Michael Beasley

If anybody says the Lakers aren't tough, they can turn to Friday's game. There were plenty of rebuttals. Andrew Bynum was thrown out of the game after flattening Michael Beasley. Kobe Bryant played despite a bothersome sprained ankle and an accidental pop to the jaw. Ron Artest continually jawed with Beasley, long before the Minnesota Timberwolves forward became the object of Lakers fans' anger. The Lakers were pushed to the limit by the Timberwolves, of all teams, but emerged with a 106-98 victory Friday at Staples Center.

Good-bye, Golden Child. Ending the greatest recruiting war in NBA history -- and his career-long honeymoon-- LeBron James went to the Miami Heat Thursday, creating the most controversial team since Shaquille O'Neal met Kobe Bryant and leaving a smoking crater in Cleveland. In so doing, James did everything skeptics said he wouldn't: He didn't go for the most money, spurning a $128 million deal in Cleveland for a $99 million deal in Miami. He didn't insist on having his own team, joining a superstar ensemble in Wade County, nee Dade County, before it was renamed--temporarily--as part of the drive to keep local star Dwyane Wade.

Lunging at the line and falling in pain on the track, Felix Sanchez gave it everything he could Thursday in the 400-meter hurdles at the Pan American Games. Instead of another gold, however, "Super Felix" had to settle for bronze in Guadalajara. "I was bronze, but I wanted the gold," Sanchez said. "Just a little bit more and I would've gotten the silver. " The Dominican runner, who was born in the United States and went to USC, won the 400 hurdles gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics and is a two-time world champion in the event.

Quotage It was politics . . . Miami rookie Michael Beasley, a Washington, D.C., native, on going No. 2 after the Bulls drafted Derrick Rose, who's from Chicago: "I think he had more people in his corner. When it comes down to it, if the Wizards had the first pick, I'd be pretty upset if they didn't pick me, hometown kid, great player, good all-around guy." . . . or not Miami Coach Erik Spoelstra, who has benched Beasley, on Rose: "It reminds me of watching Dwyane [Wade]

Reporting from New Orleans — Nothing comes easy on the road for the Lakers. Not even a game against the worst team in the Western Conference. Somewhere amid the din of who was coming and going on the Lakers, there was a three-hour window for another 17-point deficit, followed by another overtime victory. Kobe Bryant had 33 points, Andrew Bynum had 25 and the Lakers rallied to beat the New Orleans Hornets, 107-101, Wednesday at New Orleans Arena. PHOTOS: Lakers vs. Hornets Even in victory, there was a breeze of uncertainty in the locker room as the Lakers crept closer to the trade deadline Thursday at noon.

PHOENIX -- UCLA's Kevin Love won't be the first freshman phenom Xavier has played. The Musketeers faced Kansas State's Michael Beasley, too. "Somebody mentioned to me they held him to five or six points," Love said. "Hey, I think Beasley's the most talented player in the country. For him to get five or six points shows how good they can be on defense." It was five points, to be precise -- 21 below Beasley's average -- and it was the only time he failed to reach double figures all season.

The Lakers and their fans can't complain too much. The NBA considered suspending Andrew Bynum for three games before settling on a two-game punishment for his flagrant foul on Friday against Minnesota. Lakers Coach Phil Jackson and General Manager Mitch Kupchak called it "excessive," but without the existence of an appeals process, Bynum sat out the game Sunday against Portland (an 84-80 Lakers victory) and will also miss the game Tuesday against Phoenix. Mark Heisler: Luckily for Lakers, Andrew Bynum's absence will be brief Nobody seems happy with it. Not the NBA, which sent warning letters to all teams in December about cracking down on flagrant fouls.

The Lakers have acquired a point guard to help them in their playoff push, trading for Cleveland's Ramon Sessions, according to an NBA official. The Lakers sent forward Luke Walton, forward Jason Kapono and their 2012 first-round draft choice to the Cavaliers for Sessions and forward Christian Eyenga. Sessions became expendable in Cleveland after the Cavaliers made rookie Kyrie Irving their starting point guard. Sessions, who turns 26 next month, was averaging 10.5 points and 5.2 assists for the Cavaliers.