Winning always gets point across

Question: Taking a look at the box scores on the night that Kobe Bryant scored 58 against Charlotte, which player does not belong with the others:

(a) Kobe Bryant (45 shots, four assists); (b) LeBron James (21 shots, five assists); (c) Vince Carter (18 shots, nine assists); (d) Gilbert Arenas (26 shots; seven assists); or (e) Baron Davis (20 shots, nine assists)?

Answer: (a) Kobe. The others’ teams all won that night, while Kobe’s Lakers lost to the worst team in the Eastern Conference. Coincidence?

EDWARD A. RUTTENBERG

Rancho Palos Verdes

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Mike Dunleavy recently said he didn’t know what was going on with the Clippers. How about overachievers’ hangover? Just as the Ravens, Buccaneers, Diamondbacks, and Steelers won their championships and then disappeared into mediocrity, so have the Clippers.

What? The Clippers didn’t win the championship? They must have thought that reaching the second round was their pinnacle. Rewarding them with hefty contracts as a result just sealed the doom.

DAN VANDERMEULEN

Torrance