up muscles in that area through a variety of core exercises. I’m grateful to be traveling with the team because you feel part of the mix. Yet it makes it that much harder when they’re practicing, talking trash and you’re on the sidelines. Being sidelined certainly tests your patience although I try to keep things in perspective. The coaches have been more than supportive and I appreciate that. I hope to practice in a couple of weeks. If I’m cleared to practice, then it’s all about getting my game and conditioning on track.


Thunder Crack

Round and round and round and round …

I want to first thank the fans all over the world for voting on NBA.com for the Thunder-Lakers game to be shown on NBA TV for Tuesday night’s Fan Night marquee game. You rock. It’s always great to have your support. Wherever we go on the road, it doesn’t matter the arena, there is always a healthy representation of purple and gold!

Tuesday’s matchup features one of the hottest young teams in the league. The Thunder are a dangerous team. They have a core of young talented players led by Kevin Durant, who has the makings of being a future superstar, plus Jeff Green, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, who I really like out of Arizona State. The front office deserves a lot of credit for not only knowing how to draft but also complementing these players with some key veterans. Nenad Krstic and Thabo Sefolosha play key roles on the team. Even Shaun Livingston is getting some key minutes and deserves a lot of credit for coming back from serious knee surgeries.

If the Thunder can keep that nucleus together and everyone continues to buy into their roles, this team will be a perennial playoff contender and should continue to climb the Western Conference ladder in years to come.

When we played in Oklahoma City on November 3, the Thunder really challenged us. The crowd and atmosphere were electric. However, Pau didn’t play in that game. Now he’s back and playing great so the Thunder will have their hands full.

Even them dance hall hacks
From the west side of the tracks


Tower 1 Gets It Started

I want to express my sincere condolences to former Laker great and current broadcaster, Mychal Thompson, who recently lost his mom, Marriett. Mychal had to take a leave of absence from his broadcasting duties and I was asked if I wanted to fill in for two games. So, I said, sure.I then asked my dad, Big Bill, for some advice. He told me, “Luke, just listen to what Spero says and you’ll do great.”

My dad was right.

Spero Dedes is the radio play-by-play guy on 710 ESPN here in Los Angeles and Mychal’s broadcast partner. Spero made it easy. He would set up the questions and all I had to do was just talk basketball, something I’ve been doing my entire life.The first game behind the mike was against the Timberwolves in Los Angeles. I thought that was a pretty good game to start with since I’m familiar with Minnesota’s head coach, Kurt Rambis, who spent many years here as an assistant. I knew all of the plays that were being run out there.

Andrew Bynum led things off …

"There we go, Tower 1, getting it started, hitting the glass," I said emphatically.

I call Gasol Tower 2.

I felt comfortable broadcasting the game, except when Spero asked me to comment about the Lakers bench being outplayed by Minnesota’s, then I had to draw the line. After all, I’m part of that unit. I’m not going to say anything negative about that group. Overall, broadcasting was a lot of fun although it’s not nearly as fulfilling as playing basketball. I want to continue to play basketball as long as I can. I can’t even think about life after basketball. I want to play forever.

Next blog tease – Kobe and LeBron and the Christmas Day Showdown … ..