One of the many reasons Dantoni sucks. Good coaches recognize when they have to adapt to the talent given. Dude is totally not capable of bending. Well, good for the Fake Show, getting what they deserve.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--p...o-be-skeptical-of-their-union--090109255.html Adrian Wojnarowski 32 minutes ago Partners in time? Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard were both right to be skeptical of their union BOSTON – Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard had always been a reluctant partnership, two stars long suspecting what turned out to be the indisputable truth: They were destined to be terrible teammates. When Bryant and Howard hung up on a pre-trade deadline call a year ago, the suspicions of a toxic mix were confirmed with a most uncomfortable conversation. They had different visions on the way Howard would fit into the Lakers, which promised to compound the gulf between them as people. They were going to win with the Lakers and tolerate each other; or lose and develop a deep disdain. On his way out of the Garden, out of a humiliating 116-95 loss to the Boston Celtics, Bryant returned a clichéd question – "Are Dwight and you on the same page?" – without a clichéd response. With a bemused face and a shrug, Bryant told Yahoo! Sports: "What page is there to be on? Defend. Rebound…" He shrugged again. "I mean, what else is on the page?" Nevertheless, Bryant reached out to Howard early on Thursday to diffuse the drama, he told Yahoo! Sports. He fired off a text to message to insist that a part of his interview with the great Boston sportswriter, Jackie MacMullan, had been misconstrued in the public eye. Bryant swore he wasn't calling out Howard about sitting three straight games with a shoulder injury, that he wasn't questioning his toughness. "Listen, I really think people ran in the wrong direction with those quotes," Bryant told Y! Sports. "And I think that put Dwight on the defense, put him a little on edge. But that wasn't the intention, nor the purpose. "I didn't say anything earth-shattering. I didn't say anything I haven't been saying all year. "Honestly, I didn't take a run at him." Truth be told, the Lakers are in deep, deep trouble – 3½ games back of the eighth spot in the Western Conference. They've lost Pau Gasol for several weeks and could be completely out of the playoff chase once he returns to the floor. Howard was out of synch in his return, fouling out in 28 minutes with little, if no, impact on the game. More and more, it's become clear that Howard won't be his dominant self this season. The torn labrum could need surgery this summer, a league source said, and Howard couldn't even guarantee he'd feel strong enough to play in Charlotte on Friday night. From a herniated disk in his back to the torn labrum, from the pressures inside and outside the organization to get back on the floor, Howard has been reduced to a shell of himself. In Howard's defense, the doctors had told him that he could expect to be out with back surgery into December – even January – and yet he had rehabilitated so well that he made opening night. Few players took the physical beating laid upon Howard in Orlando, the hard fouls, the wild swings, the shots delivered on the league's Goliath that were long tolerated. He did play through the back injury a year ago, until surgery was unavoidable. "They can say what they want to say," Howard said softly at his locker. "None of these people are playing. None of these people have had injuries. They can say what they want about playing through pain or playing through injuries. "I spent a whole summer trying to recover because I wanted to play through pain, show people I'm tough." Part of the problem of Howard's clowning act is that people don't take him seriously in times of crisis. It's easier to doubt his toughness, tenacity, when they're watching him grab the microphone to do impressions on team charters or booming farts in the locker room. Bryant never wanted Howard's disposition to rule the day in the Lakers' locker room, never wanted his own culture of seriousness and duty to be undermined with the frivolity that comes with Howard. This was Bryant's concern before the trade this summer, and after it. Rest assured, there was a reason the Lakers were third behind the Brooklyn Nets and Dallas Mavericks on Howard's preferred list of trade partners. First of all, there were doubts about the depth of talent to win a championship – and those turned out to be legitimate. What's more, he knew the partnership with Bryant would be troublesome for him. And when Bryant and Steve Nash were enthusiastic about the arrival of Mike D'Antoni as coach, Howard badly wanted to play for Phil Jackson. D'Antoni had no use for Howard with Team USA, nor the New York Knicks when his name was raised in possible trade discussions. D'Antoni made sure to tell everyone Howard had been medically cleared to play in each of the three games he missed recently, and he sounded minimally sympathetic toward Howard's endurance of pain on Thursday night. For the Lakers, Jackson would've been the right coach to thrust Bryant and Howard together. D'Antoni hasn't a chance to do it. For now, the Lakers are too far gone to think there's a bonding process that'll serve to salvage this season. Yes, the Lakers had won six of seven games since the cleansing of that team meeting in Memphis, but everything has changed this week. Gasol's gone, Howard is searching and these Lakers simply aren't constructed to resurrect themselves in the playoff chase. For the future, the Lakers' play hasn't changed, nor will it. They have to give Dwight Howard a chance to recuperate his back, his shoulder, and understand that he can eventually still be a franchise center. And yet, as Bryant told MacMullan, "We don't have time for [Howard's shoulder] to heal. We need some urgency." Bryant has been around a long time to be too surprised his words were construed as a call to arms for Howard. Make no mistake: That interview practically promised Howard would be in the lineup on Thursday night, that he would push through the pain and redirect the narrative on himself. Nevertheless, Howard still seemed bothered with Bryant, and, well, Bryant seemed unbothered with it. He shot Howard his text, let him know he wasn't making a run at him. Whatever. From the start, this partnership promised to be an uneasy proposition, and it's been something of a self-perpetuating prophecy. Kobe and Dwight always knew the deal here. With winning, perhaps they could tolerate each other. With losing, a deep disdain. "We communicate," Bryant told Y! Sports. "We do often." This doesn't mean they have a relationship, or trust, and that's part of the reason Bryant is a minimalist when it comes to the sharing of the basketball season's page. All along, they were destined to be terrible teammates. They knew it, but could do nothing to stop an inevitable consolidation of their talents. In the end, Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard need each other, and that's still the best chance for the salvation of these Los Angeles Lakers. Someday soon, they'll need to go far deeper on that page together. Someday soon, the future of the franchise depends upon it.
Kobe dissing the entire league except the Lakers and Celtics. Why am I not surprised by that smugness? That's how Lakers fans think. That's why I hate the Lakers with a passion. They think everyone else in the league is second class to them. Let me break it to you, Kobe. There are other teams that believe in hard work, competitiveness, and that only a championship is their only goal of success. They just don't have a silver spoon handed to them where: 1. Refs consistently helping out 2. Getting star players from other teams just because it's the glamor of LA Kobe, be thankful for what you have been given. You could have been stuck in Charlotte while the Lakers got some other stars to win the championships in the last decade.
They better unload Howard ASAP while he's still on the floor and can get something for him...I just hope it's not the Rockets. I'm not sure if 30 games of Howard is better than 82 games of Asik. I guess it depends on which 30...
Given? Didn't Arn Tellem and Kobe pretty much force the trade to LA? I remember it as a threat that if any other team tried to hold on to him, he would just ball in Italy. Some team could have drafted Kobe and called his bluff, but Kobe probably sees his good fortune as a product of his own guile and hard work. Kobe probably would have left whatever team for LA as soon as he became a free agent.
ok, ok, 30 game winning streak starts now! I know i've said that four times in the past 2 months but this time it's for realz!
they play the hapless Bobcats tonight. but Charlotte actually plays the Lakers well since franchise inception, going 8-8 all time head to head. the basketball gods would be nice if they gave Houston a win over Portland and a nice embarrassing Lakers loss in Charlotte tonight...
I've never tuned in just to watch a team lose until this season. Up until now I thought Dwight would stay in LA. But with all this drama I think there's a serious chance he bolts, money be damned. Kobe's 'support' is hilarious. 'I totally support Dwight no matter what...even if that means being a p*ssy.'
Yes, a loss to Charlotte tonight right before being sent to the slaughterhouse @MIA on Sunday would be icing on the cake.
That's not what really happened. The trade of Divac for Kobe was arranged before the draft even happened and the only team below the Hornets that had real interest was the Nets. Kobe was not that highly sought after or he would have went much higher than 13.
Amazing how so many people just **** on Gasol even though he was such an integral piece to two championships.
I'm not watching the game vs. the Bobcats, but I just looked at the stats at halftime. Kobe is 0 for 2. Again, Kobe has only shot twice and it's halftime. He also has 0 FT attempts and 2 assists. The Lakers are also down by 12. He has less shots than anyone that's played so far tonight including Steve Blake, Jodi Meeks, etc. Granted he could end up chucking before the night is done, but I do wonder what's going on right now. The other week he was shooting less, but racking up assists and the Lakers were winning. Tonight it looks like he's shooting less, not getting assists and the Lakers are losing. Any insights from people watching the game?
