More photos » by Elizabeth Dalziel - AP

Tracy McGrady can thank these women and their large, uhh, basketballs (and millions of others like them) for his starting slot as a West All-Star.

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The first round of All-Star Voting Results is in, and Kobe Bryant is leading all vote-getters in both conferences. Dwyane Wade is next, followed by LeBron James and Dwight Howard. Not all that surprising, of course — but click the jump for the more interesting bits...

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In a defensive showcase, the Lakers clamped down in the fourth quarter and held the Utah Jazz to 6 points in the period. This included a 19-0 stretch, and from the start of the quarter to the 4:35 mark, a 23-2 run. We'll have LOTS more to say about that soon enough, but for now, here's your highlight of the night.

It's Showtime again in Los Angeles. Enjoy.

A few days ago, as you all remember quite well, Kobe Bryant hit this ridiculous game-winning bank shot over Dwyane Wade to beat Miami and keep the Lakers' winning streak (now at 9 games) alive. It was incredible, and yet, because it was Kobe, completely unsurprising. I was out of my mind, and yet, because it was Kobe, I should almost have expected it. It was an amazing shot, and yet, because it was Kobe, not a shocking one.

For me, as for many Lakers fans, the experience went beyond that single shot. In the day or so that followed, I found myself mentally reliving many of Kobe's previous buzzer beaters. Two of my favorites, of course, are the double-whammies versus Portland and Phoenix — in both of which, Kobe first ties the game at the buzzer to send it to overtime, and then, at the end of overtime, hits another shot at the buzzer to win it. (Side note: I wonder how many other players have hit two buzzer beaters in the same game, on more than one occasion? Anyone know?)

Suddenly, something occurred to me. My wife, who often watches Lakers games with me (lucky man that I am), had probably never seen either of those shots (or rather, pairs of shots). We got married in late 2006, and it was only after that that she started watching with me. So, of course, I called up YouTube and played them for her.

That's when I noticed something — something different about Shaq and Kobe...

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Those of you who watched the Suns-Lakers game on NBA League Pass Sunday night will recognize this as something the Suns' commentators pointed out during the game. The truth is, I've been planning on posting this since the moment it happened on the court — it's just been a bit busy around here, what with Kobe throwing rocks at telephone poles, and all.

Aaaaaaanyways... watch this video, in which Lamar Odom gets his second technical and is ejected from Friday's game against the Heat, and tell me what you see.

What do you notice, here? After the jump, I'll tell you the first thing I saw...

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More photos » by Gus Ruelas - AP

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In case you've missed this memo, voting is currently going on for 2009 Athlete of the Year. Kobe is on that list.

Why vote for Kobe? Leading his team to a championship (Kobe's 4th) and winning Finals MVP come to mind. So does starting off this season with a much improved post game, and currently ranking 4th in points in the paint.

Oh, and of course, there's another NBA star listed on the ballot. You know what to do.

UPDATE: Kobe is also up for Player of the Decade and other highlights on ESPN (click here to vote) and TNT All-Decade (click here, and also here and here for past votes). Make sure to vote in all of the above!

More photos » by Gus Ruelas - AP

NCIS is my favorite show. Gibbs is my role model.

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In 2008-09, the Lakers won the NBA Championship (you know ... in case you hadn't heard). Along the way, they won 65 games. Throughout all this, their longest winning streak was 7 games. They had more than one such streak.

During the regular season, they often struggled to maintain focus and intensity. Their ceiling was very high, and they had the fortunate ability to play at nearly full potential when needed — but not consistently, and not when the competition was less than top notch. They often gave too much ground to bad teams, and though they were solid against Denver in the Conference Finals, and handled Orlando quite quickly en route to a 4-1 Finals victory, they weren't nearly as good as they should have been in the first two rounds, against lesser competition.

Many of these things appear to be changing, and last night's game is just the latest piece in a nine-game string of of games that punctuate that statement. With Pau Gasol still getting into shape, Ron Artest still learning the offense, and the schedule tougher than the pundits would have you believe, the Lakers' win over Phoenix last night has them riding a winning streak of nine games — already two better than anything they did last year.

With the stage now set, let's take a closer look at last night's blowout of the Suns at Staples Center...

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More photos » by Eric Jamison - AP

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You know how the argument usually goes, right?

Kobe Bryant proponents claim that he is the best player in the NBA because of his fully rounded game and his ability to score on teams in every way imaginable; they claim he can't be stopped because no team is capable of defending all of his many, varied weapons.

Meanwhile, LeBron James advocates claim he is the best player in the NBA because, while his skill set is more limited, his singular talent — getting to the rim for dunks and layups — is much more dominant than any of Kobe's single talents; they claim he can't be stopped because the easier-said-than-done task of keeping him out of the paint is nearly impossible. They also claim that while Kobe is a bigger threat due to the complexity and breadth of his skill set, LeBron is a more consistent threat due to the simplicity of his dominant skill.

Even the most passionate of LeBron fans isn't foolish enough to claim that LeBron is more skilled than Kobe. To them, it's a question of effectiveness, and they believe the sheer power and force of LeBron's limited skill set is equally effective, in terms of producing NBA success, as the awesome breadth of Kobe's all-around game, because of LeBron's ability to consistently get (and convert) high quality looks at the hoop — that is, points in the paint.

All of which makes a golden little nugget found in ESPN's Weekend Dime very interesting. Details after the jump...

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I'm a big fan of NBA League Pass, the NBA's subscription package that allows you to watch virtually ALL of the NBA games being played on any given night. I'm a Lakers fan, and I don't live in southern California; without League Pass, I would be limited to only those games played on national television. Granted, it's the Lakers, so I'd get more games than fans of some other teams, but it would nonetheless be a fraction of what I get with League Pass.

I'm an even bigger fan of League Pass Broadband, the internet-based version of League Pass. It fits my needs perfectly, and if you ask me, it's an awesome product.

Of course, there's a catch: Any game that is either (a) nationally televised, or (b) locally televised in your area (as determined by your IP address) will be blacked out on League Pass. This is completely understandable. The NBA would destroy its partnerships with TNT, ESPN, ABC, etc., if it undercut them. They'd have to be idiots to do that. So I understand the blackouts. Besides, it's not like it's that hard to find a TV with TNT or ESPN.

But then there's NBATV.

That's right, games shown on NBATV are blacked out on League Pass. It's asinine, it makes no sense, and it's a huge disservice to League Pass customers. So I propose a boycott, of sorts.

Details after the jump.

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