Grey R Brooks

Upon reading the latest round from Shaq apologists in the June 3 letters, I couldn't help but reflect that they both conveniently ignore something quite glaring: If Shaquille O'Neal had agreed to the same contract with the Lakers as he did with Miami -- five years, $100 million -- he'd still be in purple and gold. Instead, he tried to hold up Jerry Buss for much, much more, and the good doctor wisely chose not to overspend on a great player on the downside of his career. Plus, does anyone really think Shaq would have gotten into the shape he's in today if he'd stayed with the Lakers, or would he have again postponed off-season surgeries in order to enjoy his "vacation," at the expense of team cohesion at the start of the season?

The Lakers are just good enough for us to think that they're not as bad as they actually are. MIKE STRYER Pacific Palisades As we watch the Lakers sink to the Suns, let us put the blame where it belongs. Our general manager thinks we are one player away from being a top-tier team. Unless Magic Johnson is coming out of retirement, Mitch Kupchak is showing he has no clue that players who shoot well in practice but not in the game, players who do not step up or who refuse to play defense will never combine to be a winning squad.

The Lakers' rebuilding plan is right on schedule. It goes something like this: Year 1: Don't do anything stupid. Year 2: Don't do anything stupid. Year 3: Don't do anything stupid. Year 4: Sign Yao Ming or Amare Stoudemire, or wait a year for LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony or Chris Bosh. Rebuilding in a league with a salary cap is difficult. You can argue that Kupchak coulda/shoulda gotten more for Shaq (of course he shoulda), but what's done is done. Now that the trade has been made, the best strategy -- the only sensible strategy -- is for the Lakers to wait until they get some cap room and then spend it on one of the great free-agency hauls in the history of professional sports.

Upon reading the latest round from Shaq apologists in the June 3 letters, I couldn't help but reflect that they both conveniently ignore something quite glaring: If Shaquille O'Neal had agreed to the same contract with the Lakers as he did with Miami -- five years, $100 million -- he'd still be in purple and gold. Instead, he tried to hold up Jerry Buss for much, much more, and the good doctor wisely chose not to overspend on a great player on the downside of his career. Plus, does anyone really think Shaq would have gotten into the shape he's in today if he'd stayed with the Lakers, or would he have again postponed off-season surgeries in order to enjoy his "vacation," at the expense of team cohesion at the start of the season?

I went online recently and found that I could still buy good seats to see the Lakers this week. Even Friday's game against San Antonio still had great seats available. They were a little out of my price range, so I paid my mortgage instead. But after watching the Lakers defeat Denver by 11 points on Tuesday, then lose to Utah on Wednesday by 26, I want to tell all my fellow Laker fans that there's good news and bad news. The good news: You can still get good seats for every Laker game this season.

Thank you, T.J. Simers, for telling it like it is. Kobe Bryant tanked it in Game 7, and I was beginning to think I was the only one who noticed. As for you adoring Kobe fans -- especially all you balding middle-aged men with potbellies and blubbery arms out there -- place your No. 8 jerseys in mothballs, and please refrain from falling for his marketing ploy by purchasing his new No. 24 model. Give your money to a deserving charity instead. JOHN CRESSY Ventura Kobe Bryant was able to complete his resume in Game 7. He has been: A rookie A winner A hero A general manager A loser A villain A scorer A "facilitator" And, now, a quitter.

The Lakers are just good enough for us to think that they're not as bad as they actually are. MIKE STRYER Pacific Palisades As we watch the Lakers sink to the Suns, let us put the blame where it belongs. Our general manager thinks we are one player away from being a top-tier team. Unless Magic Johnson is coming out of retirement, Mitch Kupchak is showing he has no clue that players who shoot well in practice but not in the game, players who do not step up or who refuse to play defense will never combine to be a winning squad.

Rather than argue who's "better" between Kobe and LeBron, let's just say their styles dominate differently. At 6-8, 250 pounds, LeBron is more of a power player, while the more slender and agile Kobe is more finesse. It's similar to Shaq or Kareem -- pick your poison! Personally, in crunch time, I'll go with the better shooter, passer, and free-throw shooter: Kobe. He remains the ultimate assassin for that final play -- mangled fingers and all. Rick Solomon Lake Balboa :: Someone should wake Phil Jackson up so he can explain to young Andrew Bynum that he needs to calm down and have no more 42-point, 15-rebound games or else he will be traded away -- probably to Miami -- because nobody is allowed to take the spotlight away from the great Kobe!

The Jan. 10 story by Jerry Crowe concerning the Clippers' Rick Brunson was a very interesting story about a good man who loves his family and who happens to play ball in the NBA, a combination that seems to be quite rare. Now and then (not often, just occasionally) one of you sportswriters will write a story that helps me to not miss reading Jim and Allan quite so much. I really am sick of reading the latest quotes from Kobe. It may be an easy way for you guys to make a lazy living, but it really gets old for your readers.

It was interesting to read in Mike Bresnahan's story of Oct. 2 that Kobe Bryant has decreed that his teammates must score more points and not leave all the scoring up to him. All us folks with any remaining interest in the Lakers' soap opera think that is a great idea! However, before it can happen someone (perhaps old what's-his-name, the coach) should explain to Kobe that before his teammates can score more they must occasionally have the ball. Grey R. Brooks Prescott, Ariz.

Thank you, T.J. Simers, for telling it like it is. Kobe Bryant tanked it in Game 7, and I was beginning to think I was the only one who noticed. As for you adoring Kobe fans -- especially all you balding middle-aged men with potbellies and blubbery arms out there -- place your No. 8 jerseys in mothballs, and please refrain from falling for his marketing ploy by purchasing his new No. 24 model. Give your money to a deserving charity instead. JOHN CRESSY Ventura Kobe Bryant was able to complete his resume in Game 7. He has been: A rookie A winner A hero A general manager A loser A villain A scorer A "facilitator" And, now, a quitter.

The Lakers' rebuilding plan is right on schedule. It goes something like this: Year 1: Don't do anything stupid. Year 2: Don't do anything stupid. Year 3: Don't do anything stupid. Year 4: Sign Yao Ming or Amare Stoudemire, or wait a year for LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony or Chris Bosh. Rebuilding in a league with a salary cap is difficult. You can argue that Kupchak coulda/shoulda gotten more for Shaq (of course he shoulda), but what's done is done. Now that the trade has been made, the best strategy -- the only sensible strategy -- is for the Lakers to wait until they get some cap room and then spend it on one of the great free-agency hauls in the history of professional sports.

I went online recently and found that I could still buy good seats to see the Lakers this week. Even Friday's game against San Antonio still had great seats available. They were a little out of my price range, so I paid my mortgage instead. But after watching the Lakers defeat Denver by 11 points on Tuesday, then lose to Utah on Wednesday by 26, I want to tell all my fellow Laker fans that there's good news and bad news. The good news: You can still get good seats for every Laker game this season.

So Vlade Divac retired. Hey, didn't he retire two years ago? Wasn't it a telling sign in the playoffs in 2004 that Sacramento benched him against Minnesota? Somehow that didn't stop Mitch Kupchak from signing him to a $5.5-million contract. But how about those 15 games he played last year? Remember the time he bearhugged Devean George on the bench, or the time he lit a cigarette in the locker room, or the time he sat on the bench in a suit. I have it all on my Vlade Divac 2004-05 highlight DVD that came with a carton of Marlboro Reds.

Is J.A. Adande blind? He rips into Elton Brand but gives Sam Cassell and Mike Dunleavy a pass on the Game 5 debacle ("Success Just Doesn't Seem to Stick to This Team for Long")? How is Brand going to win games if Cassell doesn't pass him the ball? Like, with six seconds left in regulation and Sam hoists up one of his brainless threes instead of getting the ball to Brand down low. And Dunleavy? He has to scream every time his team is playing defense. His players must be real stupid, never to know what defense to play every possession.