Long time no write, so after taking a lil’ Lakers break, and waiting for something earth-shattering to get the keyboard moving again, what better than the man everyone seems to have some comment on, Michael Jackson; our longtime neighbor from Encino, Santa Maria, and Holmby Hills, and who amongst us knew where Holmby Hills was before Thursday?  One of the reasons I’ve spent more than half my life in this business is because I’m a news junkie, and when a story like Jackson’s sudden passing develops, it’s pretty much an all day internet and satellite T.V. day, and these days, that includes the Direct-T.V. news mix, where I can switch between six different channels at a time.  I figured MTV would have 24 hour coverage, but they were pretty lame considering what he meant to the network, except for a live hour Friday afternoon our time.  Mixed into the expected calls from musicians and recording industry heavyweights, was one from Newport Beach…from Kobe Bryant.  Here’s the link, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH6Ne6WLQ6U,

but what’s most fascinating is, to think about what those phone calls and get-togethers were like between the “King of Pop,” and the greatest active basketball player in the world.  This brief call-in provides an enormous insight into the drive that Kobe has to be the best, and how big an influence Jackson was on him.  It leads you to believe that Bryant has at least one more title in him here, and could easily be considering catching, or passing Michael Jordan for six rings, and the mantle of, “Greatest Basketball Player that ever lived.”  So Phil, and Jordan, may not be the most influential Jackson, or M.J., in Kobe’s conquests after all.