No, it doesn't. Shaq won a title in 2006 without Kobe. Therefore, it stands to reason that Kobe may need Shaq to win, but Shaq doesn't necessarily need Kobe.
Unless I'm not picking up on your sarcasm -- you do know the Lakers have four max contract players and are arguably the most talented team in basketball, right?
You do realize that Gasol puts up near Yao numbers right? Pau Gasol 08-09: 18.9 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 1.0 bpg, 0.567 fg Career: 18.8 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 1.7 bpg, 0.520 fg Yao Ming 08-09: 19.7 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 2.0 bpg, 0.548 fg Career: 19.1 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 1.9 bpg, 0.525 fg Gasol is about as soft as Yao Ming, but a fair bit quicker since he is substantially smaller (about 6" and 60 lbs smaller) than Yao. Both are finesse players, which makes people call them soft.
One could argue that Wade was and is a lot crappier than Kobe at that time since he was still so young. Also, Wade seems to be a much better persona and teammate than Kobe. I don't believe Shaq has ever dissed Wade and considering that Shaq controls his mouth about as well as one controls a derailed train, that is saying something.
Haha , here you go: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=132939 the irony is that they wanted Yao to play ALOT of minutes, contrary to the Yao fan of today who wants Yao to play LESS minutes. Poor Larry, they didn't have to make fun of his teeth and he is black http://nba.sports.tom.com/2007-07-30/0424/85274537.html Special correspondent Zhu Jun reporting from Guangzhou Larry Smith, the acting head coach of the Houston Rockets in Yao Ming’s rookie season. With an obvious slit between his 2 front teeth, this black and big guy had been labeled as the Number 1 YOH(Yao Hei/Hater)amongst all Chinese fans all these years, due to the fact that he did not give Yao Ming sufficient play minutes then.
Sure they are max players. But they don't play like max players in the playoffs. Just look at Bynum for example. Landry and even Chuck Hayes have played much better than Bynum and they earn half as much. I do realize that. I already mentioned that Gasol is a great regular season player. But he has shown last year and so far in this playoffs that he plays soft and not in full force. I guess you could argue that it is Kobe's fault that he is not getting the best out of his team. I dont know what tactics he or Phil Jackson use to get their guys pumped up in the locker room. But on the court he tries to pass the ball around. His teamates have just been disappointing him.
Well my original point that you quoted said "The Lakers would not win those 3 titles if Kobe was not on those teams", then you responded with the Wade thing which has absolutely nothing to do with what I said.
Its the TMAC effect: No matter how good you do personally in the playoffs, losing (or not winning in this case) is placed on your star or captain, even if fault belongs to your teammates for not stepping up. For a couple years, Kobe's been their leader, and is the veteran of the team. He wouldnt have won MVP if he was not making his teammates better, so you can't argue that hes not a leader. Is he a good one? That's the unknown, because I know hes requested to be traded a few times already and I wouldnt want to follow that kind of guy.
It depends on your argument. I interpreted your scenario under the impression that if Kobe weren't on the team, then there would be another all-star caliber player in his stead. It appears as if you're just talking about removing Kobe from that Laker roster entirely and saying they wouldn't be as successful. If that's the case, that's one of the most r****ded arguments I've ever heard. Which interpretation did you mean to project?
This is silly. Kobe doesn't necessarily need Shaq to win those rings, just as Shaq didn't necessarily need Kobe to win either. What they both needed were another complementary franchise player. It could have been anyone back there, substitute Duncan or Hakeem for Shaq and you'd probably still have your three peat. In the same way, substitute prime Tmac or Jordan for Kobe and you'd still have three rings for Shaq. They were both responsible for their rings, although if you look at contributions Shaq contributed more because he was the most dominant c at the time while Kobe was just coming into his own. Back to topic: Its silly to say Lakers will never win with Kobe because he doesn't have leadership skills. What will you say if they win the championship this year? That Kobe suddenly became a team leader? lol
Then you're misunderstanding it. Let me dumb it down a little for you. Shaq was one of the most dominating forces the league had ever seen. This is why he was able to win a championship with an all-star swingman. Kobe is one of the best shooting guards the league has ever seen, but he's not as dominant as Shaq. This is why he was unable to win last year with Gasol. Keep in mind this is a simplified summary of things.
You're right that Bynum (Odom too) have sucked in the playoffs. Still, the talent is there. Maybe if Kobe knew how to make his teammates better or was vocal enough to call these guys out and challenge them to step up this wouldn't be a problem? Unless, of course, you want to blame Odom/Bynum's underachieving on the best coach in NBA history?
