Kobe Returns to Practice (11/16)

[ArC_man]

Those who want to tank, do you guys think we can be worse than Milwaukee, Boston, Utah, Sac, Philly, Charlotte, Toronto, and Washington with Kobe back? That's already 8 teams that are most likely going to be worse than us. Not to mention there are some other fringe teams that will probably drop down as we go along (like Orlando, Phoenix, etc). The percentage difference between the 14th worst team getting the 1st pick and the 10th worst team getting the 1st pick are not so astronomically different; unless you're one of the 5 worst teams in the league, you don't even have a 10% chance of getting a top 3 pick. I'm all for "tanking" for the betterment of the franchise but I just don't see us being that bad of a team.

[ROballer]

Well,gee,that's the definition of tanking....losing games on purpose

As many as necessary to have as many ping pong balls we can....
BTW,many of you think we need to out tank EVERYONE to have success....wake the **** up,yes ,in a perfect world we would get the no.1 pick but this is an absurdly good draft....6-7 players will be very good players in the future at the very least,maybe more....but 6-7 are a fair estimate IMO



All this talk is for nothing though,that's what WE(as in some fans) want,not what the franchise wants
We're not tanking until we have nothing to fight for....and that may not happen if we have any shot at the playoffs

But for the apologists who can't fathom the Lakers EVER tanking.....again,I say,if we're in a big enough hole in which we don't have anything to fight for,the Lakers WILL tank....there's a big gap between a possible 13-15 pick
and 7-10 pick .....if we can get in the latter group by losing intentionally,you bet your ass no pride or whatever **** will stay in our way

[LApwnd]

But for the apologists who can't fathom the Lakers EVER tanking.....again,I say,if we're in a big enough hole in which we don't have anything to fight for,the Lakers WILL tank....there's a big gap between a possible 13-15 pick
and 7-10 pick .....if we can get in the latter group by losing intentionally,you bet your ass no pride or whatever **** will stay in our way

the entire team is comprised of 1yr contract players, they're not gona suck on purpose and lose, they all have something to play for and thats for a bigger contract next year. If they lose its because they do truly suck

[ROballer]

We're talking about he last portion of the year here.....and doesn't matter the W/L record we'll have there,most GM's are looking at stats anyway.. they can get theirs and still lose,no problem

[ngcoolman]

I don't mind tanking if our record around the all-star game shows that we have no realistic chance getting into the playoff. But I don't agree with intentionally losing games this early in the season. To build a successful team, you need to have some winning spirit. Otherwise, even the teams get good talents via high picks, they will still keep losing games and eventually lose their stars via free agency. Cav, Was and Bobcats are good examples.

If Kobe is healthy again to play, then he should play. We know that he will always give 100% and this will have positive impact to the team.

If we get into the playoff with both Nash and Kobe missing substantial amount of games, it shows that our role players have stepped up. In this case, if we can get 1 or 2 stars next offseason, we might be competitive again.

On the other hand, if we suck and have a poor record even after trying 100%, then we will get our deserved high pick and have money to spend on free agency. Also, whoever remain with the team next season will still have a competitive spirit.