Dwight calls Lakers "our team" Kobe calls them "my" team

[Mass Rig]

If I were in Dwight's shoes I'd learn everything I could possibly learn from the greatest player of this era.

Let Kobe and Nash nuture Dwight and help push him to the next level of leadership and dominance. He can learn from 2 of the GREATEST who have ever done it

Ditto - nobody argues with this. The point is that there's no need to come out to the media specifying what's mine and what's yours. Leaders don't make ownership claims. Leaders lead.

It's a team, dammit.

[Mass Rig]

As a huge Kobe fan this is right. The only thing I dont agree its not as often as people would believe. What makes it seem really bad is that when he does go into hero mode it sticks out like a sore thumb and since he's been older usually results in a losing effort.

That's exactly the point. But I'll be excited to see what happens with the ball in Nash's hands, Kobe never really played with a PG that he fully respected as an effective basketball player.

[tugs]

am I the only one who gets his sarcasm?

It wasn't sarcasm. He mean't it if you watched the video. The thing is, it wasn't in some sort of negative sounding connotation. He clearly stated, this is my team but he's prepping Dwight to take over as a leader when he's gone, because he know it will be Dwight's team. There's nothing wrong with this or what he said and I believe the rest of the team knows this.

my bad for not clarifying. I didn't mean Kobe, I meant doc.

[DEEP3CL]

Simply put this is Kobe's team.......period. It should be, he's been here the longest, put banners on that wall and kept people coming to the arena when the team was jack sh*t. Hell yeah this is his team.

[Edrees]

What diference does it make whose team it is? It's Kobe's team, but that doesn't mean he should be taking the most shots for us. Whose team it is is completely irrelevant to anything we want to accomplish this year. It's not like Kobe went out of his way to say "hey this is my team betta recognize" Saiger instigated the situation and asked him, of course he's gonna admit it's his team. But it's not like him saying that means he thinks he should be taking more shots etc.

[Dr Aki]

What diference does it make whose team it is? It's Kobe's team, but that doesn't mean he should be taking the most shots for us. Whose team it is is completely irrelevant to anything we want to accomplish this year. It's not like Kobe went out of his way to say "hey this is my team betta recognize" Saiger instigated the situation and asked him, of course he's gonna admit it's his team. But it's not like him saying that means he thinks he should be taking more shots etc.

i think you'll find that kobe will take the most shots even if he plays completely within the offense and off setups from nash anyway

dwight and pau arent going to be taking the most shots, unless teams want to get absolutely destroyed and nash isn't going to go jack crazy because that's not his style

it is however, kobe's style to jack up as many shots as he can, but at least this year, they'll be good shots

[leeprettyp]

Simply put this is Kobe's team.......period. It should be, he's been here the longest, put banners on that wall and kept people coming to the arena when the team was jack sh*t. Hell yeah this is his team.

DEEP3CL I cant even believe how this is a debate. We all know this is Beans team at this time. Like I said Sager got the exact response he wanted from the media/fans smh. Dwight and Nash even admit it

[JustAwesome]

Media wants friction on this team. That generates revenue for them. Sadly, though, Howard is going to be providing them plenty of things to write about. Artest might do the same as well.

[GoldKnightRises]

Kobe deserves the title of being the team leader since he has been here the longest & is probably still the best player out of all of them, also has a better leadership role to represent the team. But I agree with what Dwight said as well, all he basically said was this is our team and we are all going to contribute on the court, not just me or Kobe.

[Edrees]

What diference does it make whose team it is? It's Kobe's team, but that doesn't mean he should be taking the most shots for us. Whose team it is is completely irrelevant to anything we want to accomplish this year. It's not like Kobe went out of his way to say "hey this is my team betta recognize" Saiger instigated the situation and asked him, of course he's gonna admit it's his team. But it's not like him saying that means he thinks he should be taking more shots etc.

i think you'll find that kobe will take the most shots even if he plays completely within the offense and off setups from nash anyway

dwight and pau arent going to be taking the most shots, unless teams want to get absolutely destroyed and nash isn't going to go jack crazy because that's not his style

it is however, kobe's style to jack up as many shots as he can, but at least this year, they'll be good shots

I have no problem with him taking the most shots. As long as he's not conciously thinking that he needs to take more shots just so he can have the most out of the team. And he's not doing that, hence why I see no problem with him calling it his team..

[Kilroy]

It's Kobe's team... The Lion's share of the credit and blame rightly should fall on Kobe's shoulders... Dwight isn't ready for that yet... So Kobe's not standing in his way right now by saying that... He's just being truthful.

It will be clear when Dwight is ready to take on that responsibility... It'll be obvious based on his commitment and demeanor... As well as his play.

If at that point, Kobe's not passing to him and making these kinds of statements, then we can have a problem with Kobe... Until then, it's Kobe's team... Deal with it.

I mean honestly, Dwight hasn't even committed to this team beyond this season, how the hell can it be his team right now?

[leeprettyp]

Very well said Kilroy. I agree 100% with that statement

[The Prodigy]

This is Kobe's team and everyone knows it. There's no need for Kobe to say it. A better response would have been what Dwight said. Everyone would still know whose team this is and the media wouldn't have the chance to make this an issue.

[JustAwesome]

Bryant likes to say what's on his mind. By saying, "my team", he was just talking. He wasn't scheming. He wasn't trying to put out the fires that the media has been trying to light.

[DEEP3CL]

When you think about it, after the year Howard had last season with the drama and all the last thing he should want is the forefront. Unless Howard is ready to be nit picked and blamed for every situation surrounding the team then yeah it could be "his team". But I doubt he seriously want's that now.

[The Skyhook]

Dwight has yet to play a single game with the Lakers. Kobe has 16 years of playing for the Lakers. After this season half of Kobe's life will have been devoted to the Lakers. The other 17 years were before he was even eligible to play in the NBA. You aren't just going to come in and pry this team away from Kobe especially if you haven't even committed to the team beyond this year.

[PurpleBlood24]

Perfectly put Skyhook!

[Cool_Dude]

I hate the whole "his team, no it's my team" stuff. It's JERRY BUSS'S team. All basketball players on the roster are employees of the Lakers franchise.