Text messages from press row . . .

Andrew Bynum’s injury could turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the Lakers, provided he shows no ill effects when he returns in March. . . .

If Bynum hadn’t damaged a knee in a Jan. 13 victory over Pau Gasol and the Memphis Grizzlies, General Manager Mitch Kupchak has acknowledged, the Lakers would not have pursued Gasol in a trade. . . .

Speaking of fortuitous injuries, the San Antonio Spurs sank even lower than the Clippers 11 years ago after foot and back ailments sidelined former MVP David Robinson for all but six games of the 1996-97 season. . . .

The Spurs then won the lottery and drafted Tim Duncan, who has led them to four NBA titles, the first two with the Admiral at his side. . . .

Michael Jordan was 33 when he won the fourth of his six NBA championships with Phil Jackson and the Chicago Bulls in 1996. . . .

Kobe Bryant, looking for No. 4 with the Lakers, is 29. . . .

NFL Films President Steve Sabol, calling David Tyree’s catch for the New York Giants the greatest play in Super Bowl history, says his pick before last week would have been John Riggins’ 43-yard touchdown run in the Washington Redskins’ 27-17 victory over the Miami Dolphins at the Rose Bowl in 1983. . . .

Says Sabol of the fourth-and-one play that put the Redskins ahead to stay, “It’s one of the classic shots in the NFL Films library: Riggins, all power and purpose, shaking off the last Miami tackler and thundering down the sideline.” . . .

The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, which wrapped up its 132nd edition Tuesday with a beagle named Uno taking Best in Show, is billed as the country’s second-longest continuously held sporting event behind the Kentucky Derby. . . .

Is a dog show a sporting event? . . .

Take heart on this Valentine’s Day, Dallas Cowboys fans: Matchmaker Patti Novak, in USA Today, predicts that quarterback Tony Romo and his pop princess, Jessica Simpson, are headed for a breakup. . . .

Before next season’s playoffs, Cowboys fans hope. . . .

Jim Zorn, unexpectedly named coach of the Redskins last weekend, was a 1973 Little All-American at Cal Poly Pomona, where the left-handed quarterback from Cerritos Gahr High set 44 school records. . . .

Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker, an all-league defensive tackle at Palisades High, also played at Cal Poly but gave up football after suffering a back injury. . . .

Whitaker played with future NFL quarterback Jay Schroeder at Pali. . . .

Heads up, Ben Howland: UCLA, looking for payback Sunday night at the Galen Center after losing to USC last month at Pauley Pavilion, has never reached the Final Four in a season when it was defeated twice by the Trojans. . . .

USC has swept the season series only four times since 1942. . . .

Remember when Al McGuire used to repeatedly mention during telecasts that UCLA needed an aircraft carrier in the middle? . . .

The late coach would have loved the USS Kevin Love. . . .

Love’s father, former Lakers forward Stan Love, played for former UCLA coach Jim Harrick at Inglewood Morningside High in the 1960s. . . .

Maria Sharapova’s father, Yuri, might want to rethink that throat-cutting gesture after viewing the bloody footage of the Florida Panthers’ Richard Zednik being sliced across the right side of the neck by teammate Olli Jokinen’s skate. . . .

It was horrifying. . . .

Randal Simmons, an LAPD SWAT officer killed in a San Fernando Valley shootout last week, was an all-league running back at Fairfax High. . . .

Simmons later worked his way up from walk-on to starting cornerback at Washington State, making 39 tackles for the Cougars in 1978. . . .

Former shortstop Jose Vizcaino, hired by the Dodgers as a special assistant, shares a long history with second baseman Jeff Kent. . . .

They were teammates with the New York Mets, Cleveland Indians, San Francisco Giants and Houston Astros and twice were paired in trades, going first from the Mets to the Indians and then from the Indians to the Giants. . . .

Here’s a proverb that Roger Clemens probably wishes Andy Pettitte had applied: “A silent mouth is melodious.”

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jerome.crowe@latimes.com