Lakers Land in London

12 hours and several bags of savory snacks (that’s British for peanuts) later the Lake Show is in London where they prepare to start the preseason on Monday. You can see video of the journey from El Segundo to Heathrow here.

While the trip across the pond has been a sore subject for Phil Jackson it does pose a unique challenge this early in the season.

Kobe Bryant is already in his standard, mid-season, play through the pain form. KB seems hell bent on giving his English fans a glimpse of Europe’s most popular baller. Meanwhile Luke Walton and Matt Barnes are both nursing sore hamstrings and Lamar Odom must not even know what time zone he’s in anymore with all the frequent flyer miles he’s racked up in the last two months.

Perhaps KB24, a big fan of the beautiful game, will get a chance to cruise over to Stamford Bridge on Sunday where Chelsea clashes with London rival Arsenal. If so it won’t be at the expense of PJ losing his best player to a London derby. Phil isn’t exactly ecstatic about camp being interrupted by the goodwill trip to England. For him this journey is all business and as far as he’s concerned the team might as well still be practicing in El Segundo.

"“We have to go over there [London] and find a way to get some progress and not sidle along and stay neutral here.”"