Juggity
11-25-2013, 10:00 PM
From Reddit. (http://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1rgd52/an_open_letter_to_the_lakers_front_office_from_a/) I like the fossil fuel analogy for Kobe's career.
As a kid, I was first attracted to the game of basketball by Magic Johnson and the Lakers. Since then, I've been a Laker fan, and over the years I've been lucky enough to live in a city where I can root for a team which season after season has been good enough to contend for a title.
I remember when Kobe was a 17 year old phenom, I watched him win titles with Shaq, I watched him put up asinine numbers as our sole superstar, and I watched him win titles with Pau.
Last year, man, I believed. I was totally on board for the Kobe/D12/Pau/Nash experiment, and even in the face of lots of evidence to the contrary, I still believed it could work right up until Dwight left town.
Kobe is making 30 million dollars this season, a figure he's well worth on purely financial terms, but as a basketball player, it would take a real homer to think he could possibly earn that money this year with his on-court contributions.
Kobe sells a lot of tickets, he gets you a lot of extra TV money, and he automatically makes your team interesting to media. And, he's been that commercial force for the Lakers for many years now, and I completely understand the desire to reward him for all the money he's poured into the Laker coffers over the years.
Here's where my problem comes in... The loyalty, like all that cash, has already been paid out.
When Shaq and Kobe had their feud, who did the Lakers side with? Kobe Bryant. When Kobe was on trial for rape, did the Lakers stand by him? Yes, they did. Every time Kobe has been up for an extension, did the Lakers max him out? Yes they did. Every time Kobe has need a new infusion of superstar blood, have the Lakers found a way to put a championship-caliber squad around him? Yes, they have.
But, has Kobe showed that same loyalty in return? Not entirely, it must be said. He flirted with the idea of leaving to join the Clippers. He has been harshly critical of many team decisions. Despite all the loyalty and cash they've showed him, Kobe has spoken out many times against the Lakers in a very public way. From the "trade his ass" comments about Bynum, to the way he has ridiculed many of his team mates over the years, to his refusal to accept another couple of years in the Robin role to Shaq's Batman role, Kobe has demonstrated time and time again that the loyalty the franchise has shown to him will not necessarily be returned.
And now, at 35 years of age and coming off a horrible injury, once again Kobe has shown that his own personal well being more important to him than team success, by demanding to be the highest paid player in the league at a time in his career when, as even his most ardent supporters would admit, he's no longer even a top five player.
By going the route of Tim Duncan, and agreeing to a forty to fifty percent pay cut, Kobe could have put himself and the team in a position to truly contend for another title, just as Duncan did last season. By going the route of greed, Kobe has guaranteed the Lakers won't contend any time soon, and will not win a sixth championship. Whatever we may think about loyalty, no one can argue this point.
Just as fossil fuels were the blood that drove the American heart during a century in which we became the undisputed leader of the free world, Kobe Bryant was the purple blood in the Laker teams of the past 15 years which drove us to championships.
But just as America must find some new source of greatness, the Lakers too needed a new savior.
And, by signing Kobe to the deal we gave him, we just ensured mediocrity for at least three more years, and probably more.
As a kid, I was first attracted to the game of basketball by Magic Johnson and the Lakers. Since then, I've been a Laker fan, and over the years I've been lucky enough to live in a city where I can root for a team which season after season has been good enough to contend for a title.
I remember when Kobe was a 17 year old phenom, I watched him win titles with Shaq, I watched him put up asinine numbers as our sole superstar, and I watched him win titles with Pau.
Last year, man, I believed. I was totally on board for the Kobe/D12/Pau/Nash experiment, and even in the face of lots of evidence to the contrary, I still believed it could work right up until Dwight left town.
Kobe is making 30 million dollars this season, a figure he's well worth on purely financial terms, but as a basketball player, it would take a real homer to think he could possibly earn that money this year with his on-court contributions.
Kobe sells a lot of tickets, he gets you a lot of extra TV money, and he automatically makes your team interesting to media. And, he's been that commercial force for the Lakers for many years now, and I completely understand the desire to reward him for all the money he's poured into the Laker coffers over the years.
Here's where my problem comes in... The loyalty, like all that cash, has already been paid out.
When Shaq and Kobe had their feud, who did the Lakers side with? Kobe Bryant. When Kobe was on trial for rape, did the Lakers stand by him? Yes, they did. Every time Kobe has been up for an extension, did the Lakers max him out? Yes they did. Every time Kobe has need a new infusion of superstar blood, have the Lakers found a way to put a championship-caliber squad around him? Yes, they have.
But, has Kobe showed that same loyalty in return? Not entirely, it must be said. He flirted with the idea of leaving to join the Clippers. He has been harshly critical of many team decisions. Despite all the loyalty and cash they've showed him, Kobe has spoken out many times against the Lakers in a very public way. From the "trade his ass" comments about Bynum, to the way he has ridiculed many of his team mates over the years, to his refusal to accept another couple of years in the Robin role to Shaq's Batman role, Kobe has demonstrated time and time again that the loyalty the franchise has shown to him will not necessarily be returned.
And now, at 35 years of age and coming off a horrible injury, once again Kobe has shown that his own personal well being more important to him than team success, by demanding to be the highest paid player in the league at a time in his career when, as even his most ardent supporters would admit, he's no longer even a top five player.
By going the route of Tim Duncan, and agreeing to a forty to fifty percent pay cut, Kobe could have put himself and the team in a position to truly contend for another title, just as Duncan did last season. By going the route of greed, Kobe has guaranteed the Lakers won't contend any time soon, and will not win a sixth championship. Whatever we may think about loyalty, no one can argue this point.
Just as fossil fuels were the blood that drove the American heart during a century in which we became the undisputed leader of the free world, Kobe Bryant was the purple blood in the Laker teams of the past 15 years which drove us to championships.
But just as America must find some new source of greatness, the Lakers too needed a new savior.
And, by signing Kobe to the deal we gave him, we just ensured mediocrity for at least three more years, and probably more.