Post#11 » by milesfides » Tue Apr 22, 2008 6:21 am
Good points, DEEP3CL.
What's interesting is that some people see what transpired as a demonstration of: "eat your words, Kobe."
However, he got exactly what he wanted. Presumably, what we fans also wanted.
Yes, he complained about ownership's commitment and management's competency. Two things that were almost universally acknowledged as lacking for the past few years - or did we already forget?
It didn't happen in the prettiest or predictable way. Laker fans were pretty much embracing for the worst right up until the first few games of the season.
Yes, Kobe demanded a trade, he leveraged himself, wanted to leave LA if they weren't going to build around him, Buss called his bluff, Kobe exercised his no-trade clause...
And the solution turned out to be a Suddenly-Arrived Bynum, improved Farmar and Vujacic, etc. His teammates got better, a LOT better, despite, in spite, or because of Kobe's demands. Depending on your POV. Or, you could see it as a combination of factors.
Regardless, the fact is that Kobe quickly embraced his teammates improvements, especially Bynum, who received the brunt of his dissatisfaction regarding the failed Jason Kidd deal. Kobe's quick turnaround pretty much indicates what his motivation was behind his demands.
He just wanted help, he wanted the chance to contend for a championship, after three tough years. There was no malice towards any of his teammates, and none towards Bynum, as clearly seen by Kobe's singing Bynum's praises and making it a point to look for Bynum in the post. Kobe WANTED Bynum to succeed. Many people assume Kobe uploaded that summer video to youtube himself, like he hated the kid.
Kobe wanted help, and when he got it, what was the motivation to leave?
In hindsight, Kobe admits that he learned some important lessons, on how it was a mistake to let his frustrations lead to the public outburst, how he underestimate the complexities of the business side of basketball, and how he should trust management's ability to do their jobs without his interference.
Anyways, the same people who didn't like Kobe before just see him as the same spoiled brat, the hired gun who cares just about himself. These are the type who look at the Lakers improvement, and smirk, "Now Kobe has no excuses." As if Kobe's outburst last summer was an excuse.
But some say, hey, Kobe, Buss, Mitch, everybody's made some mistakes. But you know what? People kept their cool. Frustrated, insulted, feeling betrayed, whatever, they put their head down and just did their jobs when push came to shove. And you know what happened? The ball started to bounce our way. Everything started to come together.
The important thing is, we're in a position to make a championship push. Apologies made, humble pie eaten, no hard feelings. Let's move on since we're all in this together, we need each other, everybody's in the same corner. Let's do this thing.
That's the attitude that I love about the current Lakers. And their fans. Our team, our city, bent, but did not break. Our crap bucket was filled to the brim, but didn't overflow.
While everybody buried us, we rose again.
“OH! Caruso parachutes in! You cannot stop him - you can only hope to contain him!” -Kevin Harlan, LAL-GSW 4/4/19
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