Stories Since the Lockout: NBA Players Highlight Summer Pro-Am Leagues

This summer's basketball Pro-Amateur leagues have erupted with NBA talent due to the lockout. There has been a myriad of young players trying to prove themselves (Greivis Vasquez, Josh Selby, Nick Young, and Donte Greene), league veterans (Steve Blake, Ron Artest, Shannon Brown, and Joe Smith), guys with super star potential (Brandon Jennings, Demarcus Cousins, James Hardin, DeMar DeRozan, and John Wall), and some super stars themselves like Kobe, Lebron, and Kevin Durant. The summer season has had several highlights like Durant scoring 66 in a game, Kobe scoring 43 and hitting a game winner buzzer beating, and Durant and Harden who are teammates jawing off at each other in the championship game. With the lockout happening, maybe they should make their own winter league. This summer basketball stuff just shows which guys truly love playing basketball. Look at the facilities. This isn't Madison Square Garden. It's Rucker Park, some crappy indoor facility, and all some other courts that suck. Just pure love of the game.

Stories Since the Lockout- Another Reason Lebron Could Never Even Be Kobe

Due to the lockout, the Lakers have laid off over 20 employees already and don't plan to rehire any of them until after the lockout. Because of this, Kobe Bryant has given his playoff bonus to the two video coordinators for the Lakers that have been laid off. It's a total of $65,000. I know what people are thinking. 65 grand is nothing for a guy like Kobe. Yes that is correct, but how many other guys have you heard of doing this? On another good note, Luke Walton has reportedly given a sum of money to the training staff that has been laid off also. Lebron probably has the laid off Heat staff working as his butlers for minimum wage.

Kobe Keeps Quiet After Brown Hiring

For one of the most talked about basketball players of his era, Bryant has not spoke about his opinion on the hiring of Mike Brown. Kobe went public that he wanted Lakers Assistant Coach Brian Shaw to be the descendant of Phil Jackson. From the looks of it, Kobe is frustrated by the organization and is just brushing it off for a later time. I don't think the Lakers should cater to everything Bryant says, but in a sport that has teams focused on such few players on a team and Bryant being the face of franchise, you would think the Lakers would at least keep Bryant somewhat involved in the process. It was evident that he was kept out in the dark during the whole process which just boggles my mind. I don't think every star player on a team should be in a coaching changes, but there are exceptions. I believe Bryant is one of them and probably the only one in the league right now. Other players of that stature would be Jordan, Bird, Magic, and others.