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Shaw wants to return next seasonTim Brown of the Los Angeles Times reports: Last week, Brian Shaw celebrated his 37th birthday and hopes to celebrate at least one more while in a Lakers uniform. "I would like to play again," said Shaw. "I look at the reality of the business, our team, the way this season has gone. I know that after this season, [the Lakers] are not going to stand pat. They're going to get younger and more athletic. I understand that." "If we won it again," he said, smiling, "I'd like to keep coming back until we didn't." Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Bryant lights up the WizKevin Ding of the Orange County Register reports: Last night might have marked Michael Jordan's final game in Los Angeles but when it was all said and done, it was Kobe's night. While Jordan had 23 points in the game, Bryant scored 41 points in the first half, breaking Elgin Baylor's franchise record of 37 points in one half, including 23 straight Lakers points in a span of 5 minutes and 42 seconds. For the game, Bryant finished with 55 points, one shy of his career-high of 56 points, in the Lakers 108-94 victory over the Washington Wizards. "Kobe," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said, "is a person who does step out and like that light." However, Kobe did most of his scoring on Stackhouse, not Jordan. Shaquille O"Neal had his own way of comparing Kobe and Jordan. "There’ll never be another Mike." but "Kobe focuses on being the first Kobe." Kobe's teammates were real impressed with his near career-night. "Kobe’s not really the type to back down," said O’Neal, who added that it was "a performance I’ve never seen before, not even on PlayStation." "I don’t know if he (Bryant) ever doesn’t want to put on a show like he did tonight," teammate Derek Fisher said. Jordan was also impressed. "He definitely has his share of the torch," Jordan said. Finally, he was asked an interesting question: If Bryant could become better than him, Jordan said: "I don’t know. ... That is something that could be told over time." Los Angeles Lakers, Washington Wizards Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Defacer of Shaq's ball identified?R.E. Graswich of the Sacramento Bee is reporting that the person responsible for defacing Shaquille O'Neal's 20,000 point ball has been identified. Well, in a way. Kings season ticket holder Greg Jones says he saw the whole thing happen. "It was a timeout in the fourth quarter, and the referee put the ball down," Greg said. "There were two guys seated in the front row seats opposite the Kings bench. They were with a boy about nine or 10. One of the guys grabbed the ball and handed it to the boy. I was watching with my wife. I said, 'Hey, that's neat. I'll bet that kid loves this.' Then one of the guys took out a pen and wrote on the ball. My wife and I saw it. A few seconds later, the kid tossed the ball back to the ref." Greg said he did not know who the culprit was, but that he could pick him out if he saw the game film. "I'm surprised he doesn't come forward," Greg said. "A lot of people want to shake his hand." Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Lakers Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Lakers Mar 2003 Archive
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