The Los Angeles Lakers’ Mount Rushmore

With all of the recent talks about who belongs on the NBA‘s all-time Mount Rushmore, it got me wondering: who would belong on the Los Angeles Lakers’ all-time Mount Rushmore?

First of all, this was all brought to light by several current NBA stars listing their own individual Mount Rushmores.

First to make the statement was LeBron James:

Several other players followed suit, but most notably was Laker legend himself, Kobe Bryant:

Putting together the Lakers’ Mount Rushmore is no simple task. Some of the greatest basketball players of all time have donned the purple and gold at some point throughout their careers.

With a whopping 21 Hall of Famers and a total of 16 championships, the Lakers are arguably the most historic franchise in the history of the NBA.

So, who should be on the Mount Rushmore of the Los Angeles Lakers?

The criteria I used for picking the four players to make the famous monument were based upon a combination of career stats as a Laker, championships and each player’s individual Laker legacy.

 

Just Off the List

With so many great players to choose from, there was bound to be a couple of legends left off of the list.

 

Wilt Chamberlain

Chamberlain would probably be on the official monument for the Lakers had he stayed in Los Angeles for a little longer. He led LA to only one championship, but he remains the all-time leader in rebounds per game with a ridiculous 19.2 RPG average.

There is no question that “Wilt the Stilt” Chamberlain is one of the greatest players to ever play the game, but he comes up just a little shy of making the final cut of Laker greats.

 

Shaquille O’Neal

In Shaq’s eight seasons as a Laker, he averaged 27 PPG, 11.2 RPG and 2.5 BPG, ranking second in Laker history in each of those categories.

The “Big Diesel” helped lead the Lakers to three NBA championships and collected the Finals MVP in every one of those triumphs. He’ll go down as arguably the most dominant big man the game has ever seen.

 

My Official Mount Rushmore of the Los Angeles Lakers

 

Jerry West

In his 14-year career as a Los Angeles Laker, Jerry West averaged 27 points, 6.7 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game. He is the second leading scorer in Lakers’ history, only behind Kobe Bryant.

Not only is he a Laker icon, West is an NBA icon as well. Literally, his picture is the official logo of the NBA.

During his 14-time All-Star career, the “Logo” won just one championship, in large part due to the dominance of Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics in that time period.

Arguably, even more impactful than his playing career as a Laker, was his career after basketball as a scout and general manager. He helped and guided the Lakers to four NBA championships as a front office executive and won two NBA General Manager of the Year Awards.

Without question, Jerry West belongs on the Los Angeles Lakers’ Mount Rushmore.

 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar revolutionized the way the game is played in the post. Nowadays, countless ballers in gyms all across the world yell out “Kareem!” as they throw up hook shots in attempts of mimicking the Laker legend.

In his 14 seasons in Los Angeles, Jabbar averaged 22.1 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. He won five championships as a Laker during one of the most famous eras in history, the “Showtime” era, starring alongside Magic Johnson and James Worthy.

With 13 All-Star appearances as a Laker and three NBA MVP awards, Kareem Abdul Jabbar undoubtedly is one of the greatest players of all time and certainly belongs on the Mount Rushmore of the Lakers.

 

Magic Johnson

Depending on whom you talk to, Magic Johnson is either the first or second greatest Laker of all time.

As a Laker, Magic was a 12-time All-Star, three-time NBA MVP, three-time NBA Finals MVP and won five championships. He also holds the NBA’s all-time assists per game record with a ridiculous 11.2 APG career average.

He’s the fifth leading scorer in Lakers’ history and the absolute leader in assists and assists per game.

Magic was instrumental during the “Showtime” era, cementing himself as arguably the greatest point guard to ever play the game and, undoubtedly, landing himself a permanent spot on the Lakers’ Mount Rushmore.

 

Kobe Bryant

Even though he hasn’t officially hung up the sneakers yet, there is a permanent spot reserved on the monument for Kobe Bryant, being that he is arguably the greatest Laker to ever don the purple and gold.

Each one of the players listed above have very impressive stats and hold numerous records and achievements, but when it comes down to all-time Lakers’ records, Kobe Bryant is second to none.

Bryant holds the franchise’s all-time records in points scored, games played, field goals made, three-point field goals made, steals, minutes played, and free throws. And he is in the top-five of nearly every other relevant category. These are incredible achievements based on the numerous amounts of all-time greats that are behind him on those lists.

Without question, the Black Mamba has a permanent spot on the Lakers’ monument.

 

Conclusion

It is an incredibly difficult task to narrow down the list of Laker legends to just four, but in the end, my official Mount Rushmore of the Los Angeles Lakers is occupied by Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant.

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Lakers Rumors: Latest Buzz on Kobe Bryant and Possible Free-Agent Targets

With just a few months remaining in the NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers are closer to the doldrums of the Western Conference than a playoff spot.

It’s a tough time in Lakerland, but there is plenty of reason to be optimistic about the offseason move the team might be lining itself up for when the season finally concludes.

The Lakers might not be able to lock up a huge free agent like Carmelo Anthony or LeBron James over the summer and could very well be looking to the 2015 offseason to sign a big-name player. But with a number of consistent players that could be on the market, Los Angeles might come away with a few that will help in the future.

Along with planning for the offseason, the Lakers also have to consider what they will do with Kobe Bryant for the remainder of the season.

Here is a look at the most recent rumors about free agency and Bryant’s return.

 

Kobe Bryant On the Shelf for Remainder of Season?

While Bryant might not be a huge fan of the idea, it is becoming an all-too-real fact that the Lakers would be better off just shutting down the superstar for the rest of the year.

Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com reported this week that Bryant be out for a minimum of three more weeks than previously thought:

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was examined by team physician Dr. Steve Lombardo on Friday, and it was determined the 18-year veteran will be sidelined another three weeks before being re-evaluated because of continued pain, swelling and soreness in his injured left knee.

[…] Missing three more weeks before another evaluation brings the calendar to March 14, at which point there will be only 17 games left in the regular season for the Lakers. And even if Bryant is cleared for contact drills at that point, he would assuredly need some additional practice time before he could make a return.

The question on March 14—if he’s fully healthy by then—will be: What’s the point? Why put Bryant on the court for the last 17 games when the team doesn‘t have any hope of making the postseason?

Just trotting out Bryant in a game situation where he can risk another injury and be sidelined yet again would not only be stupid, but also prove the ignorance of the Lakers.

Bryant returned to the court for a short stint earlier in the season and has been out since that time. He may be averaging 13.8 points, 6.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds in six games this season, but there is no reason to take the risk for 17 games when the team could use him all next season.

Live to fight another day, Lakers. Don’t put an 18-year veteran on the court again for no apparent reason.

 

Luol Deng to the Lakers a Possibility

Los Angeles executives might be holding out on the biggest names during the 2015 offseason like Kevin Love, but that doesn‘t mean there aren’t names out there that they could add to improve the roster.

Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News reports that the Lakers are one of many teams interested in the services of Luol Deng of the Cleveland Cavaliers following the season:

We’re surprised the Cavs did not move Luol Deng. He’ll be gone on July 1, no later than a minute past midnight, and despite an Achilles injury that prevents him from practicing on most days, he’ll be high on everyone’s free-agent list.

The Mavs, Lakers, Celtics, Magic and Charlotte are all interested. Why not stay in Cleveland? Kyrie Irving doesn’t make players around him better and Dion Waiters is a me-first player.

The former Chicago Bulls player hasn’t been his normal self this season—you’d be upset too if you were the source of trade rumors all year then landed in Cleveland—but he’s still put up great numbers.

Averaging 17 points and three assists per game, both above his career averages, Deng might not be happy with the current situation but is making the best of it.

Though he wouldn’t be joining a perfect situation in Los Angeles either, Deng would have a chance to help the team return to the playoffs. With another scoring threat on the floor and Bryant possibly back on the court, the Lakers might just need one more component to have a much better season in 2014-15.

 

Lakers ‘Secretly Interested’ in Chris Bosh

While James and Anthony are the clear stars of the upcoming free-agency market, the Lakers appear to have their eyes set on another big-name player that could test the waters.

Chris Bosh came to the Miami Heat with James to join forces with Dwyane Wade back in 2010. But if James leaves for greener pastures, Bosh might follow suit, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports:

It seems most GMs feel Bosh (and not Anthony) is the second biggest potential prize on the upcoming market. But if James goes back to the Heat, Bosh will, too. If not, the Lakers are secretly interested, sources said.

That’s a pretty enticing move if it’s a possibility for the Lakers.

Pau Gasol is clearly on the outs with Los Angeles after several trade rumors swirled around him and he’s made his unhappiness clear with the recent play of the team, according to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times.

Replacing the 7’0″ Gasol with a 6’11” Bosh on the inside could be a quick fix for a team that needs star power to not only sell tickets in L.A. but also contend in the Western Conference.

Bosh has scored nearly the same amount of points per game (17.1) to Gasol (17.0) and has one block per game in comparison to Gasol’s 1.5 bpg. While the rebounds are not quite there for Bosh, he’s playing on a team with several other stars and could flourish with the Lakers.

It might just be a pipe dream to think that Bosh will leave the situation that he has with the Heat, but it is a possibility according to Amico, and Lakers fans could use a bit of optimism during this rough season.

 

Follow R. Cory Smith on Twitter: 

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Pau Gasol Says Los Angeles Lakers Lack Discipline

Los Angeles Lakers center Pau Gasol is a pro’s pro, a veteran of two championship teams with the purple and gold.

But these are not the Lakers of old, and the team’s lackluster play is clearly wearing thin.

Gasol could no longer conceal his disappointment after the Lakers’ 118-98 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday. He lit into both the players and coach Mike D’Antoni in a remarkably candid post-game diatribe, per ESPN Los Angeles’ Dave McMenamin:

At first blush, a road loss at Indiana wouldn’t seem like an ideal moment to call out one’s teammates for poor play. After all, the Pacers have the league’s best record (43-13) and stingiest defense (96.5 points allowed per 100 possessions). The Lakers simply lost to a far superior team.

Is Gasol correct in his statement that the players are being selfish? It’s hard to say that Los Angeles is being done in by a lack of ball movement. They came in Tuesday ranked ninth in the NBA in total assists.

Furthermore, the Lakers are still breaking in a new pair of teammates. Both starting forward Kent Bazemore and reserve guard MarShon Brooks played with L.A. for only the third time since being traded from the Golden State Warriors last week. Given the number of new players on the roster, it’s not surprising that the offense lacks a bit of flow.

In reality, the Lakers are losing games because they are not nearly big nor talented enough to survive the rigors of an NBA season. Injuries to veterans like Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash have decimated the club, and they rank in the bottom third in the league in turnover rate (20th), opponent turnover rate (29th), offensive rebound rate (28th) and defensive rebound rate (30). 

Any team that can’t hold onto the ball or get it away from the opponent, that can’t grab a rebound on either end of the court, isn’t likely to win many games.

This isn’t the first time Gasol—who will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season—has called out the coach in his walk year. He feuded with D’Antoni over his lack of post touches in December, per the Los Angeles Times‘ Bill Plaschke.

His December statements don’t really jibe with his complaints from Tuesday: Players are being too selfish and there’s no offensive flow…we should throw me the ball more often in the post, where I like it. 

Bleacher Report’s Stephen Babb believes that Gasol’s attitude toward D’Antoni might be a preview of what his next coach can expect, should he leave L.A.:

Maybe this is a localized phenomenon, but there aren’t many coaches who have more capital than D’Antoni. If Gasol can’t make this relationship work, there’s risk that his next stop will run into similar distractions…

The Lakers are out of the playoff race, and Gasol might just be on his way out of L.A. come summer.

With nothing left to play for, there’s little reason for the veteran to call out his teammates and coach. And he might even be damaging his own chances for a bigger payday once he hits the open market.

 

*All statistics courtesy of Basketball-Reference.

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Lakers News: Shutting Down Kobe Bryant for Rest of Season Only Option for L.A.

Get the artillery ready and man your battle stations, because the Los Angeles Lakers are one move away from entering full-tank mode. That one move is shutting down Kobe Bryant for the rest of the 2013-14 season.

Injuries have limited him to just six games this season, with that fractured tibia keeping him out since mid-December. Getting back was always going to be a grueling process for Bryant, and it’s been made more difficult by the fact that he’s facing a major setback.

Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com reported earlier in the week that he’ll be out for a minimum of three more weeks than previously thought:

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was examined by team physician Dr. Steve Lombardo on Friday, and it was determined the 18-year veteran will be sidelined another three weeks before being re-evaluated because of continued pain, swelling and soreness in his injured left knee.

[…]

Missing three more weeks before another evaluation brings the calendar to March 14, at which point there will be only 17 games left in the regular season for the Lakers. And even if Bryant is cleared for contact drills at that point, he would assuredly need some additional practice time before he could make a return.

Earlier in the season, the idea of getting shut down for the rest of the season was anathema to Kobe. Back in January, he said, via Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News:

“The only thing I can afford to consider is getting better and getting strong,” Bryant said before the Lakers (14-25) played the Celtics (14-26) on Friday at TD Garden. “I can’t allow myself to think any other way. I can only think about the next day. To do anything else becomes distracting. You don’t allow yourself because you give yourself wiggle room not to push yourself as hard as you possibly can. If I think I’m going to sit out, this, that and the other, then the motivation is gone. I refuse to let that happen.”

Nobody’s ever questioned Bryant’s desire to win at all costs, but discretion would be the better part of valor in these circumstances.

This is Kobe’s 18th season in the league. When you take into account his 220 playoff games, two summers with the Olympic team and transition right from high school to the pros, you get a player with about 20-plus years of basketball taking a toll on his body.

The injury to Derrick Rose proved that taking time off is no guarantee of future health, but in Bryant’s case, you’re at least hedging your bets that taking more time off is better for his body than rushing back too early.

Live to fight another day.

Charles Barkley made it very clear what he thought a month earlier on TNT, when he said that the Lakers should take their star off the court for the remainder of the 2013-14 season.

“With or without him, the Lakers suck either way,” he said (via Ben Golliver of The Point Forward). “It’s not like they’re world-beaters. When he comes back in six weeks, they’ll be even more out of it.”

At this point, there’s nothing to be gained from bringing back Bryant some time in March. The Lakers aren’t going to get out of the cellar in the Western Conference, and there won’t be enough time in the regular season for him to lead a playoff push.

So the team can be a little more competitive for a month, and then it’s all over. Los Angeles would be right back where it was before—terrible. The only differences are that its draft position may have been hurt, and Bryant would be at risk for another injury.

This is the Lakers we’re talking about. They don’t need to present the idea that they can be competitive again in order to become an attractive destination for free agents in the future. They’re one of the most successful franchises in league history.

If anything, L.A. is better served by embracing the fact that it’s awful this year and building through the draft, as the best teams in the league have done, sans the Miami Heat. Continue working to 2015 and 2016 and stop limping along in the present.

It’s a tough time to be a Lakers fan. Sometimes, the bad has to come before the good. There would be no better indicator that the organization is ready to rebuild than shutting down its one remaining legend.

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The Clock Is Running out for Kobe Bryant to Return to LA Lakers in 2014

Time is no friend of Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Things are progressing slowly for Bryant, who suffered a knee fracture six games into his return from a ruptured Achilles and has not played since Dec. 17. At the time it didn’t appear the 35-year-old’s latest brush with mortality would keep him sidelined for the remainder of 2013-14.

But that was then, this is now.

Bryant was re-examined by a team physician recently, according to The Orange County Register‘s Bill Oram, and the results weren’t encouraging. Oram says he will be evaluated again in “three weeks,” which at this point, isn’t good news.

At 19-37, the Lakers don’t have much, if anything, left to play for. With each day that Bryant remains sidelined, the likelihood of a return this season diminishes considerably, as does the need and desire for him to even come back.

Through it all, Bryant maintains he’s trying to come back this season. 

“I am [hopeful],” Bryant said of playing again this year, per The Boston Globe‘s Gary Washburn. “I just need to keep my blinders on and just focus on getting better myself and going from there.”

Blinders or not, Bryant is running out of time. Likewise, the Lakers are running out of use for him.

 

Accelerated Audition

Why would the Lakers want Bryant to return this season? As an audition.

Big things are expected from the Lakers this summer and next, when they’re projected to have financial flexibility and the means to sign players capable of pushing them outside the lottery. Landing those free agents becomes easier if prospective targets know what they’re getting into.

As I wrote in a previous column:

Whatever superstar the Lakers seek this time can have the best of both worlds if Bryant can still play. His contract runs out in 2016, at which point the keys will be handed over. Until then, be it for next season and the one after, or just the one after (Love), he can welcome the opportunity to play with a healthy Bryant.

That’s important. Incredibly important. Bryant accounts for $23.5 million of Los Angeles’ salary obligations in 2014-15 and $25 million in 2015-16, severely hamstringing the Lakers’ ability to surround him with talented role players—especially if they plan to add another star (they do).

The sooner Bryant returns, the more time he has to show he can regain form. On the flipside, the less time he has, the less likely that is to happen.

Bryant won’t come back to new-found explosion and stat lines so pretty they put Derek Jeter’s dating diamond to shame. If and when he returns, it’s going to take time for him to be effective.

When he first played this season, he hardly looked like the Bryant of last year. Though he cleared 20 points on three separate occasions through six appearances, he went for under 10 three times as well, and under five once. He was also shooting 42.5 percent from the floor overall and 18.8 percent from deep, noticeably below his career marks of 45.4 and 33.5, respectively.

This summer, when free agents are looking at Los Angeles’ immediate prospects, that’s the Bryant they’ll remember, which isn’t good. Bring him back too late this season, though, and it stands to look even worse.

“That’s the challenge of it,” he said, per Washburn. “I don’t know. I think I can [return to form].”

Not this season he can’t. Not if he won’t be eligible to return with 10-15 or fewer games remaining.

 

Disingenuous Future

One of the few things Los Angeles has left to play for this season is player evaluation.

MarShon Brooks, Kent Bazemore, Wesley Johnson and Kendall Marshall, among others, are all competing for a chance to remain part of the Lakers’ plan beyond this year. Even if Bryant returns, they will each be given ample opportunity to prove themselves worthy of an extended stay.

Ideally, though, Bryant’s return would give coach Mike D’Antoni and general manager Mitch Kupchak the opportunity to see how their current players interact and perform alongside the future Hall of Famer. That’s not going to happen at this point.

Three weeks from now, the season will be winding down. Any version of Bryant that Bazemore and Marshall, and everyone else, plays next to won’t be Bryant. The Lakers will instead get some distorted look into a future they don’t plan on having.

You might say that’s better than watching them play without Bryant—which isn’t true.

If Bryant doesn’t have enough time to recapture rhythm and flow, the Lakers are better off letting this season play out while independently grading what little healthy talent they have.

Be honest, what would you rather see: Bazemore, Marshall and others playing stellar basketball for the next 20 games, only to see them struggle alongside a marginalized Bryant for the season’s final six, or any of Los Angeles’ question marks playing unfiltered and unimpeded basketball for the remaining 26 contests?

There shouldn’t even be a question. The latter is a more effective and fulfilling scenario. That is, unless Bryant is able to return sooner rather than much, much later.

Which he’s not. 

 

Risk Outweighs Reward

Is it even worth the Lakers and Bryant going through the trouble of his comeback now?

Right now, yes. Bryant’s unrelenting motor makes 20 or so games of him chasing his former self more entertaining and useful than most in this situation. 

But Bryant isn’t going to come back right now, or even in three weeks. Best-case scenario would have Bryant returning a minimum of four or five weeks from now, when he’s had time to practice and acclimate himself outside an anti-gravity (treadmill) lifestyle.

By then, having him return is largely pointless. This is coming from someone who predicted Bryant would come back this season, and who knows Bryant can still come back this season. He’s not someone who will shut it down unless medically told to do so. If there’s an opportunity for him to return, he’s going return.

Heading into the season’s home stretch, that potential return is approaching meaningless and even in danger of becoming counterproductive.

What if Bryant comes back and plays so poorly free agents aren’t confident in his ability to play at a high level for the life of his new extension? Worse, what if he re-injures himself? And assuming he dodges injury and subpar play, what do the Lakers realistically have to gain? A win or two or three?

Los Angeles isn’t a team that rebuilds through the draft, but it’s currently tracking toward top-five lottery contention in the deepest draft class since someone by the name of LeBron James came out of high school in 2003. Impatient fanbase and front office in mind, moving forward with a top-five selection brightens an outlook already in doubt.

“Well, I just stick to the script,” Bryant said while in New Orleans for All-Star weekend, via Washburn. “Just try to get better and then go from there.”

Returning makes sense for Bryant and the Lakers if he can play soon. If unable to make “soon” a reality, then it’s better for all parties involved to let 2013-14 run its course sans Bryant instead of jeopardizing all they’re hoping to accomplish beyond this season.

 

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Kobe Bryant: Jason Collins’ Return to NBA Will Have ‘Domino Effect’

Kobe Bryant believes Jason Collins’ presence on the Brooklyn Nets will have an impact that extends well beyond the NBA and professional sports.

Hours after his signing was made official, Collins logged just over 10 minutes in Brooklyn’s win over the Los Angeles Lakers, becoming the first “openly gay athlete to play in one of America’s four major sports,” per Yahoo! Sports’ Marc. J. Spears.

Before the game, Spears asked Bryant about the significance of Collins’ barrier-breaking accomplishment and what it will potentially mean, to which Bryant offered a thoughtful answer that challenged the current context of Collins’ signing.

“His impact [Sunday night] is greater than what people think,” Bryant said. “You look at it from the context of having the first openly gay player. But they missed the domino effect that it has way beyond sports.”

What might that “domino effect” be? 

Bryant elaborated:

It’s fantastic. It sets an incredible precedent. I think the most important part about it, what I’ve learned on the issue is that one person coming out is showing this type of courage that gives others that same type of courage.

It’s dealing with a lot of issues for kids who are afraid to be themselves. Afraid to be themselves because of the peer pressure that comes with it. A lot of these kids have depression issues or they’re being teased from other kids for being different. You wind up seeing a lot of suicides, kids injuring themselves and getting hooked on things that they should not be hooked on.

The strong take Bryant provides is nothing new.

When Collins came out last April, Bryant was one of many players who took to Twitter in support of his decision:

While many have decided to analyze what Collins’ employment will mean in the professional sports context, Bryant has focused on a bigger picture all along.

Collins’ ability to land a job could have a domino effect across sports, specifically in the NBA, where players and coaches can be characterized as accepting and supportive of his decision. Maybe his presence in Brooklyn will inspire other athletes in similar situations to be more open about their sexuality.

But Bryant is also correct that Collins may have a bigger impact off the court, where anyone—not just athletes—living in fear or secrecy could see him as the ultimate role model.

As Bryant told Spears:

“There is a kid out there who … is going to say, ‘Jason gave me strength in dark moments to be brave. He gave me courage to step up and accept myself for who I am despite what others might be saying or the public pressures. He gave me strength and bravery to be myself.'”

Issues this sensitive and unprecedented always have some sort of ripple effect, good or bad. Early returns on Collins’ groundbreaking achievement suggest that the NBA, and perhaps all professional sports, will be better off for the opportunity he has received and the new standard in place. 

The type of impact Collins has off the court remains to be seen, and it will likely take some time before we know what corollaries can be drawn between him and the cultural responses he generates outside basketball.

“He is a basketball player given a basketball opportunity,” Jarron Collins said about his brother, via Spears.

For now, the focus is on Collins, the history-making basketball player who has changed professional sports forever.

Soon enough, Bryant and those like him believe the focus will be on Collins, the role model who made a lasting impact on lives inside and outside sports.

 

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The One Matchup Kobe Bryant Probably Won’t Win and the Rematch He Might

LOS ANGELES — “Let the best man win.”

That’s what Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni said late Friday night, looking ahead to the rest of his team’s season with a lengthening list of healthier bodies in search of playing time. A lot of guys have contracts to earn and plenty to prove.

But the actual best man, lest anyone forget, is Kobe Bryant.

Bryant also has plenty to prove, even if the NBA’s richest contract is already signed.

The problem is his body still isn’t close to healthy, and it looks like he won’t play again this season.

After all the hype about his legendary will and incomparable work ethic going up against the Achilles tendon rupture and Father Time, Bryant might wind up losing this game, 76-6.

He has stood for only six games this season—and he’ll have sat for 76 if he doesn’t come back. That’s one blowout victory for Father Time, who is sure to point out during the on-court postgame winner’s interview that all the while Bryant has been sitting, he’s only getting older.

Asked if Bryant will play again this season, D’Antoni said, “I have no answer for that one.”

Bryant’s fractured knee won’t be reexamined by Lakers doctor Steve Lombardo for another three weeks. Given the level of ongoing soreness and swelling remaining when examined Friday night, it’s completely possible that Bryant won’t be close enough to healed even to warrant an MRI or bone scan when that time is up in mid-March.

Given the season ends in mid-April and Bryant would need conditioning work and practice time, it’s completely probable that he is done for the season.

For the Lakers to get their choice of someone in the draft to play with Bryant the next two years, him not playing and the team not winning isn’t all bad. As far as the Lakers and Bryant himself getting a gauge of how good he still is, it is very bad.

Bryant had just gotten to the point where he was feeling pretty certain about what he could still do post-Achilles when that knee buckled on Dec. 17, and the surprising fracture in the same leg was the result. About the only definitive game plan he has now is to play much more pickup ball than usual this offseason, knowing he needs to relearn the flow of the game and learn the limitations of his eroded game.

Bryant said Sunday at the NBA All-Star Game that he was still hopeful of making improvement in the knee in the next month and playing this season. When asked if he’ll still be able to drop 40 points easily after he does come back, he said, “I don’t know. That’s the challenge of it: I don’t know. I think I can. But everything I read from players is that they all think they can go out there and score 40 or 50.

“But it’s not the mind that wears down, it’s the body.”

That’s not the sort of concession one is used to hearing from Bryant as his career has advanced. He’s not so big on concessions in any context.

But if he’s going to lose this game 76-6, he’s not in great position to talk big anymore. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak, who signed Bryant to that contract extension before seeing him play at all this season, took up for Bryant in saying he’d seen enough this season to feel good about the major recovery.

“I was completely confident that the Achilles injury was going to have no play in his effectiveness,” said Kupchak, who also said no one should doubt Bryant won’t play next season at “a high level.”

Then again, Kupchak was definitely off when equating the current anxiety of Lakers fans over the awful season to the feelings in 2004-05, when the Lakers had traded away Shaquille O’Neal and missed the playoffs for the only time in the past 19 years.

“It’s the exact same thing,” Kupchak said.

Well, there are two major differences. Kupchak identified one of them in mentioning Jerry Buss was alive back then, so “people may have been more patient.” Kupchak didn’t mention the other difference.

Back then, Bryant was the team’s centerpiece at 26…and he was spry enough that an 81-point game was still in his future.

Now he’s the team’s centerpiece at 35, injured almost all season and unable to deliver the usual cocksure, smart-alecky retort when someone wonders if he can ever post a 40-point game again.

It’s not the exact same thing.

And, as Bryant knows, it never will be.

His challenge, which he also knows, is to make it the best it can still be, no matter if that isn’t until next season.

Even his legendary Facebook manifesto the night of his Achilles tear included seeds of doubt that he wound up stomping rather than let sprout. These days, he understandably wonders what’s going on even more.

But can still bring himself back to that place of self-belief?

Asked if he’s concerned his body is simply giving out on him, this was his answer:

“Of course. Absolutely. That’s part of the excitement of the challenge. That level of uncertainty. ‘Is this it?’ sort of thing. ‘Are my best days behind me?’ sort of thing.

“And to have those conversations with yourself and not be intimidated by that and not succumbing to that is part of the challenge. It’s really the biggest challenge, saying, ‘Well, maybe this is the end. But then again, maybe it’s not.’ And it is my responsibility to do all that I can to make sure that it’s not.”

It does look like Bryant will lose this season series to Father Time.

Eventually, though, they will meet again.

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Is Kobe Bryant Ready to Accept Big Changes on the LA Lakers?

The Los Angeles Lakers are poised to undergo abundant changes this summer as a means of overhauling the roster. Whether future Hall of Fame shooting guard Kobe Bryant is ready to accept those modifications remains to be seen.

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Derek Fisher—who won five titles as Bryant’s teammate with the Lakers—said “The Black Mamba” wants to win another championship before retiring.

“There’s a lot more to it than just him coming back from the injury that is impacting him psychologically,” Fisher said, per Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. “At this point in his career, he’s also thinking about having an opportunity to win a championship again before retiring.”

Bryant’s desire to win another title in the twilight of his career has been well-established, but his actions to this point don’t fervently echo that stance.

 

Pay Cut? ‘Nah’

Some wondered whether the 35-year-old would take a pay cut to ensure the front office could put a championship-caliber supporting cast around him.

That turned out not to be the case, as Bryant told Serena Winters of Lakers Nation in an interview last summer:

“I’m not taking any (pay cut) at all—that’s the negotiation that you have to have. For me to sit here and say, ‘Oh yeah, I’m just going to take a huge pay cut.’ Nah, I’m going to try to get as much as I possibly can.”

Fast forward to November, and the Lakers star inked a two-year, $48.5 million extension without even hitting the court. That prompted varying levels of criticism from media members.

Grantland’s Zach Lowe wrote, “Making Bryant the highest-paid player in the NBA over the next two seasons is, objectively, not a smart thing.”

Bryant, however, defended his hefty new contract, per Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski.

“Most of us have aspirations for being businessmen when our playing careers are over,” Bryant said. “But that starts now. You have to be able to wear both hats. You can’t sit up there and say, ‘Well I’m going to take substantially less because there’s public pressure,’ because all of a sudden, if you don’t take less, you don’t give a crap about winning. That’s total bull—-.”

Since that time, it’s been revealed by Forbes‘ Kurt Badenhausen that Bryant earned $34 million in endorsements during the 2013 calendar year—which is more than his 2013-14 league-leading salary of more than $30.4 million. So if anyone in the NBA could afford a pay cut to help his organization win, it’s Bryant.

Instead, the Laker legend stuck to his plan “to get as much as I possibly can.”

 

Resistance to Change

Bryant is clearly one of the most marketable stars in the NBA today, even as a 35-year-old hobbled veteran. From that standpoint, he’s worth the $78.9 million price tag he’s set to earn through this season and the next two.

With that said, the two-time scoring champion has been resistant to change in Lakerland.

Despite Pau Gasol’s on-court decline in recent years—leading to more trade rumors than anyone has the patience to count—Bryant has remained in his teammate’s corner as one of his firmest backers.

“How much more am I supposed to support a guy, besides making a Pau flag and riding in there on a horse with Spanish-colored paint on my face like I’m the Spaniard Williams Wallace or something,” Bryant quipped in January, per Greg Beacham of the Associated Press. “I don’t know what else to do.”

Gasol somehow stayed put through the Feb. 20 NBA trade deadline, but the same can’t be said for teammate Steve Blake, who was dealt to the Golden State Warriors for Kent Bazemore and MarShon Brooks.

Bryant was not pleased with the decision from higher-ups to move the 33-year-old point guard, and he voiced his opinion on the matter via Twitter:

The move accomplished cutting only $2 million from the cap, which didn’t even get the Lakers under the luxury tax threshold. Bazemore and/or Brooks may thrive under head coach Mike D’Antoni as Blake did, but each of their contracts are set to expire at season’s end regardless.

As a result, this deal was a bit of a head-scratcher for the Lakers since more moves to cut salary didn’t follow.

Bryant’s staunch attitude to stand up for longtime Lakers is either admirable or an attempt to posture as a good teammate—he has been known to call out colleagues through the media in the past.

In any case, it’s clear that Bryant has been defiant in the face of an ever-changing roster.

 

No Free Agency Input?

Bryant may have shot himself in the foot through recent statements about his involvement with the front office.

According to Brett Pollakoff of NBC Sports Pro Basketball Talk, Bryant doesn’t want to be informed of potential offseason moves and acquisitions this summer.

“In all honesty, I don’t want it,” he said.

Bryant has said he wants to lay low and let Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak and owner Jim Buss do their jobs. Despite that fact, the only move the front office decided to make at the deadline was met with impassioned frustration from Bryant.

Given how personally the Lakers star took the Blake trade, it’s logical for him to include himself in the franchise’s offseason planning. But he doesn‘t want to do so.

Per Pollakoff, Bryant went on to say:

For people who don’t have the same kind of competitiveness or commitment to winning, then I become an absolute pain in the neck. Because I’m going to drag you into the gym every single day. If you need to be drug in, that’s what I’m going to do.

But for players that have that level of commitment, it’s very, very easy. And we can wind up enhancing the entire group and elevating them to that type of level. But if we don’t have that commitment, man, I’ll absolutely be very, very tough to get along with. No question about it.

Admittedly, the 16-time All-Star is putting an exorbitant amount of pressure on Kupchak’s shoulders. He didn’t support the Blake trade (openly denouncing it), supports Pau (who Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding believes will be gone this summer via free agency) and claims he’ll “absolutely be very, very tough to get along with” if his cohorts don’t display the same competitiveness and work ethic.

Unless Kupchak makes a plethora of savvy signings this summer, he’ll have an ornery star on his hands—which is never a good recipe.

 

Where Do Lakers Go Now?

As currently constructed, the Lakers have only three players guaranteed to be on the 2014-15 roster: Bryant ($23.5 million), Steve Nash ($9.701 million) and Robert Sacre ($915,243).

That number could jump to a total of six if Nick Young picks up his player option (worth slightly more than $1.2 million), Kendall Marshall’s nonguaranteed contract becomes guaranteed and Ryan Kelly gets retained via qualifying offer.

It doesn’t take an NBA analyst to realize that squad isn’t going to compete for a championship.

Due to that, the Lakers not only need to make marquee signings to bolster the talent level, but they must also fill out the 12-man roster with viable role players who can contribute on any given night.

Changes are on the horizon in Lakerland, and another one few people are talking about is Bryant’s role.

With injury troubles, age and diminishing skills, Bryant is still the highest-paid player on the roster and in the entire league. But is he willing to surrender the alpha dog role moving forward if it enhances LA’s title odds?

It took Dwyane Wade a year to realize he was the Robin to LeBron James’ Batman, but the Miami Heat rattled off two straight championships after he did so.

Can Bryant do the same if surrounded by the correct supporting cast? Only he, and his ego, can decide that.

 

All salary information courtesy of ShamSports.

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LA Lakers Will Not Rush Kobe Bryant to Return This Season

Don’t be surprised if Kobe Bryant doesn’t return to action soon, Los Angeles Lakers fans.

As “The Black Mamba” continues to recover from a fractured lateral tibial plateau in his left leg—which he sustained Dec. 17 against the Memphis Grizzlies—general manager Mitch Kupchak insists that the organization will not pressure the veteran to return quickly, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin:

“We’re not going to push him to get back,” Kupchak said. “I don’t see why you would. We’ve made a commitment to him for two more years, and I just don’t know why we’d [push him to come back]. But if he feels he’s ready and he’s in shape and he gets the doctor’s approval, then there’s no reason why he couldn’t do that.”

Including a 134-108 blowout loss against the Houston Rockets on Feb. 19, Bryant has missed 30 games since his latest setback (49 games total).

The 35-year-old veteran said during the NBA All-Star break that his recovery is “coming slowly” and that “it’s been a slow process,” per the Los Angeles Times’ Ben Bolch.

With 54,208 career minutes played (regular season plus playoffs), it’s becoming clear that Bryant’s body is not as resilient as it has been in years past. He’s clocked numerous miles on the odometer, and now Father Time is starting to nip at his heels.

The future Hall of Famer signed a two-year, $48.5 million extension in November before he had played a single minute in 2013-14. Given that the Lakers have invested a huge amount of money in the five-time champion through the 2015-16 season, it makes perfect sense that they don’t intend to rush his recuperation.

The narrative might have been different if the Lakers were competing for a playoff berth in 2014. As it stands, though, they are losers of four straight and have a Western Conference-worst 18-36 record overall—tied with the lowly Sacramento Kings.

The roster has been utterly ravaged by injuries, which led to signings of guards Kendall Marshall and Manny Harris (the latter has since been waived). Plenty of role players are experiencing career years offensively under head coach Mike D’Antoni, but that hasn’t been enough to overcome the league’s 25th-ranked defense and an overall lack of talent.

On top of it all, Kupchak and Co. decided to trade veteran point guard Steve Blake at the 2014 NBA trade deadline to the Golden State Warriors for seldom-used role players Kent Bazemore and MarShon Brooks.

Bryant wasn’t a fan of the move, to say the least. He took to Twitter to voice his displeasure over losing a close teammate.

Needless to say, the Mamba’s 18th professional season has been a nightmare.

Even if he returns and plays out of his mind, the Lakers are still going to struggle to win games. I wouldn’t blame Bryant for simply focusing on his rehab in order to return at 100 percent for 2014-15, but that isn’t his plan of action.

The two-time NBA scoring champion still has time before deciding to get his feet wet in game action again. It appears that moment will occur later rather than sooner, which is honestly best for Bryant’s long-term health.

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LA Lakers Front Office Whiffs at NBA Trade Deadline, but Bigger Tests Await

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The future course of the Los Angeles Lakers wasn’t shaped at the NBA trade deadline Thursday.

It won’t be dictated by May 20, the next landmark date as far as L.A. is concerned: the draft lottery. The actual June 26 draft, as uncommonly important as this one could be for the Lakers, isn’t make-or-break, either.

There are no two ways about it: Which free agents the team selects in the next three summers, and which free agents select L.A., will set the entire table.

Everything else is a newer salt shaker here, a cleaner napkin there, maybe a place for Jim Buss to hang his baseball cap in the corner.

The trade deadline was a failure of very small proportions for the Lakers. They were unable to move closer to securing some of those small, better pieces via future draft picks in exchange for outgoing veterans Pau Gasol, Jordan Hill and Chris Kaman.

General manager Mitch Kupchak could not sell his counterparts, few of whom were buyers, on deals that would give Los Angeles better than just financial savings the rest of this season. Kupchak said the available offers consisted of “no basketball components…The expression would be ‘a salary dump.'”

Kupchak flatly said: “The organization is not motivated by saving ‘X’ amount of dollars.” There has been a lot of misplaced concern about the Lakers needing to get out of the luxury tax this season to avoid future repeat tax penalties, but their payroll structure makes it almost impossible for them to be in the tax again the next few seasons. So that isn’t a problem.

What really matters is what Kupchak said when I asked him about deciding whether to set that table with the salary-cap space this offseason versus next offseason.

“The one thing you don’t want to do is make a bad decision with your money,” Kupchak said. “We do have a lot of money, and what we don’t want to do is make commitments to players for long periods of time that may just put your team in the middle of the pack. So you’ve used up your flexibility and at the end of the year, you’re 41-41 or you get 46 wins or 43…you know what I mean?

“Then you’re middle of the pack. You’re not giving the people of Los Angeles what they expect. We’re not bringing to the table what we expect to bring to the table. So that’s what you don’t want to do. You want to use your money wisely and get players who can help you win at a high level.”

That is hardly an expression of confidence and aggressiveness that a championship cornerstone awaits the Lakers in free agency this offseason, no matter how much Kobe Bryant wants the team to fix this sooner rather than later.

“What we have coming up this offseason with the cap space and what we have ahead of ourselves seems to be right in the Lakers’ wheelhouse in terms of turning things around pretty quickly,” Bryant said at All-Star Weekend.

“We have had summers like this (and) they have never really faltered. They have normally made really sound and excellent decisions that put us right back in contention. So I think this offseason is right in their wheelhouse.”

So Bryant might be a little disappointed this summer. He was already “not cool…AT ALL,” according to his Twitter post, with Steve Blake being sent out for two middling prospects Wednesday night.

But one of the few things Kupchak says is a certainty is Bryant still being able to do his job (which isn’t being the GM). Said Kupchak: “There’s really no reason why anyone should speculate as to whether Kobe can get back next year at a high level.”

Bryant wants next season to mean something more than him playing well, though. And the question is whether Kupchak can possibly make next season that great for the team.

Whereas some people might draw a line between winning and losing teams at that 41-41 mark, Kupchak’s philosophy has always been to evaluate whether L.A. can get into that group of teams that has a chance to win the title.

You read between the lines of his quotes, and you should be able to grasp that he hopes to use this offseason to upgrade the Lakers’ talent, not get back into that elite group of contenders right away.

Kupchak referred to using the next “six or 12 or 18 months” to do what they want: “The organization has chosen to follow Dr. (Jerry) Buss’ legacy, which is to win championships.” Kupchak also directly stated: “It may take more than one year to build, I don’t know.”

“Our hope and our desire is that next year will be a lot better than this year,” Kupchak said. “We certainly have the tools to begin that process.”

Beginning is far from completing.

Pulling a sign-and-trade deal with Gasol in the offseason to send him to a capped-out team could still net meaningful assets. Maybe Kevin Love sells the Minnesota Timberwolves by draft night that they’re somehow better off trading him to get a kid they covet with the Lakers’ first-round pick. Yet Kupchak clearly is saying he cannot rush the crux of the process, especially with big question marks in 2014 free agency.

As much as everyone around the Lakers wants to accelerate the rebuild, which is one reason the trade deadline amid all this losing morphed into some epic opportunity for activity—change something, anything!—Kupchak understands the best chance to do this right is in 2015 free agency.

 

Follow lead Lakers writer Kevin Ding on Twitter.

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