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The Lakers on Monday officially signed Chinese National Team player Sun Yue, the club announced in a release.

Here's the rest of the release:

"Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.

"Originally selected by the Lakers in the second round (40th overall) of 2007 NBA draft, the 6-9 guard started for the Chinese National Team this past month in the men's basketball tournament at the Beijing Olympics. In six games, Sun averaged 6.8 points, 1.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.33 steals in 28.0 minutes.

"Playing for the Beijing Aoshen Olympians of the American Basketball Association for the past three seasons, Sun, 23, was named First Team All-ABA in both 2007 and 2008 while earning Second-Team All-ABA honors in 2006.

"Posting a 12-point, 14-rebound, 12-assist, 8-block, 4-steal triple-double against the L.A. Aftershock during his rookie season in the ABA (2005-06), Sun averaged 13.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 10.5 assists in 2006-07 when the team played its home games at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, CA before moving to Singapore for the 2007-08 season."

This is from The Associated Press:

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar, the NBA's only Jewish player, showed his dribbling, shooting and slam-dunking skills at a clinic in southern Israel on Tuesday for Jewish and Arab kids.
The 21-year-old Farmar is the guest of the Peres Center for Peace, founded by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon Peres, now Israel's president, to encourage cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians. One of the ways the center tries to improve relationships is through children playing sports together.
Farmar is the first Jewish player in the NBA since Danny Schayes -- son of Hall of Famer Dolph Schayes -- retired in 1999.
"I've gotten a warm welcome from the whole country," he told the Associated Press in a telephone interview during the clinic in Kiryat Gat, a desert town. "People seem to recognize me everywhere, and it's been great."

After some tense negotiations, the Lakers and restricted guard Sasha Vujacic agreed to a deal Friday afternoon.

Vujacic agreed to a three-year, $15 million deal, an anonymous sources close to the 6-7 guard said.

He'll earn $5 million per season.

The Lakers original offer was three years, $12 million, a deal worth $4 million per season.

Vujacic and his representatives rejected the offer and threaten to accept an offer from a European team instead.

But Vujacic, who was planning on taking a red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Europe Friday, never left Los Angeles and will start his fifth season with the Lakers.

Vujacic, 24, and his representatives actually sought a four-year, $24 million deal, but the Lakers weren't willing to go that long or that high.

It was similar to what Jason Kapono (4 years, $24 million from Toronto), James Posey (4 years, $25 million from New Orleans) and Mickael Pietrus (4 years, $25.1 million from Orlando) got.

Vujacic averaged a career-high 8.8 points last season and made 45.4 percent of his field goals, 43.7 percent of his three-pointers, earning him the nicknamed ``The Machine'' because of his prolific shooting.

The Lakers extended Vujacic, who earned $1.76 million last season, a qualifying offer of about $2.6 million this summer to make him a restricted free agent.

The Lakers already had lost restricted free agent Ronny Turiaf when they declined to match the four-year, $17-million deal he signed with the Golden State Warriors.

The Lakers didn't want to lose Vujacic, whom they considered a vital part of the success they had in reaching the NBA Finals and in their future.

Both sides continued to negotiate and were able to get the deal done.

Both the Lakers and Vujacic and his representatives are to be commended for continuing to work until the deal was completed.

-- Broderick Turner
-- bturner@PE.com

The team that beat the Lakers for the NBA Championship, the Boston Celtics, just got a little weaker.

But the team the Lakers nosed out for the best record in the Western Conference, the New Orleans Hornets, just got a little stronger with Wednesday's signing of unrestricted free agent forward James Posey.

Posey's agent, Mark Bartelstein, in an Associated Press report, says Posey, agreed to a four-year contract worth $25 million.

Posey, 31, was a key role player in the Celtics' championship run, averaging 22 minutes, scoring 6.7 points and grabbing 3.6 rebounds per game.

Here's the rest of the AP report:

>> Continue reading: Good news, bad news for Lakers

Former UCLA players Cedric Bozeman and Lorenzo Mata-Real and former USC Trojan Davon Jefferson are on the Lakers roster for the Las Vegas summer league that opens play Friday, the team announced today.

Here's the Lakers scheudle with the full roster below:

Fri.....July.. 11... Detroit, 5 pm at COX Pavilion
Sun...July.. 13... Memphis, 5 pm at COX Pavilion
Tue...July.. 15... Philadelphia, 5 pm at COX Pavilion
Wed..July.. 16... Minnesota, 5:30 pm at Thomas and Mack
Fri.....July.. 18... Toronto, 5:30 pm at Thomas and Mack
Sat....July.. 19... Denver, 3:30 pm at Thomas and Mack
All times Pacific

Roster

No. ....Player.............Pos. ... HT.... WT.... School
1 .....Cedric Bozeman ....G ...6-6 ...220 ....UCLA
25 ...Pat Calathes ..........F ...6-10 ..210 ....St. Josephs
15 ...Nik Caner-Medley. ..F ...6-8 ....240 ....Maryland
12 ...Joe Crawford .........G ...6-5 ....207 ....Kentucky
26 ...Bryant Dunston ......F ...6-9 ....250 ....Fordham
20 ...Sharrod Ford ..........F ....6-9 ....235 ....Clemson
21 ...Taj Gray .................F ...6-9 ....230 ....Oklahoma
23 ...Davon Jefferson .......F ...6-7 ....215 ....USC
11 ...Coby Karl ................G ...6-5 ....210 ....Boise State
9 .....Marcelus Kemp ........G ...6-5 ....210 .....Nevada
22 ...Yi Li .........................F ...6-9 ....210 .....Nanjing (CBA)
31 ...Lorenzo Mata-Real ....F ...6-9 ....245 .....UCLA
3 .....Dwayne Mitchell .......G ...6-5 ....210 .....La Lafayette
5 .....Brian Roberts ..........G ....6-2 ....175 .....Dayton
35 ...Michael Southhall .....C ....6-10 ..260 .....La Lafayette
10 ...James White ............G/F..6-6 ....195 .....Cincinnati

Head coach: Dan Panaggio (SUNY-Brockport)
Assistants: Chucky Brown (North Carolina State) & Rasheed Hazzard (George Washington)

The Lakers waited almost 4 1/2 hours before they got to draft, but they finally got their man.

They selected Joe Crawford out of Kentucky with their second-round pick, the 58th selection.

Crawford is a 6-4 shooting guard.

He averaged 17.9 points during his senior year at Kentucky.

-- Broderick Turner
-- bturner@PE.com

Four hours and 20 minutes into this NBA draft selection process and your Los Angeles Lakers have finally made a selection.

With the 58th pick, the Western Conference champs selected shooting guard Joe Crawford from Kentucky.

Crawford is listed at 6-foot-4, 213 pounds.

They Lakers traded away their first-round pick in the midseason deal to acquire Pau Gasol.

It is not in Lakers coach Phil Jackson's nature to look back.

Jackson's motto has always been to be in the moment.

His team lost in the NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics, getting hammered in Game 6.

His players have spent time reviewing all their wrongs.

Jackson was asked Friday at the team's exit interviews, if like the players, he wondered about making the right moves or the wrong moves.

``I try not to get too caught up in that,'' Jackson said. ``I try to learn from history. I just try not to repeat it. If you get too obsessed with it, then you get in a position where you might just accidently repeat what you've done wrong by trying to eliminate a mistake.''

-- Broderick Turner
-- bturner@PE.com

Though the Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals and were embarrassed in Game 6 Tuesday night, there are many in the media who think the Lakers will be the favorites to win the title next season.

For Kobe Bryant, that is a funny thing to hear.

He was asked if being picked as the favorites might be a burden for the Lakers.

``No, it'll just be comical, because it'll be the same people that said we were soft like two months ago picking us to win the championship,'' Bryant said. ``We don't listen to that stuff, man. We just do what we got to do to get better and understanding that next year is a whole another ballgame.''

-- Broderick Turner
-- bturner@PE.com

After the Lakers lost the NBA championship to the Boston Celtics Tuesday night, Kobe Bryant was short with his answers.

He pursed his libs and frowned.

But two days later, on Thursday after he met with Lakers coach Phil Jackson and general manager Mitch Kupchak for his exit meeting, Bryant was in a far better mood.

He's still not happy the Lakers lost the title.

But Bryant was more at ease.

``You let it drift away,'' Bryant said. ``It was a tough loss, a tough series, but there were a lot of positive things that can be gained from it and now it's time to move forward and get ready for next season.''

-- Broderick Turner
-- bturner@PE.com

The 131 points scored by the Celtics in Tuesday night's NBA Finals clincher was the most allowed by the Lakers (after a quick flip through the team's media guide and website) ...

** IN A PLAYOFF GAME since Golden State scored 139 in a Western Conference semifinal victory (139-121) May 10, 1987.

** IN A FINALS GAME since Boston scored 148 in Game 1 of the 1985 Finals (148-114).

** IN A REGULAR SEASON GAME (regulation) since Charlotte scored 141 in a home victory (141-124) Nov. 24, 1993.

** IN A REGULAR SEASON GAME (overtime) since Charlotte scored 133 in a home victory (133-124) Dec. 29, 2006.

It never fails.

The Lakers come out to start the third quarter and get outscored.

It happened again in Game 6, when the Lakers were outscored, 31-25.

For the six-game series, the Lakers were outscored in the third quarter, 165-122.

-- Broderick Turner
-- bturner@PE.com

Seldom-used Celtics reserve Brian Scalabrine unexpectedly took the podium after the game to chide the media for predicting a Lakers victory before the series.
"When you guys consider yourselves NBA expects, how can you pick the Lakers to beat us in six games," he said, smiling. "We're on TV all the time, so it's not like you don't get to watch us play. I just didn't see it. You guys were so convincing that maybe I thought in my heart that, wow, this is going to be a series. How could that be?"

An informal survey at the All-Star break revealed that NBA players wanted to see Kevin Garnett, more than any of their opponents, win an NBA title. After 13 years in the league, KG got his first Tuesday night. Most of his career with Minnesota, his teams were early-round casualties, if they made the postseason at all.
Said Garnett on his long wait: "You ever go to school and had that bully mess with you?... He's sitting there waiting to pat your pockets and mess with you...One day you say this is going to stop. You walk in...and you lay his (expletive) out. It's like getting rid of the bully. It's like I knocked the bully's (expletive) out."

The Lakers not only suffered a loss to the Boston Celtics, but they also suffered some rude remarks from the fans inside TD Banknorth Garden.

The Celtics fans basked in their teams glory, at one point chanting, ``you're not Jordan'' while Kobe Bryant shot two free throws.

The obvious reference being Michael Jordan, someone Bryant has been compared to.

But Jordan never lost in the NBA Finals, winning all six he played in.

Bryant now is 3-2 in the Finals.

He lost the last two Finals, to Detroit in 2004 and now to the Celtics in 2008.

-- Broderick Turner
-- bturner@PE.com
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The raw results of Celtics-Lakers championship history, Lakers fans, aren't pretty.

Just the facts:

1958-59 -- Boston Celtics def. Minneapolis Lakers, 4-0
1961-62 -- Boston Celtics def. Los Angeles Lakers, 4-3
1962-63 -- Boston Celtics def. Los Angeles Lakers, 4-2
1964-65 -- Boston Celtics def. Los Angeles Lakers, 4-1
1965-66 -- Boston Celtics def. Los Angeles Lakers, 4-3
1967-68 -- Boston Celtics def. Los Angeles Lakers, 4-2
1968-69 -- Boston Celtics def. Los Angeles Lakers, 4-3
1983-84 -- Boston Celtics def. Los Angeles Lakers, 4-3
1984-85 -- Los Angeles Lakers def. Boston Celtics, 4-2
1986-87 -- Los Angeles Lakers def. Boston Celtics, 4-2
2007-08 -- Boston Celtics def. Los Angeles Lakers, 4-2
Source: Assoicated Press

The large margin of victory enabled Boston to start their celebration anticiaption early. With the lead around 30 near the end of the third quarter, injured reserve Brian Scalabrine wandered toward the media tables where he seemed to gesture to reporters about their suits -- then gave a negative sign. One of them surmised that the former USC player was warning them not to wear nice threads into the Celtics locker room, where they would be drenched with champagne.

Speaking of champagne, at least two Lakers -- Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol -- specifically mentioned the bubbly after the Lakers won Game 5. Both said they wanted to make sure the Celtics didn't pop champagne corks in their building.
With the Lakers Game 6 effort not even coming remotely close to their Game 5 effort, one might say they accomplished their goal.

The largest margin of victory in the NBA Finals:

42 -- Chicago (96) vs. Utah (54), June 7, 1998.
39 -- Boston (131) vs. Lakers (92), June 17, 2008.
35 -- Washington (117) vs. Seattle (82), June 4, 1978.
34 -- Boston (129) vs. St. Louis (95), April 2, 1961.
34 -- Boston (148) vs. Lakers (114), May 27, 1985.
33 -- Boston (129) vs. Lakers (96), April 25, 1965.
33 -- Philadelphia (135) vs. Lakers (102), June 6, 1982.
33 -- Lakers (137) vs. Boston (104), June 3, 1984.
33 -- Chicago (122) vs. Portland (89), June 3, 1992
33 -- Indiana (120) vs. Lakers (87), June 16, 2000.
Source: Associated Press

Paul Pierce made only 4 of 13 shots in the Game 6 finale but still managed 17 points. He added 10 of Boston's 33 assists and two of the Celtics' Finals record 18 steals and was justly awarded the Finals MVP.

The Yahoo.com boxscore that includes the hockey plus/minus scoring system, had Pierce at +35 in the Game 6 clincher. The Lakers' Kobe Bryant, the regular season MVP, was -35.

Not a night the Lakers are going to want to remember.