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Pop was half-joking/half-serious like usual. Basing an opinion from the Express' court stenography isn't going to help much in getting any further to determining Pop's intent.
The trade was ludicrous, especially the part where the Lakers signed a player that was retired just so they could match salaries. That alone should have raised huge eyebrows. The trade was a fraud. Mitch proved he has no bargaining skills when he got little in return for Shaq. (Odom and Butler couldn't get them out of the lottery so it's hard to make the case for their talent or defending that bad trade. Besides, Butler is a marginal All Star on the East. He wouldn't get near the All Star game on the West.)
So for Mitch to pull this off is insane. Obviously, other teams were not in on the bidding. This was only about money, which means I wouldn't be shocked if Buss gave money to Memphis to make this happen. What other rational conclusion can be reached with something this lopsided and unexpected?
As for Rome, he went too far when he started taking jabs at Pop and the dynasty being over. However, at least he mentioned it was a dynasty, which was something I didn't expect to hear coming from LA.
So, as usual, the LA bandwagon begins to rejoin. I would love to see Phoenix somehow knock off the Lakers and then we knock off Phoenix. The upcoming playoffs keep getting more interesting.
