Both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics have locked up home court advantage for all of their conference games. And the Cleveland Cavaliers lead the L.A. Lakers by two full games in the battle for home court advantage throughout the playoffs. With such a limited number of games left, it’s unlikely the Lakers will overtake the Cavs.

According to a piece on CBS’ 60 Minutes, LeBron James is the third highest paid money maker in sports (endorsements etc.) and his ultimate goal is to win the National Basketball Association (NBA) Championship. King James says he and his Cavaliers are close to accomplishing that goal.

As of March 29, the Lakers were on a real tear, until the Atlanta Hawks beat them, 86-76, for the second time this season and prevented the Lakers from becoming the first team to win seven in a row. The Lakers, Philadelphia ‘76ers, Milwaukee Bucks, Portland Trailblazers, Chicago Bulls, Utah Jazz, Miami Heat, Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks, and LeBron James’ Cavs, have won six consecutive road games.

The Cavaliers’ LeBron James and the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade can both opt out of their contracts in 2010. Will they both end up on the same team or some other team?

There will not be any head coaches of color in the Men’s NCAA Basketball Final Four this weekend in Detroit. Both of the Elite Eight African American head coaches were sent home over the weekend. Sent packing was Missouri’s Mike Anderson, 82-75, by the University of Connecticut (UCONN) and Oklahoma’s Jeff Capel III by North Carolina, 72-64.

Like Father Like Son: Jeff Capel III, is the son of Jeff Capel, presently an assistant coach with the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats. The senior Capel took North Carolina AT&T and Old Dominion teams to the NCAA tourney.

Coach C. Vivian Stringer’s Rutgers Scarlet Knights pushed Auburn out of the Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament, 80-52, in the second round to advance to the regional semi-finals for the fifth consecutive season.

Sports Illustrated explains in a recent article entitled: “How (And Why) Athletes Go Broke.”

Now Hear This: “Perhaps the upper limit of spending was set by the famously profligate Shaquille O’Neal, who according to a document obtained by the Palm Beach Post during O’Neal’s cancelled divorce filing in January 2008–spends a total of $875,015 each month, including $26,500 for child care, $24,300 for gas and $17,220 for clothing. But O’Neal, who also has been known to fund charities anonymously and cover medical bills for complete strangers, has the wherewithal to remain solvent.” The Challengers Boys and Girls Club on 50th and Vermont Ave. know all about Shaq’s generosity.

Coach Scott Brooks is high on former UCLA guard Russell Westbrook, of his Oklahoma Thunder.
Brooks says Westbrook “is good as any rookie in the league right now.”

Westbrook is a strong candidate for rookie of the year honors. He’s averaging 15.8 points, five assists and 4.8 rebounds per outing. Not too tacky.

There are those who claim UCLA senior Darren Collison will be a bigger NBA star than Westbrook.

Memphis’ Tyreke Evans is the only freshman finalist in the race for the John Wooden award. Evans is averaging 16.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Headline in USA Today: “Evans Is Blooming Like A Rose,” like last year’s freshman star Derrick Rose, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 draft.

Four southland high school basketball teams were listed among USA Today’s top 25. They’re Westchester (No. 5, 35-2), King, Riverside (No. 9. 30-3), Mater Dei, Santa Ana, (No. 10, 31-2), and Fairfax (No. 24, 27-5). Westchester won its tenth city title and fifth state crown. Seven of the top ten in the west are California-based teams.

USC Trojan fans are praying their big three-DeMar DeRozan, Taj Gibson and Daniel Hackett will return for next season.

And the beat continues. . . Don Newcombe, the former Los Angeles Dodger pitching great and first CY Young Award winner, has been promoted from community relations director to special adviser to Los Angeles Dodgers’ owner Frank McCourt. Newcombe is the only player in Major League Baseball (MLB) history to win the game’s three major honors—Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Award (the first one).

Maury Wills, one of my favorite L.A. Dodgers, was recently honored by having his old Cardozo High baseball field in Washington D.C renamed in his honor. The seventh annual Maury Wills Invitation, which includes 11 games played over three days, followed the dedication. Wills was saluted on the eve of the ceremony at a dinner in D.C. by city council members Harry Thomas, Jim Graham, Vincent Gray and Cardozo High baseball coach Frazier O’Leary.

Condoleezza Rice, former United States Secretary of State, was the keynote speaker on the eve of the National Football League owner’s annual meeting. Rice had said at one time she would like to become commissioner of pro football. She is among a number of key figures from outside of the league, who have been invited to speak to the NFL owners. Rice and Gene Washington, retiring NFL vice president of Football Operations, have been a twosome. Both have Stanford University connections. Rice is the current provost at the university and Washington is a former Stanford all-American and one of the greatest wide-receivers in NFL history.

Pete Carroll, USC’s head football coach and executive director, of “A Better L.A.,” will be the recipient of the Lou Dantzler Community Hero Award at Challengers Boys and Girls Club, 5029 S. Vermont Ave., 12 noon, on April 15. There will be a reception and club tours. The luncheon and award presentation will be at 1 p.m. The event is sponsored by Restaurant /Lounge.

Now hear this: Terrell Owens, the newest addition to the Buffalo Bills, received the Young Champion Award at the sixth annual National Alzheimer’s Association Gala in Washington D.C. on March 25.

Ray Lewis, all-pro and future hall of famer, will enter his 14th season with a multi-year contract with the Baltimore Ravens. “I don’t think an athlete can have a greater legacy than to be able to stay in one place for an entire career,” declared Lewis.

And the beat continues. . . President Barack Obama hopes to be in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Oct. 2, 2009, with the Chicago Olympic Committee when the International Olympic Committee selects the host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics. President Obama, who is loved and respected around the world, could turn the tide for his home city of Chicago. The Windy City is competing against Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo for the bid.

Tiger Woods was on a mission in the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Fla. Woods had been ranked No. 1 in the world for 198 weeks, but he was on the verge losing the No. 1 title.
However, he came from five strokes back, after the third round, to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational by one stroke in warming up for the Masters next weekend. Woods fired a 67 to beat Sean O’Hair, 73, by one stroke, a five under par 275-total. This was Woods’ 66 victory in 239 starts and his sixth win in this event. Phil Mickelson could have wrestled the No. 1 spot from Woods even though he didn’t play. That is if Woods had loss. Mickelson trailed Woods by only 0.2 points in the rankings (8.86 to 8.66). This was Woods’ first win on his comeback from knee surgery. Woods’ next start will be April 9 in the Masters, where he will try to win his fifth green jacket.

And the beat ends.

- Brad Pye, Jr. can be reached at Switchreel@aolo.com