s_knight8

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/sports/topstories/stories/102803dnspo1amavslede.733d.html

Welcome to the NBA's traveling circus, which will pitch a big top in
cities across America with the focus of a sporting nation on Mr.
Bryant's **** case even though it probably won't begin until next
summer. Mr. Bryant is accused of **** by a 19-year-old hotel employee
in Eagle, Colo.

Left behind by the circus are the Mavericks, who have made two huge
trades to reshape their team yet can't get a headline in edgewise on
the national landscape because of Team Turmoil in LA. The Mavericks
fly into this game way below the radar.

That the Lakers are favorites to win the NBA title after failing to do
so last season adds to the intrigue. The Mavericks play the Lakers
three times in the first 22 games and will have a full dose of
Kobemania before the season is to the quarter pole.

Just what the NBA needs: eight months of National Enquirer headlines.
And the media might not be the worst of it for the Lakers'
25-year-old.

"Kobe's going to have to travel with earplugs," said Robert Horry, Mr.
Bryant's teammate for seven seasons before joining the San Antonio
Spurs this season. "It's going to be bad, because I know how fans are,
especially at places like Sacramento and Utah. Man, they're going to
be brutal."