I am about to say four words I thought I never would say — I feel for Kobe.
But before we get to my heartfelt sentiment to the best player in the NBA right now, I have some issues to get off my chest.
The NBA Brass
I'll admit, I haven't watched a full game since Game 4 of the NBA semifinals, when Robert Horry's bush league foul ended the season for the Suns. I think that about sums it up. How David Stern and company were able to argue with a straight face, and that the suspension of Boris Diaw and Amare Stoudemire were legitimate is beyond my understanding. Not only did the NBA ruin the only valuable series left after Golden State wilted to Utah (will get to that in a second), it also turned off a lot of fans who are tired to Stern and Co. ruining the NBA with rules that no longer make sense in the NBA.
I, like everybody else reading this, couldn't go anywhere without seeing multiple views of the incident. Robert Horry hip-checking Steve Nash into the boards. Stoudemire, Diaw, and every coach for the Suns running to their star's aid. Stoudemire and Diaw taking a few steps realizing they were teetering on the verge of suspension and returning to the bench. Did they commit any real sin? Do they add gas to flame started by Horry? No. Did they even step onto the court? No.
Please don't mention Tim Duncan and Bruce Bowen stepping onto the court earlier in the game. They did, but they were left off the suspension list due rule interpretation, something that should have done for the Suns sake. Robert Horry went from Big Shot Bob to a goon in a mere seconds and it sucks. The NBA could have saved the last good series left, but they decided to play lawman, and the NBA suffered.
NBA Referees
I haven't seen so many officials take over so many games in a playoff series ever. In the conference finals alone, the calls have been so random that no one knows what's going on. Even the referees themselves. In Game 2 of the Cavs/Pistons series, LeBron James was fouled going to the hoop, but no call, yet any where else, any other time, I guarantee they call that. They called it in the Finals last year went Dwyane Wade went to the hoop, and his bucket won the game. In the Utah/Golden State series, they utterly destroyed any chance the Warriors had in Game 5.
I was watching the 1997 NBA Finals the other day, Michael Jordan's first championship against the Jazz. The thing that stood out over everything else was the refs absolutely swallowed their whistles in crunch time, and just let them play. Be it Michael Jordan, John Stockton, Karl Malone, or Jud Buechler. It did not matter. The refs were not going to be the reason for any team winning or losing.
How is this different from the Eastern Conference Finals Game 2? The NBA refs have bailed out numerous star players the past five years, to the point that no one runs plays at the end of games — they crash hard to the hoop and wait for the foul. In fact, the new NBA rule enforced this year regarding technicals and disputing calls is a direct result of shoddy NBA officiating. I guarantee if the NBA officials did their job, there would be no reason for a new rule, or Utah fans screaming "Steve Javie sucks" at the end of Game 4.
Players Flopping
Despite popular opinion, the flop did not emerge from the European ranks. I can remember Dennis Rodman being the king of that during his entire career. What happened after that is all the Euros noticed how Rodman was getting a lot of calls and thought. "hey, I remember that from when I played soccer, it worked then, it has to work now, and the best part is, I can't get a yellow card" (what they do in soccer if it is a blatant flop).
It is one of the main reason I despised the end of the Utah/Golden State series. Andrei Kirilinko's flop off a missed free throw was so blatant and so completely and utterly horrendous that I wanted to throw up that a foul was called thus sealing the game and series for the Jazz.
It has gotten to the point that people are now flopping on offense, defense, in the locker room on free throws, everywhere. I was crossing the street, and a car came racing right next to this guy, and he took a flop, no doubt looking for some extra settlement money. Okay, maybe that may be a bit of a stretch, but my point still stands. Flopping is no longer coy or a cagey move, but rather an absolute disgrace to the game and a technical should be given any time one is caught. That is the only sufficient response to such a disgraceful act.
Regarding Kobe's Antics
It was only a few months ago that I thought Kobe Bryant was a disgraceful act. How he ripped Gilbert Arenas after he burned the "Black Mamba" for 60 was disgraceful, and I had never liked him since everything went public in Colorado and the subsequent dismantling of the Lakers. I didn't like the Lakers, but any player who ripped apart a championship team because of a super-ego was something that could not be respected.
After living in Los Angeles and hearing the constant bickering by fans and pundits about the fate of the Lakers, the recent remarks by Kobe, and the criticism that followed from columnists, the only emotion I have left is compassion.
As the trade deadline loomed near this year, everyone believed the Lakers needed to do something. Get a point guard, a power forward, anything. The Lakers, however, refused to put Andrew Bynum as trade bait, the only respectable asset Los Angeles has. The reason is they could not part ways with what they called the future of the Lakers in Bynum.
I'm sorry, but does it make sense to anybody else when you have the best player in the NBA, you are more concerned about 5-10 years down the line, when you're star is no longer a star? Andrew Bynum is 18-years-old, almost 19. Kobe is 28. Bryant has played for 11 years, logging an ungodly amount of minutes. He has maybe three years of peak play, after that, the free fall begins. He has just put up too many minutes and played in too many games.
Why not build for now, try and compete for a championship, and when Kobe decides to hang it up, start to rebuild? Instead, the Lakers are content with flirting with the last spots in the playoffs. The former dynasty is not building assets and acquiring talent, it just sitting there like a drunken uncle.
At the beginning of the decade, it was written in stone the Lakers were the team of the 2000s. Four Finals appearances in five years. Three NBA championships. Now, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who still believes the Lakers belong in that discussion. San Antonio with two titles and even Detroit with just one are looked to as the cream of the decade. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
So Mitch Kupchak, I know you are inept, I know you don't know how to build a winner, just how to crush one, but I plead with you, for the sake of the game, for the sake of your best player, do something! Resign. Trade somebody. Make a free agent signing. Do something, whether or not you like or dislike Kobe, I lean more to the latter; he deserves to have support. No offense to Lamar Odom, but he is not it.
The Lakers need a post presence. Not in five years. NOW! Someone to necessitate a double team, someone to post and kick, anyone to take the pressure off of Kobe. Instead, he has Odom, a good player who is more a distributor more than an offensive juggernaut who can alleviate some of the pressure on Bryant.
May I make a suggestion? Put Odom, Brown and his expiring contract, Aaron McKie and his expiring contract, and maybe another piece and go get yourself a player. And no, not a role player or a player to play alongside Andrew Bynum in five years.
Earlier this week, Kobe asked for a trade. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Do I despise him for quitting on the Lakers? Absolutely not. Do I think he's selfish? Absolutely. The Lakers drove him to this point, however. No star athlete wants to wade in mediocrity, and the Lakers have been content with .500. Do I think the Lakers should trade Kobe? Absolutely not. Make a trade, do something, and I guarantee Bryant's mood will change. He has just reached the boiling point and I can't blame him.
I know Kobe hasn't been the most karma worthy person for things to turn around for him. He has recently put his General Manager under the bus, but rightfully so. His history of placing blame is also not a short list. But I'm asking you to do this not for Kobe, not for the Lakers, nor their fans. Do it for the fans of basketball, do it for those who revel greatness. Heck, do it for Jack Nicholson.
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