Dj Mbenga

It was a day of medical terms and injury evaluations, a time for the Lakers to take a breath after two overtime road victories and, of greater importance, take stock of their ailing big men. Andrew Bynum was their latest 7-footer to undergo an MRI exam, the results showing a strained right elbow that left him listed as doubtful for tonight's game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Pau Gasol did some work on the practice court Thursday but declared himself out for tonight's game, unless his strained right hamstring suddenly felt much, much better today.

He sat in his apartment in New Orleans and watched the Lakers' championship ring ceremony Oct. 26, his emotions starting to get the best of him. He fought back the tears that welled up as the memories of winning back-to-back championships with the Lakers began to flood his thoughts. Eventually, DJ Mbenga just enjoyed the moment, enjoyed watching his former Lakers teammates get their championship rings. He had joined the New Orleans Hornets rather than stay with the Lakers because he sought more money and more playing time.

It was a prevalent theme last season, Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza facing an uncertain future with the Lakers while in the last year of their contracts. Odom stayed, Ariza left for Houston, and what will become of this year's Lakers in the last year of their deals? It's a party of five -- Derek Fisher , Jordan Farmar , Adam Morrison , DJ Mbenga and Josh Powell -- with only one starter among them. Fisher, who makes $5 million this season, will be 36 a year from now. He has already said he wants to keep playing after this season, though he's not stressing out about it. "I'm kind of excited about it this time around," he said.

Reporting from New Orleans ? It's amazing what ball movement can do for a team's psyche. Not to mention defense, rebounding and a lineup change that surprises just about everybody. The Lakers opted to play team basketball and ended their three-game skid with fewer one-on-one moments than any of their games over the last ?week? Two weeks? Month? They pummeled the New Orleans Hornets, 103-88, Wednesday at New Orleans Arena and ? what's this? ? improved to 3-5 against teams with winning records after foundering badly against Miami and San Antonio.

VS. NEW ORLEANS When: 7:30. Where: Staples Center. On the air: TV: FS West; Radio: 710, 1330. Records: Lakers 13-3, Hornets 7-10. Record vs. Hornets: 1-0. Update: These aren't the Hornets that finished second to the Lakers in the Western Conference two seasons ago. Former UCLA guard Darren Collison has played well in Chris Paul's absence, but the Hornets miss their floor leader, who will be sidelined again by a sprained ankle.

Has Phil Jackson lost control of the Lakers? Uh, no. The Lakers coach opined after Friday's lopsided loss in Oklahoma City that the way players responded to his coaching would factor into his decision whether to return next season. Lamar Odom laughed at the notion that Jackson had somehow lost the players. "I don't think that's the case," Odom said. In fact, Odom partly blamed himself for the Lakers' recent lapses. "When you have a coach that's been around like that, it's up to Derek [ Fisher ]

When the Lakers boarded a row of double-decker buses for their championship parade in June, they should have left one seat open, reserved for Good Fortune. They managed to keep almost everybody off the injured list, an often-overlooked part of their successful season. Kobe Bryant played in all 105 of their games. Pau Gasol played in 104. So did Derek Fisher . Andrew Bynum missed 32 because of a torn knee ligament, but his replacement in the starting lineup, Lamar Odom , missed only four games.

Can a player be a former All-Star without ever being selected to the All-Star team? Here's a case for Andrew Bynum: He was the top center in the Western Conference the first month of the season as he effortlessly absorbed Pau Gasol's points and rebounds while the Lakers' power forward missed 11 games. Then Gasol returned from a hamstring injury and Bynum disappeared. There's not a lot to criticize on a team tied with Boston for the NBA's best record (23-5), but Bynum continues to take steps back.

Good thing the Lakers' big men don't stray far from the lane. There were a lot of three-point attempts -- and a lot of misses -- from the Lakers' power forwards and centers in the team's annual "Turkey Trot" scrimmage that ended predictably bad for the big players. The guards and small forwards pummeled the centers and power forwards, 145-100, at the Lakers' training facility Thursday in El Segundo. Official stats weren't kept, but Ron Artest was unstoppable for the small team, drilling three-pointer after three-pointer.

There will be a celebration, a time to honor the 2008-09 NBA champion Lakers, a time to pay homage for their accomplishment. The ceremony Tuesday night will have the players hyped and excited to receive their championship rings. The fans will be in a frenzy to see their beloved Lakers raise the franchise's 15th banner. But then the Lakers have to play a basketball game against the Clippers, a game in which their emotions will be sky-high, a game in which they'll have to find a way to settle themselves after they are crowned the NBA's best from last season.

Reporting from Milwaukee ? The Lakers aren't content to wait for Andrew Bynum's return. They're looking to add a big man after losing reserve center Theo Ratliff for at least four to six weeks because of surgery on his left knee. "We have to have some support there interim until Andrew comes back," Coach Phil Jackson said Tuesday. Bynum is expected to return around Thanksgiving from off-season knee surgery. "Sounds about right, sir," he said in a brief interview.

The Lakers practiced for a long time Friday, which might be the most optimistic thing written about them in a while. Kobe Bryant proclaimed to be well-rested, Andrew Bynum can't wait to be game-tested and players were still digesting the latest let's-get-going speech from Derek Fisher . The Lakers are showing a brave front despite a 3-6 skid to end the regular season. Even Coach Phil Jackson spoke to the media despite being irritated by another $35,000 fine from the NBA. The Lakers' first-round playoff series against Oklahoma City starts Sunday.

Andrew Bynum will be back soon. Now what? "We don't know whether he can play six minutes a half or play 10 minutes a half," said Lakers Coach Phil Jackson, already downplaying expectations of a player who hasn't been in a game since March 19. "We'll look and see how his conditioning is and measure it from there after Friday and Saturday if things go right." Bynum has missed 13 games because of a strained left Achilles' tendon but has gradually increased his workload this week.

Has Phil Jackson lost control of the Lakers? Uh, no. The Lakers coach opined after Friday's lopsided loss in Oklahoma City that the way players responded to his coaching would factor into his decision whether to return next season. Lamar Odom laughed at the notion that Jackson had somehow lost the players. "I don't think that's the case," Odom said. In fact, Odom partly blamed himself for the Lakers' recent lapses. "When you have a coach that's been around like that, it's up to Derek [ Fisher ]

The Lakers will take whatever good news they can get regarding center Andrew Bynum . A day after Bynum said he still was in pain because of a strained left Achilles' tendon, Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said Sunday that Bynum showed some improvement. "The best thing that I heard today was the fact that he felt better from day one to day two," Jackson said. Bynum, who was injured Friday against Minnesota, is expected to miss at least five more games after sitting out Sunday night's game against the Washington Wizards.

It was as raw and as honest of a statement that one can get from an athlete. And to his credit, Lamar Odom was more than willing to describe the attitude of the Lakers. "We're cocky. We're cocky. We're cocky," Odom said. "So what? You know what I mean?" Is it because the Lakers are the NBA champions? Is it because the Lakers were the favorites to win the title when this season began? Is it because the pundits have said the Lakers have the best talent, the deepest team and perhaps the best player in the NBA in Kobe Bryant ?

And you thought the Lakers had problems. Whatever issues filtered in and out of their first 16 games -- Pau Gasol's hamstring, Sasha Vujacic's shooting slump, Ron Artest's free-throw woes -- didn't come close to the jumbled mess that rolled into Staples Center on Sunday. The New Jersey Nets tied the worst start in NBA history with their 17th consecutive loss, which happened to come against the Lakers, 106-87, and added a measure of perspective to the word "problems." The Lakers have three potential All-Stars.

All of them talked about the pain they endured all summer, about not being able to escape what the Lakers did to them in the playoffs last spring, about their own failures in that postseason. So when the Denver Nuggets faced the Lakers on Friday night for the first time since the teams played in the Western Conference finals in May, they played with an attitude that the Lakers were unable to match. The Nuggets, still unable to forget losing in the conference finals in six games, trounced the Lakers, 105-79, at the Pepsi Center.

Can a player be a former All-Star without ever being selected to the All-Star team? Here's a case for Andrew Bynum: He was the top center in the Western Conference the first month of the season as he effortlessly absorbed Pau Gasol's points and rebounds while the Lakers' power forward missed 11 games. Then Gasol returned from a hamstring injury and Bynum disappeared. There's not a lot to criticize on a team tied with Boston for the NBA's best record (23-5), but Bynum continues to take steps back.

VS. NEW ORLEANS When: 7:30. Where: Staples Center. On the air: TV: FS West; Radio: 710, 1330. Records: Lakers 13-3, Hornets 7-10. Record vs. Hornets: 1-0. Update: These aren't the Hornets that finished second to the Lakers in the Western Conference two seasons ago. Former UCLA guard Darren Collison has played well in Chris Paul's absence, but the Hornets miss their floor leader, who will be sidelined again by a sprained ankle.