Basketball
Lakers win back-to-back titles. This championship was even sweeter than last year’s title because the Lakers defeated their archrivals, the Boston Celtics. In this historic match up, the Lakers won Games 6 and 7 to win their 16th NBA championship. Photo by Jeff Lewis
LeBron James, with the help of Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, captivated basketball fans across the country. The trio formed a “super team” in Miami to rack up several titles. Photo by Jeff Lewis
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Dwayne Polee, Jr. was named City Player of the Year as he led Westchester to the State championship. Photo by Nick Koza
Marqise Lee helped Serra win the Division III State championship. Photo by Nick Koza
Carson’s Taylor McCoy helped her team win the City title. Photo by Nick Koza
Deajanae Scurry hits a jump shot as the Inglewood girl’s team wins their first division title.
UCLA Women Basketball – Under the leadership of head coach Nikki Caldwell, UCLA’s women’s basketball team had a quiet turnaround. Despite lack of attention, the Bruins had the best season of any local team. Last season they had their best season in over a decade and they advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. This year they are 10-0 and ranked No. 8 in the nation.
Dennis Johnson (Dominguez HS), was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. He was a three-time NBA champion, was the MVP of the 1979 Finals with Seattle before taking over as the point guard on the Larry Bird led Boston Celtics teams of the mid-1980s. He died of a heart attack in 2007 at age 52.
John Woodson passes– To black America, legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden (right, pictured with Marques Johnson), who passed away at 99 years old, was an advocate who respected people over skin color. At a time when most peers like Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp and others refused to integrate their programs or feared a backlash, he pursued fairness for all.
Football
USC sanctioned. Reggie Bush single handedly brought down USC by receiving improper benefits. USC was hit with a two-year bowl ban and a loss of 30 scholarships. Photo by Jeff Lewis
Michael Vick is the story of the NFL. He has dealt with the backlash from his association with dog fighting while becoming a potential MVP candidate. Photo by Jeff Lewis
Christopher Owens: Sentinel Sports Section Sportsman of the Year. When Owens (right) is not perfecting his skills as a cornerback for the Atlanta Falcons, the Dorsey grad is spending his time in the community. He was named Man of the Year by the Falcons for participating in more than 20 community events put on by the team. This past summer Owens hosted a camp for Dorsey high school football players that promoted more than just athletics. “These kids are students first, athletes second,” Owens said. “We emphasize, of course, the football part, but we spend just as much time in the classroom.” Owens is in the running for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award. Photo by Jason Lewis
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UCLA Football- Rahim Moore (#3, Dorsey HS) and Akeem Ayers (#10, Verbum Dei HS) have played extremely well for a poor UCLA defense. The juniors will be playing in the NFL sooner or later. Photo by Jason Lewis
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Robert Woods. USC freshman wide receiver was superman this past year. Before stepping on campus, Woods was named the 2009-2010 ESPN RISE Cal-Hi Sports Boys State Athlete of the Year. Woods won the award by not only excelling as a wide receiver and defensive back on Serra high school’s state championship team, but also by winning a state title, along with two other state medals, in track and field. Woods was a member of Serra’s state title winning 4×400 meter relay team and he took second place in the 400 meter and 200 meter dash. At USC he was the team’s leading receiver as a true freshman, starting every game. Photo by Jeff Lewis
Crenshaw’s De’Anthony Thomas signals that his team is #1 as they won a second consecutive City Section championship. Photo by Jason Lewis
Serra Football– George Farmer seemed to be running in the open field every Friday night as Serra won a second consecutive Southern Section Western Division title. Photo by Jason Lewis
Fairfax celebrated their second Division II championship under head coach Shane Cox. Photo by Jason Lewis
Baseball
Serra’s Dominic Smith continues to climb up the ranks on the national scene. The baseball phenom recently became the first ever sophomore to make the Milwaukee Brewers scout team.
Tennis
Serena Williams’ fourth Wimbledon title and her 13th Grand Slam singles championship moves her ahead of Billie Jean King into sixth place on the all-time women’s Grand Slam list.
Xtreme Sports
X Games. Legendary skateboarding Steve Steadham catches some air at the Skate Pro Legends event at the X Games. “The best way for young blacks to get into skating is to get really good and then you have to skate all the big events,” Steadham said. “You have to skate against the best there is. Once you start beating those guys then you get more respect, and that’s what opens the door to the bigger events. Because once you beat people the sponsors will give you more legitimate respect.” Photo by Jason Lewis
Khizhar Gejn flies through the air at the new skate park at Rancho Cienga Park. Photo by Jason Lewis
Gabby Maiden: first black female competitive snowboarder
Maiden’s free spirit lifestyle has led her around the world and down several different avenues. Photo by Jason Lewis
Winter Olympics
U.S. speed skater Shani Davis took the gold medal in the 1000 meter along with a silver medal in the 1500-meter at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Davis is the first black Winter Olympian to win more than one gold medal and win a medal in two separate Olympics.
Band
Dominguez high school participated in the 2010 High School Battle of the Bands at the Home Depot Center. Photo by Jason Lewis
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