Los Angeles Lakers

While no one has yet burst into his office, hoofing it on his desk to "Stars and Stripes Forever," Erikk Aldridge admits that he swims dangerously and deeply in the teeming talent pool that is Los Angeles. Folks slip audio tapes under his door. Far-flung relatives of co-workers phone at odd hours. And then there's that front-desk flotsam and jetsam.

The Lakers seemingly couldn't get through a family breakfast without drama. As if they didn't have enough worries heading into Game 7 of their first-round playoff series, the Lakers had to hear the franchise's most popular figure question the future of their coach on the eve of the game. Magic Johnson , the Lakers vice president who also serves as an ESPN analyst, said Friday that Lakers Coach Mike Brown wouldn't keep his job if his team lost to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday.

Slowly, forcefully, chillingly, like Ron Artest leaning on Paul Pierce in the paint, the Lakers have been pushing their average fans into irrelevance. First, they nudged them from Staples Center courtside. Then they dragged them out of the lower level. Soon, even the price of nosebleed seats required the opening of a vein, and the heart of Laker Nation was dumped into the street. Well, the thinking was, at least they can still watch them for free on television. Not so fast, as the long, cold arms of the Lakers are now preparing to shove their average fans out of their own homes.

Even within the comfy confines of his basketball camp Friday, Lakers guard Derek Fisher couldn't escape the question that follows him everywhere. Fisher, president of the National Basketball Players Assn., fielded persistent questioning from campers this week about the current NBA lockout and whether it will alter the 2011-12 season. That will continue Monday when Fisher and the players union restart labor negotiations with the NBA in New York, the first meeting since the work stoppage became official on July 1 and a monthlong period that Fisher described as "weirdly quiet.

The Los Angeles Lakers paid a visit to Ramona Gardens last week to dedicate a refurbished outdoor basketball court funded by the NBA team and Foot Locker shoe stores. The asphalt court was repaired and painted and new hoops were installed, said Rhonda Windham, assistant director of public relations for the Lakers. She would not disclose the improvements' cost. "This was a facility that desperately needed refurbishing," she said. "There was a giant hole in the middle of the court.

Once upon a time they were Lakers. They got into the dynasty on the ground floor, helped build it, strutted their hour upon the stage, then were gone. They were Silk, Savoir Faire and Potsy, known more formally as Jamaal Wilkes, Norman Nixon and Brad Holland. They were Lakers the year Jerry Buss bought the team and Magic Johnson came to town.

LAKERS VS. DALLAS Thursday, 7:30 p.m. TV: TNT The stakes are the same, but the scene has shifted. On March 12, the Lakers went to Dallas, 11/2 games behind the Mavericks, winners of 20 of 24 including the teams' only previous contest, for No. 2 in the West. A win would have given the Mavericks the season series and a 21/2-game lead with 16 left ? and left the Lakers looking at playing Dallas and San Antonio on the road, back-to-back, in the playoffs, assuming they got to the Spurs.

Some crossed signals between KCBS, Channel 2, and the CBS network caused Los Angeles viewers a few anxious moments Sunday. The decision facing Channel 2 was whether to give its viewers the end of the Westchester golf tournament at Harrison, N.Y., or the start of the Laker-Detroit basketball game in Pontiac, Mich. What viewers got, for a very long 5 minutes, was neither. With the golf tournament headed into a four-way, sudden-death playoff at 12:30 p.m.

This is your nightmare speaking, Los Angeles. This is your darkest fear. This is the voice of a city where men get their fingernails dirty, not polished, where cars are constructed, not leased, and where most adults--Are you sitting down? Comfy in the hot tub? Got lots of bubbles?--work for a living. Oh, God. Not that, huh? Move over, L.A. Detroit is coming. Book us a room, and put that crown in it--the one the Lakers have worn for the last year as National Basketball Assn. champions.

The Lakers seemingly couldn't get through a family breakfast without drama. As if they didn't have enough worries heading into Game 7 of their first-round playoff series, the Lakers had to hear the franchise's most popular figure question the future of their coach on the eve of the game. Magic Johnson , the Lakers vice president who also serves as an ESPN analyst, said Friday that Lakers Coach Mike Brown wouldn't keep his job if his team lost to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday.

It's hard to create a rivalry when there isn't one. But sometime over the next two weeks, be it from the words of Mark Cuban and Phil Jackson or the actions of Kobe Bryant, maybe something will be sparked between the Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. They haven't seen each other in the playoffs in 23 years, back when Andrew Bynum was all of 7 months, too young for him to even try boxing out toddlers. The Lakers and Mavericks have played each other 88 times in comparatively meaningless games since the Lakers won the 1988 Western Conference finals in seven games, Magic Johnson wrasslin' up 24 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds to give the Lakers the West for the seventh time in the '80s.

Following the April 3 game against the Denver Nuggets, 750 Lakers fans poured into the Lexus Club at Staples Center for the 4th annual Casino Night, a $500 per person benefit for the Los Angeles Lakers Youth Foundation, which promotes education, teamwork and self-esteem by focusing on sports and providing financial aid. Couple Khloé Kardashian and Lamar Odom took time to pose on the red carpet before heading toward the abundant buffets. It wasn't hard to spot the Lakers as most stood heads above others.

LAKERS VS. DALLAS Thursday, 7:30 p.m. TV: TNT The stakes are the same, but the scene has shifted. On March 12, the Lakers went to Dallas, 11/2 games behind the Mavericks, winners of 20 of 24 including the teams' only previous contest, for No. 2 in the West. A win would have given the Mavericks the season series and a 21/2-game lead with 16 left ? and left the Lakers looking at playing Dallas and San Antonio on the road, back-to-back, in the playoffs, assuming they got to the Spurs.

California regulators are taking aim at giant drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., accusing it of bribing doctors and pharmacists to use its products by offering thousands of cash kickbacks, gifts and "happy hours" with the Los Angeles Lakers. The case against the drug company was developed with the help of former Lakers player Lucius Allen and his wife, Eve, who worked for Bristol-Myers and provided access to the basketball team, according to a lawsuit made public Friday. Doctors and family members were invited to Lakers Dream Camps arranged by the company, the lawsuit said.

Slowly, forcefully, chillingly, like Ron Artest leaning on Paul Pierce in the paint, the Lakers have been pushing their average fans into irrelevance. First, they nudged them from Staples Center courtside. Then they dragged them out of the lower level. Soon, even the price of nosebleed seats required the opening of a vein, and the heart of Laker Nation was dumped into the street. Well, the thinking was, at least they can still watch them for free on television. Not so fast, as the long, cold arms of the Lakers are now preparing to shove their average fans out of their own homes.

The road the Lakers have traveled this season has had some bumps at times. That's to be expected, Cleveland Cavaliers Coach Byron Scott said. Winning championships is never easy, Scott said, especially when a team is trying to win three consecutive NBA titles like the Lakers seek. "I understand what they are going through," said Scott, who won three NBA championships with the Lakers during the Showtime era of the 1980s. "But the season is never going to be ? for any team, especially the champions ?

Even Joe Smith had to laugh, saying he had "lost count" of how many NBA teams he has played for over a 16-year career. That would be 12 since the Lakers acquired him from New Jersey on Wednesday in a multiteam trade that sent Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic to the Nets. Smith was an observer at the Lakers' optional practice Thursday after he took a physical in the morning. He also got a quick tutorial on the triangle offense as the team prepared to play the 76ers on Friday night.

As if there was any doubt, the NBA got its way Tuesday night in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. And by getting its way, it could only mean getting a Game 7 involving perhaps the two most storied franchises in the game. Now this isn't to suggest that the NBA did anything to make it happen. That was the Los Angeles Lakers. They did things in their89-67 pounding of the Boston Celtics not seen since Game 3. Or even longer. They jumped for rebounds, passed inside for the score, played defense and forced several jump balls.