The gift and the curse of Kobe Bryant.
16 years in the league and still capable of dropping 40 at any time on anybody. I don’t think people understand what a remarkable thing his is doing considering the amount of games he has played.
He shouldn’t still be a Top 10 and 1st team All NBA player, not with all those miles on his odometer. He isn’t Prime Kobe, but he is fighting off becoming Vince Carterish with every bone in his body.
With that being said, the fact he is still so good could be the reason why he isn’t conceding control or responsibility of being DA MAN. According to this LA Times article that is why the Lakers won’t prosper.
Kobe Bryant is the problem, not the solution for Lakers.
He is locked in for two more seasons and would be nearly impossible to trade because of his salary, and his skills are clearly in decline, so expecting him to be the team’s catalyst is wishful thinking.
The Lakers are doomed to fail over the next two seasons and you are only kidding yourself if you think something can be done to change it.
The guy who has played the hardest, giving it his all and who has been the best player on the court for the Lakers for the longest time is now the problem.
And deep down you know it because Kobe Bryant is not going anywhere, and he is not about to become a role-playing Tim Duncan or a pass-first LeBron James.
The Lakers can do so little about it. They owe Kobe nearly $60 million over the next two seasons, which makes it impossible to even consider trading him.
He’s here, he’s Kobe and he’s going to proceed as if sheer determination will make all the difference.
I’m telling you, it is so much easier to be a Clippers fan.
There is also a lot of talk about Kobe not being as clutch in the LA Times piece as his reputation makes him out to be. As I have told you many times last minute statistics aren’t the greatest measure of being clutch.
Watching the Lakers many times this year, Kobe at some points had to single handily keep them in games, because they just couldn’t score. Full game clutch is much more important than a last second shot.
The problem with an article like this is that while it makes valid points, it doesn’t show the other side of it. The question begs if you took Kobe Bryant off the Lakers how good of a team would they be?
I don’t think they would fall apart, but to be a contender for a championship you need more than a bunch of good players, you need elite players who can will a team to a championship.
What I don’t understand is Kobe Bryant has been the same player and person for 16 years.
You know what you are going to get from him, it led to 5 championships and 7 NBA Finals appearances. You deal with the Bad Kobe, because the Good Kobe is just that good.
The talk of amnesty on Kobe Bryant is ridiculous, do you really think Andrew Bynum can lead a NBA Franchise? Kobe Bryant has his faults, but I rather have a player I know is 100% committed to doing whatever he has to do to be great on the court than someone who doesn’t love basketball.
Kobe isn’t the problem, the teams who have beaten the Lakers the last two years have just been better. It wasn’t Kobe’s fault David Stern blocked the Chris Paul trade which would have made the Lakers a real title contender last year. If the Lakers want to win another championship, get better players, don’t use your superstar as a scapegoat.