Lakers Coach Mike D'Antoni expects Kobe Bryant to return strong from his Achilles' injury next season.

"With his determination and his brain, he's got a good chance at it," said D'Antoni to SNY.tv.  "I know he'll be effective and good."

Bryant tore his Achilles' tendon April 12 in a victory over the Golden State Warriors. He had surgery the following day, and was expected to be out six to nine months.

"We'll just see, see how the summer plays out, but Kobe will be fine and he'll be back 100%," D'Antoni said.

The Lakers have a number of issues to deal with over the off-season, specifically the status of free agent center Dwight Howard.

"Dwight, I don't know," D'Antoni said. "We'll see.  Obviously, we can't really talk about it."

The Lakers hope to re-sign Howard to a five-year deal in July. Howard may explore a number of options, including the Lakers.

D'Antoni also acknowledged he won't continue as an assistant with Team USA.

"It's been an unbelievable experience and I would recommend...

NBA champion Flynn Robinson died Thursday after a battle with cancer.

Robinson, who played with the Lakers during their 1971-72 championship season, contributed to the team's historic 33-game win streak.

"My favorite memory is the 1971 draft, when they said, 'Flynn has been traded to Los Angeles,' said Robinson in an interview that can be found in the audio vault of veteran radio personality Ted Sobel, recorded in December 2012.

Robinson was traded from the Cincinnati Royals, spending just one year with the Lakers.

"It was beautiful," Robinson said. "Once we got together. We became real tough. I could kind of tell -- our first four games were on the road and we won all four of them. I remember Chick Hearn said, 'No Laker team has ever hit the road and won four in a row ... this is the making of something special.'"

Robinson was an All-Star in 1970 for the Milwaukee Bucks. He averaged 14 points and three assists a game from 1966-1974 (playing in both the NBA and ABA).

"It was a great...

Kobe Bryant is the focus of the NBA's latest "Forever Is Big" spot.

The image of Bryant's leaping dunk over Todd MacCulloch in the 2002 NBA Finals, wearing his former No. 8 jersey, is shown in street art, party decorations, a video game and even shaved into the back of someone's hair.

The music track underneath the video is Mos Def's "Life in Marvelous Times."

Last week, Dirk Nowitzki's "Forever Dirk" was launched. "Forever Kobe" makes its television debut Friday night as the Miami Heat hosts the Indiana Pacers for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final.

Bryant is recovering from a Achilles' tear that will knock him out for at least six to nine months (suffered April 12).

The San Antonio Spurs will visit the Memphis Grizzlies for Game 3 on Saturday night.

The promo heralds the upcoming NBA Finals, which will feature the Heat or Pacers for the Eastern Conference and the Spurs or the Grizzlies for the West.  Currently the Heat are up 1-0, while the Spurs have a 2-0 advantage.

ALSO:

Lake...

Flynn Robinson passed away on Thursday at age 72 after a battle with cancer (multiple myeloma).

Robinson was a 6-foot-1 guard who played just one, special season with the Lakers.

“We are very sad to hear of the passing of Flynn Robinson,” Lakers executive Jeanie Buss said. “Flynn played an important role on the 1971-72 Lakers team that brought Los Angeles its first NBA championship and won what is still an NBA-record 33 consecutive games.

"Lakers fans might remember him as ‘Mr. Instant Point,’ a nickname given to him by the great Chick Hearn, a nickname that was well-earned as Flynn led the reserves in scoring that season, averaging 10 points in 16 minutes off the bench," continued Buss.  "He was a proud part of our Lakers heritage, participating in numerous reunions and special events over the years, and he will be missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family at this time.”

Robinson was named an All-Star in 1970 with the Milwaukee Bucks. ...

Over the last year, LeBron James sold significantly more shoes in the United States than Kobe Bryant.

James sold $300 million worth of his Nike signature shoes domestically, according to Kurt Badenhausen of Forbes.com.

Bryant was second on the list at $50 million for his Nike signature shoes, followed by Carmelo Anthony's Jordan brand ($40 million) and Kevin Durant's Nike ($35 million).

Dwight Howard's Adidas brand shoes brought in $5 million, on par with John Wall's Reebok shoe.  Derrick Rose, with Adidas, sold $25 million in the United States.

While Bryant's shoes have dipped over the last year, he's the NBA's biggest star in China. His shoes also sell "briskly" in Asia.

Bryant has been with Nike since 2003 after making the jump from Adidas.

ALSO:

Phil Jackson skeptical that Dwight Howard has reason to return to Lakers

Kobe Bryant named to All-NBA 1st team; Dwight Howard on the third team

Stan Van Gundy thinks Dwight Howard wasn't happy with his role on the Lakers

Email Eric Pincus...

Kobe Bryant was named to his 11th All-NBA first team on Thursday, joining LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Tim Duncan and Chris Paul for the 2012-13 season.

With the honor, Bryant joins Karl Malone with the most first-team selections in league history. The Lakers guard was previously tied at 10 with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Michael Jordan, Bob Cousy and Bob Pettit.

This was Bryant's eighth-straight selection to the first team.  Voting was done by a panel of 119 sportswriters and broadcasters.

James led with 595 points followed by Durant with 555.  Clippers point guard Paul had 537 points, ahead of Bryant's 521.  Duncan rounded out the first team with 392 points.

Blake Griffin, Carmelo Anthony, Tony Parker, Russell Westbrook and Marc Gasol were named to the All-NBA second team.

Lakers center Dwight Howard was named to the All-NBA third team (with 203 points) along with James Harden, Dwyane Wade, David Lee and Paul George.

Forward/center Pau Gasol also received votes...

Former Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy doesn't think Dwight Howard was happy with his role with the Lakers in their recent season.

Appearing on "The David Baumann Show" via Sports Talk Florida on Tuesday, Van Gundy said, "I do think that Dwight was not real happy with his offensive role.

"He looks around and says, 'Probably with Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash and Pau Gasol ... I'm going to have to, at best, share billing. I'm not going to be the featured guy,'" continued Van Gundy.

Does Howard's former coach think the center will leave the Lakers?

"I don't know, maybe he wants to go somewhere else, I don't know about that," said Van Gundy. "I don't think he's going to make a decision on the fact that Steve Clifford [if Clifford gets a head coaching job] or Chuck Person aren't there."

Clifford, who also served as an assistant in Orlando with Howard, has been a target for teams looking to hire a head coach. The Lakers recently informed Person that he won't be retained  next season. Both...

Lakers Coach Mike D'Antoni will not return to Team USA as an assistant for Mike Krzyzewski, at least according to Marc Berman of the New York Post.

Krzyzewski is expected to be officially announced as the U.S. Olympic coach Thursday, but D'Antoni turned down an offer to return as an assistant because "he didn't want to make another four-year commitment because of his family."

D'Antoni has worked with Team USA since 2006, helping the squad win two gold medals.

Additionally, Lakers assistant coach Steve Clifford has received permission to talk with the Phoenix Suns about their head coaching vacancy, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.

Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports also reports that Lakers development coach Phil Handy has left the team to join Mike Brown's staff in Cleveland.

The Lakers previously informed assistants Chuck Person and Bernie Bickerstaff that their contracts will not be renewed.

ALSO:

TWC SportsNet to air top 50 plays of Lakers' season on Wednesday

Kobe Bryant...

On Wednesday night, Time Warner Cable SportsNet will air a one-hour special, "Access SportsNet: Lakers — Plays of the Year."

Hosts Chris McGee and Andy Adler, analyst Dave Miller and play-by-play announcer John Ireland will count down the top 50 plays of the season.

Some of the highlights include Kobe Bryant's big night against the Toronto Raptors, Dwight Howard's game-saving block in a comeback win over the New Orleans Hornets and Bryant's free throws against the Golden State Warriors (shot just after he had torn his Achilles' tendon).

TWC SportsNet has a preview available on its website.

While the Lakers' season ended in a four-game sweep to the San Antonio Spurs, the team overcame a difficult start to finish with 28 wins over the final 40 games.

By the time L.A. advanced to the first round of the playoffs, the roster was decimated by injury.  Steve Nash, Steve Blake, Jodie Meeks, Metta World Peace and Bryant all missed time against the Spurs in what San Antonio Coach Gregg...

On Tuesday, Phil Jackson suggested Dwight Howard might not have sufficient reason to return to the Lakers this summer as a free agent.

"Would you?  If you felt like your game wasn't going to be featured?" asked Jackson on the Dan Patrick Show.

Jackson intimated that Coach Mike D'Antoni wasn't using Howard properly in the Lakers' offense.

"You have to play in to Dwight Howard.  You have to get back and reestablish him as the center that he potentially was going to be," said Jackson. "This year ... he had four or five less touches in the post. Most of the things he got in there were on the move."

Instead of pointing the finger at D'Antoni, Jackson put the blame on the team's primary decision makers.

"It's not Mike's style. I don't blame Mike for that," said Jackson. "That's the ownership or management made that decision. That was the decision that they have to live with."

The Lakers flirted with hiring Jackson after letting go of Mike Brown early in the season. D'Antoni got the job over...

The Lakers hit the off-season with a questionable future.  Dwight Howard will be a free agent in July and has yet to indicate whether he'll stay or go.

If Howard does re-sign, the Lakers have to at least consider trading Pau Gasol, given that the combined salaries for Kobe Bryant, Howard and Gasol total $70.3 million.

Bryant has a clear preference, which he tweeted Monday:

Interesting off season looming.. Will spend time with d12 #stay and talk with the Buss family in hopes that Pau stays as well #my2cents

— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) May 21, 2013

Howard has some financial incentive to stay with the Lakers. The team can sign him for five years at $118 million.

Other teams, such as the Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks and Dallas Mavericks, might have the space to sign Howard for four years at $87.6 million.

The advantage the Lakers have is the fifth year but Howard, barring catastrophic injury, is likely to be highly compensated after four years -- should he leave for another...

On Monday, Moore, Okla., outside Oklahoma City was hit by a devastating tornado, causing massive damage and claiming many lives.

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant took a moment to tweet to his 2.6 million followers, passing on fundraising information.

Forward/center Pau Gasol also shared a prayer on Twitter.

Everyone in Oklahoma be safe! Very scary images of the Tornado. #PrayForOklahoma

— Pau Gasol (@paugasol) May 20, 2013

Former Lakers guard Derek Fisher, who just finished the season with the Oklahoma City Thunder with a second-round loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, also gave his prayers.

Pray for all the people of Oklahoma impacted by the tornadoes. Yesterday & today were devastating to this community. My thoughts & prayers are with you all. #prayforokc instagram.com/p/Zj08uFvhrX/

— DerekFisher (@derekfisher) May 21,...