Los Angeles Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James posted a meme Friday on Instagram mentioning COVID-19, the flu and a common cold.

"Help me out folks," James captioned the post, though it's unclear if he is indeed incorrectly suggesting the three are the same thing.

Bron’s last IG post 🤔 pic.twitter.com/JDn9HgJpMX

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) December 24, 2021

The three illnesses are not the same.

COVID-19 has killed over 809,000 Americans since it arrived in the United States in early 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Annual deaths from influenza fluctuate each year, but over the past decade, no more than 90,000 people in the U.S. have died from the flu over any two-year period, per the CDC.

Based on those figures, COVID-19 is at least 799 percent more deadly than the flu.

A common cold is even less deadly than the flu. Most deaths come from separate complications following the infection, often in people with preexisting conditions or those who are immunocompromised, according to The Conversation.

The good news is that early studies on the impact of omicron, the latest COVID-19 variant, suggest it often leads to less severe outcomes.

Reuters' Estelle Shirbon reported Tuesday that people in South Africa were 80 percent less likely to need hospital admission with omicron compared to prior variants.

James Gallagher of the BBC reported Thursday that the UK Health Security Agency found the need for hospital care because of omicron was between 50 and 70 percent lower.

That's a positive trend amid a surge in U.S. cases, but it doesn't mean COVID-19 is a thing of the past.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told ESPN's Malika Andrews on Tuesday that the league's goal is finding a successful way to "learn to live" with the coronavirus as a constant presence:

No plans right now to pause the season. We have of course looked at all the options, but frankly we are having trouble coming up with what the logic would be behind pausing right now.

As we look through these cases literally ripping through the country, let alone the rest of the world, I think we're finding ourselves where we sort of knew we were going to get to over the past several months, and that is this virus will not be eradicated, and we're going to have to learn to live with it. I think that's what we're experiencing in the league right now.

Silver added 97 percent of NBA players are fully vaccinated, and 65 percent have already received their booster shot. That should help the league's efforts to push through the latest rise in positive tests.

James spent a few days in the league's health and safety protocols earlier this month, but it was a possible false positive test result, as he tested negative earlier the same day and followed up with eight consecutive negative results, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

Darren Collison's retirement lasted two years. 

The former Indiana Pacers guard reportedly signed with the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, after surprisingly retiring in late June 2019.  

The Lakers are also signing Stanley Johnson to a 10-day hardship contract. Both players could be in uniform for their Christmas Day game against the Brooklyn Nets. 

The 34-year-old started at point guard for the Pacers in the 2018-19 season, averaging 11.2 points, 6.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game in 28.2 minutes each contest. He shot 46.7 percent from the field and 40.7 percent from three.

In Collison, the Lakers will be getting a solid veteran capable of stretching the floor with his perimeter scoring who can also facilitate the offense.

Collison isn't one of the elite players at his position, but he's a solid option and should provide quality minutes for his new team.

Johnson was most recently playing for the G League's South Bay Lakers. The former first-round pick has not appeared in an NBA game this season. 

The Los Angeles Lakers are limited in ways they can help the roster, which is a potentially massive deal given the ticking clock attached to 36-year-old superstar LeBron James.

Could that nudge them toward the nuclear option of an Anthony Davis deal? As extreme as that sounds, it might not be completely off the table.

Veteran NBA scribe Marc Stein said the combination of this rocky present and the uncertainty of life after LeBron has people wondering if a Brow blockbuster might be in the works at some point (h/t HoopsHype):

"They had the six worst seasons in franchise history before they got LeBron and who knows? It could be equally bumpy when the LeBron-AD era is over. I think that's why you've kind of started hearing and it's all very speculative… I want to stress that I have not heard anything to this effect. But you do start to hear that. People are asking the question, 'Will they trade AD before his contract runs out so they don't end up on that position?'"

That seems...extreme, and it's worth noting we don't know who's asking that question.

Is the inquiry coming from someone inside of—quickly Googles the new name—the Crypto.com Arena, or are these rival executives hoping the Lakers eventually pull the plug? That makes a difference.

Timing is important, too.

Davis' contract won't expire before 2024; he holds a $43.2 million player option for 2024-25, per Spotrac. Do people actually think a Davis-involved mega-deal could go down this trade season, or is it something where, about two years from now, a 39-year-old James clearly can't lead a championship charge anymore, and the Lakers use Davis' then-expiring contract just to restock the shelves for some rough years ahead?

A Davis deal seems impossible at the moment, if for no other reason than the fact he still has the ceiling of a top-five talent. And when both he and James have it rolling, their games match like clothing articles from the same outfit.

Then again, the Lakers might be flawed beyond repair—they're a dismal 23rd in net efficiency rating, per NBA.com—and it's possible they eventually decide a Davis deal is their only way out.

James isn't getting traded, and neither is Russell Westbrook with his colossal contract. Talen Horton-Tucker and Kendrick Nunn theoretically could, but they don't have the pull to bring an elite player back to L.A.

Davis' own trade value is tricky to calculate since he wasn't super productive (at least, not by his standards) before an MCL sprain forced him out for the next four-plus weeks. The fact he forced a trade from New Orleans to L.A. might not sit well with most suitors, either.

Having said that, teams would still trip over themselves in a rush to reach the Davis sweepstakes. The No. 1 pick from the 2012 draft is 28 years old and already an NBA champion, an eight-time All-Star and a four-time All-NBA selection.

That is exactly the reason why the Lakers should roster him as long as possible. A flawed supporting cast isn't a reason to sacrifice a superstar—not in this league, where stars dominate and consistently lead top-heavy teams farther than deeper squads with fewer stars.

A Davis deal is a fascinating hypothetical, and it would surely net the Lakers some interesting assets. But it almost certainly wouldn't fetch a player of his caliber, since few even exist and are virtually always unavailable.

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James said it's still an "honor" to play in one of the NBA's Christmas Day games despite injuries and COVID-19 absences depleting many rosters around the league.

James explained Saturday's matchup with the Brooklyn Nets probably won't match some of his past Christmas games, highlighted by the memorable 2016 encounter between his Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors, but that won't take away from the spectacle.

"It's always exciting and an honor to be able to play on Christmas," the four-time NBA MVP told reporters after Thursday's loss to the San Antonio Spurs (1:40 mark of video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O8fVr6HcIM?start=100

The Lakers enter the Christmas game on a four-game losing streak. They're without Anthony Davis because of a knee injury and had five players on the list for the NBA's COVID-19 health and safety protocols as of Thursday.

Brooklyn has 10 players on the COVID list and had its last three games postponed. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, who's working toward a return for road games after sitting out the beginning of the season because of a team decision based on his unvaccinated status, are among the players in the protocols.

It's possible players from both teams test out of the protocols before the 8 p.m. ET Saturday start, but neither team will be at full strength and it won't have the look of a potential NBA Finals preview as was expected when the schedule was released.

Nets head coach Steve Nash said Thursday he didn't expect any further additions off the reserve list but noted the team will have "enough to play" despite the difficult circumstances.

"We had to shut everything down just out of precaution," Nash said. "But once we got back to a cadence, healthy guys could do one-on-zero workouts but no group workouts. It basically just started up yesterday, and today, guys are back on the court. And in isolation. It's tricky. We haven't been able to do a lot, but we do what we can and we will continue to adapt as the rules and mandates come in."

The surge of COVID-19 cases around the league has led teams to sign scores of G League players and veterans who've been out of the league for a while to fill out their rosters.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told ESPN's Malika Andrews on Tuesday there's an "amount of unfairness" with teams having to play without key players, but he noted the league doesn't think bringing a halt to the 2021-22 season is the way to go.

"No plans right now to pause the season," Silver said. "We have of course looked at all the options, but frankly we are having trouble coming up with what the logic would be behind pausing right now."

The NBA's annual five-game Christmas Day slate is one of the league's marquee events each year, so trying to keep it intact amid the rise in coronavirus cases was a priority. So far all five contests are scheduled to move forward as planned.

L.A. and Brooklyn are set to tip off on ABC. It'll be the first game at the newly renamed Crypto.com Arena.

The San Antonio Spurs crushed the host Los Angeles Lakers 138-110 on Thursday in Staples Center.

Keita Bates-Diop led six Spurs in double figures with 30 points on perfect 11-of-11 shooting. The reserve forward led a Spurs bench that outscored the Lakers' second unit 69-20.

LeBron James did all he could to propel the short-handed Lakers to victory, scoring a game-high 36 points alongside nine rebounds and six assists. However, the rest of the Lakers largely struggled on both ends en route to the 28-point loss.

Seven players were listed on the Lakers' injury report before the game.

Lakers big man Anthony Davis (sprained left MCL) and Kendrick Nunn (bone bruise: right knee) continued to be out with injuries. Trevor Ariza, Kent Bazemore, Avery Bradley, Malik Monk and Austin Reaves were out because of the NBA's health and safety protocols.

This game also marked the last contest in Staples Center, which will go by Crypto.com Arena moving forward.

The 13-18 Spurs have won two straight games. The 16-17 Lakers have lost four consecutive contests.

    

Notable Performances

Spurs F Keita Bates-Diop: 30 points, 7 rebounds

Spurs PG Dejounte Murray: 9 points, 13 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks

Spurs F Keldon Johnson: 16 points, 10 rebounds

Spurs G Derrick White: 23 points, 7 assists

Spurs G Lonnie Walker IV: 21 points

Lakers F LeBron James: 36 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists

Lakers PG Russell Westbrook: 30 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists

       

Spurs' Season Turnaround Continues as Balanced Offense Overcomes Poor Lakers D

The Spurs' season got off to a rough start as they began 4-13 following a six-game losing streak. Opponents outscored San Antonio by 13.8 points during that stretch.

Thankfully, the NBA regular season has 82 games and not 17, and San Antonio has since bounced back by going 9-5 in its last 14 matchups.

The Spurs may not have an All-NBA player on their roster (although it's possible Dejounte Murray could get there someday), but this is a deep team that's getting key contributions throughout the rotation.

For example, the first half featured Jock Landale posting a team-high 11 points off the bench and Doug McDermott, Lonnie Walker IV and Bates-Diop each scoring 10. None of those players are among the top four Spurs scorers this year.

Landale also had a big bucket to close the Spurs' 33-24 first quarter with this tip-in:

Right on time 💪 pic.twitter.com/EeKbY4TOyA

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) December 24, 2021

They overcame a 2-of-10 shooting performance from leading scorer in Murray, who still contributed to the first-half onslaught with eight assists.

The Spurs also played clean and largely mistake-free basketball, committing just three turnovers to the Lakers' nine before halftime.

San Antonio's passing, movement and teamwork all took center stage in L.A. as well, with Derrick White notably finding Murray for an easy two here:

Perfection. 🤌

That Derrick dime to DJ was EVERYTHING! pic.twitter.com/SkD2oCNQPo

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) December 24, 2021

Murray did an excellent job distributing, finding Bates-Diop for two of his 11 third-quarter points here:

The season of giving 🎁

Dejounte Murray's up to 12 AST through three quarters as the @spurs lead on NBA League Pass: https://t.co/V0kkYEn6W6 pic.twitter.com/cUf6AixLyD

— NBA (@NBA) December 24, 2021

Moreover, they did a good job turning defense into offense, with this Murray block leading to a Keldon Johnson coast-to-coast layup:

this sequence 👀 pic.twitter.com/oz30YPSuYe

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) December 24, 2021

Bates-Diop took care of business on both ends too:

DEFENSE 👏👏 DEFENSE @KBD_33 gets the steal and the finish! pic.twitter.com/LFqpwQBdzi

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) December 24, 2021

Thanks to all these efforts, the Spurs held a 105-92 lead after three quarters. They never led by fewer than 12 points in the fourth as they kept their foot on the gas en route to an easy win.

     

Struggling Lakers Close Staples Center With a Whimper

It was an ugly first half for any Laker not named James, who had 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting (2-of-4 three-point range) at halftime.

The rest of the team had 32 points on 12-of-29 shooting (1-of-10 on three-pointers).

James also co-led the team in rebounds (six, with Dwight Howard) and paced the Lakers with four assists.

This play more or less symbolized the Lakers' first half, with James doing everything in his willpower just to score a bucket.

He took care of business himself here by spinning around White to the baseline and tossing a reverse layup over Jakob Poeltl as he hung in midair.

Quick trip to the circus 🎪

(📺: @SpectrumSN) pic.twitter.com/BBv0kHuph8

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) December 24, 2021

Harrison Faigen of Silver Screen & Roll summed up the situation well in the first half:

https://twitter.com/hmfaigen/status/1474238293617176576

The other player referenced there was Howard, who did work on the glass (nine rebounds) and added a pair of blocks. L.A. ended up outscoring San Antonio 68-50 in the paint.

Russell Westbrook got going in the third quarter, scoring 17 of his 30 points. However, the Lakers' defense had no answer for San Antonio, who scored 33 points in the first, second and fourth quarters and 39 in the third.

LeBron and Russ have combined for 59 points in three quarters and the Lakers are still down 105-92 to the Spurs.

— Bill Oram (@billoram) December 24, 2021

By that point, the damage was done.

The Lakers' worst defensive effort of the season, coupled with an imbalanced offense for much of the game, closed the Staples Center era with a lopsided defeat for the home side.

     

What's Next?

The Lakers are scheduled to host the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET in Crypto.com Arena's debut. The Spurs will host the Detroit Pistons at AT&T Center on Sunday at 7 p.m.

The 16-16 Los Angeles Lakers have lost three straight games entering Thursday's matchup with the San Antonio Spurs, but center Dwight Howard is taking the long view amid the team's struggles.

"It's not about how you start; it's how you finish!" Howard told TMZ Sports at his OxeFit after-party in Los Angeles.

The Lakers have not started well, although injuries to LeBron James and Anthony Davis have hindered the team's progress.

They've also been without Kendrick Nunn (knee) all season and Trevor Ariza (ankle, health and safety protocols) for all but two games.

Still, the Lakers are just 26th in offensive efficiency, per Basketball-Reference, and there's plenty of room for improvement on that end regardless of whom is on the court.

L.A. is only 32 games deep into an 82-game regular season, though, and Howard is confident the team will be good when it matters the most.

"We good, man. It's early," Howard said. "We gonna be ready by the time the playoffs start. That's when we start dominating."

The Lakers also have a nearly brand-new roster from last year, with the only holdovers being James, Davis and Talen Horton-Tucker. Naturally, it's taking time for the team to form chemistry, especially with the group being short-handed all year.

"This is a brand-new team than it was in 2020. All of us are really trying to learn how to play together and get our games going," Howard noted.

The Lakers close the calendar year with five games beginning with the Spurs matchup. They'll also play in the Christmas Day prime-time game when they host the Brooklyn Nets at 8 p.m. ET in Crypto.com Arena's debut.

The Los Angeles Lakers put veteran forward Trevor Ariza in the NBA's health and safety protocols Thursday, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium. 

He joins fellow players Kent Bazemore, Avery Bradley, Malik Monk and Austin Reaves and head coach Frank Vogel in the protocols. 

The team is also without Anthony Davis and Kendrick Nunn as they recover from knee injuries ahead of Thursday night's matchup with the San Antonio Spurs.

Ariza, 36, has only played in two games this season for the Lakers after recovering from ankle surgery. He's averaged 7.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in 18.0 minutes per game in his two appearances.

The veteran forward, in his 18th season, offers solid defense and experience for an L.A. team that has had what could best be described as a disjointed season. The 16-16 Lakers have dealt with the COVID-19 disruptions that have affected virtually the entire NBA, though things have been compounded by injuries and questionable roster construction. 

As for the NBA's COVID-19 protocols, those remain in flux:

Based upon testing, the agreement could allow players to shorten quarantines down to six days, per sources. The NBA and NBPA have been consulting with their own infectious disease specialists and studying research models in the UK and elsewhere.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 23, 2021

The league has already made adjustments to how it handles team rosters during outbreaks, allowing franchises to sign one replacement player for every member of a roster placed in the health and safety protocols. 

Additionally, the league now requires a team to sign at least one replacement player per two players in the protocols, two replacement players per three players in the protocols, etc. And two-way players no longer have a cap on the amount of NBA appearances they are allowed to make this season. 

That comes in the wake of a tough December around the NBA that featured a number of postponed games as teams were unable to roll out full rosters because of players in the health and safety protocols. 

Andre Ingram has been playing professional basketball since 2007, but he might be best known for a recent appearance on one of the most iconic television game shows. 

On Dec. 10, Ingram was a contestant on Wheel of Fortune and won $31,750 en route to reaching the bonus round. 

Speaking to David Aldridge of The Athletic, Ingram called his experience on the show "quite surreal" and what it was like when host Pat Sajak crowned him the winner:

I’m just in that moment. I’m just taking it all in, like they say. I guess it’s easier to do that when you’ve been having some success with it. I was just genuinely enjoying, at that point, everything about it. Just happy that that’s Pat Sajak, that it’s Vanna White, ’cause you know how long they’ve been doing it. Who’s to say they won’t have another host soon? So to meet them, that’s the show that I wanted to be on.

Ingram, who currently plays with the G League's South Bay Lakers, describes himself as a lifelong fan of Wheel of Fortune, with Aldridge noting he "schedules his offseason workouts to be finished so he can watch every night."

According to Aldridge, Ingram sent in a one-minute video message to the show's producers in April 2020 after the G League season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"They said, ‘We liked your video; would you mind doing some online auditions for us?" Ingram said after hearing back from the show. “I said, sure. We did that, and then I waited again, like a month later, to where they said, ‘Hey, we think we’re going to have you on the show.'"

Ingram taped his appearance on the show in October, ahead of the start of the G League season on Nov. 5. He won the first two rounds and two toss-up puzzles to finish with $31,750. 

The Virginia native was tripped up in the bonus round. The category was event, but he only had six of the letters in "Fierce Blizzard" and was unable to figure it out before the 10-second time limit expired. 

Ingram has since returned to his day job with the South Bay Lakers. He is averaging 6.1 points and 1.7 rebounds per game in 14 appearances. He has played six games in the NBA for the Los Angeles Lakers, scoring 19 points in his first game on April 10, 2018. 

If you're an NBA fan upset by the state of the game in 2021-22, Iman Shumpert has pinpointed exactly when the league changed for the worse. 

Appearing on The Bootleg Kev Podcast (starts at :10 mark), Shumpert said LeBron James signing with the Miami Heat "ruined basketball."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSaqNBeILqQ?start=5s

"He thought he was making it better," added Shumpert. "... Me, personally, I loved the NBA for the loyalty that I thought was there. He basically knocked the fourth wall down."

It's hard to argue that "The Decision" was the most important moment in the NBA during the previous decade. There had been many teams built around superstars before 2010, but they were usually put together through the draft or trades. 

James and Chris Bosh, who joined him in signing with the Heat to play with Dwyane Wade, broke the barrier of free-agent superstars banding together to create a superteam. 

The move paid off for all parties involved. The Heat reached the NBA Finals in each of the four seasons the trio of James, Bosh and Wade were together, winning titles in 2011-12 and 2012-13. 

James has attempted to orchestrate superteams around him ever since. He went back to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014 to play with Kyrie Irving, and they also brought in Kevin Love via trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves. 

After a four-year run in Cleveland, James signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018. He wasn't shy about wanting the Lakers to acquire Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans in the summer of 2019. 

The biggest ripple effect from "The Decision" may have come six years later when Kevin Durant signed with the Golden State Warriors, who had just won 73 games before losing to Cleveland in the 2016 NBA Finals. 

Durant helped the Warriors beat the Cavs in back-to-back Finals. He followed James' model in the summer of 2019 by teaming up with Irving when both signed with the Brooklyn Nets as free agents. 

Even though Shumpert believes James ruined basketball, he directly benefited from it by being part of the 2015-16 Cavs team that won a championship.