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LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Kobe Bryant went out with a Hollywood ending to his remarkable career. Bryant scored 60 points in his final game Wednesday night, wrapping up 20 years in the NBA with an unbelievable offensive showcase in the Los Angeles Lakers' 101-96 victory over the Utah Jazz. He scored 23 points in the fourth quarter, posting his first 50-point game since February 2009 and rallying the Lakers from a 15-point deficit to win the final game of the worst season in franchise history. The entire night was a tribute to Bryant, who is retiring after 20 seasons, five...

Rod Hundley, basketball’s irrepressible Hot Rod, who parlayed showmanship on the court with flair at the microphone to become a fan favorite for more than half a century, died on Friday at his home near Phoenix. He was 80. Hundley was an electrifying presence at West Virginia University, played for the Lakers and stamped his persona on broadcasting, mostly for the New Orleans Jazz. “Nobody did the things I did on the court and nobody has done them since,” Hundley said of his collegiate exploits in “Hot Rod Hundley: You Gotta Love It Baby!” (2012), written with Tom McEachin. “I’d...

Ex-NBA referee Tim Donaghy recently accused the NBA of coercing referees to help the Brooklyn Nets defeat the less glamorous Toronto Raptors in their first round playoff series. This echoes previous claims by Donaghy about the NBA manipulating games. The most notorious example is Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference finals, when the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers staved off elimination by defeating the Sacramento Kings. Donaghy alleged that two referees (understood to be Dick Bavetta and Bob Delaney) fixed the game. Donaghy was convicted of betting on games so he may not seem a reliable accuser, but...

Kobe Bryant, the world-renowned shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, admitted a position that is sure to irk liberals at a time when race relations in America remain incredibly low. At a time when black celebrities and political figures are routinely targeted by the left for any perceived lack of solidarity with leftist causes, Bryant recently sat down with The New Yorker to discuss a wide range of topics and admitted that he refuses to support Trayvon Martin simply because he’s black. According to News One: In the March 31 issue of the New Yorker, Kobe Bryant discussed life,...

Flynn Robinson passed away on Thursday at age 72 after a battle with cancer (multiple myeloma). Robinson was a 6-foot-1 guard who played just one, special season with the Lakers.

Jerry Buss, the longtime owner of the Lakers whose penchant for showmanship helped turn the game of basketball into “Showtime” and who led the team to 10 NBA championships, died Monday. He was 80.

Fred Schaus, a former Los Angeles Lakers coach and general manager who mentored Jerry West and Hot Rod Hundley at West Virginia, has died.

Noted Chicagoan and basketballophile Barack Obama appears to be writing off the California vote in 2012, at least the basketball fans around Los Angeles. In a pre-holiday interview with the Associated Press, Obama was asked who was the better player -- six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan or four-time champion Kobe Bryant? Without even a moment's hesitation, the ex-senator from Illinois blurted out, "Oh, Michael!" Then, apparently realizing what he'd just said and the profound impact on any 2012 election, the new president hastened to add: "I mean, Kobe's terrific. Don't get me wrong. But I haven't seen anybody match up...

Some good news for NBA fans: The rivarly is truly back! It's the Boston Celtics v.s. the Los Angeles Lakers in the '08 NBA Finals! It should be a decent series, and the national TV ratings should be decent as well.

Phil Jackson, who guided the Lakers to four Finals appearances in five seasons but was cast adrift last June, will be reintroduced as coach of the team this afternoon at a 2 p.m. news conference at Staples Center.

Malone to Lakers a lockLAST UPDATE: 7/10/2003 4:35:57 PMA league source told ESPN the Magazine's Ric Bucher that Karl Malone has decided to join the Los Angeles Lakers. In addition, Clear Channel sister station KXTA in Los Angeles is reporting that Malone has accepted Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak's offer and will make an announcement shortly. Kupchak, however, isn't ready to celebrate anything now, though. No contracts can be signed until July 16 - when the NBA sets its salary cap for the coming season. Charles Oakley and Lorenzen Wright in 1999 teased the Lakers with talk of accepting the...

Article argues that NBA Commissioner David Stern wanted so much for the Los Angeles Lakers to extend their two-consecutive NBA championships to a "threepeat," that he fixed the Western Conference Finals against the Sacramento Kings.