Karl Malone News

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant wipes his face with his jersey during the first quarter of Game 5 in their NBA basketball Western Conference semifinal playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Monday, May 21, 2012, in Oklahoma City.

Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers was selected to the All-National Basketball Association first team for the 10th time, the most among active players and second in league history behind Karl Malone.

The L.A. Lakers were two complete meltdowns away from being up 3-1 on the Oklahoma City Thunder .

When it comes to team sports, players will always be judged by the number of championships they won in their careers.

It happens to every athlete. No matter how well conditioned, prepared and talented Kobe Bryant might be he can't escape the inevitable.

Just when you thought it was safe to go into the Twittersphere. Dwightmare II has begun! With the Magic firing its GM and coach and both its CEO and senior v.p. suggesting they and Dwight Howard are approaching crunchtime, there's no hope of avoiding it.

That attitude brought back memories of the Nuggets run in 1994 when Denver entered the playoffs as the eighth-seed and rallied from a 2-game deficit to upset top-seeded Seattle Supersonics, who at the time were coached by current Nuggets coach George Karl.

The disaster that is the Pacers series has only fueled speculation on the coaching situation in Miami.A Only one thing is immediately clear:A a 2nd round playoff exit by the Heat will result in either: Though Erik Spoelstra is an affable man, who has won in the NBA with and without LeBron James, it's unlikely that he would survive a disastrous 2nd ... (more)

Almost 36, Kevin Garnett is averaging a Player Efficiency Rating of 25.6 this postseason.

If you're too lazy to read my written words about the Lakers-Thunder series, check out the video segment I did with Mike Trudell of Lakers.com after practice Tuesday in Oklahoma City - summing up where things stand.

OKLAHOMA CITY The Lakers hadn't come anywhere close to being beaten this badly in the opener of a playoff series since 1998.

This playoff has had its ups and downs. The big downer is that many of the teams are nursing injuries andA injuredA players.

George Karl tells his team more stories than a father at bedtime, and in the past 10 days, he dug through his mental archive for fresh material.

The biggest storyline of last year's NBA finals was not the series itself but the implications it had on the legacies of LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki.

It's far from difficult to see how it happens; one great year, a handful of above average performances, immortal swag and freakish athletic ability are all driving forces behind unjustified jumps to superstardom.

When Amar'e Stoudemire's run-in with a fire extinguisher can own the back page of the New York tabloids and whatever daily drama that might involve LeBron James can blow up Twitter feeds, a playoff series between New York and Miami will always have as much peripheral fire as on court Heat.

ESPN's John Hollinger, the D-League of NBA statisticians, has suggested that the 2004 Pistons won their championship thanks to a string of key injuries to the Pacers , Nets and Lakers .

When an NBA player reaches a certain point in his career, the pursuit to win a championship rises to the forefront of consideration when picking a new team as a free agent.

If you've wondered what 22,000 silent people feels like, all you would've had to do was attend Game 1 of this year's first round series between the Chicago Bulls and the Philadelphia 76ers.

LOS ANGELES Beforehand, Denver coach George Karl was reflecting on playoff series past, and how they get decided by shoelaces, coin flips, fingernails.