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Bill Plaschke

Future is Griffin's, but present still belongs to Bryant

Last updated Monday, February 21, 2011 - 5:33pm

LOS ANGELES -- The NBA might no longer be his league, and this All-Star celebration never felt like his weekend, but at the last moment Sunday night, Kobe Bryant had something to say about all that.

Los Angeles is still his town, he screamed over Rihanna's thump and Kanye's grind.

Staples Center is still his house, he hollered through the clatter of musicians and dancers and all those silly wearing-sunglasses-indoors celebrities.

Sports, Basketball, NBA Read more Comments

Clippers get top franchise moment with Griffin's auto show

Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times

Last updated Sunday, February 20, 2011 - 9:30pm

LOS ANGELES -- The legend of Blake Griffin has just gone turbo.

Did you see him? The human hood ornament? The windshield swiper? The man who literally gave a car a jump?

On Saturday night in front of a Staples Center crowd that howled in disbelief, the Los Angeles Clippers rookie who spent the first half of this season dunking on mere men put it in the face of a machine.

Sports, Basketball, NBA Read more Comments

Howland needs to work his magic again at UCLA, and fast

Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times

Last updated Wednesday, January 19, 2011 - 6:22pm

LOS ANGELES -- On a wall in Ben Howland's UCLA office, there is a photo collage that makes even the toughest face in college basketball melt.

"Look at those guys," he says softly Tuesday afternoon, spinning in his chair and pointing to melded images of players who once led his team to three consecutive Final Fours. "They were something, weren't they?"

College Sports, College basketball, Sports, Basketball Read more Comments

Clippers owner Sterling should look in mirror, not at his players

Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times

Last updated Wednesday, December 15, 2010 - 5:51pm

LOS ANGELES -- Hey, Donald, grow a conscience!!

It might seem unprofessional to heckle Clippers owner Donald Sterling from this column space but, you know, he started it.

Sports, Basketball, NBA Read more Comments

Traditions and rhythms of the game are shared

Bill Plaschke, The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, November 11, 2010 - 6:49pm

LOS ANGELES -- The mortars would be ringing his helmet, the gunfire would be climbing down his back, yet he would always hear the voice.

"In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened.... "

MLB, Sports, Baseball Read more Comments

Hot Kings are turning heads

Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times

Last updated Sunday, November 7, 2010 - 10:17pm

LOS ANGELES -- So it's a beautiful fall football Saturday morning, and I'm standing in a sweaty El Segundo locker room, and I'm not quite sure why, until I'm gently tapped on the shoulder by an official of the league-best Los Angeles Kings.

NHL, Sports, Hockey Read more Comments

Moreno says he will spend

Bill Plaschke, The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, October 6, 2010 - 7:33pm

LOS ANGELES -- The tone was strange. The words were foreign. The call to action was almost unrecognizable.

Did I really just hear what I thought I heard?

MLB, Sports, Baseball Read more Comments

Lakers need to do the right thing with Derek Fisher, and that's to keep him

Bill Plaschke Los Angeles Times

Last updated Sunday, June 6, 2010 - 10:18pm

LOS ANGELES -- Every time his old butt skids, the mandate speaks. Every time his rainbow jumper drops, the message soars.

Sports, Basketball, NBA Read more Comments

Baseball's special beauty

Bill Plaschke Los Angeles Times

Last updated Thursday, June 3, 2010 - 11:47pm

LOS ANGELES -- Perfection has been imperfectly busted before. What is different today is that suddenly it seems the entire Western world wants Major League Baseball to fix it.

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Celtics bring the pain, but it says here L.A. brings home the hardware in 7

Bill Plaschke Los Angeles Times

Last updated Sunday, May 30, 2010 - 6:43pm

PHOENIX -- Them again.

The ugly uniforms, the obnoxious fans, the chippy players, and that damn cigar.

Sports, Basketball, NBA Read more Comments

Blind high school baseball player and two teams cherish moment of a lifetime

Bill Plaschke Los Angeles Times

Last updated Sunday, May 16, 2010 - 9:02pm

LOS ANGELES -- "Now batting, number 15, John Sikorra."

Four years of dreaming into one sentence, uttered over a tiny loudspeaker, above a cramped baseball field, on a busy street where cars rushed past and a moment stood still.

Prep Sports, Sports, Baseball Read more Comments

Lakers show their muscle and might

Bill Plaschke Los Angeles Times

Last updated Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - 4:49pm

SALT LAKE CITY -- It was a sweep, all right.

The Los Angeles Lakers swept this doubter completely off his feet, reduced me to a pillar of salt, knocked me directly into a setting Suns.

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Lakers put fans back in the championship dream business

Bill Plaschke Los Angeles Times

Last updated Wednesday, May 5, 2010 - 4:55pm

LOS ANGELES -- Early Tuesday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers filing into the Staples Center with jaws tight and patience thin, Jerry Sloan's weathered face cringed into the oncoming storm.

Sports, Basketball, NBA, Utah Jazz Read more Comments

Dodgers are ho-hum

Bill Plaschke Los Angeles Times

Last updated Monday, April 19, 2010 - 6:03pm

LOS ANGELES -- This is my town?

Not on Saturday, it wasn't.

Not with huge chunks of empty Dodger Stadium seats. Not with huge holes in an emptying Los Angeles Dodgers lineup. And not with huge runs piled atop a noodle-armed Dodgers knuckleballer.

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In appreciation of classical Gasol

Bill Plaschke Los Angeles Times

Last updated Sunday, November 22, 2009 - 9:24pm

LOS ANGELES ---- The World's Tallest Actor With Bed Hair And Braces returned to his day job Thursday, back to the Los Angeles Lakers and the season's most pressing question.

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