Jerry West and Magic Johnson will present legendary Coach Pat Riley for induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame next week, according to South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Johnson helped guide Riley's Lakers to four NBA championships while West paved the way for Pat to serve on the bench in Los Angeles.

By rule, only a member of the Hall of Fame can introduce a member for enshrinement.

Lakers' center Andrew Bynum is reportedly looking bigger and stronger than ever, and, more importantly, is showing no ill effects from the knee injury which ended his season in January of this year, according to a report by Marty Burns of Sports Illustrated.

"He looks to be in great shape. He looks ready to go," Kupchak said in a phone interview Thursday. "There's no reason to believe he won't be 100 percent for training camp."

Alhough Bynum did not play five-on-five basketball during a two-day visit by Lakers' GM Mitch Kupchak, Kupchak said he watched the 7-foot, 280-pounder go through a strenuous workout that included running, jumping, and various agility drills.

"That's the reason I went there," Kupchak said. "I wanted to see him run unencumbered, go through agility drills, jumping drills, the things players do... You hope they don't limp or favor a leg. He did not. That was number one."

"On top of that, I was impressed by what he did with his body to get in shape and get stronger. It was obvious to me he had been in the weight room."

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed guard Joe Crawford, announced today. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.

Selected by the Lakers with the 58th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, Crawford, a 22 year-old native of Detroit, Michigan, played four seasons at the University of Kentucky, averaging 11.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 127 games (76 starts).

Lakers' Coach Phil Jackson has credited Madonna for helping the former NBA rebounding king Dennis Rodman come out of his shell, according to Orange County Register.

Jackson claims that before Rodman met the singer he had a "shy" personality.

"Madonna saw what was in there and wanted him . . . to do what she does: be outrageous and kind of talked him into opening up his character," Jackson said. "And Dennis didn?t know how many ways he could open up his character."

DJ Mbenga, who worked out in Miami on Monday, has a minimum-level offer to return to the Lakers but hopes for a bigger offer from the Heat.

RealGM Note: In 42 games last season, Mbenga had a per 40 FIC of 8.9 and 'deserved' $800,000.

Training camp for the Los Angeles Lakers begins on September 30th and the club is awaiting word for when Kobe Bryant will undergo surgery to repair his damaged left pinky finger.

Bryant suffered the injury during a February 5th game against the New Jersey Nets.

The Lakers finally officially signed Sun Yue on Monday.

"He's really looking forward to it (joining the Lakers)," said Charles Bonsignore, Sun's agent. "The Olympics gave him kind of a boost."

Sun Yue helped make a name for himself while leading China in this year's Olympics and hopes to show himself to the world in the NBA.

Yue was selected with the fortieth overall pick in this June's NBA Draft by the Lakers, and the team has reportedly agreed to terms with the point guard on a deal.

"I want to show myself to the world," said Sun. "I tried to do my best and play my part on the court. For me, every second counts at the Olympics, so I want to take the chance to let people know me."

Sun played against his future teammate Kobe Bryant, during China's opening round loss to the United States.

"I met Kobe and told him I'd like to play with him next season, he said 'OK', and 'see you in training camp'," Sun added.

The league's MVP appears to be impressed with his newest teammate, as well.

"I think he's very talented, actually," said Bryant. "I was very impressed by him. I think he has great size, great length, good shooting touch, good ball handler, good vision, good pace."

"I was surprised at his size right off the top. He was able to handle the ball. I tried to test him a little bit, see if he could go left, go right, that sort of thing. So I like him."

The United States may have taken home the gold, but the Spaniards did not simply hand the hardware across to the Redeem Team like most expected.

The United States survived their tightest encounter of the Olympic tournament in the gold medal game, never really shaking a determined Spain team despite not having Raptors' point guard Jose Calderon on the floor.

The Americans had to put on a shooting clinic, finishing the game 13 of 28 (46%) from three-point range and an amazing 71% (13/28) from inside the arc, which in the end proved to be pivotal with Team USA winning the game by only 11 points, 118-107, but the margin was much closer than this for the majority of the game.

Dwyane Wade led the way with 27 points in the game, most of them coming in the first half while Kobe Bryant had 20 to go with 6 assists.

Bryant was particularly excellent in the 4th quarter when the game was tight, including a four-point play that sent Rudy Fernandez to the bench with his fifth and final foul.

For Spain, Juan Carlos Navarro (18 points) was effective, connecting on an array of teardrops inside the key to keep Spain close when the pressure was on while Pau Gasol (21 points, 6 rebounds) and Fernandez (22 points) were again are the forefront for the Spanish.

Spain trailed by only four points, 108-104, with 2:28 remaining in the game, giving the Americans their first real challenge in the fourth quarter of the Olympics.

The University of North Dakota is bestowing Phil Jackson with an honorary doctorate.

A 1967 graduate of UND, with emphasis in religion, philosophy and psychology, Jackson will receive his doctorate from the school's College of Arts and Sciences.

"It's an honor to receive this doctorate,'' Jackson said, in a prepared statement. "We have put this on hold for a few years and this year works out just right. UND had hoped it would be at a commencement, but a convocation for orientation seems like the right thing.'