By BRODERICK TURNER, The Press-Enterprise

LOS ANGELES -- Manny being Manny.

Well, the Los Angeles Dodgers and their fans finally got to see the kind of Manny Ramirez moment he became so famous for while playing for the Boston Red Sox.

Every other Dodger had taken the field for the start of the ninth inning Monday night, but Ramirez was nowhere to be found.

This week the Los Angeles Lakers will enter the free-agent market, shopping for players and looking to improve.

LOS ANGELES -- It was just one step, but it was a big one for the Los Angeles Lakers, one that gave them even more confidence.

They finished off the Denver Nuggets on Monday, not wasting time when the opportunity presented itself, sweeping the first-round playoff series, 4-0.

NEW ORLEANS -- The task is tall, the challenge stiff.

And the Los Angeles Lakers must deal with it, no matter how difficult.

They are about to embark on a journey through the competitive Western Conference, playing four teams that all have won at least 40 games, teams that are breathing down the Lakers' neck, teams that are looking to knock them off their lofty perch.

LOS ANGELES -- It's already started. NBA coaches are championing their own for MVP.

Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson was asked if his star, Kobe Bryant, is having an MVP-caliber season.

"Definitely," Jackson replied.

Bryant has never won the award, despite leading the NBA in scoring the past two seasons.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Some days, Los Angeles Lakers forward Luke Walton said, his right ankle feels 90 to 100 percent healthy. Other days, the ankle feels 60 to 65 percent.

LOS ANGELES -- So, Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson was asked beforehand, was it official that he was to going to be wearing the NBA-mandated microphone during Thursday night's nationally televi

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The compliments are piling up, a development that hasn't gone unnoticed by Los Angeles Lakers big man Andrew Bynum.