Letters to Sports: Lakers’ run about dumb luck? Pay the King some respect

The Los Angeles Lakers simply proved to be too big, too long, too deep and too determined to lose to the once great, fine-tuned and unstoppable scoring machine known as the Golden State Warriors. Even with the loss of Dennis Schroder, the Lakers just kept coming!

It was if a Ferrari ran into a bulldozer on too narrow a highway. There was just no way of getting around it and too much to overcome. So, the fancy sports car returns to its garage in the Bay Area while the Lakers‘ SUV will be trucking to the Rockies!

Rick Solomon
Lake Balboa

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Michael, LeBron, Kareem and Magic. All the great ones have one thing in common: When it comes to the biggest of games, they hoist their teammates on their shoulders, and carry them to victory. Witness LeBron’s layup after layup. He knew what it took to win and he kept driving to the hoop — 30 points, nine rebounds, nine assists. Numbers of a champion.

Marty Zweben
Palos Verdes Estates

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Props to Lakers coach Darvin Ham, who masterfully used lineup changes and substitutions to hand coach Steve Kerr and the Warriors their first playoff loss to a Western Conference team in years.
Best regards,

Russell Hosaka
Torrance

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The Lakers defeating Minnesota in the play-in game for the seventh seed: Good.

The Lakers defeating Memphis in the divisional round: Better.

The Lakers handing a Steve Kerr-coached Golden State team its first loss in a non-title playoff series ever: Priceless.

Ken Blake
Brea

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Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss can thank one thing for the Lakers’ surprisingly good playoff performance: Dumb luck. After four years of making all the wrong moves (except signing Austin Reaves as an undrafted free agent) they have stumbled upon a winning combination. The true test will be keeping this group together after the season ends!

Mike Gamboa
Buena Park

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The coronation of King Charles on May 6 didn’t sway me. LeBron James is the true King.

Vaughn Hardenberg
Westwood

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Without going into a long soliloquy on why it is totally preposterous for Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley to receive rings if the Lakers win the title this year, I will merely quote the great William Shakespeare when I say that all this is “Much Ado About Nothing.”

Greg Nersesyan
North Hollywood

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Lonnie Walker IV. His name tells the whole story: It was the fourth game of the series. He has No. 4 on his jersey. He showed up big in the fourth quarter.

Mark Sherwin
Los Angeles

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Congrats on the feature article on Lonnie Walker IV. His performance that day in the fourth quarter against Golden State was the spark that carried the Lakers to victory. Now if we could get The Times to stop burying sports news on the back of the California section.

Richard T. Smith
Woodland Hills

Plain and simple. The NBA and the NBA officials are ruining the sport right in front of our eyes. As a 36-year Lakers season-seat holder, I have no idea what the rules are anymore. The constant traveling, carrying the ball and discontinued dribbles are being rewarded and uncalled. Referees wait for shots to either go into the basket or fall out before fouls are called. They reward clear flopping. They call touch fouls 30 feet from the rim but players being manhandled and hit in the head inside are ignored. They allow players berating them, openly, and refuse to call technicals. The NBA looks like a scripted sport at the moment and it is becoming unwatchable.

Geno Apicella
Placentia

I liked Dylan Hernández’s column on the Dodgers’ latest victory over the Padres. I know that an article’s headlines are often written by editors. Whoever chose the phrase “win ugly” to describe this game, however, is dead wrong. Had the Dodgers prevailed on a single run scored on an error, that might have been ugly. But Mookie Betts’ ninth-inning, two-out blast and 10th-inning heroics from two rookies were nothing short of beautiful.

Gary Platt
Rancho Cucamonga

I was delighted to read the letter about the noise at Dodger Stadium games. I love baseball and enjoy attending a few games each year. But it’s gotten almost too noisy. The visual distractions are annoying too.

Last week’s games from PNC Park were refreshing and easy to follow the action. Take me back to those ballgames!

Susan Gutschow
South Pasadena

It’s so easy to talk about breaking up the Clippers without solutions! Maybe the next time my wife’s dinner turns out bad, we should split.

Mitchell Cohen
East Windsor, N.J.

Great article about Joe Kapp. It was wonderful to read an unabashed paean to Kapp. Yes. A song of victory. Although never a fan of the teams he led (Go Browns!), he was a player I always felt played above his natural abilities, whom you always marveled at his ability to win in spite of physical limitations. Thanks for the memories.

John Snyder
Newbury Park

Coach Bud Kling’s 51 combined (boys and girls) L.A. City tennis championships at Palisades High is truly amazing. I remember Bud as a substitute teacher at my middle school in the 1970s. I was fortunate enough to have been on a University High team that defeated Palisades in the 1978 finals. Palisades was one of the best teams in the country that year and featured a future top-20 player in the world, Scott Davis. Bud took over the next year and his teams have dominated ever since. Ah, memories.

Mike Anderson
Sherman Oaks

Regarding Bob Huggins, the only thing worse than stupid, racist, anti-religious, anti-sexual preference remarks by coaches, players, politicians and celebrities is their hypocritical apology/retraction the next day because a VP of public relations said they had to. The original remarks are the person’s true feelings, not a blunder. If you said it, you own it. Deal with it and the consequences.

Russell Morgan
Carson

The Rams may regret giving Sam Farmer access to ticket pricing strategies. I understand football is a business and that ticket prices are set by the market, but I wish the Rams’ vice president of consumer revenue and strategy didn’t take such pleasure in soaking the “consumer” out of every dime.

Mario Valvo
Ventura

I am so glad that Anthony Rendon is now a 10-year man in the major leagues, meaning he’ll make a little more when he takes his pension at 62. I just hope he can make that $245 million from the Angels last that long.

Steve Horn
Glendale

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