Michael Cooper

In 2005, NBA writers voted Ben Wallace Defensive Player of the Year. Bruce Bowen, now an ESPN analyst, still sounds distressed by that. All the San Antonio guard could do at the time was attack the scorer in front of him. After guarding everyone from...

   Miami Heat forward LeBron James essentially was recognized Wednesday as the NBA's top perimeter defender, just not as the league's Defensive Player of the Year.    In the balloting of league media, James finished second to Memphis Grizzlies center...

The University of Oregon has acknowledged major NCAA violations in connection with football recruiting and proposed a self-imposed two-year probation with the loss of one scholarship in each of the next three years, according to documents released by...

Matt Kemp has heard the whispers: The Dodgers don't have chemistry. Kemp shook his head. “That's what I keep hearing people say,” he acknowledged. This view, or some variation of it, is the crux of every argument that a team other than the...

PHOENIX – The Dodgers don’t have a clear-cut leader, but Magic Johnson is certain one will emerge. “That’s the last piece of this puzzle for us,” Johnson said. “Who’s going to be that leader?” Matt Kemp,...

When Jerry Buss bought the Lakers in 1979, he wanted to build a championship team. He also wanted to put on a show. The new owner gave courtside seats to movie stars. He hired pretty women to dance during timeouts. He spent freely on big stars and...

The frozen fields of Wyoming came first. Long before the championship trophies. Before the glitz and glamour. Jerry Buss was still a teenager, digging ditches beside his stepfather, when he dreamed of bigger things. It was youthful ambition — a...

1979-80 FINALS Lakers 4, Philadelphia 76ers 2 An old dog, a new trickster and birth of 'Showtime' "Showtime" began as 20-year-old rookie Magic Johnson inspired this talented team to first in the Pacific Division. After four close games in the...

Jerry Buss, the longtime owner of the Lakers whose penchant for showmanship helped turn the game of basketball into “Showtime” and who led the team to 10 NBA championships, died Monday. He was 80. A self-made millionaire who built his...

He didn't do what Van Chancellor did four times. He didn't do what Bill Laimbeer did three times, Michael Cooper did twice or seven others did once. "Mike Thibault has done everything we asked him," Sun CEO Mitchell Etess said, "except win a WNBA...

    Sometimes it's not about coaches, even as the Los Angeles Lakers have made it almost solely about that at the start of this season.     Sometimes championship legacy is about the players, those who bridge eras, maintain continuity.     That's...

There’s not been a lot to cheer about for Maryland basketball fans the past couple of years -- most notably two seasons without a postseason invitation and Terrell Stoglin’s misguided decision-making off the court that recently ended the...