Laker files: Jackson, Farmar, Vujacic and Mihm
I covered the Lakers for three years for the Los Angeles Daily News before coming to the Tribune for the start of the playoffs last year. I wanted to share some stories of the Lakers I was able to get to know in those years.
We're going to do these two or three at a time for the next couple of days on the blog. Hope you enjoy.
PHIL JACKSON
One year in Philadelphia, the Lakers worked out at a health club in the city. The players weren't available to the media, but Jackson agreed to talk to us in the club's lobby. While I waited with another reporter for our other two colleagues to arrive, Jackson held court about -- and I almost still can't believe this -- the car-burning riots going on in France.
It was amazing the command Jackson had of the news. He went over the socioeconomic factors involved, France's history as a colonial power and the reasons why French slums were located in the suburbs, as opposed to the American inner city. I remember thinking it sounded as if he had been reading the Journal of Foreign Affairs in his free time.
As imperious as he seems to everyone, especially with that throne of a chair on the bench, Jackson also has a playful side. After a trip to New Orleans two years ago, one of the beat writers (Kevin Ding) decided it would be a great idea to walk back from the Harrah's casino on a dark side street at 3 a.m. with a pocket full of blackjack winnings.
He nearly got mugged before making a split-second decision to keep walking. The next day at practice in San Antonio, the writer (who is Asian) told the story to Jackson, who immediately asked why he didn't use his ninja skills on the mugger. This was accompanied by a Karate Kid kick from the man who has since had both hips replaced.
Jackson and I have had one conversation - - if you could call it that - - since I started covering the Jazz. I congratulated him on his enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. He told me I looked pale. Just for the record, we do see the sun in Utah and it's plenty foggy a lot of days by the beach in Playa del Rey, where Jackson lives.
JORDAN FARMAR
Without ever leaving the city limits of Los Angeles, Farmar has become a star. He led his high school team in the San Fernando Valley to the city title, was one of Ben Howland's first recruits at UCLA and was selected by the hometown Lakers with the No. 26 pick in the 2006 draft.
One of the reasons the Lakers liked Farmar was that he showed up in a suit to his pre-draft workout and interview with the team. Farmar backed up Smush Parker until the very end of last season but has been a valuable reserve this year. His confidence served him well when the Lakers signed Derek Fisher and drafted Javaris Crittenton.
SASHA VUJACIC
Either last season or the season before, Luke Walton was signing autographs outside the Lakers hotel in Indianapolis. One of the kids had a binder of basketball cards and was flipping through it when Walton hit the mother lode. He saw a rookie card for Vujacic that can only be described as a basketball glamour shot.
Not only did he sign everything he could for that kid outside the hotel, Walton bought the Vujacic card off him. Then he had a member of the Lakers public relations staff photocopy it about 10,000 times. They were destined to be hung all over the banquet room where the Lakers were going to watch the Super Bowl on the road.
I never heard about Vujacic's reaction, but I'm guessing it was embarrassment. In his fourth year with the Lakers, Vujacic has shed the label Phil Jackson once gave him as an "11 o'clock shooter" (great in practice, bad in games) and has become a dependable reserve on one of the NBA's deepest teams.
CHRIS MIHM
Two years later, Mihm is still recovering from a horrific ankle injury that happened in a March 2006, game against Seattle. He came down on Rashard Lewis' foot and suffered a sprain so severe that Lakers trainer Gary Vitti later said it was more befitting a car accident than basketball court.
Mihm missed the entire 2006-07 season after undergoing two surgeries on the ankle. He's an Austin, Texas, product with connections to Drew Brees and Andy Roddick and owns a lake house in the area.
--Ross Siler
We're going to do these two or three at a time for the next couple of days on the blog. Hope you enjoy.
PHIL JACKSON
One year in Philadelphia, the Lakers worked out at a health club in the city. The players weren't available to the media, but Jackson agreed to talk to us in the club's lobby. While I waited with another reporter for our other two colleagues to arrive, Jackson held court about -- and I almost still can't believe this -- the car-burning riots going on in France.
It was amazing the command Jackson had of the news. He went over the socioeconomic factors involved, France's history as a colonial power and the reasons why French slums were located in the suburbs, as opposed to the American inner city. I remember thinking it sounded as if he had been reading the Journal of Foreign Affairs in his free time.
As imperious as he seems to everyone, especially with that throne of a chair on the bench, Jackson also has a playful side. After a trip to New Orleans two years ago, one of the beat writers (Kevin Ding) decided it would be a great idea to walk back from the Harrah's casino on a dark side street at 3 a.m. with a pocket full of blackjack winnings.
He nearly got mugged before making a split-second decision to keep walking. The next day at practice in San Antonio, the writer (who is Asian) told the story to Jackson, who immediately asked why he didn't use his ninja skills on the mugger. This was accompanied by a Karate Kid kick from the man who has since had both hips replaced.
Jackson and I have had one conversation - - if you could call it that - - since I started covering the Jazz. I congratulated him on his enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. He told me I looked pale. Just for the record, we do see the sun in Utah and it's plenty foggy a lot of days by the beach in Playa del Rey, where Jackson lives.
JORDAN FARMAR
Without ever leaving the city limits of Los Angeles, Farmar has become a star. He led his high school team in the San Fernando Valley to the city title, was one of Ben Howland's first recruits at UCLA and was selected by the hometown Lakers with the No. 26 pick in the 2006 draft.
One of the reasons the Lakers liked Farmar was that he showed up in a suit to his pre-draft workout and interview with the team. Farmar backed up Smush Parker until the very end of last season but has been a valuable reserve this year. His confidence served him well when the Lakers signed Derek Fisher and drafted Javaris Crittenton.
SASHA VUJACIC
Either last season or the season before, Luke Walton was signing autographs outside the Lakers hotel in Indianapolis. One of the kids had a binder of basketball cards and was flipping through it when Walton hit the mother lode. He saw a rookie card for Vujacic that can only be described as a basketball glamour shot.
Not only did he sign everything he could for that kid outside the hotel, Walton bought the Vujacic card off him. Then he had a member of the Lakers public relations staff photocopy it about 10,000 times. They were destined to be hung all over the banquet room where the Lakers were going to watch the Super Bowl on the road.
I never heard about Vujacic's reaction, but I'm guessing it was embarrassment. In his fourth year with the Lakers, Vujacic has shed the label Phil Jackson once gave him as an "11 o'clock shooter" (great in practice, bad in games) and has become a dependable reserve on one of the NBA's deepest teams.
CHRIS MIHM
Two years later, Mihm is still recovering from a horrific ankle injury that happened in a March 2006, game against Seattle. He came down on Rashard Lewis' foot and suffered a sprain so severe that Lakers trainer Gary Vitti later said it was more befitting a car accident than basketball court.
Mihm missed the entire 2006-07 season after undergoing two surgeries on the ankle. He's an Austin, Texas, product with connections to Drew Brees and Andy Roddick and owns a lake house in the area.
--Ross Siler
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