Lakers’ loss was pretty nasty

He said it without saying it. …

KCAL’s James Worthy, searching for a word to describe the Lakers’ spirit-sucking loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday: “You don’t want to say it on the air.” …

There was no need. …

Tweeted Ron Artest after his one-point no-show effort: “i just got a call from jesus he says you are the worst player in the history of the game but i love you thanks jesus.” …

Hallelujah. …

If we’re to believe that Frank McCourt’s top priority is to deliver a World Series championship to Los Angeles, as he insisted this week, the Dodgers should be first in line if baseball’s best player, Albert Pujols, puts himself on the market. …

Added bonus: Baseball’s biggest spenders, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, are well set at first base. …

Not bad for openers: Clayton Kershaw vs. Tim Lincecum. …

The producers of “Lombardi,” currently running on Broadway, have announced plans for a new project: a play chronicling the intertwined lives of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. …

While there’s no word on who might play the lead roles — will anyone shorter than 6 feet 9 be considered? — Playbill reports that the production is set to debut on Broadway next year. …

Jim Brown, arguably the greatest player in NFL history, and Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest player in NBA history, both celebrated birthdays Thursday. …

Brown turned 75, Jordan 48. …

The Minnesota Vikings, long-rumored candidates for a possible move to Southern California, are one of only two NFC teams that have failed to reach the Super Bowl in the last 20 years. …

The other is the Detroit Lions, who’ve never made it. …

Puck-stopping Jonathan Quick, currently running third behind Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins and Corey Crawford of the Chicago Blackhawks, could become the first Kings goaltender to lead the NHL in goals-against average. …

To borrow an old advertising catchphrase regarding the Diana Taurasi situation: Does she or doesn’t she? …

With a bronze salute to Jerry West standing outside Staples Center as of Thursday, reader Bertin Guillory of Redondo Beach e-mails to ask why nobody seems to be pushing for a statue of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, whose UCLA and Lakers teams delivered three NCAA and five NBA titles to L.A. …

“How can Elgin Baylor be excluded?” reader Jay Jaffe of Los Angeles e-mails to ask. “How soon people forget.” …

Robert Langston of Capistrano Beach: “John Wooden.” …

If you’d told Bill Murray years ago that he’d one day win the pro-am at Pebble Beach, he’d have given you a noogie and snorted, “Now get out of here, you knucklehead, I mean it.” …

The Four Aces of pop music fame — their “Love Is a Many Splendored Thing” was a chart-topping single in 1955 — were a popular Philadelphia quartet long before Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels came along. …

Capacity at the fictional Sunshine Center on ABC’s “Mr. Sunshine”: 17,505, a special number for longtime Lakers fans. …

Ed and Charles O’Bannon might be the greatest brother act in college basketball history, Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News suggests, noting that the UCLA duo combined for 41 points in the Bruins’ 1995 NCAA championship game victory. …

Fans at Sunday’s Daytona 500 will be asked to stand, go silent and raise three fingers in a Lap 3 salute to the late Dale Earnhardt, who piloted a No. 3 car for most of his career. …

Reader Bill Zalin of Glendale, on the subject of unfortunate timing, e-mails to note that Shoeless Joe Jackson and Ty Cobb batted over .400 without winning batting titles. …

Jackson’s .408 average was topped by Cobb’s .420 in 1911, Cobb’s .401 by George Sisler’s .420 in 1922. …

In conjunction with ex-Times reporter Ross Newhan’s noon reading of “Casey at the Bat” on Friday at Pepperdine to kick off the college baseball season, Pepperdine administrator Ken LaZebnik has produced writer baseball cards of Newhan, Ring Lardner, Roger Angell and Bernard Malamud. …

It’s a limited-edition set. …

In the Lakers’ latest inexplicable loss, Bill Livingston of the Cleveland Plain Dealer notes, Kobe Bryant resembled a black mamba “only in skin-shedding mode.”

jerome.crowe@latimes.com