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They would be if Brandon Roy was there to lead them.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/traini...ersCamp-090929
As the Los Angeles Lakers reconvene after that oh-so-short NBA victors' summer, they face the same question we wonder about every champion: "Did Lamar sign a prenup?"
Okay, so maybe Lamar Odom's decision to marry a Kardashian sister he'd known for less than a month isn't your typical topic to chew on at the start of basketball season. But it's standard operating procedure in Lakerland.
This doesn't even qualify for a full-scale alert based on media days past. There was the time the team fretted over the whereabouts of Kobe Bryant, who didn't make the team's flight to training camp in Hawaii after a summer in which he'd been accused of sexual assault (he showed up the next day).
Or there was the time Bryant arrived fashionably late to media day after an offseason of trade demands and a videotaped verbal takedown of teammate Andrew Bynum.
And it's not as if the franchise hasn't dealt with famous spouses before. The 1999 lockout season featured Vanessa Williams and Carmen Electra lingering outside the locker room, waiting on Rick Fox and Dennis Rodman, respectively. At least they didn't come with their own reality TV show cameras, though.
Not that the Lakers would even notice a few extra minicams and producers. There was a little production group following around Lakers executive vice president Jeanie Buss at one recent media day as she attempted to launch her own reality show (when that didn't happen she just resorted to filming her own behind-the-scenes interviews with boyfriend/coach Phil Jackson and posting them on the Web).
What does all this have to do with repeating as champions? Absolutely nothing. And, really, that's the strongest argument against the Lakers winning again. Those training camps with the tumultuous beginnings did not result in victory parades at the end of the season. Every team has its issues, but teams function best when the problems are strictly basketball-related, not contracts or personal lives. The prevailing theme at last year's Lakers media day was: "The Celtics kicked your butts in the Finals last year, what are you going to do about it?" What the Lakers did was hold on to that humiliating feeling, returning to it whenever their attention started to waver, using it to drive their return to the NBA Finals and to finish the job this time.
The week before this year's camp was dominated by the Odom-Khloe Kardashian nuptials. Before that the summer was filled with the eccentricities of Ron Artest -- from his travels to China with an aspiring singer named Shin Shin, to expanding his knowledge of Southern California factoids (such as San Diego has a baseball team called the Padres). Artest showed his priorities from the start of his first Lakers news conference, when he asked where the TMZ cameras were. It was at his party that Odom and Khloe Kardashian met. And that summarizes the Lakers' offseason in one sentence.
Their two biggest moves were re-signing Odom and acquiring Artest, yet both have shown more interest in expanding their worlds beyond the basketball sphere and stepping into the pop culture universe.
From a strictly basketball perspective, the Lakers are equipped to make another championship run. The only loss from last season's team is Trevor Ariza, and they replaced him with a better scorer and stronger defender in Artest. The only players over 30 are Derek Fisher (35) and Bryant (31).
Aging actually suits Bryant well. For a change, none of the Lakers' tabloid stuff centers on him. It's been that way for about a year now. He's gone from courting controversy to avoiding it, finally coming to the realization that it's best to let the basketball be enough. Wonder if his teammates will learn that lesson in time to make this season a success.
They would be if Brandon Roy was there to lead them.
If this is the best they can do, if this is the strongest argument against the Lakers repeating, then the rest of the league is in trouble and the Lakers have a pretty good chance at getting 'er done.
They coasted many times in the regular season and EVEN parts of the playoffs last year and still won it all.
It's almost as if focus isn't "that" important for them, although I surmise the compe ion is tougher this year... yet the Lakers can get better too with the SF upgrade and emergence of Bynum.
Exactly what I was thinking.
When you consider Phil and Kobe's history - having the team focused on a repeat is a given.
I think the Lakers are really hungry to repeat.
Kobe will make sure nobody slacks off. If they stay healthy, I expect them to win 68-69 games.
I was thinking around the same as last season..maybe 66-67. Remember 2000 when they finished 67-15..following season they finished 56-26. Not sure if that was due to injuries. But I hope the Lakers get a similar record as they did in 09.
I can see 2 factors:
- Fisher's injury; as soon as he came back, Lakers won 15 straight games going into the playoffs, where they almost swept everybody (and Fish had 26 pts in his 1st game back from an injury, it was vs Boston)
- Kobe's selfishness for most of the regular season.
Shaq's laziness and being out of shape.
He was ok in 2000-2001.
But in 2002-2003, yes, he was so heavy
Shaq was bad in 01-02 as well. That led to the Kobe/Shaq blowup. Shaq wanted to chill after one ring and Kobe wanted to keep the pedal down.
No one to contest Kobe's approach this year. LA will be clicking all season. Better than last year because it will be Artest at the 3 all year long. People forget it was Radmanovic for the 1st third, Walton starting the 2nd third of the season.
Artest is so much better than Rdman Walton and Ariza combined.
A lot of people expect Artest to mess things up, but it won't happen.
There may be a few, but most people don't think Artest to mess things up from a basketball point of view. It's non-related basketball things they're afraid of.
Maybe he was out of shape more in 2002-2003 but Shaq never came to training camp in shape. As far as I recall. That's why kobe was on his ass.
[quote=2Cleva;3713676]Shaq was bad in 01-02 as well. That led to the Kobe/Shaq blowup. Shaq wanted to chill after one ring and Kobe wanted to keep the pedal down.
No one to contest Kobe's approach this year. LA will be clicking all season. Better than last year because it will be Artest at the 3 all year long. People forget it was Radmanovic for the 1st third, Walton starting the 2nd third of the season.[/quote]
My bad Cleva, I didn't see your post while i was posting. I agree.
Phil's is thinking about going with a big lineup next season
Lamar
Kobe
Andrew
Pau
Ron
Damn, that would be awesome.
Bigger they are the harder they will fall
haha
Only for certain matchups where the PG isn't a real threat, like Boston.
Fisher will get the starting nod.
I don't think tlong is very happy with the responses so far
yah..that line up will definately be hard to defend quick pg's. But offense would be crazzzy.
History says Phil wins rings in sets of 3.
If Phil can survive the daily bickering of ShaqKobe and the resulting split locker room AND a dress-wearing Dennis Rodman, Lamar marrying a Kardashian is childsplay.
couldn't have said it better myself
if i remember the lakers were almost 500 at the all star break
The only chance for the rest of the league is to see Portland / Lakers in PO... euh... wait
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