Well, it starts with Kobe the dog, and Lamar the human, who embarked on their very own adventure time. Lamar Patterson, an American import recently signed by the Brisbane Bullets, travelled to a very distant land with Kobe in his hand luggage.

Having travelled around the US with his dog previously, Lamar and the airport staff in the US apparently didn’t realise there would be an issue carrying his canine contraband across international borders.

Oblivious to the biohazard until reaching Australia, the inadvertent machination was revealed after Kobe voiced his displeasure at an overly sniffy customs dog.

The misunderstanding was genuine, and the pampered pup got a free trip back to the U S of A. In a world beset by sexting scandals, sexual impropriety, drugs, salary cap rorts, and ball tampering, how envious are the NBL CEO’s peers.

TOUGH TRIP AHEAD

So, things don’t get any easier for our 1-4 Taipans this weekend with a massive road trip ahead of them.

Friday our Far North crusaders take it to the Breakers in the land of the long white cloud, followed by a foray into the land of lattes and popular horse racing carnivals to confront United.

Just a lazy 6,000kms of travel, 80 minutes of basketball, in 48 hours, against two of the league’s top teams. And the Taipans really need to snag a win on the road to keep in touch with the rest of the league.

They’re scoring more than enough points to win, but on the defensive end they’re leaking points like a pair of marzipan speedos in a hot tub.

It’s a marathon not a sprint, and hopefully the Kelly Gang start getting things back on track this weekend for next week’s home clash against the team that everyone east of Bunbury’s 24 hours Kmart hates, the Perth Wildcats.