The Stanley Cup > Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy.

For the uninformed, the Larry O'Brien Trophy is awarded to the NBA champions every year and was named after the former NBA commissioner. For the less informed the Stanley Cup is the trophy bestowed upon the best team in the NHL and is named after the former Governor General and hockey enthusiast. Growing up Canadian, the Stanley Cup is one of those iconic things you are just familiar with, like the golden arches. My earliest memory is Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders jubilantly hoisting the cup over his head in the early '80's. Conversely, Magic Johnson and the Lakers holding the Larry O'Brien Trophy and getting drenched by champagne is stuck in my psyche. While each trophy holds it's own significance with it's respective sport, the Stanley Cup only stays with the winning team for the year of their reign, they don't get to keep it, so it's time is limited. Furthermore, each member of the winning organization gets to have the Cup for one day, which makes up for interesting pictures like this...


The above photo was taken at Mario Lemieux's house this summer. Aside from being one of the NHL's best, he's also principal owner and Chairman of the Pittsburgh Penguins. This is how they get down folks! A book came out in 2001 entitled "Why is the Stanley Cup In Mario Lemieux's Swimming Pool?: How Winners Celebrate With The World's Most Famous Cup" which clearly illustrates that this isn't the first time the Cup has taken a dip in "Super Mario's" pool. A simple Google search of the Stanley Cup Trophy pulls up pics of players drinking out of or eating from the Cup, even sleeping with it, never mind the women posing suggestively with it, and those are the pics we have seen! When it comes to the Larry O'Brien it's mostly parade day pics and locker room stuff, nothing special, nothing risque. Is it because each NBA Champion gets their own trophy so there is no sense of urgency or significance? Or is it the hockey players passion to covet and obtain such an iconic symbol that drives them to go crazy?

With the Cup, there is only one, (or three rather), but if the Cup could talk, I'm quite confident there would be a number of NSFW stories and TMI to be shared. Can our good friend Larry O say the same? Likely not, which is why The Stanley Cup > The Larry O'Brien Trophy.

Smush Parker Spits Venom At The Mamba.

I don't really know how to call this one. First of all, I'm not sure when this interview went down, (likely after his time in Los Angeles), but Smush Parker calls out Kobe Bryant as the reason behind the Lakers problems. Now Smush definitely has been putting it down in NYC and has the rep and respect on the asphalt, but he doesn't come close to what he's accomplished on the hardwood.

As an NBA player, he has played on 6 teams in 5 seasons, and ironically his best career stats are in LA playing with the guy who he is dissing. I don't know where you are right now, (truthfully, it's not worth my energy to look), but as a player who is trying to find his place in the league you may want to think twice before shitting on one of the league's best. I'm just saying.

Thanks to SportsbyBrooks for the tip.

L.A. L.A. Big City Of Dreams.

Ice Cube and Snoop are west coast rap icons and die hard hoops fans. Sitting courtside whenever possible, and players in the NBA Entertainment League, the two G's always represent for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Backstage on the set of Snoop's new TV show Snoop After Dark, they're discussing which Lakers jersey's should be hung from the rafters. But Kobe's #8 jersey? Not so fast my friends, I hope you guys haven't been enjoying too much of that Cali Cush. You can't hang up someone's jersey while they're still wearing it, and you can't retire Kobe's without retiring the Diesel's.

Fortunately this is definitely way better viewing than watching Paris Hilton's freestyle with the Doggfather.

Thanks to Peace Magazine for the tip.

Lucy Liu, The Lakers and Rookie Lies.

This isn't a new story, but it is new to me. It's more like a rookie prank, than rookie hazing. But when you start sounding off to the veterans on your team that Lucy Liu wants you. Don't expect people to sit by idly and indulge you.

The story goes like this...

In 2004-05, actress Lucy Liu was sitting in the front row at the Staples Center and Lakers rookie Tony Bobbitt fibbed to teammates that he knew Liu and she was looking his way.

Lakers veterans, spearheaded by Vlade Divac and Devean George, sprang into action. They had a ballboy bring a note to Bobbitt with a cell phone number that was said to be Liu's but really was Divac's.

A female Lakers employee recorded an outgoing message on Divac's phone. It wasn't long before Bobbitt was leaving voice and text messages for Liu.

Lakers players howled with laughter while reading Bobbitt's attempts at poetry. Messages were sent back that Bobbitt thought were from Liu.

"The whole team got involved," George said. "He said he went on a date with her, and we knew he didn't because it was Vlade's phone he was calling and texting." Soon, the veterans moved in for the kill. They sent a limousine to take Bobbitt to a restaurant, with Bobbitt thinking it had been sent by Liu for a meeting.

Hidden cameras recorded the entire episode. But while Bobbitt waited at a table with a bottle of champagne for his dream girl, Lakers teammates instead arrived.

"We jumped out, and he said, 'She's coming,' " George said. "We said, 'Quit lying.' It started as a small prank and grew since he had kept lying for three or four weeks. We got the whole thing on DVDs. When guys on other teams came through, they'd say, 'You got one of those DVDs?' We called it 'Bobbitt Gone Wild.' "

As it turned out, that was all Bobbitt was known for in his NBA career. He was waived in November 2004 after playing just two games and never was seen again.

This fine nugget of information was mined from the Rocky Mountain News.

Raptors vs. Lakers Last Night Wasn't Half Bad... It Was All Bad.

Prior to tip off last night I was chatting with my man Chris O'Leary from SLAM Online, while we went off about our business watching the game and other things, we would intermittently get our Statler and Waldorf on, quasi live blogging the game.

me: so how do you think we're going to do?

Chris: i could be totally wrong

but this game has a feel to it that the one VC had in LA against the Lakers like 5 years ago

remember that?

kind of his coming out party

or part of it

me: yeah, if jose can pick up his shooting, i think we can do ok

Chris: i think they'll lose without JO

me: i have no idea who this guy is going around masquerading as joey graham though

Chris: whoever he is, keep bad joey locked up in the broom closet at the ACC

me: so far so good though, (at the end of the 1st quarter 32-29 Lakers)

Chris: bargnani seems better this year

all around better

me: agreed, more aggressive, bigger and confident

wow jamario dunked its been a while

Chris: better defensively too

lots of blocked shots lately

me: joey graham is back

Chris: old bad joey?

me: indeed

me: i'd rather have steven graham right about now

Chris: heather graham

me: lol, superstar billy graham

Chris: hahaha, i love the wrestling references

me: horrific viewing

Chris: this is not good

in any way

me: this score does not reflect what happened tonight

Chris: it reflects that the Lakers just waited until the fourth to put them away

I think

I would say those were the highlights, but as I said it was here and there, however I did find some time to stop by the liveblog at Raptors Republic too and was entertained.

The Raps didn't give up and stayed in it trailing 90-81 through the first three quarters, every time they would make a run, the Lakers would bitchslap them and remind them they're the best team in the league. Which is exactly what they did in the fourth quarter and ended the game early. The Lakers are in another zone right now, Ariza and Bynum are the difference along with Kobe's continued confidence in his teammates, they killed the Raps on the fast break tonight.

Looking to the positives, I liked the fact Jose didn't do the usual soft Euro player back down when Fisher tried to get at him tonight. Everyone played well, they just didn't play good enough really. When the game was long over even Hassan Adams got some PT and a bucket, but the end of the Raps bench made the last 4 minutes of the game horrible to watch, almost as horrible as watching this.

The million dollar question is, where is Chris Bosh in the big games? He is playing like the Most Valuable Player of the league so far this season, but he's been conspicuously absent in the games against last years NBA finalists. If the Raptors don't have him through 82 games and some solid support from his teammates, it's going to be another first round exit, and maybe even an exit in 2010.

*Looks over his shoulder for the psycho blogger*

Jordan Farmar 1 - Luke Walton 0.

If you've watched or been around enough interviews, you know players are always pulling pranks, jokes or just clowning with each other. Strolling through the locker room. (presuambly looking for his basketball game), Luke Walton tries to get cute with Jordan Farmar, only to get SONNED.