Kawhi Leonard turned down an offer to play with LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. He made a man's choice to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers. Now Leonard is leading the Clippers to haunt James and the Lakers- - (NBA - photo) KAWHI LEONARD HAUNTS LAKERS   Kawhi Dissed Lakers 4 Clippers

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks are serving notice to the Lakers - (Keith Allison - photo)

LeBron James - - (NBA - photo) Anthony The Brow Davis - - - (NBA - photo) Los Angeles Lakers chief owner Jeannie Buss - - (NBA - photo)

Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown - - (NBA - photo)

SPORTS NOTES - LA CLIPPERS CONTINUE TO WIN the WAR in LOS ANGELES

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

The Los Angeles Clippers continue to dominate their highly regarded cross town rival Lakers. In their second meeting the Clippers handed the Lakers their 4th straight loss - Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown refused to accept $400,000 awarded him for the police using excessive force against him - DID YOU KNOW?… Back n the day the NFL had a segregation policy for players room accommodations - NBA's Greatest All-time TEAM

Thursday, December 26, 2019

THE BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES

NBA Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks are serving notice to the Los Angeles Lakers and their owner in chief r Jeannie Buss that her money can buy LeBron James and Anthony Davis BUT… she can't buy wins.

The Bucks downed her precious Lakers 111-104. Giannis scored 34 points while the Lakers Davis notched 36 and James 21. A dismal Lakers bench scored ONLY 4 points to the Bucks 34. Is something wrong with this Lakers picture?

During the summer there was plenty of controversy about who would sign Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Anthony Davis. LeBron James HEAVILY recruited Davis and had the then Pelican on his TV show. The trick is that THIS is not considered tampering by the new standards NBA. With that you can place that in the GO FIGURE FILE.

The Clippers managed to sign Leonard after he turned down Buss face to face. After signing with the Clippers he requested they sign George. That urging proved to be what sealed the deal for George to sign with the Clippers. With the other new DYNAMIC DUO IN LA the Clippers are now are being considered a championship caliber team.

In their second meeting with the Clippers being 15 points down in the 3rd quarter, they came back to win 111-106 giving the Lakers their 4th straight loss. That result and performance was demonstrative. Early on the Lakers were having their way with the Clips but with the new boys (Leonard & George) in town they dug into their guts and came up with the win bolstered by Leonard scoring 35 points.

What stood out was the Lakers lived and died by the 3, shooting only 26% making only 12 of 45 shots. The 45 3's were almost half of their 96 shots in the game. At this time the Clippers appear to be more fluid team.

Lou Williams, who is the current NBA 6th MAN AWARD WINNER had a bad game scoring only 6 points. That ironically appears to be a good thing sine the Clippers can come from 15 down to win without his usually productive scoring contributions.

The scary thing about the Lakers is if Demarcus Cousins can come back from his injury and be dynamic as he was early in his career that would be a scary situation for the rest of the NBA. Should LeBron, Davis and Cousins all be healthy at playoff time and are in synch they would be tough to beat and perhaps the best in the west.

With Cousins and Davis having been productive teammates in the past with the New Orleans Pelicans that will be a major factor in that lineup coming together quickly. The problem remains that all are recently experiencing injury plagued histories.

The bottom line is the Lakers are bleeding and the rest of the NBA is tasting blood. No longer do the Lakers appear to be invincible. They are recognizing that James and Davis aren't the magic elixir for the Lakers. They league now know the Lakers are beatable and their injuries can be their Achilles heal since their bench aren't' functioning as a force.

Will maintaining the player's health be the common detonator of who will succeed as being the best in the west? Stay tuned…

STERLING BROWN 4 THE CAUSE

The Milwaukee Bucks reserve guard Sterling Brown was assaulted by Milwaukee police. Brown said police officers used excessive force when they tased him after being cited for a parking violation in January 2018. At the time the police didn't know he was an NBA player for their home team. The reality is they knew he was black and they had proof… HIS SKIN.

The department head immediately apologized to Brown who later won a court case and awarded $400,000 Brown has turned the money down.

"Right now it's a long process, it's still ongoing," Brown said. "They tried to throw a few dollar amounts at me just to get me to shut up, and I really couldn't take it because I'm not doing it for myself anymore, I'm doing it for everybody else around," he said.

NFL

BRIAN PICCALO - BACK IN THE DAY

In a search for information on why James Caan departed the TV series Las Vegas his information led me to his first big break being a TV film special Biran's Song (1971). Caan played the role of Brian Piccalo a running back with the Chicago Bears for four seasons (1965-1969). Piccalo died at age 26 from embryonal cell carcinoma, an aggressive form of germ cell testicular cancer, first diagnosed after it had spread to his chest cavity.

During his brief career he had a special relationship with teammate Gale Sayers who was black. At that time NFL players were segregated by race for hotel-room assignments. At the suggestion of the then Bears' captain, the policy was changed and each player was reassigned by position, so that wide receivers would room together, quarterbacks would room together, etc. Running back was the only position on the 1969 Bears with one black and one white player, Sayers and Piccolo, respectively.

This is a case of I DID NOT KNOW THAT. I have interviewed black players from that period and from the prior era (50's & early 60's) BUT they never brought that segregated rooming situation to my attention.

As is the Colin Kaepernick case the issue of RACIAL DISCRIMINATION is deeper than was made a public at that time. Much of the racism that existed then was swept under the rug by the media or simply accepted by the players. It's as if former New Jersey Generals owner Donald Trump applied his mentality in the Kaepernick case of if they don't do it (accept) to FIRE THE BASTARDS.

The major difference NOW is the Internet and social media with people of color speaking up and the white race trying to ignore it and waiting for much of the ire to simply go away. What's that saying? GOD BLESS AMERICA, THE LAND OF THE FREE(ED)… SLAVES.

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