Actor Andy Garcia narrates ESPN special on Lakers
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NBA Entertainment will present ‘The Association: Los Angeles Lakers,’ on ESPN Friday at 5 p.m. ET.
Narrated by Academy Award-nominated actor Andy Garcia, this one-hour special provides an up-close look at the defending NBA champions through behind-the-scenes access to the team.
‘The Association: Los Angeles Lakers’ spotlights:
Phil Jackson: After 10 NBA titles as a coach and in his fifth decade in the game, Jackson demonstrates that the thing that still motivates him is the ring – not an NBA championship ring, but the bond or ring that forms when players come together through the journey of an NBA season.
Kobe Bryant: Bryant is shown fighting through injuries and making six game-winning shots among the highlights.
Ron Artest: Artest, besides modeling different hair colors, tries to show fans what his childhood home, the Queensbridge projects in New York, was like.
Lamar Odom: From the NBA title to a new contract to his recent marriage to celebrity Khloe Kardashian, star of the reality TV series ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians,’ it has been a season of change for Odom. And maybe it’s Odom who most gets what being a Laker means. ‘Being a Laker is being a celebrity already, so winning a championship, you’re not just a member of a rock band, you’re a member of a Grammy Award-winning rock band,’ Odom said.
Jackson also speaks about eventual retirement in the piece.
‘I sometimes think when I am on a road trip like Memphis or Cleveland or some town like that, I think maybe this is the last time I’m going to be in this town. You think about the places you might never get back to again, so that crosses my mind once in a while,’ Jackson said. ‘You can’t step in the same river twice. But then I find myself thinking about the game and I realize it’s still there. I still want to do it. I still have the desire. When that is gone, it will be over.’
-- Diane Pucin