Lakers show power of home-court advantage

If nothing else, the Lakers’ victories over the Boston Celtics last month and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday should reinforce in their minds the power of home-court advantage. . . .

Kobe Bryant & Co. won’t get the same backing, or maybe any at all, Feb. 5 at Boston and Feb. 8 at Cleveland. . . .

LeBron James and the Cavaliers, 20-0 in Quicken Loans Arena, have a long way to go to match Michael Jordan and the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, who won their first 37 home games. . . .

Jeff Kent’s next stop: Cooperstown. . . .

The University of Phoenix, which owns the naming rights to the stadium that staged Sunday’s NFC championship game and last year’s Super Bowl, reportedly boasts an enrollment of nearly 350,000 students but has no football team. . . .

Even as the underdog Arizona Cardinals prepare to make their first Super Bowl appearance, Kurt Warner & Co. are listed by BetUS.com as 25-1 longshots to return next year. . . .

Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers are 7-1 favorites to make an encore appearance in 2010. . . .

Underdogs, by the way, have won three of the last seven Super Bowls, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots upsetting Warner and the St. Louis Rams in 2002, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers surprising the Oakland Raiders in 2003 and the New York Giants ending the Patriots’ bid for perfection a year ago. . . .

In honor of President Obama, sworn in Tuesday as the nation’s 44th commander-in-chief, USA Today compiled a list of elite athletes who wore No. 44, reporting that “maybe the most famous No. 44 in sports history” was former home run king Hank Aaron. . . .

Not among Lakers fans. . . .

Besides Jerry West, a list of prominent Southland athletes who wore No. 44 includes Angels slugger Reggie Jackson; UCLA all-time rushing leader and L.A. Rams running back Gaston Green; Loyola Marymount basketball All-American Hank Gathers; UCLA basketball All-American Mike Warren; USC basketball All-American John Rudometkin; Clippers forward Michael Cage; Angels outfielder Chili Davis; and Dodgers Al Downing, Ken Landreaux, Darryl Strawberry and Takashi Saito. . . .

Quality victories have been scarce for UCLA, which has defeated only one opponent with an RPI ranking among the top 65. . . .

AskMen.com’s annual list of the world’s 99 most desirable women, topped by actress and Glendale Hoover High graduate Eva Mendes, includes tennis players Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic, driver Danica Patrick, javelin thrower Leryn Franco and mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano. . . .

Probably less excited than most about the return of Claude Lemieux, 43, to the NHL: Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who during the Ducks’ run to the 2003 Stanley Cup finals was accused by Lemieux of circumventing the rules by wearing oversized pads, an allegation that continues to dog the goaltender. . . .

Jaleesa Hazzard, a former UCLA cheerleader and wife of former UCLA All-American and Lakers guard Walt Hazzard, is scheduled to run the Surf City USA half-marathon in Huntington Beach on Sunday to raise funds for the American Stroke Assn. . . .

Her husband, who helped John Wooden win his first NCAA title in 1964, suffered a stroke in 1996. . . .

Pepperdine’s Steve Rodriguez, set to join several Southland college baseball coaches in an “Iron Chef”-style cooking competition Saturday at the ESPN Zone in Anaheim: “I can make a few good things and then after that I make sure the fire extinguisher is functional before I turn the oven on.” . . .

Speaking of cooking, two-sport legend and gourmet chef Bo Jackson says he’d love to show off his culinary skills on a television show of his own, “or else go on someone else’s show just to show them how to cook good soul food.” . . .

Jackson, playing this week in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, says he twice turned down Martha Stewart when she was in legal hot water “because we’ve all got reputations to uphold.” . . .

Jay McGwire, bodybuilding younger brother of Mark McGwire, is peddling a tell-all book that details the former slugger’s alleged steroid use, deadspin.com reports, quoting Jay McGwire as telling potential publishers, “My bringing the truth to surface about Mark is out of love.” . . .

Nothing says love, of course, like fanning the flames of your brother’s already smoldering reputation by torching it anew.

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jerome.crowe@latimes.com