From the column: "One clarification: The Lakers aren't 25-12 simply because Shaq and Kobe aren't getting along. A bigger reason is the Western Conference is infinitely better and the Lakers aren't. Buoyed by the arrival of Phil Jackson, the Lakers played last season with a zeal only Kobe has maintained. Self-satisfaction has crept into certain corners when they actually need to be playing harder because their defending-champion status has inspired teams to get geeked up for them in a way they didn't before." .................. "One reader actually offered a chart showing the point production from the two is the same no matter how the number of shots between them are split. Another pointed out that if their free-throw percentages were reversed, so would their scoring averages. Some asked questions: Will the Lakers trade one of them? (Only if Shaq demands to be moved. Kobe won't because he understands the stars of the highest pantheon played their entire career with one team.) What if the Lakers had to choose between them? (That would depend, of course, on the comparative value of what they were offered for each of them. If Jerry West were still the GM, he'd keep Kobe -- and Shaq knows it.) How would Jordan have reacted at 22 if he were in Kobe's place? (He would've fought Shaq for preeminence, but having been reined in by Dean Smith's system, he would've found subtler ways to do it.)" http://espn.go.com/magazine/20010116_bucher.html ------------------
