Sep 30, 2003 12:50 PM EST
There are good days and bad days in Rick Fox's rehabilitation from a rare brand of foot surgery, but by Friday, they'll all look quite pleasant.
Fox can't play basketball yet, and probably won't until January. So his training camp agenda in Honolulu might differ slightly from that of his Lakers teammates.
"Lay out in the sun. Drink pina coladas. Really enjoy Hawaii the way it's meant to be enjoyed," Fox said with a chuckle. "Outside of that, I'll be getting a crash course in being a general manager, sitting in the stands with Mitch Kupchak."
It has been four months since Fox underwent surgery to repair a torn tendon and realign the heel in his left foot. His surgeons believe Fox is the first NBA player to undergo this type of surgery and attempt to resume his career, and they cautioned at the time that he would need at least six to nine months of rehabilitation.
That conservative timeline is proving accurate. Fox ditched his walking boot in August, three weeks ahead of schedule, but can't run yet and probably won't for at least a few more weeks.
For now, Fox is trying to regain strength and balance, through marching and skipping exercises that will "re-train" his foot's movements.
"I don't think I'll be jumping for a while. I don't think I'll be playing for a while," Fox said. "I'm hearing January (to return to the court).' If it takes that long, I think I'll probably be bald by then. I'll probably pull out my hair."
Via L.A. Daily News
Los Angeles Lakers
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It wasn't always an easy ride for Phil Jackson.
"That last stretch was tough, about 480 miles into the wind," Jackson mused last week in a telephone interview about returning on his motorcycle, across the Dakotas, to his Montana home over the summer. "I'd usually do the 600 miles in one day, but all the way into the wind it was dirty, dusty. I had to stop after 480."
That was only a fraction of the miles Jackson traveled last summer on his motorcycle. He made a big loop around the Rocky Mountain states and the Plains to attend a high school reunion in Williston, N.D. He saw friends and the backwoods and the soaring beauty of America.
It was an eye-opening trip for Jackson, who was given another view of life after heart surgery last spring. Familiar sights seemed clearer.
It was during that span--June 30--that Jackson happened to land for the night in tiny Eagle, Colo. It seemed like an ideal place to stop. The town is high in the mountains, seemingly closer to the brightest stars.
Jackson had no idea how close.
Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant was there as well. The events of June 30 would eventually lead to sexual assault charges being brought against Bryant in Eagle.
"Unbeknownst to me, he was just six miles down the road," Jackson said. "We weren't aware of the fact. We knew he was looking for medical clinics to appraise his knee and the situation. But it caught us by surprise."
The paths of Jackson and Bryant will cross again this week as NBA training camps open. But a season that looked so promising for the Lakers, who signed All-Stars Gary Payton and Karl Malone, won't be an easy ride.
"I'm certain I look at every year as a great challenge," Jackson said. "But this is going to be one of the most challenging years I can see."
Via Chicago Tribune
Los Angeles Lakers
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There was a time when Pat Riley's name was synonymous with beautiful basketball, when Magic Johnson led the greatest fast break ever, when James Worthy finished with statuesque dunks, when the half-court set was the domain of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's majestic sky hook.
It was the game at its finest, Showtime in Los Angeles, and Riley, with his slicked-back hair and Armani suits, presided over it perfectly as the stylish architect of it all.
But over the past 12 years, Riley beat that image into the ground and buried it, his teams in New York and Miami using a brutal type of thuggery that was palatable only because it produced victories.
Now, after failing to make the playoffs the last two seasons, Riley is ready to revert. When the Miami Heat opens training camp this week, Riley will introduce his team to a poor man's version of Showtime. It will be a crude copy to be sure, but Riley nonetheless plans to run and play pretty again.
The key to Miami's transformation will be two young players the team acquired this off-season, the free agent Lamar Odom and the first-round draft pick Dwyane Wade. Barring injuries or new revelations during training camp, Riley will start Wade and Odom alongside Caron Butler, Eddie Jones and Brian Grant.
That lineup features no true point guard and no true center, just four extremely versatile and athletic players (none smaller than 6 feet 4 inches) and one hardy rebounder in Grant.
Via New York Times
Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks
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Lakers Sep 2003 Archive
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Denver Post | Sep 26, 2003
A center for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence and the woman who is accusing Kobe Bryant of sexual assault want to quash efforts by Bryant's defense team to review notes and other records taken by a victim's advocate.
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Rocky Mountain News | Sep 24, 2003
The Los Angeles Lakers anticipate Kobe Bryant will be reporting for the start of preseason training next week in Hawaii, despite his next scheduled court date in Eagle.
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Los Angeles Times | Sep 24, 2003
Prosecutors sided with media organizations Tuesday in requesting that Kobe Bryant's preliminary hearing in Colorado remain open, an indication that Dist.
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Los Angeles Times | Sep 24, 2003
Brian Shaw, the sturdy guard who had a hand in each of the Lakers' last three NBA championships, will announce his retirement as a player today.
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L.A. Times | Sep 23, 2003
NBA Commissioner David Stern said Monday that Kobe Bryant should continue to play for the Lakers this season, even as Bryant faces a potential trial for a sexual assault charge in Colorado.
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Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercal Appeal | Sep 21, 2003
At least a half dozen teams will have begun training camp by Saturday so it's not too soon to wonder about the 2003-04 NBA season.
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Los Angeles Times | Sep 21, 2003
"So let the sideshow begin.
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Newark Advocate | Sep 20, 2003
A drunken driving charge against NBA player Samaki Walker is being dropped in Licking County Municipal Court, and the most the pro basketball player will possibly get is a $100 fine for allegedly failing to control his vehicle.
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Los Angeles Times | Sep 20, 2003
A large media group is opposing a defense motion to close Kobe Bryant's preliminary hearing by citing precedent and suggesting that a judge could still protect the identity of the Laker guard's accuser should she testify.
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Dallas Morning News | Sep 20, 2003
Way back in Mavericks' history, back in nineteen hundred eighty-nine, a key starter entered the season in the last year of his contract.
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Denver Post | Sep 19, 2003
State and federal authorities arrested a California man Thursday on suspicion of trying to orchestrate a "hit" on the 19-year-old Eagle woman who has accused Kobe Bryant of sexual assault.
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Vail Daily | Sep 19, 2003
An investigation requested by Kobe Bryant's defense team has cleared the Eagle County sheriff and district attorney of leaking details about the sexual assault case to the media, authorities said Thursday.
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Rocky Mountain News | Sep 17, 2003
The identity of the woman who has accused NBA star Kobe Bryant of rape was mistakenly posted on the official state courts Web site Tuesday.
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Vail Daily | Sep 16, 2003
Kobe Bryant's attorneys say his accuser's credibility is central to determining if their client should stand trial, and they insist her medical records should be made available to them.
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Los Angeles Lakers | Sep 13, 2003
Phil Jackson is trim and apparently fit again, good things to be for the man who will run a basketball team of All-Stars and sure-thing Hall of Famers while one among them faces criminal charges.
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Vail Daily | Sep 13, 2003
Kobe Bryant's attorneys Friday asked that next month's preliminary hearing be closed to the public and the press.
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Los Angeles Times | Sep 13, 2003
Before his 17th NBA season, Horace Grant arrived again, gathering a chair beneath him amid the calm and Indian feathers of Phil Jackson's office, this time in El Segundo.
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Denver Post | Sep 12, 2003
Attorneys defending basketball star Kobe Bryant in the sexual-assault case against him have issued subpoenas for law enforcement officers, a crisis hotline and an Eagle hotel, the latest in a series of sources sought for a preliminary hearing next month.
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Rocky Mountain News | Sep 11, 2003
Prosecutors plan to play videotaped statements of Kobe Bryant and his alleged victim, and show photographs of her injuries at his sexual assault preliminary hearing next month.
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Vail Daily | Sep 10, 2003
While Kobe Bryant's defense attorneys have not said whether they'll waive the preliminary hearing, they do have that right.
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Rocky Mountain News | Sep 10, 2003
Kobe Bryant's lawyers want his alleged victim to testify at the preliminary hearing next month in his sexual assault case.
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Orange County Register | Sep 9, 2003
A Colorado judge has denied the media's request for television and still-photography coverage of the preliminary hearing in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case scheduled for Oct.
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Associated Press | Sep 8, 2003
Cameras will be banned from the courtroom during the preliminary hearing in Kobe Bryant's sexual assault case.
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Sports Business News | Sep 8, 2003
For the first time, Kobe Bryant's attorneys have hinted at their strategy by focusing attention on the woman who accused the NBA superstar of rape.
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Memphis Commercial Appeal | Sep 7, 2003
As difficult as it is to believe, there was a time when the Los Angeles Lakers were nothing more than a bunch of scrubs.
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Vail Daily | Sep 5, 2003
Kobe Bryant's defense attorneys should not get his alleged victim's medical records, her attorney argues in a motion filed Thursday.
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Howard Ulman of the Associated Press | Sep 4, 2003
James Worthy was an eighth-grader when he first saw Robert Parish play college basketball.
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Rocky Mountain News | Sep 4, 2003
Kobe Bryant's career in the National Basketball Association may be over if he is convicted of sexual assault.
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L.A. Times | Sep 4, 2003
The Eagle County courts stopped some material pertaining to the Kobe Bryant case from being released publicly Wednesday, even as other documents were unsealed.
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Vail Daily | Sep 3, 2003
Defense attorneys have requested medical records about a hospital stay last February in the Northern Colorado Medical Center in Greeley by Bryant's alleged victim.
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Rocky Mountain News | Sep 3, 2003
Chances are good that the Iowa man accused of threatening Kobe Bryant's alleged victim will reach a plea bargain with federal authorities, his lawyer said Tuesday.
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Vail Daily | Sep 1, 2003
Handling the hordes covering the Kobe Bryant case hasn't been cheap, but it's not a budget-buster, either.
