Letters: Let’s get physical Lakers . . . not!

Question of the day:

How stupid must professional coaches and players think sportswriters are (excluding Mark Heisler)?

Bill Plaschke feels it would be beneficial for the Lakers to play a more grueling series in preparation for a possible matchup with the Celtics. My guess is the Celtics would agree. I wonder how Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant feel about this astute logic.

Only bad things can happen the longer the Suns series goes on.

And what in the world would Plaschke know about preparing to confront the class bully?

Richard Karliss

Malibu

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Where do I send my donation for the Plaschke-for-Phil Jackson relief fund? There is a rumor that the Lakers are planning to offer poor Phil $7million less for next year, leaving him with a mere $5million on which to survive . Plaschke is outraged . Bleeding heart Bill should write about those affected by the California 12% unemployment rate and dealing with real problems .

As for his “awful Arizona law” comment, maybe Bill should sit down with all the politicians who also condemn it without reading it and do so.

Bert Bergen

La Canada

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Kobe Bryant’s new nickname should be Zero — as in zero out of 123 writers and broadcasters voted for Bryant as their first choice to win the NBA MVP. Dwyane Wade and Kevin Durant both crashed and burned in the first round. The King, LeBron James, who received 116 of 123 first-place votes, flamed out in the second round, and Dwight Howard is on life support in Boston in the third round. Bryant continues to punish all playoff opponents as he leads the Lakers’ inexorable march to the Finals and a rendezvous with destiny with the Celtics.

What were these voters thinking? Didn’t they know that Bryant played most of the year on one leg and with a broken index finger on his shooting hand?

You think that Bryant has forgotten this insult? Think again.

Tom Lallas

Los Angeles

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Slow down, you Lakers fans who during Game 2 were yelling “ We want Boston.” Because LA and Boston are up 2-0, it doesn’t guarantee them a spot in the NBA Finals. Although it would be a monumental task for both Phoenix and Orlando to come back and win, I think it’s best for Lakers (and Boston) fans to concentrate on the conference finals and not get ahead of themselves.

Frank Lansen

Seal Beach

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Silly me for being concerned about the Suns’ “new and improved” defense. These guys are so bad that when someone yells “rotate,” they go to the parking lot to check their tires.

Thomas Bailey

Long Beach

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It’s getting to the point where the Suns can’t afford to play Amare Stoudemire in this series because he’s such a defensive liability. So I guess in that sense, Lamar Odom is indeed lucky that he gets to play against a human sieve.

Connor Hastings

Santa Barbara

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It is absurd and irresponsible to suggest that Kobe Bryant quit on his team in the 2006 Game 7 against Phoenix. What is remarkable about that series is not some purported tantrum by Kobe in the decisive game, but that a team starting Kwame Brown and Smush Parker advanced to a seventh game at all.

What happened to Kobe in that series is what usually happens when a single great player is on a bad team: He loses (see LeBron James 2007-2009; Michael Jordan 1984-1990).

Paul Grammatico

Irvine

Living the dream

The John Sikorra story [“Living the dream at last,” May 14] is indeed a great tale, but it’s all in the telling, and all of us tough men who wrote in that it drove us to tears might not be bawling if Bill Plaschke wasn’t such a gifted writer and storyteller. I’m a writer, I’ve taught journalism, and I would hold this up to my students as a perfect example of polishing a jewel to perfection.

Both Bill and John Sikorra hit it out of the park. Now thousands more than just that small stadium crowd have been lifted up by this remarkable young man.

All the best to the shining John Sikorra and his family, and especially his brave and good coaches and teammates, winners all, forever and ever, amen.

Charles Andrews

Santa Monica

A No-star rating

I wanted to take my daughter and my grandson to the All-Star game in Anaheim on July 13. To my sorrow, I learned that I would have to buy a package of tickets including other games that I will be unable to attend. My grandson is disappointed, and so am I. By the way, the Dodgers latched on to this gimmick for games to be played here with the Yankees. Is this how our local teams reward their fans for their loyalty? Shame on you, Arte Moreno and Frank McCourt.

Allen Mann

Pacific Palisades

Losing it

Casey Stengel once said his Mets found ways to lose that had not yet been invented. This does not apply to the Angels.

They just lose in all the ways that have already been invented.

Ron Reeve

Glendora

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After Vladimir Guerrero smacked a home run against the Angels, Mike Scioscia ran out onto the field. This brought so much joy to me as I thought Mike was going out to congratulate Vlad and implore him to consider coming back to the Angels. Instead, Scioscia ran right past Vladdy and up to an umpire as if to ask, “Can you believe Moreno and Reagins begrudged this guy a two-year contract? And after he carried our team for so long?”

Pete Helling

Los Angeles

Icing the puck

If there were no local basketball teams still playing, would the NBA postseason receive the same second-class treatment from The Times that the Stanley Cup playoffs do? I’m surprised you haven’t asked the Zamboni company to sponsor your limited hockey coverage so you can hide the sparse game stories among the vehicles for sale.

Siena Janner

El Segundo

Juicy item

Floyd Landis finally came clean about using performance-enhancing drugs: Isn’t it Barry Bonds’ turn?

Otto Steinegeweg

Anaheim

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