Wow...way to throw the team under the bus while you chuck 30 a game. Nobody else has had a more talented team in the last decade or so.
http://www.gophoto.it/view.php?i=http://i48.tinypic.com/149c9xt.jpg#.UPy84ehLs2k for those of you who can't see it
It'll be funny if they trade Kobe and Gasol together. That would be hilarious to me. They could get a shooting guard who doesn't need the ball in his hands and a rebounding forward who can shoot. Its not gonna happen tho.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Kobe made an indirect plea to LAL's front office: "Unless they’re going to do something roster-wise, I got to continue to push through it"</p>— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) <a href="https://twitter.com/mcten/status/293122061382086656" data-datetime="2013-01-20T22:25:20+00:00">January 20, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Man Kobe is so spoiled. An upgrade at pg and center still not enough. I mean seriously, trading the second best (injury prone) center for the best is enough of a wtf scratch your head type of move, but also getting arguably the best playmaking pg without really giving up anything is the cherry on top.
I always laugh when fanboys claim that Kobe has no help. Barring a few years here and there, he's been incredibly blessed when it comes to teammates. Funny thing is, by point differential (a better predictor of future record than even the actual record) this year's Lakers aren't far off pace from winning 50 games. They've had a bunch of really close losses. The Lakers are also an elite offensive team, with a subpar defense. This is with plenty of unlucky injuries throughout the roster. No team with Kobe and Dwight is short on talent. They could be, and should be playing better. Throwing the general manager and the rest of the roster under the bus is no way to handle this.
Kobe is a douchebag. He has Howard, Gasol, Nash, Artest and Jamison. He scores 25 pts while shooting 32 times..
This is a plausible scenario. Gasol's value has absolutely bottomed out. Knee tendinitis, plantar fasciitis, fed up with his situation in LA, team has imploded, D'Antoni does not see him as a good fit and would prefer an athletic 4 which has evidently been much more suitable playing next to Dwight. He's high-risk high-reward, but this is similar to the Odom situation last season where Lamar was still an exceptionally talented player, but his value bottomed out and there was no market for him. Then when he had a meltdown after the CP3 to Lakers trade the Lakers front office preferred to just amnesty him than to wait out the situation. The situation looks pretty untenable in LA. Howard won't want to come off of the bench and he's their future franchise piece so they need to appease him. Gasol doesn't want to come off of the bench and is fed up with playing out of position. D'Antoni understands that the Lakers FO hired him with high expectations and a win-now mentality, but as long as both Gasol and Dwight share extensive minutes in the front-court together, the Lakers are going to struggle. These Zach Randolph to Houston rumours will help as well, it's not like the Rockets are in a desperate situation for another star anyway, there's a big FA market in the off-season, young team with cap room and a franchise piece and low expectations. Gasol for some expirings, one of our forwards, a draft pick and TPE?
When people talk about Kobe leading D-League teams to competitive seasons in the playoffs. He had teams which started Kwame Brown, Luke Walton and Smush Parker. That is NOT NBA-level talent let alone starting-caliber in the NBA.
*Sorry I didn't mean they used their amnesty provision, but they gave him to the Mavericks for cents on the dollar, he was effectively waived.
Kobe and Gasol are proven winners. Their coach should stop trying to fit their team around a style that's never won a championship. That team could be really special if they slowed down the game and fed the post, even if it meant Nash and Dwight had to sacrifice their offensive games.
That was a horrible roster, I agree. He's also ridden Shaq to 3 consecutive titles. Payton and Malone joined him for a one-year ring chase. The team got Gasol for what was nothing at the time. Bynum was drafted and developed into an All-Star. Both Dwight and Nash were added this year. The Lakers are a glamorous team in a big city, and a preferred destination for free agents (and strangely, stupid GMs who give them bargain deals for stars). Yet his most hardcore fans (and now Kobe himself) continually complain about him having no help.