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If you made a real bet that the Lakers would make the playoffs back before November of 2005, my hat's off to you. Wow. Or maybe we need to get you some help.
I thought they had a chance to make the playoffs last year until Rudy Tomjanovich unraveled like he'd had some weird chance encounter with Kermit Washington. Everything went downhill from there.
The draft and roster moves last spring and summer were, umm, interesting. Mix in the return of Phil (it's all about the family connections) and anything could have happened.
Somehow, the Zen approach got an overhaul and hundreds of other little things have the Lakers playing like an actual team as they head to the post season. That's the real shock and the reason they'll be playing for a bit longer.
Everyone knows about Kobe and most think he's a ball hogging hot dog. He became the basketball version of Barry Bonds after the trial in Colorado and Shaq's departure (unlike many, I wasn't sad to see the big quote leave — his new commitment to fitness was good for Miami and for Mr. O'Neil, but it also proved what was being asserted by voices around the Lakers for some time, Shaq had settled in and wasn't worth $30 million per year). Bryant is a phenomenal basketball player. The best in the league? I don't know so I'll leave that to others. I believe he's a year behind Michael Jordan's development at this point (but he's got three more 'pro' years on his wheels). Michael, Scottie, Phil and the rest (I remembered Horace Grant and Bill Cartright, but forgot Paxson, Perdue, King, et al), won their first title when MJ was a few months older than Kobe is now. If he could learn to make the kind of crisp passes that have people swooning over LeBron, he'd have it all.
Smush Parker has been consistent from the start, in a way that was unpredictable.
Lamar Odum is playing really well, even better than his last season in Miami. Lately, he's been doing it all.
There have even been a series of (Kwame) Brown and Walton sightings lately. A couple things here. First, the Kwame trade was the most bizarre pickup of the summer. Even out doing the draft of Andrew Bynum. It was like compounding a problem. Mihm, Odum, Walton, Brown, Bynum, Medvedenko and Cook all at once? The solution to the problem was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Oft ignored around town and once dissed by the immensely talented (no not really) Michael Olowokandi, Kareem seems to have been able to teach the kids something. They're just better somehow. Where do you think Magic learned his baby hook? The second part is about a transition. Somehow the youngsters have become part of a team where they play a big (if occasional) part.
The team is still deeply flawed, but it's going to be fun to watch. Anything could happen.
Next year could be a lot better.
Add another point guard and a sniper (I'd make a bet that there were bedroom conversions about the Fisher trade this year) and Phil can let Bryant swing between SG and SF if he'll pass it often enough. Kobe does need a statistics course. He's just too talented for his own good and needs to learn that there can be better options. He's not superman and neither was Shaq, despite the noise. Hopefully, it's sinking in. This year was all about letting Kobe's team mates learn to find him, but from here on out, he'll need to find people to work off of. The future of the team really is in his hands.
I wrote most of this the night they clinched and have since stumbled on Bill Simmons declaration that Bryant should be the MVP. Now that's shocking.
Posted by Dave at April 23, 2006 11:16 AM