Lakers notes of interest:

Kobe Bryant made the All-NBA first
team and Pau Gasol is a second-
teamer. The league announced that
this now makes the sixth consecutive
season for Kobe and the ninth time in
his career. Bryant averaged 25.3 points.
5 rebounds and 4.7 assists. He was 5th
in the league in scoring. Unfortunately though, Kobe
has told reporters that he feels this
past year has more or less been a wasted
year out of his life. Mitch Kupchak, General
Manager, and Laker coach Phil Jackson
completed two days of exit for this retiring
coach, with interviews after the earlier
than expected ouster Sunday from the playoffs.
Kupchak's busy season is now just starting and
his "to do" list is already being formulated.
First and foremost, he will be meeting with the
owner Jerry Buss and his son, Jim, to sift
through the 2010-11 season and try to figure
out just what went wrong & what to do about it.
They also must make a decision about hiring
a successor for Jackson. Rick Adelman's name
has been mentioned. He was recently let go
by the Houston Rockets. Kurt Rambis, now
coaching the Minnesota Timberwolves is a
good consideration as is Byron Scott, a former
Laker who is coaching the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Mentioning the loss of getting to try for the
Championship, Kupchak said "If there is a silver
lining to losing, you do get hungry again".
Not another Laker footnote but worthy of mention
here anyway sports fans, is that 38 year old T.V.
sports anchor from Chicago, was found dead
in his Atlanta hotel room, where he was staying
while covering the Chicago Bulls-Atlanta Hawks
NBA playoff series. Daryl Hawks worked for WMAQ-TV
since 2008. No known cause for death has been reported.
More tidbits will be entered into this column from
time to time during the summer months, so stay tuned.
Babs Wells