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It's time for Lakers to trade Kobe
Bryant won't change selfish ways, so he must go
COMMENTARY
By Michael Ventre
NBCSports.com contributor
Updated: 12:49 p.m. ET March 29, 2005
The fact that an utterance by one Chucky Atkins, followed by a heated denial, can cause a nationwide uproar illustrates just how far the Los Angeles Lakers have fallen on the NBA’s significance-o-meter. Oh, if we could just turn back the clock. This teaches us that whenever we have superstars the likes of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal and Phil Jackson snarling at each other and jockeying for power, we should cherish it, because it may never pass this way again.
On Sunday, after the Lakers extended a losing skid to eight straight in a desultory effort at home against the Philadelphia 76ers, Atkins was asked what moves he would make in the coming off-season to improve the Lakers. He told the Los Angeles Times: “I ain’t the G.M. of this team. Kobe’s the G.M. of this team. Ask Kobe. You’ve been watching this (stuff) all year. You’ve been watching it and I’ve been playing it.” On Monday, he played better defense than he ever has on the court, angrily denying he said that and blaming the media for twisting his remarks, even though the Los Angeles Daily News quoted him similarly.
We can go on and on with this “he said, he said,” but the gist of Chucky’s snit is that what is going on below the surface with these Lakers is almost as foul as what the fans are witnessing above it. It appears no matter how you look at it, the Lakers are Kobe Bryant’s team, and that isn’t a good thing. To quote the philosopher Micheal Ray Richardson: “The ship be sinkin’.”
That’s why the Lakers may have to re-examine their entire direction and seriously consider trading Kobe.
A rift between Kobe Bryant and Chucky Atkins isn’t exactly like Lennon and McCartney going their separate ways. But it’s just the latest in a series of signs that the club is not responding to Bryant’s leadership.
Lamar Odom has not seemed comfortable playing with Bryant all season. Rudy Tomjanovich lasted half a season as head coach, and although it’s unfair to blame Bryant for his sudden departure, rumors remain that the strain of dealing with the strong-willed superstar had a negative effect on Rudy T’s well-being. Interim coach Frank Hamblen declared after a loss last week in Denver that his players had quit on him.
Then there’s the little matter of the team’s record. Bryant has been getting his shots and then some, but the rest of the Lakers seem aimless. Defensively, they resemble blind men in heavy traffic. Under Bryant’s stewardship the Lakers are now 32-37, in 10th place in the West, 6 games behind the Denver Nuggets for the eighth and final playoff berth.
Oh, and by the way: The Miami Heat has the best record in the NBA under Shaq. And besides Dwyane Wade, the talent level on that team is only middling.
It might seem lunacy to trade a talent like Kobe. After all, the kid can still get it done offensively. He is often spectacular. He can do it all. He can win a game single-handedly. The trouble is, he often tries, and sometimes he loses them single-handedly as well. He might put on an astounding display, draining three or four 3-pointers in a row. But then will come a key possession, when a y willingness to slay an opponent by himself should give way to thoughtful management of the clock and the ball, and Bryant will respond by taking a fall-away trey with two foes in his face. He’ll miss, and the game will slip away.
These 2004-05 Lakers have had a taste of what the future holds with Kobe in control, and they don’t seem to like it much. If the franchise insists on building around Kobe, it will have to clean house again, because this entourage has packed it in.
And it won’t be easy to find recruits to serve as Kobe’s caddies. His reputation around the league is in tatters. Other NBA players either didn’t like the fact that Bryant squealed on Shaq to the cops during the infamous interview he gave after the alleged sexual assault, or they don’t like his loner mentality, or they think he’s arrogant and selfish, or they think he’s plain dumb for driving off the most dominant center in the game and the best head coach in the league.
If the Lakers do consider trading Kobe, they’ll have to get value this time. The deal that sent Shaquille O’Neal to Miami did not bring an All-Star in return. Fans and talk-show jockeys have been roasting G.M. Mitch Kupchak and owner Jerry Buss over that ever since.
The Lakers could not trade Bryant without getting someone comparable. So who exactly is comparable? Talent-wise, that’s a tough one.
Kevin Garnett? Maybe the Timberwolves feel they’ve gone as far as they can with him and need a change. Jason Kidd? He’s always looking to move. How about a package involving a couple of the Chicago Bulls’ young stars, say Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich?
There are myriad possibilities, if the Lakers decide to go that route.
The other course of action is to work on Kobe and ask him to be more unselfish. But whom will he listen to? The only authority figure he ever respected in basketball is Jerry West, and he’s in Memphis. Bryant has been humbled somewhat these past two years, but his at ude as a player hasn’t changed. He still stubbornly demands most of the shots, and he always will. His sense of the game is myopic.
Most importantly, he isn’t the leader he professes to be. That’s where the Michael Jordan comparisons end. They resemble each other. Kobe’s game is spectacular, like Michael’s was. But Michael commanded respect, and his teammates followed his lead. With Kobe, it will always be a struggle. He can’t lecture teammates about how to play defense because his teammates will tune him out. He isn’t Michael Jordan.
If the Lakers continue to place their entire future in the hands of Kobe Bryant, they won’t be a championship contender for the next 10 years.
He isn’t going to change. So they’ll have to.
Michael Ventre writes regularly for NBCSports.com and is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7321241/
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MSNBC is Gates tool, as ed up and biased as Fox Cable News.
Stupid article. Now we know Kobe is more Hardaway than Jordan, but he's still prob the best guard in the game and you don't move that kind of talent... unless you're Mitch Kupchack I guess.
Thats not necesarily true. Talent or no talent, if the team isn't responding to Kobe then a change must take place. You can't rely on just ONE player to run a franchise, no matter how much talent he has. Right now, Kobe isn't a leader, and yet he doesn't want to have one, that poses a problem. The guy has to learn humility and team play, otherwise he's just another punk with talent.
How can you think he'll learn humility and leadership in 1 year with a whole new system and different cast of players around him...man people need to chill...the media promotes this stuff like vultures waiting for the next Laker crumb to drop through. Is there nothing the NBA can promote other than Kobe and his lack of leadership and team play...maybe the other 29 teams and a plethora of other players. What did everyone expect this year, for the Lakers to win the fricken championship...kobe averages a Triple Double and Chris Mihm, Chucky Atkins, Jumaine Jones all have career years becoming all-stars. the media is so stupid it hurts...and it's clearly working. I have never in my time watching the NBA have ever seen a player so villified than Kobe is right now. Yes, a lot is on his shoulders, but please he could win 5 rings in a row and the articles won't stop. Are peope jealous...probably not, it's just lazy journalism.
Don't really care, but I don't think you compound one huge mistake with another.
I don't think the lakers system is a problem Everyone acts like Kobe has to get used to the system. Kobe created the current system and single handidly dismantled the old system. The problem lies in his rep around the leauge and with his own players. That is why Duncan, kidd, and shaq are such good leaders. They work hard and win. People follow winners. The leauge and the players respect all of those players. besides at any level players don't like to be on a team where one person gets special treatment, let alone demands that he gets special treatment. that is his problem, he is a great player but he is not respected. that is a huge problem. A problem that is not easily changed.
who gives a stuff about kobe or the lakers
those who thought he could lead his team and have any kind of success don't know stuff about basketball anyway
i hope he plays a dozen more years in LA, scores stuffloads of points and never wins a playoff game again
Well special K, as I know you have the ears of all players and they have told you that Kobe's not respected....oh and a superstar getting special treatment....my god that's never happened in any sport..Kobe must me the first....
I appreciate the comments everyone has made, as much as they really care for Kobe or the Lakers. The Lakers were the team to hate for many years, so everyones on them right now. I can justify it, however when you look at B-ball, Kobe's a freak, his love for the game is unsurpassed and has yet to have a team built around him and his talents. Kobe has to adjust to the current system just like most players. I really think people are piling on because of there record, even though they have had injuries and coaching changes. Unless you can prove that Kobe ed Vlade's back, D George's ankle and wrecked Odom's shoulder, then maybe you have a case. I usually respect Spurs fans than most, considering they usually like to concentrate on B-ball rather than BS...but I guess that seems to change. It doesn't matter, I'll take the Lakers with Kobe than any team in the L.
In the loss?
I don't respect Kobe because he rather make himself the focal point, than his team. I don't respect the owner or GM because they bought into the fraud that Kobe Bryant is. He ruined your franchise. I know that's a tough pill to swallow.
He ruined my franchise...well he did help bring in 3 rings..surely you remember this. I remember before the season started we all new this was going to happen. This is isn't a surprise to me that they are struggling, what is astonishing is the immaturity of most NBA fans and the media. This era will be judged in a few years, 1 year is not enough. But please everyone, please add to the pile of hate, you are showing your true colours.
Yeah he brought three rings. How many of those were on his own? How many more could your team have had if they weren't split up by his ego? What I'm saying here isn't piling on, it's simply stating what I thought from the first day I heard Shaq and Phil were gone. IF I were in your shoes I'd try and remember I'm a Lakers fan and not a fan someone who would kill my team for his own gain. If some how Tony Parker got Duncan traded away and Gino off the team, I would quickly be critical of him. I never really hated the Lakers as a franchise, but I have disliked their personel.
i hate kobe because he wants be jordan so bad its sad
the talk the walk the haircut,the ego
and because he gave his wife a $4 million ring
thats got to be a sin
and because he said during his trial over 50 times that he's becoming mentally strong and he's so strong mentally, and how his mind is strong
what a dumbass
and because he narced on malone and shaq extramar al affairs
if he's telling the truth, he's a punkass snitch, if he's not then he's a punk ass
I obviously do not have the ears of the players. However I do feel that Kobe is having a hard time adjusting to the type of leadership that is expected.In the past he has had shaq to lead and Phil. those two guys allowed Kobe to not have to worry about leadership as much as he has to now. If he can adjust to that new role it will be very good. They have a lot of talent. They should be really good if they play like a team. It appears that Kobe brought this on himself, However I could be wrong since there aree always two sides to every story.
While Shaq was constantly getting swept in the playoffs, it Kobe's emergence to put them over the top. No team can do it alone, not even Jordan, Magic etc. It takes luck and perseverance. They didn't win the last 2 years with Phil, Kobe and Shaq, and it was a combination of all three egos not just Kobe. He was left standing, surely a decision for the future in the Laker camp. Shaq's got 2-3 years left and he was un-motivated an over weight the last 3 years, plus his contract was bloated to begin with. Now, I would have loved all of them to work it out and take a pay cut, but it didn't happen. Jealously was to play, and we'll see how it plays out. One season is a poor judgement on how they will do. Shaq was in LA for 4 years before he won a ring, it takes more than 1 player. I know Kobe realizes this, more than ever. Does he need to work on his game in this respect, for sure, he knows he can't do it alone.
I just use T-mac as an example...villified last year for going 0-17 with a more talented team than LA has now...and now he's considered one of best players in the game again. Like I said, 1 year isn't going to matter.
Medvedenko, If the lakers could get anyone who will be a free agent next year to come to LA, who would you want it to be?
There are a lot of rumours, however they are severly unbalanced in their current roster. They need a real point and a banger down low. They have like 6 SF's and players that would be good bench players not starters. I love Odom and I think he could do better in a different system and not playing with Kobe. He needs the ball just as much as Kobe. With the triangle, upon Kobe's behest, it would balance the ball handling roles and give everyone touches. This hasn't happened as smoothly because of the in-experience they all have in the O. I would trade Odom, Sucky, and filler for pass first point and defensive presence down low that can rebound, block shots and is very athletic. Of course most teams would love this...there are rumours that the Lakers trade Odom, Caron, filler for Jermaine Oneal, Artest and filler. This would alleviate there balance issue, but it's probably BS. I would expect more of trade at this point than free agency...possibly throwing in the first round lottery pick for Boozer to the Jazz as they will try to get Bogut...who knows..I'm actually excited this year.
which explains why with Shaq and Kobe they lost 4-1 in 1997, and got swept in 98 and 99.While Shaq was constantly getting swept in the playoffs, it Kobe's emergence to put them over the top
Well Kobe only started in the lockout season, (his first starting)...I understand your comment, they Lakers had 4 all-stars in that time period you speak of and they still got swept.
odom and caron for j oneal and artest
that seems a little unbalanced
I would trade Kobe for Shaq.
how about luke walton for peja
vlade for chris bosh
Yeah me too....just kidding...yeah Caron and Odom for JO and Artest is very unbalanced...but hear they would throw in their lottery pick. I also hear they are trying to get Bender for filler....who knows.
then theyd have kobe, peja, bosh, j oneal and artest
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