It’s time. I didn’t want to do it but after watching last
night’s game against the Heat, I have to address the state of the Lakers. I’m
beating a dead horse but this team is so bad and things couldn’t be any worse
for Laker fans.
As you know, I moved from Boston to San Diego last year.
The local teams here are the Lakers and Clippers. When I was in Boston, I could
only watch the Lakers when they were nationally televised. At first, I was
stoked about moving and being able to watch my favorite team play every night. Sadly,
things haven’t gone as expected. Well, technically, you could argue that things
have gone exactly as expected.
I knew the Lakers weren’t going to be good but I didn’t
think that they were going to make me sad. Having to watch and visually see how
bad the team is night in and night out has turned out to be much worse than
anything I ever experienced in Boston. Seeing a box score where a team shoots
31.5% is one thing, but watching the entire game is another. It’s sad, really.
The Lakers suck, there’s no denying that. Currently, they
are 12-27. That’s the 2nd worst record in the Western Conference and
the 4th worst record in the NBA. I would never root for my team to
lose but at this point, losing is better. The Lakers get to keep their pick in
this year’s upcoming draft if it falls in the top 5, otherwise it goes to the
Suns*. If they keep losing at the current pace they’re at, it’s very likely
that happens.
Jahlil Okafor, Emmanuel Mudiay, and Karl-Anthony Towns
are likely to be the top picks in this year’s draft. They all have tremendous
upside and the Lakers could obviously build around them. Put any of those guys
with Julius Randle and that’s a very bright future. Speaking of Julius Randle,
it really sucks that he got injured. His injury should have been an omen that
this season was going to be a disaster. I was really excited to see him play
but that’ll have to be put on hold for a year.
Now that I’ve gotten your hopes about the few bright
spots of the Lakers – Randle and a potential top 5 draft pick – it’s time to
delve into the current team. First, let me go throw up in the bathroom thinking
about it. Ok, where was I? Oh yeah, the Lakers are awful. What makes them awful,
oddly enough, is what has made them so great over the last 10-15 years. They
key to the Lakers past success and current demise is Kobe Bryant.
I never expected this team to compete in a tough Western
Conference but I didn’t think that Kobe would look as bad as he does. Kobe just
doesn’t look right. Well, I guess you could actually argue that he does look right.
He’s still taking contested 20 foot jumpers and taking every game-winning or
game-tying shot in the waning seconds of games. These are staples of Kobe’s
game that people have come to love. They expect him to hit these shots given
his track record. The only difference is, he’s missed – what seems like – every
single one of these shots he’s taken this year.
Before people take everything I’m saying the wrong way,
just know that I love Kobe Bryant. Always will. I’ll defend him to his grave.
The guy is was a winner. He’s one of the top 5-7 greatest players ever
and the best player of his generation**. He has the rings, stats, and accolades
that prove this. With that being said, it’s been tough to defend him this year.
He’s trying to carry this Lakers team by himself and it’s
extremely difficult to watch. Last night, for example, he went 3-19 from the
field and shot an abysmal 15.7%. As Charles Barkley would say, “that’s turrible.”
On the season, he’s shooting 36.9%. Of qualified NBA players, that’s the 2nd
worst behind Trevor Ariza (kind of random but that’s weird that Ariza is
shooting such a low percentage). Kobe is still averaging 22.7 PPG, 5.4 APG, and
5.6 RPG which are respectable numbers but he is absolutely killing his team
offensively.
I don’t even have to prove my point with numbers. I’ll
just speak from what I saw last night and what I’ve seen all season. Kobe just
isn’t Kobe anymore. He’s taking too many difficult shots and just eating entire
offensive possessions. There will be possessions where Kobe brings the ball up
which probably takes about 6 seconds. He’ll then proceed to post his defender up
for about 12 seconds, then brick a contested midrange jumper at the end of the
shot clock. No one else on offense will even touch the ball the ENTIRE possession.
Even if the shot goes in, it doesn’t make it a good shot. It just isn’t fun
basketball for anyone playing or even watching. It’s bad for team morale and
you can see that other players are starting to get irritated
Now, this bad season isn’t entirely on Kobe. He doesn’t
have much help aside from Nick Young and Jeremy Lin. There is no one else on
this team besides those guys that can create his own shot so Kobe probably
feels so much pressure to carry the team every night. Sometimes, I wish he
would trust his teammates more but that might actually make the team better –
which, remember, we as fans don’t want because we want that top 5 draft pick.
Sometimes though, other players will have good nights. Carlos
Boozer, Jordan Hill and Ed Davis show up occasionally and Wes Johnson is
capable of knocking down shots here and there but that’s hardly anything to write
home about. The team obviously struggles on a nightly basis given the roster
and I suppose Kobe taking a contested fadeaway 3 is a better than watching Jordan
Hill try to hit 20 footers.
Why do I write all of this? Well, because I don’t know
what’s going to happen with the Lakers. Every Laker fan including myself would love
to see Kobe retire a Laker. It’s probably going to happen but at what cost? He’s
not winning a title with this team even if they somehow landed a big free agent
or two this summer. The team can obviously build through the draft but that
player, along with Julius Randle, will need time to develop. Kobe wants to win
now. How can that happen with the current roster?
I doubt Kobe will get traded. He gets paid way too much and
what team would even want him? My hope is that they keep their top 5 draft pick
and land a marquee free agent. Marc Gasol comes to mind and if things continue
to spiral out of control in Cleveland, Kevin Love would also be nice. It’s the
Los Angeles Lakers so we expect them to figure out. At this point, though, the
current team and immediate future do not look good – that’s putting it lightly.
For now, I’ll watching this sad team and just hope things turn around for Kobe
Byrant and the Lakers.
* Fuck you Steve Nash
**Apologies to Tim Duncan
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