Lakers honor the legendary Kobe Bryant with the first of three statues
On February 8th, the Los Angeles Lakers honored all-time great and Laker legend Kobe Bryant with the first of three statues in an emotional ceremony. Several Lakers both past and present attended the ceremony such as the great Magic Johnson, Kobe's former teammate in Lamar Odom and current Laker Austin Reaves. Multiple iconic Laker figures spoke about their memories with the late legend such as the Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, and Kobe's longtime teammate in Derek Fisher. The final speaker was his wife Vanessa Bryant who announced Kobe actually picked the pose for his statue and will have three statues in his honor. The pose comes from one of the most iconic moments in Kobe's legendary career which was the 81 point game he scored on January 22nd, 2006.
This statue has Kobe's original #8 jersey number while the next two will feature his #24 jersey and the final statue will be him alongside his daughter who also tragically passed. With this tribute, Kobe is now the seventh Laker to be immortalized with statues. Previous Laker greats to earn the honor were Elgin Baylor, Shaquille O'Neal, Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, West and announcer Chick Hearn
Are the Los Angeles Clippers the best team in the West?
The Los Angeles Clippers have been playing arguably the best basketball in the NBA since December 1st having lost just six games. Meanwhile, Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard is playing MVP level basketball averaging 24.2 points per game and is still one of the best two-way players in the game. The James Harden has paid off tremendously well as the Clippers have the facilitator they have missed in years. Harden is averaging a team high 8.5 assists and has the Clippers looking the best they have ever looked in the Leonard-George era. With a 35-16 the Clippers are just a half game behind the 1st seeded Timberwolves. The top 4 seeds in the west are separated by just one game. With that said, who should be considered the best team in the west?
The top 4 seeds in the West are all elite teams and though the Clippers are playing the best right now I still think the best team in the west has to be the defending champion Denver Nuggets. Obviously being a defending champion, the Nuggets gets the best from every opponent every night and the fact they could possibly finish as the #1 seed in the west back to back years is very impressive. They also have the best player in the league right now in Nikola Jokic who is once again putting together an MVP caliber season. Still, a Clippers v Nuggets Western Conference Finals matchup with the winner being favored to win it all feels very possible right now.
Jonathan Kuminga's potential: Can he be a franchise player for the Warriors?
This year's Warriors team has not lived up to their expectations this season as their years of being a dynastic team appears to be over though they have been playing better as of late. However, one of their young stars appears to be blossoming before our very eyes. Warriors forward, Jonathan Kuminga previously showed some flashes of his ability in the preseason but has really come on strong recently. With other veteran players on the Warriors such as Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins not playing well this season Kuminga has made most of his opportunity in an increased role.
At just 21 years of age, Kuminga appears to have All-Star potential written all over him due to elite athleticism and skillset. In his third season, he is averaging 15.6 points per game while shooting 53.5% from the field. Still, what truly shows how special Kuminga has been as of late is his numbers over his last 10 games. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is giving his young star an opportunity and Kuminga is taking full advantage of it. With a career high of 34.2 minutes per game average over his last 10 games, Kuminga is averaging 23.4 points per game. Several times through the last few games Kuminga has been the second best player on the Warriors behind Steph Curry. Kuminga's best game of the season came against the Kings where he dropped a career high 31 points in a tough loss to the Kings at home. With Kuminga playing at such a high level and his confidence increasing with his increased role I believe Kuminga has the potential to be a star for years to come.
Game of the week- Steph Curry heroics were on full display at home against the Phoenix Suns in their Saturday night matchup. with 3.3 seconds left, the Warriors got the ball to their superstar after Bradley Beal overplayed the inbound pass. Curry capitalized on the mistake knocking down a game winning three pointer with 0.7 secs leading to a 113-112 win, Curry drops 30 in the win.
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