Sad and angry and thankful. That’s how I feel.

First, the sad part: Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven other souls perished in a helicopter crash yesterday. Kobe was only 41. I only met him twice—at an Academy Awards symposium and then backstage in the winners room when he subsequently won an Oscar for his work on Dear Basketball—and only followed his career from afar, safely in the confines of my personal man cave, so I won’t invent false grief from my end when the affected family, friends and former teammates deserve this space. My condolences go out to everyone who loved him and knew him. At the same time, I am sad, and he’s a guy who meant an excessive amount to me during a time when sports shouldn’t have meant so much.

Maybe I wasn’t part of his life, but he was a huge part of mine. He gave joy to me in a time where joy was rationed to me. So it’s a dreadful day for Lakers fans, as well as fans of basketball in general. I cannot recall an athlete dying who crossed so many borders of industry and life, was so dear so much to so many people in so many different worlds, or was idolized so passionately by the youth looking for a clear path to their dream.

Kobe passed away before the Basketball Hall of Fame found a place for him. He’s going to make it this year, as scheduled (this summer’s finalists have already been announced and he will be part of the arguably the best incoming class ever). Now, they’ll have the ceremony without him in Springfield, Mass., and everyone will say, “It’s a proud day, but it’s also a bittersweet day because he wasn’t here to see it,” and then they’ll put up his plaque and we’ll go on with our sadness.

Now, the angry part, the majority of fans who are rightfully sad and distressed love him for his basketball life, still holding near and dear his incredible play on the court. Indisputably, Kobe was as top 10 player of all time, and 18 time all star, and the greatest defensive guard of his era, maybe of any era: nine first team All-Defensive appearances and on the second team). That doesn’t even begin to describe how destructive he played on that end. He was equally devastating on the offensive end. I am angry because someone I was awe in on the court was making real impact off the court. My access the Academy Awards allowed me to see his work and spend time in his presence. Hear his philosophies in candid situations, away from the cameras. He was real at that symposium. He wasn’t someone trying to grab the spotlight from Glen Keane as they spoke about his “love letter to basketball.” He spoke of the process and was thankful to his teammate who made his concept into something real. Detractors will tell you he won because of name recognition but truly this film was easily the best short film nominated that year. His relentless work ethic that drove his 20 years in the NBA also propelled drive his transformation into a business mogul, author, mentor, and advocate of women’s sports. I saw this through the prism of my media work. I am better off for the experiences. It seems impossible to find anyone in this sphere of human who did so much for so many.

The thankful part lays in his Mamba Mentality. He validated my intense love for the process of gaining success through hard work. He nicknamed himself the Mamba and it stuck and authored “The Mamba Mentality: How I Play,” a book where his revealed his famously detailed approach and the steps he took to prepare mentally and physically to not just succeed at the game, but to excel. We learned how he studied an opponent, how he channeled his passion for the game, and how he played through injuries. In the book he described Mamba Mentality: “To be on a constant quest to try to be the best version of yourself. That’s what the mentality is. It’s not a finite thing. It’s a constant quest to try to be better today than you were yesterday and better tomorrow than you were the day before.”

I’ve been preaching this mentality in my process since I was 20 working in New York City. Be a grinder I tell my people. It’s the clear path to success. Some people can’t handle this intensity. I was far more intensive as a young person. I’ve mellowed as I hit my fifties. I don’t throw hockey pucks through glass doors, and micromanage every detail of my staff’s daily workload. But I’ve never relented on the need for following the process. Kobe was that way too. You were either on board and all in, or he didn’t want to play with you. Every player who wanted to take the easier route and cut corners by ignoring the process received my mocking smile. I did the same when others on my three decades of marketing/advertising teams got the same treatment.

Today, I am searching to make sense of all of this tragedy. I doubt I ever will. Maybe I should be thankful for the many versions of Kobe I experienced in 24 years of being near his rarefied air.

The post Mamba Mentality: The Random Cruelty of Losing Kobe Bryant appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.

According to those who care about me (yeah, yeah, oxymoron) I spend an inordinate amount of time at Staples Center from October to May each year. I mean, who wouldn’t? Kings, Lakers, concerts. There’s also the Clippers, but no one cares.

Today I’m back at Staples Center—media pass in hand—to cover the unveiling of former Lakers superstar Shaquille O’Neal. If you’re not a basketball fan, you still might know him as the player with the most noms de plume in the history of sports:

-The Big Aristotle
-Diesel
-Shaq Daddy
-Wilt Chamberneezy
-Big Shaqtus
-Superman
-Big Shamrock

Statue unveiling are seldom worthy of a blog column or covering other to see stars are breathe the same air they breathe. I’ve covered some of the Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremonies…Jennifer Aniston, Katy Perry, Kate Winslet, LL Cool J, Jeff Lynne, and more…but I always dream of a ceremony like the time Clubber Lang mocked Rocky Balboa in Rocky III. Lang was desperate to get Rocky into the ring and started insulting Adrian:

Then it was on. Well, kind of. *-See the clip below to see how to call out someone at a press conference or a statue unveiling. Yet, I digress…

Shaquille O’Neal with his new statue.

Shaq (also a nickname) became the latest Lakers legend to be honored in sculpture form at the Staples Center. Fellow Lakers legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Phil Jackson, Jerry West, and Kobe Bryant joined the fun at an unveiling ceremony, during which the imposing 1,000 pound statue was formally revealed.

This isn’t any statue, it’s possible the greatest statue in the history of sports tributes.

The mammoth sculpture depicts O’Neal pulling down a basketball rim as a freshly-dunked ball drops through through the rippling net. At almost nine feet tall, the statue is just a bit larger than Shaq himself. It’s only fitting that Shaq be honored in bronze. Lakers president Jeanie Buss pointed out that O’Neal broke ground for Staples Center in 1998 and was the leader of a team that brought the venue’s its first three titles.

This is the eighth statue honoring a Los Angeles sports icon to be unveiled at the Staples Center’s Star Plaza—though O’Neal is one of the few to have actually played in the building.

Shaq Ceremony Highlights:

* – Clubber Lang provokes Rocky Balboa at his own statue ceremony:

Luc Robitaille / Los Angeles Kings

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar / Los Angeles Lakers

Oscar De La Hoya

Jerry West / Los Angeles Lakers

Sorry…didn’t cover this one…Wayne Gretzky / / Los Angeles Kings

Marge Hearn with her late husband’s statue…Chick Hearn / Los Angeles Lakers

Magic Johnson / Los Angeles Lakers

Sorry, didn’t cover this one either…Los Angeles Kings 50th Anniversary

The post Statue Unveilings appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.

Jack Kent Cooke (second from the left) at the Forum Groundbreaking.

Hockey meant more to me than a fan pulling for his team while time passed before my eyes over countless chill-inducing goals, bone crunching fights, and milk-curdling screams. Hockey was family, starting straight at the top of the organizational chart: Jack Kent Cooke.

Many of you might not know Jack Kent Cooke. Cooke was the visionary owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and starting on February 9, 1966, he was the owner of the Kings as well. Lucky me, my dad’s second wife worked for Cook’s Fabulous Forum in Inglewood, California. At some point, she imploded and gave back her title as “dad’s wife”, exchanging it for her new moniker as “Carina, the Mystic Psychic.” I’m not sure what others thought, but to me she was definitely more psychotic than psychic. Yet I digress..

As Stan Kroenke brings the Rams back to St. Louis with grand dreams of Inglewood, let is be known that Cooke was the original King of Inglewood. The Fabulous Forum was regarded as one of the best arena in the United States, a great place to watch a game before corporate suites, stadium sushi, and $35 parking took over the fan experience.

WARNING: Shameless self-promotion coming. In my forthcoming book (When? Don’t ask!), loosely titled “Behind The Mike: Mostly True Stories from the Media Guy” chronicles my time working for the great Jack Kent Cooke. (Did I mention before this is my fifth book in print? There I go digressing again!). Well, enough patting myself on the back because I think I’ve pocketed enough change from these four tomes to pay a month or two of car insurance premiums. Sounds good on paper, but unless you’re J.K. Rowling, George R. R. Martin, or E. L. James, don’t quit your day jobs boys and girls.

Perhaps I need to add some initials to my name. Maybe that’s the ticket.

Regardless, here’s an excerpt from the book:

Spending hours learning the intrinsic points of astrology with Carina night after night convinced me she was more psychotic than psychic. Nonetheless, she worked in the ticket office of the Fabulous Forum. What did this mean? It meant that tickets for any Los Angeles Lakers and Kings games or the best concerts in the Southland that weren’t sold out, would be ours for the asking. Although Inglewood is eyesore now, in the mid-seventies, the area had not yet been overrun with urban blight and crime. A five-year-old could still walk four blocks to save three cents on a gallon of fifty-three cent milk and attend professional hockey games, alone. 

And attend I did, to the tune of 200 Lakers and Kings games in three years. We could barely make rent, but I had seats just as good as Dyan Cannon and Jack Nicholson, and I knew more about offsides and rebounding than any six-year-old on Earth. But that wasn’t the best thing about Carina’s job.  

When there was a sold out event in town—something like the circus or the Harlem Globetrotters or Led Zeppelin—I earned my admission by working for a few days in her office. No adult in the office could touch my speed and accuracy stuffing season tickets into envelopes, matching them to the correct address label, affixing postage and getting the mail out by 4:00 P.M. Screw OSHA and whatever child labor laws existed back then, I was the king of direct mail (even at six years old). 

Can you imagine the late Dr. Jerry Buss entrusting a five- or seven-year-old with $5000-a-seat season tickets today? Yeah, I don’t think so. 

The immortal Jack Kent Cooke was a whole different story. 

The 1974 Lakers, Kings and Fabulous Forum were owned by the colorful and eccentric Cooke. He loved sports, also owning the Washington Redskins and a stable of race horses at one point. He was married five times with the last lady being a former Bolivian drug runner forty years younger than him.  

Cooke was the reason everything worked at the Fabulous Forum. He was more than an idea man. He was a doer. Everybody talks about you have to have an idea. Whenever one of his advisors would come to him with a bright idea, the first thing Cooke used to tell his advisors was: “IDEAS ARE OVER-RATED UNLESS YOU HAVE A GUY WHO CAN EXECUTE IT.” 

His people would always come up to him with these ideas. Getting the Beatles back together was brought up a few times while I was around. He would say you have to come up with an entertainment plan that you’re smart enough to execute it. And, he wouldn’t stop there.  

“You don’t have to be brilliant to come up with an idea,” he bellowed in his graveled, yet pitchy voice. “But you DO have to brilliant to come up with an idea and then execute it for fifteen years. There are a million people who open restaurants with great ideas. Sixty percent are closed in two years. So you have to be able to execute.” 

Then he would take a breath before instructing his idea people to “come back to me when you have a plan; not an idea.” 

Cooke was always nice to me. The ladies in his office loved it when he would talk to me and give life lessons. Essentially I was his puppy; a chick magnet if you will. He introduced me to F. Scott Fitzgerald saying that his life was “better than any of that guy’s crappy novel.” He let me turn on the arena lights a time or two. He showed me the preliminary artwork for media guides and the pocket schedules. Jack Kent Cooke gave me my first taste of the media. 

I loved this guy because he was a very hands-on owner; at least with the female staff. As a matter of fact, I can’t recall seeing anyone on his direct staff than was a man. Never saw a guy around him who wasn’t a reporter, player or public relations-type person. 

Controlling the message was key for Cooke; at the office, with reporters, around the media. He wasn’t about to be played by them. It was so important, that he once paid $176 million for the Los Angeles Daily News newspaper.

A couple of times he let me stuff those aforementioned envelopes in his office while being interviewed by the newspapers. He commanded the room with his humor. His colossal entrepreneurial acumen blended effortlessly with his no-nonsense business sense. Cooke handled everything his way. 

And, when the media was around, he owned them quite simply. In this respect, I wanted to be just like him. (I’m still working on that part.)

Excerpted from Behind The Mike: Mostly True Stories from the Media Guy by Michael Lloyd.

Copyright © 2016 by Michael Lloyd.

Excerpted by permission of me, Michael Lloyd. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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I’m at the LA Art Show rubbing elbows with Oscar-winner Anne Hathaway and Natasha Henstridge, the alien goddess from Species. Getting here was another story. The traffic from Hollywood to the

dilapidated convention center in Downtown Los Angeles was nothing short of terrifying frustration. I mean, really? 58 minutes to go 5.5 miles? Sheesh! And that’s not counting the 22 minutes I spent at one of our new Dunkin’ Donuts with a winding line of coffee hipsters.

Once upon a time strolling into your local cafe or McDonald’s or food truck to get a cup of inspirational joe to jump start your creative process was simple. You ordered it black or cream and sugar slapped a George Washington on the counter and sauntered out with contented smile to greet your mountain of work. Since when did getting coffee become such an ordeal?

Like many of America’s problems, this one is rooted in a common theme: too much variety. Of course, you can get any of these varieties:

…and this doesn’t include the Frappuccinos and the food…yet I digress.

I finally make it to the front of the line and I ask for a large coffee and the I’m asked, “Iced or Hot?” Now I’m as open-minded as the next guy, but I recoiled. “Allow me to give you a quick tutorial…” I whispered. “The day ‘hot’ is not the default assumption for a cup of coffee is the day I drive over a cliff Thelma & Louise style. I would no sooner ask you for an iced coffee than I would sit down at Ruth’s Chris and ask the waiter for a frozen steak and point.” At that point the young lady behind the counter was near tears as she suggested I leave.

So I drove to a Starbucks where their drink menu is even more absurdly huge and I’m forced to change my vocabulary to Italian. Small is tall, medium is grande and large is venti. The twentysomething couple in front of me ordered a caramel praline Frappuccino with three pumps of mocha, a pumpkin spice loaf slice and two straws. They probably could have heard me roll my eyes but they were too busy talking about buying a new outfit for their beagle.

A rendering of Shaq’s sweet bronze statue to be.

Not a soul in that Starbucks was ordering a regular coffee but me. I felt as if I walked into a Nordstrom and asked where I could buy a pair of dungarees and a straw hat. The barista asked me my name to write on the cup and I told it was “Exasperated.”

I did strike up an interesting conversation while waiting for my coffee that required a pour-over since they were out of regular coffee. The lady in front of me noted that only in LA could people come together after parting so acrimoniously. Under the heading of “reunited and it feels so good,” the master media manipulator of NBA past, Shaquille O’Neal, and the Los Angeles Lakers has reconciled. Thanks to the Lakers and AEG, the Diesel is getting a bad-ass stature at Staples Center some time during the 2016-2017 season. At least there’s free wi-fi, right?

What happened to the regular cup of coffee? Let’s invest in a red can of Folgers or a blue can of Maxwell House and not worry if the beans were picked by a kid making ten cents a day. Pour that black gold into a ceramic glazed 22-ounce mug and celebrate the simplicity of inspirational caffeine.

How foolish of me to have wasted all that time shopping for some java. The convention had a Starbucks one escalator ride down from the main entrance at the art show. It justs goes to show you, inspiration is everywhere!

A pregnant Anne Hathaway rocked the red carpet seventies style…

…with a mini Marc Jacobs dress and Miu Miu sandals.

Natasha Henstridge still among the finest Species at any event.

Ever find that diamond Billy Zane?

Ever catch Odette Annable in Banshee? You should.

Kathleen Robertson is a hidden treasure.

Perrey Reeves sparkled.

Oh Donna…Sarah Rafferty aka Donna Paulsen from Suits has the best walk in Hollywood.

The post In Search of Coffee and Art appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.

On the occasion of Kobe Bryant’s retirement announcement, I was able to do a sit down with arguably the greatest Laker of all-time and top ten NBA legend…

MEDIA GUY: You said in the past you didn’t want a farewell tour when you retire. Now that you have announced you’re going to retire at the end of the season, a farewell tour is basically what you are getting every time you go outside L.A. How is it feeling?

Copyright 2015 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)

KOBE BRYANT: It was feeling – it feels great, actually. I mean, you know, I don’t really consider it much of a tour. I think it – like the way it’s been going has been so beautiful. I mean just like I’m paying my respects to the fans and they’re doing the same in turn. I just think it’s just a beautiful moment that takes place. After 20 years of playing to be able to – for me to say thank you to them and them to say thank you back, I couldn’t have imagined it any better than it is.

MG: In the past 20 years building your legacy, when you step off the court for the last time as a player, what did you leave behind for yourself, and more important, what would you take with you?

KB: I think what I leave from behind, I don’t know if I leave anything behind outside of just the physical representation of what my 20-year career has been, right? So, you know, the training, the actual act of going out and playing and scoring and defending and doing those sorts of things. Kind of like the shell of who I’ve been for the last 20 years, I think that’s what I leave behind. But what carries on with me is the spirit that represents those physical manifestations. So, the understanding of perseverance, of how to deal with failure, how to handle successes, understanding how to communicate with others, understanding how to understand others, empathy, compassion and things like that. Those are things that I’ll carry with me forever, so as I’m leaving behind kind of like the physical shell of what I’ve been for 20 years, everything else I’m carrying with me forever.

MG: Adam Silver said last week that he would very much like to have you involved in All-Star weekend. With no disrespect, if you’re not voted in by the fans or selected by the coaches, would you like some sort of honorary role in the last All-Star Weekend of your long career?

KB: You know, I think I’ve been very fortunate to have played in so many All-Star games. For me, to not be voted in, I know it’s hard really to process but when I say that I’m completely fine with that because I’ve had an amazing run, right? And at some point you have to be able to be okay with letting that go, you know, and you have to be okay with passing the game along and doing all you can to help the game continue to grow and continue to evolve, right? So that’s my way of letting you know that I’m completely fine with whatever role I’d have at All-Star weekend.

MG: What were the top five best players and the best teams you’ve faced in your career in the NBA?

KB: Let’s see. Top five teams that I’ve faced, I’d probably say San Antonio Spurs were always tough. Sacramento Kings in the playoffs were tough. The Boston Celtics in 2008 were tough. Detroit Pistons in 2004 were tough. I’d say the Chicago Bulls, obviously when I first came in the league they were tough.

Top players, let’s see: Hakeem Olajuwan, Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Clyde Drexler. I have to – players is a little tougher for me because I came in the league where there were so many great players playing like John Stockton was still playing; Clyde Drexler was still playing. Gary Payton, Anfernee – I mean it was a lot of – so the top five players is a little tough for me.

MG: The first thing when people hear the name of LA Lakers is the first thing they think of is Kobe Bryant. So what do you think of the Lakers will be like as a team after you’ve left? Are there any guys you consider being the next potential big star for the Lakers? Second, could you imagine coming back to the Lakers one day as a trainer or mentor?

KB: I’ll answer the last question first. I think I’ll always be around and not just from a Lakers’ standpoint but also just with players around the league just to be a mentor to continue to talk and help them out through things and I’ve done that for a while now and I’ll continue to do that.

In terms of the Lakers, I mean the Lakers are going to continue to represent what they’ve always represented which is excellence. I mean they’ve always stood for that. They’ve always stood for winning championships and that being the most important thing. You know, Magic represented that. I happen to represent that and the next player will represent that as well. So I don’t see that changing much at all. I mean we’ll obviosuly go through periods of rebuilding and things of that nature but the core of the organization and the franchise will always be the same which is winning.

MG: The last time you were in Africa was in 2010 for the World Cup. With your retirement would we be seeing you more at the NBA’s global events in Africa?

KB: Well, yeah. I definitely plan on helping the game spread and helping kids all around the world understand the kind of the metaphors that come along with the game, right? When I was growing up, I was a product of that growing up overseas. So, you know, when I step away from the game I definitely look forward to visiting places like Africa and being able to teach the game and all that surrounds it. So, yes.

MG: When you do retire, will there be a certain relief that you won’t have to put your body and your mind through all the pressures that come with being a great basketball player, or will you actually miss the tension of being of an elite athlete?

KB: That is a very complicated answer. You know, it’s not the healthiest of choices to make to be able to live this way, you know what I mean? I think I’m one of the people that actually enjoy it and a certain aspect, like when the summer time comes around, for example, when you’re not in that frame of mind, you realize how peaceful and how relaxing life could be. But then you’re also not comfortable because you’re used to and you like being that feeling of constant pressure and constant training and body being sore and always, you know, worrying about the next game or whatever, right? So, there is something that is like an adjustment period I think to not being able to have this type of pressure, not being able to have those moments that I think is going to be a bit of an adjustment.

MG: Given the way you handled the expectations so well throughout your career, I wanted to know what sort of advice you’d have for someone like Ben Simmons who is coming in as a potential number one draft pick next season. Also, if you’ve had a chance to watch Ben, what are your impressions of him?

KB: So, I think he’s a fantastic player. I think he has obviously a tremendous amount of potential. I think the key really is just loving what you do. I mean that’s the magic of it, man, is really loving it and you know you love it when you actually enjoy the process of it all. So, you know, if you love getting ready, if you love training, if you love preparing just as much as you love the end result of winning or even moreso than the end result of winning, then you know you have something truly, truly special and that’s something that you can’t beat. That’s something that you can’t bring out of a person. You either love that thing or you don’t.

MG: After you retire do you have more specific plans to come back to Shanghai or China to do more activities?

KB: I do definitely plan on coming back more and continuing to teach the game, continuing to help the kids not just about the game of basketball but understanding all that surrounds the game of basketball and the potentials that are there as well. So, you know, I definitely look forward to coming back there more than I’ve been able to do in the past because of schedules.

MG: Allen Iverson said a few days ago there will never, ever be another player like Kobe Bryant. Do you agree with that? And if you do, do you see someone close to you among the young players, for example?

KB: Well, I mean, you know, we’re all different players, you know what I mean? We’re all different players, we’re all different people. There’s never another Magic, there’s never another Bird, there’s never another Michael, now there’s never another me just because we’re just different people. I mean the way I went about it is different. The way the next player will go about it will be different as well, right? So, you know, we all kind of do things our own way.

I think there’s a lot of young talent in this league today. I think there’s – the game has been skewed a little more towards point guards and there being a tremendous amount of – you know, that being said, I think there’s going to be a player that over the next ten years is going rise above them all, maybe, right? He’s got to be a player that comes out and wins more championships than everybody else and maybe they’ll be that player and maybe there won’t be. Maybe there will be so much parity around the league. Maybe one player will win it one year, another player will win it the next year and then kind of go back and forth. So that remains to be seen.

Copyright 2015 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)

MG: Do you think in these past years with all your injuries, do you think if the basketball gods have treated you unfairly, and if there’s any chance – you said in the past that you would like some time playing with Pau in Barcelona. Is there any chance that we see that?

KB: So, I’ll answer the last question. I would have loved to have played overseas for a season but it’s not going to happen. I wish I could have done it but I can’t. Body won’t let me and that’s completely fine.

In terms of the basketball gods, no, I think we have a very good relationship. I mean we understand each other very well and I think it’s our responsibility as athletes to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves, good, bad or indifferent. So, whatever comes my way I’m absolutely able to pivot and to handle those situations and deal with those situations. You know, the injuries that I’ve had, I’ve always been able to look at those from a positive light and learn from those things, and also take advantage of opportunities that come as a direct result of those injuries – other things to focus on, other things to plan for. So, no, I don’t think the basketball gods have treated me unfairly. I think they’ve given me a fantastic opportunity.

MG: What’s changed in the past six games since you announced your retirement? Prior to that you were shooting below 30% and now you’re shooting almost 50%? Has there been just more relaxing, a more enjoyable tour for you?

KB: No, I don’t think so. I think it was a matter of my legs catching up and I think it’s a matter of my timing catching up too. I mean it’s very easy for us to kind of get caught up in the emotionality of it all and kind of forget to look at the tactics of it all. And what my body has been through for the last three seasons, I mean my body has been through a lot; physically, it’s been through a lot. Then on top of the fact it’s very easy to forget that I haven’t played because of it, right? So, the last three years I haven’t really had a chance to play that much in the NBA and so the timing is off, rhythm is off, things like that, so it was really just a matter of me being patient with myself, continuing to train, continuing to trust the training that I’ve done all summer and continue to do during the season and believe that eventually the timing will come back. I think really that’s what happened.

MG: Are you are coming to the Olympic Games in Rio and repeat what Magic Johnson did in ’92? If you would like to end your career playing alongside LeBron and Curry?

KB: I mean we’ll see. I mean it’s not something I’m absolutely pressing for but being part of the Olympics is such a beautiful experience. I grew up overseas. I grew up in Italy so to be able to see how basketball became such an international sport firsthand, it would be a beautiful thing personally to be able to finish my career on an international stage. But that being said, we’ll see how everything goes.

MG: Which place do you think you will occupy in NBA history after your retirement; Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson and everybody, what place do you think you will have in history? Behind them or next to them?

KB: You know, the way I look at it is I try to look at my legacy and how it impacts the future of the game. So I’m not looking at my legacy from the standpoint of where do I fit in with the greatest of all time; to me that’s a moot point and for me personally it’s much of a shallow argument. I think the most important thing and the most beautiful thing is how does your legacy impact the generation of players to come or the generation of players that are currently playing. If I feel like what I’ve done and what I’ve stood for for these 20 years has impacted the players today and the players tomorrow in a positive way in the way that they can then carry that legacy on themselves and impact the generation to follow, I think that’s much more significant than where I stand in history.

MG: You talked about growing up in Italy and being kind of a soccer fan. I wanted to get your take on the eight-year bans handed down to Platini and Sepp Blatter today. How much do you follow the game now and do you think this is – just the corruption thing going on is a big first step to maybe cleaning house and getting world football in a good place?

KB: Yes. Yes, I think that’s always a touchy thing, right, because you’re dealing with such big business. It’s impossible to monitor and manage everything every step of the way, so I think this is an important first step to clean up the sport. You know, we like to think in our society and in our culture with life being as tough and as brutal as it is sometimes that we can escape all of that stuff through the purity of sport, right? Sports is supposed to be an escapism for us all and when something like this happens, you know, it really damages kind of the emotional Shangri-La that you get from enjoying sport, right? So I think it’s the first step. I think there’s much more to do but I’m sure they’re on top of it and I’m sure the sport will be as pure as we once believed it to be.

MG: What was your teammates reaction when you dunked on Clint Capela. After all you’ve achieved in your career, what did you make of that? Secondly, what do the Lakers need to do to move on after Kobe Bryant?

KB: How they reacted is pretty much how I was feeling inside. I mean in the things that I’ve accomplished, you know, being able to drive and dunk like that after all that my body has been through was one of the special moments of my career. My body has been through a lot, man, so, you know, to be able to get to the basket and to elevate and finish like that for me was like a – it was personally gratifying. It was like it was a reward for all of the hours that I spend training and working and stretching and, you know, so it felt good to see that hard work pay off. So, I was – you know, I was very excited to see them excited. You know what I mean?

Then your follow-up question was about the Lakers and what they can do going forward. I mean what we do going forward is just make smart decisions, make smart choices. Build the team; that’s what we have to do. We have to build the championship caliber team. We have to get talent. We have to make smart decisions, smart trades, creative acquisitions, things of that nature. We just have to make smart choices.

MG: When you do look back on your career, the respect that you’ve got across the league, you’ve got a big game coming up in Boston and, you know, even though the fans have given you a fair bit of criticism over the years, I guess, there’s also that respect there. Are you looking forward to playing there?

KB: I am looking forward to playing there. That’s always been one of my favorite places to play. The fans are so knowledgeable about the game and there’s so much history in that city, so much history. They’re extremely conscious of that, as am I, and so it’s always been a special place to play. Playing them in two Finals, you know, as a kid I dreamed about having those moments countless times.  So to go there one last time and play and be in that city one more time is going to be a beautiful, beautiful moment.

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Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak spoke to reporters from his office on Wednesday morning, discussing
both Tuesday’s draft lottery and the team’s ongoing coaching search.

The post MGS Chat: Mitch Kupchak appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.

During the summer of 2006, with W. ruining our favor with the world, the dollar collapsing and my beloved Lakers redefining a tragic “we suck” rebuilding stage, I caught the travel bug. It’s not something you can take of Sudafed and sleep it off. It can only be cured by hitting road. Luckily I work for a marketing boutique where I HAVE to travel. Poor me, right? Traveling has come to define me and my perspectives.

Along the road I find myself talking to a lot of people. Anonymity and an outgoing nature is a powerful elixir for mixing tales of truth and allowing perfect strangers to tell you virtually everything about themselves.

Take last Monday on my way to Reno for the Western Fairs Association annual conference. Trust me, I get to more exotic lands usually — Paris, Dubai, Beirut, London — but I’ll have to save those for another time. Anyway…

…I’m at Burbank Airport, a quick commuter landing strip where I can get through security in less than two hours and usually have time to text and check email.

Monday mornings at the Burbank are special though. Nothing to be taken with a grain of salt. The worker’s least favorite day here is “Stripper Monday.” No, there aren’t shiny metal poles in the center where twentysomethings writhe for tips and trips to the Champagne Room. This is the day where the strippers return home from Vegas after a long weekend working the alcohol-soaked clubs.

As I killed time watching the tight jeans and high heels pass by, I struck up a conversation with my neighbor in wait, a thirtysomething, petite redhead who’s Blackberry was glued to her thumbs, that went something like this:

ME: Good news! Flight’s on time, got to connect through Vegas. Where are you heading to?

HER: I’m headed to Phoenix from Vegas.

ME: Oh, we you there for business?

HER: Kind of. I’m an exotic dancer.

ME: (after a long silence) Are you serious? (picking jaw up from the floor)

She was indeed serious. Penelope does this route every week. Every Friday she travels to Sin City and works at the Crazy Horse. Even in this economy she clears $1700 a week in tip. So with gyrating stances and seductive dances, she takes her place on the stage of life, swaying the hips she uses as her lips. She says she’s the maker of dreams, or that’s how it seems. She has a business degree from Cal State Northridge and in regular clothes she could be your little sister’s best friend.

So it hit me right here that finding your niche isn’t easy. Penelope found her niche. Dancing her weekends for the pleasure of horny young men and the convention set in exchange for monetary delights.

I wondered if I was prettier would I have to spend those sleepless nights crafting those marketing plans that are dream makers on their own, guiding the visions of corporations and countries. You know, life is strange…and I wouldn’t change a thing.

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