Isaiah Thomas revealed earlier in the postseason that he has been communicating with Kobe Bryant before and after every playoff game, but Thomas is just one current NBA player who has been in touch with Bryant. As Jackie MacMullan of ESPN details, Bryant said he also talks regularly to players like Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook.
“I’m around for all the guys,” Bryant told MacMullan. “Anybody can reach out. It’s an open book.”
While Kobe may be willing to give advice and guidance to current players, don’t expect LaVar Ball to call up the future Hall-of-Famer anytime soon. Despite wanting his son Lonzo Ball to land with the Lakers, the elder Ball didn’t sound eager to reach out to one of the best players in Laker history.
“I don’t need no advice from Kobe Bryant,” LaVar Ball said during an appearance on ESPN Radio 710 L.A. “I don’t need advice from Kobe Bryant. Zo’s got to play his game. … If they’re at practice and he sees something and Lonzo listens to him or whatever, he’s good. … But it’s just not, ‘OK, I’m talking to Kobe, so now I’m going to be good.’ If Kobe sees something that Zo is doing, then go from there. But I’m not trying to pattern after nobody.”
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- All-Euroleague guard Brad Wanamaker is receiving “serious” NBA interest and could make the leap from Europe to North America this summer, tweets international basketball reporter David Pick. Wanamaker, palying for David Blatt’s Darussafaka Dogus team in Turkey, averaged a team-high 16.7 PPG in 34 Euroleague games this season.
- Two topics under discussion at this week’s general manager meetings in Chicago involved the trade deadline date and the buyout/waiver process, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter link). Wojnarowski first reported last month that changes may be coming to the buyout/waiver process.
- Should the draft lottery happen before the draft combine? Should the draft come before free agency? Tom Ziller of SBNation.com wonders if the NBA’s offseason schedule needs to be re-adjusted.
- Josh Martin of Bleacher Report identifies several free agents that NBA teams would be wise to avoid this summer, and his list features a handful of big-name players.
Lavar is ridiculous. To not take advice from an NBA legend and good business person is silly. For his son not to take advice from any legends in the NBA is silly as well.
It’s Lavar being Lavar doing what he has to in order to keep his name in the papers.
anyway to draft lonzo but ban lavar?
The media is helping him out. Stop interviewing him and only his son that’s getting drafted. When did the last athletes parent get interviewed more than the athlete? Nobody cares anything about Lavar or anything that he has to say.
This is so super true. Like the media needs to end this circus.
Not sure why my comment was not approved?