Mickael Pietrus hopes new shoes will stop Kobe Bryant

Orlando Magic guard Mickael Pietrus, looking for any edge possible against Kobe Bryant in the NBA Finals, has decided to change shoes for this series.

During the regular season, Pietrus wore a pair of basketball sneakers endorsed by Bryant.

“I have [Kobe shoes] at my house, but I’m going to play with Michael Jordan shoes,” Pietrus told the Orlando Sentinel.

Regardless of which shoes he wears, Pietrus knows that trying to defend Bryant is a tall task.

“The only thing I can do is try to minimize his touches in the fourth quarter, Pietrus said. “He’s a tremendous player and those guys you cannot stop them. So maybe I can say, ‘Hey, stop, Kobe! Yo! Stop! Maybe that’s the only way I can stop him. ‘Stop for a minute!’ ”

Trivia time

Which Orlando Magic player set an NBA record in 1990 for most assists in a game?

Time for a U-turn

Danica Patrick got herself into hot water when asked by Sports Illustrated’s Dan Patrick on his radio show if she would use performance-enhancing drugs if she could get away with it and if it would help her win the Indianapolis 500.

“Well, then it’s not cheating, is it? If nobody finds out?” she said.

Danica then elaborated. “Yeah, it would be like finding a gray area. In motor sports, we work in the gray areas a lot. You’re trying to find where the holes are in the rule book.”

When the anti-doping community criticized her for her comments, she quickly backpedaled.

“It was a bad joke,” she told USA Today. “There is a lot of sensitivity in our culture about [performance-enhancing drugs]. With all the baseball stuff, I’ve followed it and this is a real problem. It’s a shame kids think they have to do this to get ahead. It’s very dangerous.”

Tweet this

Not every sports figure is enamored with Twitter. St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa is suing the social-networking site, claiming an unauthorized page that used his name to make light of him damaged his reputation and caused emotional distress.

The lawsuit claims someone created a false account under La Russa’s name and posted an update that said: “Lost 2 out of 3, but we made it out of Chicago without one drunk driving incident. . . . “

Trivia answer

Scott Skiles, who had 30 assists against the Denver Nuggets on Dec. 30, 1990.

And finally

Jay Leno, moving to 10 p.m. soon, said this on his final 11:30 p.m. show: “You know the only thing that hasn’t changed in 17 years? The Clippers still [stink].”

--

mike.penner@latimes.com