“[Artest] has demanded the toughest assignment every night the way Kobe has always demanded the ball.” Give me a break. High praise for Artest and a dig at Bryant in the same breath? This is what happens when sports writers write with an agenda.

Does this guy even watch Lakers games? Or just stats sites?

That the Lakers’ defense is better this year than last year is irrefutable, but crediting Artest for it is a stretch.

And as for Berger’s high praise of Artest’s basketball IQ, Artest is nearly always the first player to abandon the triangle to create for himself, not Kobe.

Berger’s brush with reality came when he wrote, “The Lakers have gone from the pliable, gutless defensive team that got pushed around by the Celtics in the 2008 Finals, to the more determined group that beat Orlando last season, to sixth in the NBA in points allowed.”

In other words, the Lakers have steadily improved their defensive commitment long before Artest arrived.

I’d like to see Berger account for the fact that the Lakers now have a healthy Bynum and 2 7-footers defending the high percentage shooting area of the floor now, and now the Lakers have Odom anchoring the energetic second unit. These two differences alone could well account for nearly all of the improvement the Lakers have made on defense.

And let’s not overlook the impact the Lakers’ new commitment to rebounding has on opposing teams’ shot attempts as well.

Again, this writer has an agenda.

Credit Lakers’ defense and tout Artest’s role in it, but don’t put Artest on a pedestal and infer that Kobe Bryant, Pao Gasol, Derek Fisher, Lamar Odom and company are Artest’s supporting cast on the defensive side of the floor.

Or, if you are going to make such an inference, you better bring something better to back it than what Berger did.

The Lakers’ defense is better because the LAKERS are playing better defense. Not because Artest asks for the tough covers.