Krzyzewski’s real payoff was brushing off Lakers

Text messages from press row ...

It’s easy to imagine Mike Krzyzewski giving thanks daily for the strength it must have taken in 2004 to turn down a $40-million offer to coach Kobe Bryant. ...

BTW, shouldn’t No. 8/24 switch to No. 1, as in, looking out for

A former NBA player might never again be overshadowed within his own family in quite the same way as former Lakers forward Stan Love, father of highly touted UCLA basketball recruit and incoming freshman Kevin Love. ...

Stan’s cousin, Brian Wilson, is the musical genius who founded the Beach Boys; brother Mike sang lead on many of the group’s biggest hits; cousins Carl and Dennis Wilson, Brian’s late brothers, also were integral to the group’s success; second cousins Carnie and Wendy Wilson, Brian’s daughters, formed two-thirds of the bestselling 1990s pop vocal trio Wilson Phillips; and Stan’s son is being called the Bruins’ best center prospect since Bill Walton. ... Love, 58, was the ninth pick in the 1971 NBA draft and averaged 6.8 points and 4.0 rebounds in four seasons with the Lakers and Baltimore Bullets. ...

Provided she has recovered from her undisclosed medical condition, Paris Hilton owes it to L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca to at least come out and cheer for the lawman, if not make a donation in his name, when Baca competes in the Keep L.A. Running charity 10K on July 15 at Dockweiler State Beach. ...

Pacman the strip club-frequenting, career-sabotaging NFL cornerback seems determined to have a much shorter shelf life than Pac-Man the arcade game. ...

Juan Pablo Montoya, after uncorking an impressive NASCAR victory Sunday in wine country, is only the third driver to win major U.S. open-wheel, Formula One and Nextel Cup Series races, joining Dan Gurney and Mario Andretti. ...

The Angels, who have never won 100 games or reached the All-Star break with the best record in the major leagues, might do both this season. ...

Maybe the power hitter the Angels have long sought to protect Vladimir Guerrero has already arrived in the person of Casey Kotchman, who returned to the lineup Monday carrying a slugging percentage nearly equal to Guerrero’s. ...

Russell Martin could be the Dodgers’ sixth All-Star catcher since they moved from Brooklyn, joining John Roseboro, Tom Haller, Mike Scioscia, Mike Piazza and Paul Lo Duca. ...

The Dodgers’ trade for Andre Ethier -- they shipped volcanic Milton Bradley to the Oakland Athletics in December 2005 -- looks better every day. ...

While USC fans wonder who will start at running back and whether any of the Trojans’ receivers can measure up to Dwayne Jarrett, the coaches will keep close tabs on center Matt Spanos, who replaces three-year starter Ryan Kalil and will handle the ball as often as quarterback John David Booty. ...

Though the lobbying efforts of former Boston Celtics teammates Walton and Larry Bird have not yet landed him in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the late Dennis Johnson is part of the inaugural class of the L.A. Harbor College Athletics Hall of Fame that will be inducted Sept. 7 in San Pedro. ...

The U.S. men’s soccer team, 10-0-1 under new Coach Bob Bradley after Sunday’s 2-1 Gold Cup-winning victory over Mexico, has improved its all-time record to 191-189-111, the first time since 1937 that it has been at .500 or better. ...

Anna Kournikova will compete in three matches next month in the World TeamTennis Pro League, one of them July 6 at Newport Beach. ...

The Ducks’ signing of goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere to a long-term contract extension was, in the words of that incredibly annoying radio ad, “the biggest no-brainer in the history of mankind,” or at least the Ducks. ...

If skateboarding is added to the program in 2012, snowboarding champion Shaun White will be positioned to match the feat of Eddie Eagan and become only the second athlete to win Olympic gold medals in winter and summer sports. ...

Eagan, who grew up in Denver, won the light-heavyweight boxing championship in 1920 and was part of the winning four-man bobsled team in 1932. ...

John Wooden says the most memorable retort he ever heard from a referee came from Lou Stringer, who in response to Wooden’s contention that he’d made a “horrible call” shot back at the coach, “They liked it at the other end.” ...

Basketball fans in the South Bay remember Jay Bilas, ESPN’s erudite college basketball and NBA draft analyst, as a high-scoring forward at Rolling Hills High in the early ‘80s and part of Krzyzewski’s first recruiting class at Duke. ...

No knock on USC’s Tim Floyd, but how can eighth-graders make plausible commitments to college basketball programs when they can’t even commit to cleaning up their bedrooms, taking out the garbage or brushing their teeth?

T.J. Simers is on assignment.

jerome.crowe@latimes.com