Dwight Howard Traded to Los Angeles Lakers

The Dwight Howard saga has finally come to an end, much to the extreme pleasure of Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.

This immature, dominant center has been traded to the purple and gold, getting his wish to leave the Orlando Magic and joining a roster that also included free agent signing Steve Nash.

With the league still needed to approve the deal, ESPN reports the Lakers will receive Howard; the Denver Nuggets will acquire Andre Iguodala; the 76ers will receive Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson; and the Magic will get Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic and one protected future first-round pick from each of the three teams.

The blockbuster positions Los Angeles to really challenge for the title in what ought to be one of Bryant's final years as a true NBA superstar.

Olympics 2012: Team USA’s LeBron James, Kevin Durant prove too tough for Argentina

LONDON -- Playing against an experienced and tough Argentina team, it was probably as good a third quarter as Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski could have imagined. And it was utterly necessary.The U.S. escaped the first half leading by just one point, and Krzyzewski told his team in the locker room that they needed to be more aggressive, that they had to tighten up on the defensive end and make things easier offensively. So, to open the third quarter, the U.S. came out with a pretty stiff jab to the Argentinean jaw in the form of LeBron James.

James started by moving directly into the post, scoring twice inside. On one shot he missed, Tyson Chandler got an offensive rebound, and James ended up scoring on a 3-pointer in the corner.Then came the roundhouse — Kevin Durant. After Team USA struggled against Lithuania on Saturday, Durant came out with some extra zing in his step, and when it came time to put this one away, Durant was all too happy to oblige.

“I just felt good,” Durant said. “Obviously, it was a game we wanted to win, and I just wanted to do whatever I needed to.”

By the end of the game, a 126-97 Team USA win, James had 18 points, shooting 7-for-12. Durant had 28, shooting 9-for-12 (including 8-for-10 from the 3-point line). But in that third quarter, the U.S. showed how this team’s offense will shape up as we head into the medal rounds and the U.S. gets into tight situations in must-win games. It’s going to be a 1-2 combo of James and Durant, and the gold medal will likely be up to them to win or lose.Ideally, future box scores for Team USA will look like the one from Monday’s game, with Durant and James taking the bulk of the shots. As Argentina point guard Facundo Campazzo said, “That is too hard to stop. You can stop one guy maybe. You can’t stop both of them like that, though.”To this point, both Durant and James have had to be coaxed into being top scorers for the Americans. Durant has been Team USA’s leading scorer, but his teammates have continuallypushed him for more.

“Anybody in their right mind, when he gets shooting like that, there is only one play—get the ball to him,” point guard Chris Paul said of Durant. “Luckily we have a great team that has the presence of mind to get it to him. KD is unbelievable. The way that he shoots the ball, he still finds a way to be unselfish. We have to yell at him to shoot the ball. As you see, when he shoots it, he usually makes it.”

Krzyzewski said what was different about Durant Monday night, though, was not only his offensive aggressiveness, but his defensive play, too.

“It’s not like Kevin hasn’t shot,” Krzyzewski said. “He has been one of our leading scorers. I really think two things helped Kevin today. One, I thought it was his best defensive game. ... I think he was lathered up. The second thing, I thought Chris and Deron (Williams) really pushed the ball well. And when they did, it flattened out the defense and we got some trailer 3s. I think those two things — we run some stuff for him, but he kept spacing, and those two things happened, and he played a terrific game. He played a terrific all-around game.”

James, similarly, had a big impact on the defensive end before going on his early third-quarter spree. His ability to pressure, play the passing lanes and run out on the fast break is one of Team USA’s top weapons — the kind of play that can not only net you two points, but can take some life out of the opposition to boot.

“Bron, man, he is special,” Paul said. “We came to the bench, and I heard coach yell at him, ‘Take the game over.’ He is a guy who is capable of doing that. A lot of times, (when) you think about guys taking the game over, you just think about scoring. But he’s a guy that can take the game over on the defensive end, he can share the ball, he got a big offensive rebound. He’s a freak of nature, he is seven, eight inches taller than me, weighs 50, 60 more pounds than me, but can do anything I can do with the ball. Almost.”

Before these Olympics started, the standard armchair debate was about whether the tournament would be dominated by James, the best player in the world, or Durant, right on his heels for that title.

Kobe Bryant says he could finish his career in Europe

Kobe Bryant could hang on and play in Europe to finish his career.

Kobe Bryant's last moments of professional basketball may not come on American soil.
In an interview with Yahoo Sports, Bryant, who grew up in Italy where his father played before moving to Philadelphia to attend high school, says that he's open to the concept of finishing his illustrious career by playing in Europe. From Yahoo Sports:

"You'd have to look at the market and what's going on in terms of the level of basketball being played," Bryant said. "I understand there's a high level of competitive basketball in Turkey now. They might have the best league in Europe. Spain has obviously been one of the top leagues for a long time.
"And Italy is a place that's dear in my heart, I grew up there, but the level is not where it used to be. When I was growing up over there, that was the best league in Europe."

via Kobe Bryant's final playing days could stretch into a European adventure - Yahoo! Sports.
Bryant's not alone in talking about Europe as a pre-retirement option. Paul Pierce has said in the past that when he leaves the NBA he may play in Europe for the experience. Bryant makes even more sense with his comfort and familiarity within the culture.
It's an interesting idea, a way for players who are past their ability to produce at the high level they're accustomed to in the NBA due to age, but are still very much great basketball players, to transition to retirement with a whisper, instead of a loud, unfortunate crash. All the players who have hung on too long, who have been driven by their obsessive need to compete, they always tried to remain in the NBA at their same level of prominence, even when their bodies had betrayed them in that regard. This would give Bryant a way to finish out that competitive fire without going cold turkey or being reduced to a fifteen-minute a night role player, something that wouldn't fit with his NBA identity.
Still, there are enouh hurdles to overcome to make it unlikely, as Bryant says in the piece. The biggest factor is that players will almost always try and hang on to the NBA for one more title, and with Bryant constantly chasing Jordan's six, that becomes even more difficult to let go. It would take a remarkable sense of maturity to walk away from North American basketball's premier league before his body is completely done.
And getting Bryant to let go of his competitive fire at the highest level is something that has appeared, on the surface, impossible. For now, you have to assume his last dribbles will be in Lakers gold