Lakers’ Start Is Just Sick

Kobe’s “poor” performance against the Mavericks on Wednesday night, it turns out, was due to flu. And yet ... he wound up with 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Man, when I get flu, I take 19 trips to the bathroom, go through nine boxes of Kleenex and drink five bottles of Nyquil.

Jon Cutler

Los Angeles

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Watching the Lakers play these days is like watching Danny Almonte pitch in the Little League World Series.

Paul Zimmelman

Marina del Rey

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Before we just concede the 2002 NBA crown to the Lakers, let us take a moment to reflect upon another Laker powerhouse in the not-so-distant past. I speak of the 1985-86 Lakers, who started out ablaze at 24-3, staggered to a 38-17 record the rest of the way, and tripped and fell in the Western Conference finals against the Houston Rockets.

This current Laker team looks pretty invincible right now, but just a friendly reminder that championships are still won in June, not December.

Kevin Reading

Irvine

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For years, I have enjoyed Burt Prelutsky’s letters in The Times. His letter of Dec. 1, however, indicates that he knows less about basketball than even Bill Plaschke (another good writer). Anyone who understands the game could tell Burt that Rick Fox is a savvy, hard-nosed team player who is willing to forgo his own stats to contribute with hustle, good ball control and great defense. A team needs more than high-scoring superstars to win. I don’t think Phil Jackson made Fox a co-captain because of his looks.

Dan Leahy

Santa Barbara