Have to admit, I don\u2019t sit courtside when I go to Lakers games in Staples Center. I suppose I could once a year, if I find two tickets, but it would lighten me a month\u2019s salary, so I sit up about twenty rows and that isn\u2019t cheap either but is doable a few times a season. In Las Vegas, at the NBA Summer League, I do sit next to the court. Costs about a hundred bucks online or through contacts. Couldn\u2019t believe who was sitting by me for the Lakers first game, against the Minneapolis Timberwolves. At first I thought it was a cheesy imitator, some guy in shades trying to look cool. Then the guy turned to me, smiled like a devil, and said, \u201cWhat do you think?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe Lakers\u2019 three young guns \u2013 D\u2019Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, and Julius Randle \u2013 are ready to be the core of a playoff team, and maybe even a contender this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cSomeday, probably, but they\u2019re still too young. Russell\u2019s nineteen, Randle twenty, Clarkson twenty-three.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cMaybe they\u2019ll only need a year. Look how much Clarkson improved during his rookie year.\u201d <\/p>\n
He extended his hand and said, \u201cJack.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cTom,\u201d I said, shaking a firm hand. It seems like most guys, even older ones, have hands stronger than mine.<\/p>\n
\tD\u2019Angelo Russell started like Magic Johnson, Jr., pushing a fast-break and pass for an assist and hitting a jumper, and Jordan Clarkson nailed a three and a jumper and a two-handed rebound jam and on the way back smiled and pointed at Jack. <\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe kid\u2019s an athlete,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\tWhile Julius Randle appeared out of sync, having broken his leg in the first game of his rookie season and not returning to game action until today, Russell looked like a leader. His hands demanded the ball and that\u2019s where it wanted to be. Meanwhile, the only player taken before him, Karl-Anthony Towns, after starting with an air ball, hit a jumper, spun baseline for a basket inside, and made a jump hook. Minnesota led by six at halftime.<\/p>\n
\tPeople descended from the stands and surrounded Jack, chatting, backslapping, asking for autographs, and I retreated to a concession stand. I don\u2019t want much attention but also dislike being ignored, even by stargazers, and was glad security had shooed them away before I returned. <\/p>\n
\tRussell converted a drive and a jumper early in the third quarter and Randle, who had scored on a power move late in the second, hammered a two-handed tip dunk. <\/p>\n
\t\u201cI think Julius is shedding his rust,\u201d said Jack. <\/p>\n
\t\u201cHe\u2019s an all-star when healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tSo is Jordan Clarkson. Like D\u2019Angelo Russell, he yearns to control the ball, and dominated Laker scoring the rest of the quarter, going dunk, dunk, driving and drawing a foul and hitting two free throws, driving and being goaltended, and stealing the ball to pass to rookie Anthony Brown for a score. The game was tied at the end of three.<\/p>\n
\tJulius Randle revved up in the fourth quarter, plowing baseline into a crowd and dunking, aggressively seeking other shots and drawing three fouls and converting four free throws. Clarkson led the Lakers with twenty-one points, Randle had eleven, and Russell six. Towns had ten points and a summer-league-special eight fouls during Minnesota\u2019s win. <\/p>\n
\u201cI still think these guys are ready to contend,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why\u2019d they lose to a ragtag group, excepting Towns?\u201d Jack asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho wins in summer league isn\u2019t any more important than who wins a scrimmage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think Magic, Kareem (Abdul Jabbar), and (James) Worthy would lose to this Minnesota team today?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, but that\u2019s an extreme example,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the standard in L.A.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKobe\u2019s coming back. That\u2019ll help. I see him playing a lot of small forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Kobe\u2019s willing to pass more and shoot less, he\u2019ll work well with these guys,\u201d Jack said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey may need three basketballs until Clarkson and Russell, and especially Kobe, learn how to share the rock.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019ll be some tension in practice, but it\u2019s the same on movie sets. Creative people have to be aggressive to express themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a pleasure,\u201d I said, standing and shaking his hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere\u2019s my business card.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks,\u201d I said, promptly placing it in my pocket and sliding through the gathering admirers.<\/p>\n
After walking through a hot Vegas summer evening, I entered my car and only then looked at the card. It said: \u201cJack Donaldson, International Celebrity Impersonators.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Have to admit, I don\u2019t sit courtside when I go to Lakers games in Staples Center. I suppose I could once a year, if I find two tickets, but it would lighten me a month\u2019s salary, so I sit up about twenty rows and that isn\u2019t cheap either but is doable a few times a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,1375,1376,1377,1378,1379,350,66,252,65,7],"tags":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n