WE'RE GETTING READY

This writer is about to embark upon an adventure.

Never in my 85 years upon this earth have  I

ventured out on the open sea like this. A ship

with a whole city full of people like me to look

at the waves and begin our sea experience

together. What will be my outlook as I share

this time with friends and daughters? I shall

let you know when I reach the port upon our 

return to land. In the meantime I too am looking

forward to October and the brand new NBA

season to root for our Lakers team and watch

the games unfold. Look for further blogs and

help me fan the fires of winning games for our

players out there on those courts.

The newspaper states that there is growth

by healing and it especially notes this about

Julius Randle., Lakers forward.

He seems to have relished the journey he

has traveled even if it forced him then to

go from player to spectator. His journey

was a struggling one to travel.

Initially he broke his leg. The same leg he

had suffered with having a bone bruise

earlier in training camp.

At first, none of the potential warning signs

appeared serious.. Randle was found

asymptomatic following his bruise and he

reported having little pain.

About this time it was found Randle had

lacked enough calcium to build strong

bone density, strength and conditioning.

Evidently Randles' workload restrictions

were such that his dietary habits were

lacking in what all consisted of being good

and the correct diet to have been a part and 

parcel of training and going forth into the

plays for our Lakers after all. 

Randle now has said that he absolutely

believes the time he spent rehabbing, 

improving his diet and studying the

game will compensate for missing

his rookie year.

We all certainly do wish the very

best for you Julius Randle and stay well!

BABS WELLS

IN ONE MORE MONTH, OUR SEASON BEGINS!

Running the National Basketball Association is like

fulfilling that famous curse "May you live in interesting

times." Since becoming commissioner on Feb.1, 2014,

Adam Silver's interesting times have included

Donald Sterling's racist rant, Bruce Levenson's 

drug related suspensions of players, salary-cap

debates and player lockout rumors. He has always handled

all of this with fairness and integrity. Just as important for

him in giving us great games is to give us also some

great role models. Achieving that goal would be his

greatest legacy.

U.S. Olympic committee  selects L.A. as its bid city for

the Summer Games just hours after City Council gives

its O.K.  The 2024 Summer Olympics, despite numerous 

questions over event costs and the logistics of housing

thousands of international athletes, is still vying for the

games to be here in Los Angeles. Against the backdrop of

a Santa Monica beach, U.S. Olympic Committee CEO

Scott Blackman announced the selection of the nation's

second-largest city for the 2024 Games.

The sprawling Olympic Village, which would be built

near downtown with mostly private funding, is tethered

to a series of financial assumptions and question marks.

The city does not own the land that is now used as rail yard

nor do they know how much that property might cost. So

these details are still very much up in the air for discussion.

Regardless  of how the Lakers or the Clippers finished

our last season, the events since created plenty of intrigue

for early-season match-ups in L.A. on the 2015-16 NBA

Schedule released just recently.

The Lakers season opener against the Timberwolves

features the two top picks in the last NBA draft. The

Lakers will be on national TV 28 times, including a

Christmas Day home game on ESPN against the other

L.A. team ( Clippers).

The Lakers and the Clippers'  four match-ups include 

back to back games on April 5th. and 6th., (part of a 

difficult stretch to end the Lakers' regular season.)

One scheduling concession for us is the absence of the

annual Grammy Awards road trip. Staples Center will 

host the event during the All-Star break on Feb. 11-18.

In Obit.column we noted that Darryl Dawkins,

age 58. (former star in NBA) has died.  He died  having

earned the moniker "Chocolate Thunder"  and was

evidently beloved around the entire league.

Also, noted, Lou Tsioropoulos, age 84, has died. He 

was a Kentucky basketball standout at 6'.5" and was

in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame. His size + dual

talent drew the attention of then-Kentucky coach Paul

Bryant. We bid these two former players goodbye.R.I.P.

BABS WELLS