Actually, Teamwork Is Right Up Their Alley

Douglas Otto, 48, of Salisbury, Pa., and Mike Brobst, 29, of Cumberland, Md., are close friends who have been bowling together for years.

They were bowling side by side in the American Bowling Congress tournament at Reno last week when they each had a 300 game.

In the 10th frame, they took turns bowling their last three shots.

“It made it easier and took some pressure off,” Brobst said. “If I had to get up and bowl three strikes and then he had to get up and bowl three strikes, it would have been much harder.”

Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant might want to take note: Teamwork pays off -- even in bowling.

Trivia time: The Lakers, coached by Pat Riley, defeated the Boston Celtics in the 1985 NBA Finals after losing to the Celtics the previous year. Who was the coach of those Celtic teams?

It’s entertainment: O’Neal, in an interview he taped with Fox Sports Net’s Lindsay Soto for Tuesday night’s “Southern California Sports Report,” talks about this season’s drama.

“Who wants to play for an organization that’s plain, with everybody liking each other?” he said. “You don’t foul hard. Nobody’s late. Nobody argues with Phil [Jackson]. That’s boring.”

Added O’Neal: “We have to give y’all a show. This is the biggest reality show right here. We got to give it to y’all. That’s why we get such high ratings.”

Fashion statement: NBC’s Mary Carillo, commenting on Serena Williams’ outfits at the French Open, said: “I think that’s why she came back, to introduce her new spring collection.”

Said broadcast partner Ted Robinson: “It is Paris after all.”

A sinking feeling: In a column dated May 14, Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post and AOL.com wrote that with the success of USC football, the Lakers, the Angels and the Dodgers, Los Angeles should be considered the sports capital of America.

More recently, after the Dodgers went into their slump, Armstrong wrote, “You try to say something nice about somebody and look what it gets you.”

Pay discrepancy: The average player salary in the Arena Football League is $35,000. The league minimum is $24,000. Or, as ESPN magazine reports, “That’s $4,000 less than Peyton Manning will make every minute of every game this season.”

Looking back: This day is not a particularly good one for the Lakers. On this day in 1983, the Philadelphia 76ers completed a four-game sweep of the Lakers in the NBA Finals with a 115-108 victory at the Forum. On this day in 1984, the Celtics won Game 2 of the Finals, 124-121, in overtime after losing Game 1. The Celtics won the series, 4-3.

Trivia answer: K.C. Jones.

And finally: Riley’s Lakers won four NBA titles in the 1980s, beginning in 1982. Says TNT’s Charles Barkley: “That ’82 Laker team would run through the whole NBA right now.... The old Laker teams, the old Celtics, the old Bulls, ain’t nobody even close to them in the NBA today.”

Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.