Devin Ebanks

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Lakers center Andrew Bynum has been fined $15,000 by the NBA for skipping an interview session with reporters after Tuesday's practice. Players are supposed to make themselves available to media members after practices and games. Also, Lakers forward Devin Ebanks was fined $25,000 by the NBA for his actions Monday after getting ejected late in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals against Oklahoma City. Ebanks kicked a chair on the Lakers' bench and yanked off his jersey as he disappeared into a tunnel toward the locker room.

Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss deserve a vacation. A long and relaxing one. The Lakers announced Jodie Meeks and Devin Ebanks signed with the Lakers on Monday, making their roster pretty much complete. The team now has 14 players  under contract. They field a star-studded starting lineup in Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Pau Gasol and Metta World Peace. They added critical reserve pieces in Antawn Jamsion and Jordan Hill. With Meeks signing a two-year, $3-million deal, the Lakers acquired a definitive backup shooting guard who could lower Bryant's minutes and provide needed outside shooting.

Reporting from Sacramento -- People don't know quite what to think of Devin Ebanks . Lakers fans want to call him the next Trevor Ariza . Coach Mike Brown wants to call him a starter. Magic Johnson jokingly called him "Eubanks" in a TV interview, a reference to all the new faces on the Lakers. Ebanks hopes for one thing. "Everybody in the league wants to start. I'm definitely going to do whatever to keep it," he said. Ebanks emerged from a crowded field of small forwards to earn a start in the Lakers' first two games.

The comparisons between Devin Ebanks and Trevor Ariza never end. They look alike. They both have unassuming personalities. In separate seasons, the Lakers appreciated their respective growth at small forward. Yet, as Ebanks becomes an restricted free agent this summer, his agent wants him to avoid the same fate that befell Ariza. The Lakers allowed Ariza to walk as a free agent in 2009 to the Houston Rockets in what essentially became a swap for Ron Artest. Since then, Ariza has toiled with the Rockets and the New Orleans Hornets, who finished last in the Western Conference this season "I don't really hear much about him anymore," said David Bauman, Ebanks' agent, of Ariza in a phone interview with The Times.

Devin Ebanks has been the forgotten man this season after re-signing with the Lakers over the summer on a one-year deal. After playing almost 12 minutes a game for former coach Mike Brown, Ebanks was arrested on suspicion of a misdemeanor DUI, an incident that coincided with Brown's firing.  The team sat Ebanks for more than two weeks after the arrest. Gradually Coach Mike D'Antoni started to give Ebanks minutes, albeit few in significant moments. On Thursday night in New York, D'Antoni turned to Ebanks to try and slow a red-hot Carmelo Anthony.  Ebanks started the second half alongside Metta World Peace at forward.

The quiet motor in Devin Ebanks hardly yields much insight in interviews. A man of few words yet at the same time gracious, Ebanks has let his actions on the court give testament to his ongoing development entering his third season with the Lakers. Whether it was under Phil Jackson or now with Mike Brown, the coaches have loved how Ebanks stays within his lane, devotes time to his craft and minimizes mistakes when given an opportunity. It's also part of the reason why the Lakers re-signed him to a one-year deal this off-season for a little over $1 million.

Devin Ebanks was on the inactive list again, so it was time to talk about the next step for the rookie. A stop in the Development League might be in store for Ebanks or fellow rookie Derrick Caracter , Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said Sunday. Jackson said the team would do whatever was necessary to get them "reliable experience and playing time. " "We're going to move them around a lot," he said. Players may be sent down to the Development League up to three times a season, though it won't be as easy for the Lakers as in the past.

Matt Barnes and Devin Ebanks are battling for more than a starting spot. Whichever small forward comes out on the short end probably will be relegated to third-string status behind Metta World Peace , who is coming off the bench this season for the first time as a Laker. Barnes started Monday night in the Lakers' exhibition opener against the Clippers at Staples Center, something he did not do in any of the 53 games he played with the team last season. Lakers Coach Mike Brown said Barnes received the starting nod based on his being more consistent and having played better defensively.

So, Lakers Coach Phil Jackson, how do you feel about rookies such as Devin Ebanks? "They are lower than whale [mess]," Jackson said, smiling. "Sometimes they don't quite know how to play this [NBA] game. They know how to play the game, but not this game and how to use the clock in the right way. " Jackson played Ebanks six minutes 37 seconds against the Clippers in the Lakers' 108-95 victory Friday night at Staples Center, and his 6-foot-9 rookie small forward responded with four points.

He refused to flex his muscles. He declined to blow kisses to the crowd. He said little about his game afterward. Replacing a suspended Metta World Peace as the Lakers starting small forward, Devin Ebanks hardly provided the dramatics the player formerly known as Ron Artest usually exhibits. Instead, in the Lakers' 103-88 Game 1 victory Sunday over the Denver Nuggets, Ebanks posted 12 points (on five-of-six shooting) and five rebounds off subtle play. As he gushed about Ebanks' playoff debut in just his second year in the NBA, Lakers Coach Mike Brown marveled at how the 6-9 swingman took an otherwise routine 18-foot jumper in the second quarter.