It Looks Like a Good, Bad and Ugly Year

I went online recently and found that I could still buy good seats to see the Lakers this week. Even Friday’s game against San Antonio still had great seats available. They were a little out of my price range, so I paid my mortgage instead.

But after watching the Lakers defeat Denver by 11 points on Tuesday, then lose to Utah on Wednesday by 26, I want to tell all my fellow Laker fans that there’s good news and bad news.

The good news: You can still get good seats for every Laker game this season.

The bad news: Why would you want them?

Alvin M. Okamura

Encino

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I find it ironic that Bill Plaschke [Nov. 3] writes about how “It’s easy to see what is missing,” when he is missing the biggest thing of all -- the point.

The Lakers won a basketball game and looked good in doing it. Isn’t that what it’s all about? Maybe he is worried that he may now be out of a job, since he actually has to write about basketball instead of ego clashes and scapegoats.

As a fan, that was the most exciting Laker game I have seen in quite some time. But Plaschke wants to write about what once was or might have been, instead of the dawn of a new era or what actually is. Bill, get over the past. It’s old news -- just like you.

John Higashi

Dana Point

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I went to the Laker season opener and I was very impressed. They took to the court with new faces, younger, fresher legs, sleeker and more agile bodies, and with an upbeat attitude that was beautiful to watch. Of course, I’m talking about the Laker Girls, but the team looked pretty good too.

PJ Gendell

Beverly Hills

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In Mike Bresnahan’s excellent article of Nov. 2, he lists the players who have left the Lakers since last season. It seems to me that the Lakers would be a better team this year if they had kept the ones that left and gotten rid of the ones they kept.

Grey R. Brooks

Prescott, Ariz.

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Kobe Bryant played with the most dominant center of our time. So what did Kobe do? Took terrible shots, all the time.

With these Lakers, Kobe is playing with a below-average center in Chris Mihm. So what does Kobe do now? He penetrates to the middle and looks for his center to dish off to. Wow, what a concept! In his first game, Bryant took two fewer shots than Mihm.

Kobe calculated this whole deal from the very start of last season and he will now get what he deserves -- a 33-point average on a bad team.

Reggie Boyle

Thousand Oaks

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The Times recently posed two questions: “What are the Lakers going to do this year?” and “Should you root for Kobe Bryant?”

In response to the first question, I hope the Kobe-led Lakers miss the playoffs while Shaquille O’Neal leads the Miami Heat to the NBA championship.

I guess I also answered the second question.

David H. Crocker

Long Beach