Read More: Gerald Green (F – LAL), Troy Murphy (F – LAL), Matt Barnes (F – LAL), Metta World Peace (F – LAL), Derek Fisher (G – LAL), Steve Blake (G – LAL), Pau Gasol (F – LAL), Andrew Bynum (C – LAL), Kobe Bryant (G – LAL), Luke Walton (F – LAL), Jason Kapono (F – LAL), Josh McRoberts (F – LAL), Devin Ebanks (F – LAL), Derrick Caracter (F – LAL), Chris Daniels (C – LAL), Andrew Goudelock (G – LAL), Darius Morris (G – LAL), Zach Andrews (F – LAL), Malcolm Thomas (F – LAL), Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday trimmed their roster down to 15, the maximum per NBA rules, heading into the regular season opener on Christmas Day against the Chicago Bulls at Staples Center. The Lakers waived five players on Thursday. Gerald Green, Zach Andrews, Chris Daniels, Elijah Milsap, and Malcolm Thomas were let go by the Lakers.

Perhaps the most intriguing of the players cut by the Lakers was Green, who was a first-round pick of the Boston Celtics in 2005, then included in the package that sent Kevin Garnett from the Minnesota Timberwolves to Boston. Green has averaged 7.5 points and 16.0 minutes per game in his 181 NBA games.

The Lakers’ roster now stands at 15 players:

Guards: Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, Steve Blake, Darius Morris, Andrew Goudelock

Forwards: Pau Gasol, Metta World Peace, Matt Barnes, Josh McRoberts, Devin Ebanks, Derrick Caracter, Luke Walton, Jason Kapono, Troy Murphy

Center: Andrew Bynum

For all news and information regarding the Los Angeles Lakers, please visit Silver Screen and Roll.

The Chris Paul era in New Orleans isn’t over — yet. A proposed blockbuster three-team trade of the New Orleans Hornets’ point guard involving the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets was nixed Thursday, according to league sources.

Apparently, several owners in the league thought the deal was too beneficial for the Lakers, who would have paired Paul with Kobe Bryant. There was concern the Lakers, who have won two of the past three NBA championships, would get an unfair competitive advantage.

NBA Commissioner David Stern apparently stepped in after hearing complaints from several owners attending the league’s board of governors meeting Thursday in New York to ratify the new labor agreement. The NBA has owned the Hornets for nearly a year and is seeking local ownership.

But an NBA spokesman denies that owners killed the deal. The Paul trade wasn’t even discussed at the board of governors meeting, spokesman Tim Franks said. He said the league office declined to make the trade for basketball reasons.

Had Paul gone to the Lakers, the Hornets would have acquired guards Kevin Martin and Goran Dragic and forward Luis Scola of the Rockets and Lakers forward Lamar Odom in addition to a draft pick.

In turn, Houston would have acquired Lakers forward Pau Gasol, filling their need for a big man after Yao Ming’s retirement.

After the league kiboshed the deal, Paul tweeted “Wow.”

Now Friday makes for an awkward moment.

General Manager Dell Demps didn’t want Paul’s uncertain future to cast a cloud over the season as the Carmelo Anthony saga did last year in Denver. Ultimately, Anthony got his way and was traded to the New York Knicks.

Training camp opens Friday, but Paul isn’t expected at the Alario Center in Westwego, according to league sources.

With Paul staying put, the Hornets still have only five players under contract. Demps is expected to address the news media Friday for the first time since the lockout began July 1.

Sources said Demps will continue to seek trade partners for Paul, who wouldn’t commit to the team after he was offered a five-year deal worth $100 million. Paul can opt out of his contract, which will pay him about $16 million this season.

The Hornets have had serious trade discussions with the Los Angeles Clippers, Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors. Some teams have been scared off from entering the Paul sweepstakes because of the threat he might not sign an extension. If Paul signs an extension with another team, he would be forfeiting $26 million, as the most a competing team can offer him is $74 million over four years.

Paul could file a grievance against the league through the players union.

Apparently, there is a faction of owners who continues to push for competitive balance even though the labor agreement is designed to help foster it.

The Hornets had been listening to offers for Paul since last week, and they began to proceed more intensely after Paul indicated in Monday’s meeting with Demps he was not interested in signing a long-term extension to remain in New Orleans, sources said.

Paul has been with the franchise for six seasons and was the fourth overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft.

Paul has been pushing for the Hornets build more talent around him since 2009-10 season when they failed to make the playoffs. The Hornets made a surprising playoff run last season but were ousted by the Lakers in the first round.

THE LOS ANGELES Lakers will play games on the first three nights of the NBA season, the first of 42 back-to-back-to-back sets teams will face during this lockout-shortened season.

The NBA announced the compacted, 66-game schedule last night, one that will require every team to play on three consecutive nights at least once. And it will force every team to navigate demanding stretches that are never seen during a full season, such as the nine games in 12 nights the Atlanta Hawks face starting with their Dec. 27 opener.

The league’s 66th season begins with five games on Christmas, including the Lakers hosting the Chicago Bulls. Los Angeles then visits Sacramento the next night before returning home to host Utah on Dec. 27.

Teams will play 48 conference games and 18 against the opposing conference, meaning they play only three nonconference opponents home and away. The league did preserve its most storied rivalry, with the Lakers traveling to Boston for a Feb. 9 matchup before the Celtics open a stretch of eight road games in 13 nights in March with games on back-to-back nights at the Staples Center against the Lakers and Clippers.

Dallas and Miami also will meet twice, following their Christmas NBA Finals rematch with a March 12 game in Miami. The Heat and Lakers also play twice.

The 50-game 1999 season featured 64 sets of back-to-back-to-backs and was plagued by sloppy basketball being played on fatigued legs. The NBA faces a similar predicament now after failing to reach a new labor deal in time to save the Nov. 1 start to the season.

Instead, a tentative agreement was reached on Nov. 26. Lawyers for the owners and players are still finalizing the rest of the deal, with both sides expected to vote on it tomorrow before training camps and free agency open on Friday.

Miami will appear on ABC or ESPN 16 times, the most allowable, followed by 15 appearances apiece for the Lakers and Bulls. The Lakers and Celtics each appear a league-high 10 times on TNT.

The regular season is scheduled to conclude April 26 and the playoffs will open 2 nights later. The last possible date of the NBA Finals is June 26.

In other NBA news:

* Bob Vander Weide is retiring as Orlando Magic chief executive officer and team president Alex Martins is being promoted to his position, a source told the Associated Press.

 

Heidi Watney is leaving Red Sox Nation for Hollywood.

Multiple media sources reported Wednesday that the popular in-game reporter for NESN is returning to her native California. The University of San Diego graduate will become a sideline reporter for the Los Angeles Lakers for Time Warner.

Reached by Chad Finn of the Boston Globe via text message while on vacation in Australia, Watney wrote: “Nothing is final and not dealing with it until I return at [the] end of the month.”

The 30-year-old Watney was the 2002 Miss California runner up. She began her broadcast career in Fresno with local radio stations, the ESPN radio affiliate and the local FOX television station before joining NESN.

Reported Brian Rabuffetti for Boston Red Sox Examiner:

Watney took over as host of The Ultimate Red Sox show in June of 2008 and soon after also became the host of the Red Sox Report. Since her early days with NESN, Watney has been one of their biggest stars. She has been in numerous commercials, supported charities and even had a bobble head day in Lowell. Unfortunately with her fame, she was subject to rumors involving her personal life.

Yahoo!Sports offered the following analysis of her work in Boston:

Initially regarded as just another pretty face along Fenway Park’s foul lines, Watney became a regional favorite as she worked hard to improve her game over her four seasons … More importantly, she was active in Boston charity, making several appearances at area children’s hospitals.

On the last night of the regular season, Watney famously – or infamously, if you’re a Sox fan – appeared on NESN when Dan Shaughnessy predicted Boston would advance to play at least one more day.

The Sox, of course, coughed up a lead to the Baltimore Orioles, then watched the Tampa Bay Rays rally from a 7-0 deficit to defeat the Yankees in extra innings and edge Boston for the American League wild card.

Watney’s job with Time-Warner will begin with the 2012-13 season, according to CSN New England’s Sean McAdam. That’s assuming, of course, that the NBA and its players reach agreement on a new contract.

McAdam also reports that Red Sox lay-by-play announcer Don Orsillo has signed a four-year contract extension with NESN. He’ll again be teamed up with analyst Jerry Remy.

Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson recently roasted LeBron James(notes) during a talk at the University of Albany. If you read some of Magic’s zingers about the Miami Heat superstar out of context, you might think that Magic was ripping LeBron apart. That’s simply not the case.

In fact I’m going to show you a really easy way to figure out how basketball writers covering this topic feel about LeBron James, personally. Type in “Magic Johnson rips LeBron” in Google and I’d bet that 8 out of 10 writers who used the word rip in their headline dislike LeBron James. If you don’t like the King, now you’ve got more reading options. If you’re tired of the witch-hunt, you’ll know who to avoid.

Why, you ask? Because Magic definitely wasn’t ripping LeBron. Rip is a strong word. Skip Bayless rips LeBron. Ric Bucher rips LeBron. Magic Johnson was in roast master mode.

Check out the video for yourself. Listen to Magic’s tone and observe his body language.

It looks like he’s about to break out the Hulk Hogan crazy ear-cupping thing after every joke he makes.

But even if it was just a stand-up comedy routine, of which I have little doubt, we all know that roasts live off of the half-joke. The fact there’s usually some grain of truth behind what’s said is exactly what makes the roast so delicious.

So here are the two bombs Magic dropped during his routine:

1. LeBron will never be a champion

“There’s going to always be great players in basketball. There’s going to always be guys who win championships in the NBA, except LeBron…”

I mean you have to watch the video, if only for this part. Magic was discussing minority scholarships and responding to a question about HIV survival when he randomly just busts out with this grenade in the middle of the sermon, takes two thrilled steps forward, a few more to the side and looks like he’s about to howl at the Hulkamaniacs. It’s awesome, but definitely a joke.

2. Kobe is better than LeBron

“Everybody’s always asking, ‘Who is better between Kobe and LeBron?’ I’m like, Are you kidding me? I’m like, you’re kidding me… Kobe, five championships; LeBron, zero.”

Here’s the half-truth part. Told like a joke, but the double “are you kidding mes” and the fact that he’s worked with Kobe Bryant(notes) his entire career leads me to believe that there’s a chance Magic might actually believe this.

Before I point out the hypocrisy here, I just want to say that Magic is my favorite baller, ever. His Topps rookie card hangs proudly on a plaque in my house, I consider him a top five player in history and his infectious personality makes him one the most likeable athletes in all of sports. When he made his comeback in 1996, every nationally televised Lakers game was basically the Super Bowl for me.

Respect and admiration aside, what the heck is the magic man thinking?

Did he use this same logic in the late 80s to convince himself that he was better than Michael Jordan? Back then, Magic had five rings and Jordan had zero, just like Kobe and LeBron. And yet, Magic’s greatest rival, Boston Celtics Hall of Famer Larry Bird, was already calling MJ the most awesome player in the world in only his second year and added the memorable: “I think it’s just God disguised as Michael Jordan.”

Reality is that I don’t even need to ask Magic that question. I clearly remember when Bob Costas interviewed Johnson during the 1993 Finals between the Chicago Bulls and the Phoenix Suns. Magic was already proclaiming that His Airness was the best of all time.

High praise, considering the 2 to 5 drawback.

It seems that Magic Johnson and Larry Bird both had a sense that individual player greatness could exist outside of team victories. That winning six titles put an appropriate cherry on top MJ’s career, but that he didn’t need any to be best -he was that good.

And you know what? I’m certain that Magic realizes that it’s not as easy as five to zero. He realizes that for a while Jordan’s best teammate was either Charles Oakley or Bill Cartwright. That LeBron James’ was Mo Williams(notes). That even Kobe didn’t win the first year the Lakers got Pau.

And that not everyone is lucky enough to play for nearly a decade with either Kareem or James Worthy, or Shaq in his prime.

In fact I’m sure that deep down inside Magic knows that LeBron is the best in the NBA right now, late-game and playoffs woes or not.

He’ll just never say it out loud.

More from the Yahoo! Contributor Network:

Top 5 Reasons LeBron James is still better than Kobe Bryant

Why Dwyane Wade is better than Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant’s 7th Place Rank on the ESPN Top 500 is Fair

LeBron James’ girlfriend blamed for Dallas Mavericks victory in NBA Finals

Top 5 Reasons Dwight Howard will join the Los Angeles Lakers next year

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