That’s all the confirmation I need to say Sasha Vujacic is officially dating Maria Sharapova. I understand the hook-up from Sasha’s point of view. It’s Maria Sharapova. Nuff said. But what’s a beautiful woman like her doing with a malaka like this? I guess she likes malakas.

Maria Sharapova, Laker Sasha Vujacic Are ‘Dating’ [Sports by Brooks]

Phil Jackson knows repeating is difficult and he’s laid out a couple of plans to get the team ready. He wants to familiarize Ron-Ron with his new environment and to limit the players use of social networking sites.

From the Whittier Daily News:

“We want to try and make this transition for Ron Artest seamless, get our players playing at a level that they can approximate the chemistry they’ve had in the past and get some of our players in condition, like Lamar (Odom), who’s been busy all summer.”

“There’s a certain amount of privacy we’re going to have to demand from them, so that our business doesn’t become street business. I think that’s where the distinction has to be made. These guys are professionals, and I think they’ll understand that.

**UPDATE**
Phil Jackson video:

Nice subtle “Lamar Odom has gotten fat” line from Phil. And Sorry Laker fans but Ron Artest is gonna miss a couple of weeks to start the season. He’ll be in rehab for Youtube, Twitter, and attention addiction.

LAKERS: Jackson eager to tell players it’s time to get down to work [Whittier Daily News]

Artest comes to the Lakers at the cheap price of five-years, $32 million. If Lamar Odom stays in LA the Lakers will repeat. Rasheed Wallace just became more popular. That is all.

Lakers close to deal with Artest [Los Angeles Times]

Basketball player Sun Yue of China is headed to Los Angeles with hopes of earning a spot on the Lakers’ roster. Yue is excited about playing in the NBA, although he would like to ditch the “Chinese Magic Johnson” label for a new nickname.

From AFP:

“I don’t want to be called the next Magic Johnson,” Sun told the China Daily of the nickname given him to by the Chinese sporting press.

“He was a great player, and he has everything you could ask for in a coach but I don’t think I am going to pattern my game after him in my rookie year,” he said of the legendary player and Lakers part-owner.

Already Chinese fans in Los Angeles are calling him “Sun Wukong,” after the mythical “Monkey King,” the legendary simian hero of the Chinese Buddhist literary classic “Journey to the West.”

“For the fans to already have these kinds of plans (to name me Monkey King) is really great support for me.”

Sun Yue is making the right move. There’s no need to put any pressure on himself with the Chinese Magic Johnson nickname. It sets the fans’ expectations too high. It’s much better to be called the Monkey King, based on a 16th century cartoon about a superhero monkey that battled dragons and demons. Now Sun Yue has some goals he can achieve.

Sasha Vujacic signed a three-year, $15 million contract to remain with the Los Angeles Lakers. This doesn’t help the Lakers shed their “Kobe and a bunch of soft Euros” image, but it does keep a reliable 3-pt shooter on the roster.

When it came down to decision time Sasha was influenced by the Los Angeles Lakers’ fans, but mostly by the love shared between himself and Kobe Bryant.

“They are my team. They brought me over from Europe and I feel at home in this organization and in LA. Everywhere I’d go, Lakers fans would say to me, `Please re-sign, you have to come back Machine.’ And that really gave me a warm feeling about it.”

“It’s always kind of been older brother, younger brother with Kobe and I. Kobe called me on the first day of free agency and said, `I love you and we all need you. But whatever you decide, I’ll stand by your decision.’ Then he called me on the last day I was deciding and at the end of the conversation, we both said, `Let’s do it.”‘

Are Sasha and Kobe talking about signing a contract or having a baby? If Kobe would’ve loved Ron Artest a little more Ron-Ron would be a Laker and not a Houston Rocket. I know a healthy Andrew Bynum will be back next year, but L.A. still needs to address their defensive problems. The Boston Celtics showed that the Lakers aren’t physical enough, and I’m sure the other teams around the league took note.

Here’s more proof of the love between Sasha Vujacic and Kobe Bryant:

Sasha Vujacic (minus the girlish headband) gives his take on the Machine videos:

Sasha Vujacic, Los Angeles Lakers, The Machine, video, youtube

C.J. Miles or “Jilla” is supplementing his NBA income by making a guest appearance on the mixtape of former teammate Dee Brown. The tape, “Unwritten”, was supposed to come out last year, but was put on hold until Brown handled some business in Europe.

C.J. Miles has a myspace page, but there’s not a lot going on there. Dee Brown’s website looks pretty good, as it should, with all of Dee’s free time. The mixtape will probably be pushed back indefinitely since Brown is still looking to catch on with a team, and a rapping fringe player doesn’t appeal to NBA squads.

Here’s another track from Dee Brown’s mixtape. C.J. Miles isn’t the only former teammate to rep on “Unwritten”. Check out the open by Derek Fisher.

C.J. Miles, Dee Brown, mixtape, NBA

*Download the Shaquille O’Neal Kobe Bryant Diss*

Listen to Shaq dissing Kobe:

As soon as the Boston Celtics clinched the NBA championship I sent a text to one of my boys asking “How happy do you think Shaq is right now?” After listening to The Big Biggie’s latest, the answer to the question is “very”.. Even if Shaq is telling Stephen A. Smith that there’s no beef between himself and Kobe. The easiest way to tell that two people are getting along well is when one of them makes a diss track about the other.

Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant didn’t get along in Los Angeles for a number of reasons, but the straw that broke the Diesel’s back stemmed from Bryant’s 2003 arrest. Kobe made some comments to the police regarding Shaq’s handling of women on the side and of course those statements were leaked. It only took five years for Shaq to respond and I’m glad he did.

From TMZ.com:

After spending several verses shredding Kobe apart for losing in the NBA playoffs, Shaq drops the line, “I’m a horse, Kobe ratted me out, that’s why I’m getting divorced.”

The line most likely references a comment Kobe made during his infamous 2003 rape case, when he told Colorado police that he “Should have done what Shaq does … Shaq would pay his women not to say anything.” The two became famously bitter rivals after the incident.

I thought Shaq and Kobe made up? I guess that deal is off.

The way I see it Kobe has two options of how to go back at Shaq.

Let’s hope he doesn’t choose to respond like this:

There’s no way KB24 can deal with Shaq-Fu on the mic so they’ll have to take it to the court.

Shaq had no idea it was coming but it cracks me up every time to watch Kobe dunk on O’Neal. The best part is Phil Jackson looking like “Kobe don’t….”Download the Shaquille O’Neal Kobe Bryant Diss

Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant Diss, video, youtube, utube

You only have to go back to last year to see how Kobe Bryant reacts to what he feels in an inferior roster. After watching the Boston Celtics manhandle the Lakers for most of the six game series I assumed KB24 would have a mini tirade for us. Nothing so far but it’s still early.

Kobe Bryant is playing the leader in this press conference, and he says that he’s “ Comfortable with what we have..” That’s a whole lot different than scoffing at Mitch Kupchak for not trading Andrew Bynum for Jason Kidd. The question I have for Kobe is how much will he have in the tank next year? He had a long 2007-08 season, and he still has the Olympics and finger surgery this summer. I don’t think a one month break is gonna be enough.

Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, press conference, video, youtube

Congratulations to the 2007-08 NBA Champion Boston Celtics for picking up their 17th league championship and embarrassing their hated rivals in the process. The Celtics’ 131-92 victory over the Lakers is the largest margin of victory in a championship finale. Paul Pierce was named the finals MVP, but the last and deciding game was a team effort… Right down to the post game press conferences.

It looks like the new trend is athletes interviewing the media.. And Scalabrine’s right. Everybody picked the Lakers while Boston was clearly the better team, meaning the experts don’t know shit. The only thing that could’ve strengthened Scalabrine’s position is if he had actually played in the finals.

Boston Celtics, NBA Champions, Los Angeles Lakers, sports

The Hulk and some guy in yellow face paint decided to rep Boston and LA “There Can Only Be One” style. The best 6th man or 15th man, whatever you wanna call it has to go to the Celtics fans. All you have to do is look at the difference between game two in Boston and game four in Los Angeles. When the Lakers tried to make a historic comeback in game two, the Boston crowd never gave up. They seemed nervous but they had faith. The second half of game four in Los Angeles turned into a wake.

NBA Finals, There Can Only Be One, Lakers Fan, Celtics Fan, commercial, video, youtube, utube