Kobe Bryant:

[trueD]

Is there any news on Marion ankles yet? Are they completely shattered?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=YmAKVw1q1mw

[Purple & Gold]

And how's that rebuilding thing going for ya?

IMO, it was Kobe ratting out Shaq that sent Shaq to the I-want-a-6 year/120 million deal talk. End of story. Chemistry was getting bad already, that sealed the deal for Shaq. He settled for less in Miami, go figure.

It's been three years without Shaq. Lakers are no closer to winning a ring than the Kings are-- after losing their whole core group of Webber, Peja, Christie and Vlade during these same three years, and that without a superstar.

In the last three years, here's the short PO rundown for our teams:

Kings:
Lose to Sonics first round
Lose to Spurs first round
Miss playoffs

Lakers:
Miss Playoffs
Lose to Suns in first round
(probably) lose to Suns in first round.

The difference? Nada.

First off no team can rebuild in 3 years. You are jumping the gun a little, don't you think?

As for Kobe sealing the deal on the Shaq move, maybe that's what broke the Shaq/Kobe duo up. But what really sealed Shaq's fate with the Lakers was him yelling at Dr. Buss to " ing pay me". And getting dominated on the offensive glass by Detroit. That's what sent him out the door.

And sorry your whole core of players do not equal Shaq, I think history has already proved that. Fact is we already have our new post threat in the making. Once he develops, banners will start hanging in the Staples once again. How are you doing with your new post threat??

[kobe_bryant]

it's hard to work with stiffs

[resistanze]

And didn't Shaq sign with the Heat for 5 years, $100 million? Same as 6 years/$120 million.

[trueD]

First off no team can rebuild in 3 years. You are jumping the gun a little, don't you think?

Possibly. You guys have a lot of decisions to make this off-season with lots of expiring contracts and an unhappy Odom. Hopefully Mitch is up to the task.

Fact is we already have our new post threat in the making. Once he develops, banners will start hanging in the Staples once again. How are you doing with your new post threat??

I personally love your new post threat in-the-making, and would give you just about any combination of players Kings have for him. AND you're right, our post threat is non-existant, but that's been true for a very long time.

My point was, things probably aren't moving how Kobe figured they would without Shaq. Shaq's personality was a kind of glue for the team, something Kobe seems to be missing on his own. Lakers need a shot in the arm by a player who could compliment Kobe, but Kobe would appear unaccepting, unless that player can play to HIS standards. He shows flashes of team play every once in awhile, but it's always short-lived. It's a puzzle for Laker fans, and a true dilemna for Lakers organization, I suspect. And honestly? It's frustrating for fans of b-ball in general, seeing how much talent is being wasted because of short-sightedness on Kobe's part by his unwillingness to respect his teammates.

Who on the Lakers has the capacity to compliment Kobe? Probably many: The rookie Farmar, Odom, Kwame, maybe even one day Bynum.

Another superstar on the team would either make or break the Lakers, there is no inbetween, imo.

[trueD]

And didn't Shaq sign with the Heat for 5 years, $100 million? Same as 6 years/$120 million.

Not exactly. One more year playing time and twenty million dollars really IS something.

Shaq settled. Lakers could have built around Shaq instead of Kobe. Hindsight sucks.

[Purple & Gold]

Not exactly. One more year playing time and twenty million dollars really IS something.

Shaq settled. Lakers could have built around Shaq instead of Kobe. Hindsight sucks.

Building around Shaq instead of Kobe is just stupid. Say what you want about Kobe, but you can't say he doesn't give you 110%. With Shaq you're lucky to get 80%. Plus Shaq is way older than Kobe. Anyone that would build around an older Shaq instead of a younger Kobe is just stupid.

[Purple & Gold]

And didn't Shaq sign with the Heat for 5 years, $100 million? Same as 6 years/$120 million.

The Lakers offered him over $20 Million per year. He wanted the full max which was around $30 Million a year. He accepted less when he went to Miami, for whatever reasons. More than likely to try to stick it to the Lakers.

[Purple & Gold]

Possibly. You guys have a lot of decisions to make this off-season with lots of expiring contracts and an unhappy Odom. Hopefully Mitch is up to the task.

IMO Odom is out the door. He will probably get packaged with Kwame and picks for some type of true 4. Odom is what he is a very nice 6'10 player that presents matchup problems for any team. He's a very solid rebounder and is also a very good defender against the SF/PF tweener types. He has problems finishing, his right is non-existent, he's not a post player, and his mid-range game is way to inconsistent. He would be a much better 3rd than 2nd option. But when you get paid $13 Million per year you need to be more than just a 3rd option. They might try one more year depending on what happens this playoffs and what is offered for that package and then try to re-sign Kwame to a contract more around his value, in the $6 Million range. They might want to see if the team can stay healthy next year.

I personally love your new post threat in-the-making, and would give you just about any combination of players Kings have for him. AND you're right, our post threat is non-existant, but that's been true for a very long time.

My point was, things probably aren't moving how Kobe figured they would without Shaq. Shaq's personality was a kind of glue for the team, something Kobe seems to be missing on his own. Lakers need a shot in the arm by a player who could compliment Kobe, but Kobe would appear unaccepting, unless that player can play to HIS standards. He shows flashes of team play every once in awhile, but it's always short-lived. It's a puzzle for Laker fans, and a true dilemna for Lakers organization, I suspect. And honestly? It's frustrating for fans of b-ball in general, seeing how much talent is being wasted because of short-sightedness on Kobe's part by his unwillingness to respect his teammates.

Who on the Lakers has the capacity to compliment Kobe? Probably many: The rookie Farmar, Odom, Kwame, maybe even one day Bynum.

Another superstar on the team would either make or break the Lakers, there is no inbetween, imo.

The problem with Kobe is that he has to realize that it's not everybody's goal in life to be the best basketball player ever. He has to realize that basketball players are human and that everybody has different priorities. It's a good problem to have if you're a fan of the Lakers, but it also rubs many people the wrong way. IMO the main problem he had with Shaq was that Shaq wouldn't stay in shape and never put in the time to learn how to shoot FT's. If Shaq ever learned how to shoot FT's the Lakers would have truly been unstoppable. I also think it's unacceptable that Shaq never learned how to shoot FT's. Karl Malone is a good example of a player that realized that his FT% was what was holding him back.

The Lakers definitely need a PG. Kobe handles the ball way too much and is asked to do way too much. He's asked to score, distribute, play excellent defense, lead, rebound, etc. He hasn't found the perfect balance between scorer and distributor and might never will. But that's a PG's job and Kobe shouldn't be asked to have to also play that role. If the Lakers had a solid PG you would see the whole team play that much better. It basically comes down to talent and the Lakers are just lacking in the proper talent to win it all.

[trueD]

Well said, thanks for the response P&G.

Kings are also in need of a true 4. If we can use Bibby in a swap, we'll have about the same amount of $$$'s to spend as Lakers, without having to utilize our expiring contracts or younguns. Again, like Lakers. But I don't look for Kings to deal with Lakers, even though it might benefit both our ballclubs. I think Odom could work in an free-flowing environment, and Bibby would work well with Kobe, imo.

Gonna be an interesting off-season for both our ballclubs.