Lakers blame game for losers
Anyone who understands basketball, which apparently excludes Times columnist Bill Plaschke, knows that Anthony Davis played a fine Game 2 by anchoring the defense that controlled the Nuggets for all but the latter portion of the fourth quarter.
Davis had 14 rebounds, four blocked shots, made nine of 11 free throws and scored 18 points.
No one scores 40 points every game. Davis contributed in many ways in what should have been a Lakers victory. That Plaschke doesn’t understand this is reason enough to reassign him to the Calendar section. Ray McKown
Torrance
LeBron James is a great basketball player and a smart one as well. But he is allowing his ego to cloud his judgment by continually launching three-pointers that he can’t seem to make, instead of deferring to those who can like Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura. Dennis Duling
San Gabriel
Fresh off him winning accolades for his great pieces on local legend Charles White and the disgrace at Mater Dei, I’m thinking, “Maybe I don’t give Bill Plaschke enough credit.” Then he goes full Plaschke and blames the Lakers’ Game 1 loss on LeBron missing a lastminute shot. Was it a great look? Of course not. Has the all-time leading scorer made worse shots? Of course. We mere mortals should just be thankful for what we get to witness, not think we get a vote on shot selection for kings.
Jeff Heister Chatsworth
Ouch, it really hurts to be a Laker fan. Not everyone can afford all the premium channels and for the conference finals not to be broadcast on local TV is disrespectful to die-hard fans.
Marcia Schwartz Simi Valley
Chemistry class
The same factor is responsible for the Dodgers’ and Padres’ performance this season: team chemistry. The Dodgers have it, and the Padres clearly don’t. And they might just be too arrogant to know they need it. Here’s hoping the realization never hits.
Roger Kraemer
Brea
When the Dodgers gave Farhan Zaidi to the Giants, I had my doubts but now am convinced it was a brilliant scheme to destroy the Giants from the inside out. In five short years Zaidi has destroyed the Giants’ minors.
With millions to spend, the Giants got throwaways. Zaidi took the Giants out of contention for years to come without the Dodgers having to throw a single pitch. Alan Segal
San Diego
Perpetual pride
For the Dodgers to uninvite the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence from their Pride Night is chickenhearted and shameful. This is the franchise of Jackie Robinson. Frankly we all should be embarrassed.
Fred Wallin Westlake Village
What a pity the Dodgers allow Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to dictate who is allowed to participate in the annual Pride Night.
The team was planning to award the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence with the Community Hero Award and instead kowtows to a political extremist 3,000 miles away.
Why even have a Pride Night if you’re not going to represent an open and welcoming atmosphere to an underrepresented and deserving community? Shame on the Dodgers. Bill Hokans
Santa Ana
Oh, Jim Murray, how you are missed!
At least you are not around to read this garbage.
Why are we being punished reading articles by your so-called sports columnist Dylan Hernández?
Comparing the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to the signing of Jackie Robinson is so offensive and insane that I have decided to cancel my subscription to your newspaper.
I guess I will not be able to enjoy your five pages of daily newsprint.
Eugene Hernandez Whittier
Legendary figure
Upon hearing of the passing of the great football player and civil rights activist Jim Brown, I was reminded of a line from a story about a Browns victory over an all-white Washington team in the 1950s by the great sportswriter, Shirley Povich:
“Jim Brown, born ineligible to play for the Redskins, integrated their end zone three times yesterday.” Evan Puziss Mar Vista
Every time I see an endzone dance, a bat flip or a “you can’t see me” gesture, I think of Jim Brown.
After each touchdown he would lay the ball on the ground to show that “he had been here before and he would be back again.” Though he led a very complicated life, which is often true of great persons, he modeled a genuine competitiveness that did not scream “look at me.”
Robert Stockly Sierra Madre
Sports slam
Congratulations to Bill Plaschke for taking top honors in the 2022 AP Sports Editors’ columnist competition. That, coupled with the sports staff garnering Grand Slam honors for the third straight year, got me to thinking.
If The Times had its own separate sports section, wouldn’t it even be a more prestigious publication as well as easier to find? Being placed in the California section behind the obituaries and weather report is not fair to your sports staff as well as to your readers. Richard Whorton
Studio City
The Times welcomes expressions of all views. Letters should be brief and become the property of The Times. They may be edited and republished in any format. Each must include a valid mailing address and telephone number. Pseudonyms will not be used.