Empty the Bench

“It’s always funny until someone gets hurt, and then it’s just hilarious.” - Faith No More

At least Vladimir Radmanovic’s teammates are showing a sense of humor about his little ice patch slip snowboarding incident. After admitting last week that he lied about the cause of his shoulder injury sustained during All-Star weekend, Los Angeles Times writer Mike Bresnahan reports that the Lakers aren’t exactly thrilled with the whole situation:

The Lakers haven’t decided whether they will fine him for lost time since his confession that a separated right shoulder was caused by a snowboarding spill, not a fall on a slippery sheet of street ice in Park City, Utah, his initial explanation. He is banned from snowboarding in his contract and will miss seven more weeks.

Vladimir Radmanovic hasn’t yet formally apologized to teammates, but they’re aware of his admission of guilt. “They’re calling him ‘Slalom Vlade,’ ” Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said.

There you have it, folks: “Slalom Vlade,” one of our favorite new NBA player nicknames. Amazing!