The Seven Simple Truths Lakers Fans NEED to Face

 

Who are these people?!

How long has it been since the Los Angeles Lakers have been THIS bad? It’s not just that the Lakers are bad, it’s that they’re genuinely not interesting. Back in 2004-05, the year after LA traded Shaq to Miami, the Lakers finished 34-48 and missed the playoffs. They sucked but we had YOUNG Kobe. We had hope because we had the best player in the league and even if the team sucked, Kobe was gunning for 35 points a night and that was at least interesting.

The Lakers are as hopeless and uninteresting as the damn Bobcats right now. There are too many things to talk about as far as fixing the team, but that is not what this article is about. This post is about Lakers fans. Now, I fancied myself a diehard until saw the things some fans were saying about this team. This season has really helped me understand why people hate the Lakers and it’s fans.

Lakers fans are as passionate as it gets and winning has spoiled some of us beyond reality. I’m not a fan of Duke in college basketball, or the Yankees in baseball, or the Cowboys in football but I am a Lakers fans and get why people hate these type of teams. They win, and they win a lot (Not recently in the case of any of these teams anyway.) Winning breeds jealousy. So I get it, but the complete irrationality of some Lakers fans have become too much to stomach. So as a completely rational fan I figured it’s time to SCHOOL my fellow Lakers lovers. Remember I do this because I care. (This list is in NO particular order.)

1. The Lakers SUCK and ARE GOING TO KEEP SUCKING AT LEAST ONE MORE YEAR

Last year even with a healthy Kobe, (until D’Antoni ran him into the ground like a mad jockey riding a Shetland Pony in Kentucky Derby) and semi-healthy Dwight Howard, LA BARELY made it to the playoffs. This collection of players in LA is SOOO bad that even with two of the top 10 players in the league last season LA was only an 8-seed and STILL got sweep in the 1^st round.  THAT’S HOW BAD LA IS!

Get use to seeing this face and THOSE type of scores.

There are ZERO trades to make, no marquee free agents are talking about coming to LA, no sure fire franchise player in the draft (ala no Duncan, Shaq, or LeBron. Anthony Davis was the last one.) and our best player, Kobe, is coming off the worst injury possible. This is not a quick fix situation. Get all those fantasies of every player and their grandmothers coming to LA. Irving isn't coming. Melo isn't coming. And at least not next season, Love isn't coming. You know who is coming back? Mike D'Antoni.

2.  Kobe IS NOT the best player in the league and HASN’T been for awhile.

This is one of the hardest things for LA fans to admit, but let’s have a moment Lakers Nation. Let me talk to you for a second. I love Kobe. Dude’s easily my favorite player ever, but I love the name on the FRONT of jersey far more than I do Kobe Bryant. The Lakers were great before Kobe and will be after Kobe. Now if you honestly think a 35 year-old shooting guard with 18 seasons, 45,000 minutes played, that's coming off of THE WORST INJURY IN SPORTS, is the best player in the NBA, then… well then you’re just fucking crazy. Kobe can’t stay in front of cardboard cutout anymore defensively and he’s basically the NBA equivalent of a DH in baseball. And I’m going to assume after what happened when he did come back, another injury, this is going to KEEP happening.

Like all of Laker Nation, I love Kobe too,
but some fans are like mama bears protect cubs.

It’s not that I’m “hating” on Kobe, but merely pointing out the fact that he’s just old. Something he's been for a minute but now he's old AND hurt. But there’s nothing wrong with that. This stage of a player's career happens to everyone. He’s got nothing left to prove to me, you or anyone. One of the best ever, but currently NOT the best. Right now today as of March 25, 2013 I can name about 15 players I’d rather have. And the same was true of Michael Jordan in March of 2003 when he was on the Wizards.

3. Kobe’s MASSIVELY OVERPAID!

Want to hear something really messed up? NBA players are underpaid. Now that sounds crazy saying that people who are running around bouncing a ball playing a game and getting paid millions of dollars are underpaid but check this out. Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira would be the 2^nd highest paid player in the league. When a guy that's not even the best player on his team and not one of best 25-50 players in all of baseball makes more that all but one player in the NBA that’s an issue.

That being said, Kobe has been WELL compensated for his services to the Purple and Gold. LA shouldn’t be paying anyone, even Kobe, for PAST performance. I could see giving him this deal if Kobe got "short changed" early on in his prime but he didn't. In fact, Kobe’s the highest paid player this season, still brings in more dollars off the court than anyone else and his total career earnings are top three ever.

 In a salary cap driven league, tying that much money to one player is already stupid, but to gurantee that much money to a player coming off injury, his 17th season, and who got injured as soon as he came back for the aforementioned injury was damn near negligent. Paying Kobe all that money is like putting an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet in a strip joint; it’s just an all around bad idea and no wins. But if you still aren’t convinced, ask yourself this; if Lakers brass could go back in time and do that deal again, do they do it?

BONUS: Kobe's 5 Rings AREN'T A VALID REASON TO SAY HE'S BEST. By that logic, Robert Worry was better than him and Jordan.

4. LeBron James is the best player in the NBA, has been for a while and the gap between him and next best is not close. 

I’m 90 percent sure most of you just stopped reading, but saying LeBron James isn’t the best is akin to saying water isn’t wet or fire isn’t hot. It’s just illogical. Dude has the 3^rd highest scoring average EVER. EVER. There haven’t been 5 players ever than can average 27 points, 8 boards and 8 assists a game,

Sorry, but right now and, for the pass three seasons,
the guy in black has been better.

You remember how crazy people looked bashing Kobe when he was dropping 81 or when he dropped 50 six games in row? Remember how completely petty those people looked because they weren't judging Kobe on his ON COURT ABILITY? Lakers fans, we look the same way when we say LeBron sucks. Lakers fans are OBSESSED with bashing LeBron like racists republicans are with bashing President Obama.

Look, I didn't like Michael Jordan growing up. Mainly because my first real lasting memory of my Lakers involved MJ killing LA in five games during the Bulls first title. That being said I at least recognized MJ's greatness. So why can’t we just do that with LBJ? It’s like getting to watch Jordan, or Magic, or Wilt. We’re watching an all timer, at his peak no less, and even though he’s not a Laker, we can still recognize game.

5. The Miami Heat are NOT a rival for the Lakers!

How many times has LA and Miami met in the Finals? I’ll wait…. Oh the answer's zero you say! That’s why LA and Miami are NOT RIVALS. The Lakers have NEVER been eliminated from the playoffs by the Heat. That's why seeing Lakers fan rooting for the Spurs in Finals last season after they (the Spurs) waxed the floor with LA in round one was crazy to me. How many times has LA tasted the bitterness of defeat at the hand of Duncan and the Spurs?

Spurs, Celtics, and Clippers are far more natural rivals as there is PLAYOFF HISTORY BETWEEN THE TEAMS. (Clippers not so much, but they’re in same building so…) Those games mean more, so until a bond is forged in the heat (pardon the pun) of playoff fires, l look at the Miami Heat like Muhammad Ali looked at the Vietnam War in 1969. “Ain’t no Viet Cong ever call me nigger.” “Ain’t no Heat ever stopped my team from winning a title.”

6. All our problems are NOT Jim Buss’ fault.

The funny thing is Jim Buss has been in charge of things for the Lakers longer than you think. Who do you think drafted Bynum? Or helped with the Gasol trade? He’s done some great things for LA. Sure the Lakers are a mess right now, but it’s not from a lack of effort on Buss' part. He DID trade for Chris Paul. He DID trade for Dwight Howard.

This is a shadow few men could get out of.
Cut Jim Buss some slack. He's following the best ever.

Both were smart/box office moves at the time. The Paul failure was not his fault and Howard just wasn’t built for LA. He’s (Buss) a problem, but let us not forget that the dude tried to stop this from happening, Had David Stern and the NBA not owned the Hornets, Paul is STILL here and at the time we hadn’t traded Bynum so we clearly would have flipped him for Howard. On a team of Howard, Paul and Kobe, Kobe's still alpha dog and LA has pieces in place after Kobe retires. Didn't work out but he did try.

7. Our 16 titles mean jackshit right now.

I get it, I get it. It’s about team pride and blah, blah, blah. But just like I don’t let Cowboys fans, or Norte Dame fans, use PAST GLORY to talk about their team's CURRENT circumstances, we can’t use it either. We suck right now. Magic ain’t walking through the tunnel. Shaq ain’t walking through the tunnel and neither are those titles.

Look Lakers fans, we’ve been on the top of the mountain so long that our heads are spinning from the lack of oxygen so I get why some of y'all are nuts. We can’t always be good. We can't get every free agent. And we can't win the title every season. I know this wasn't easy to read but someone needed to say it. Every team has to go through this. Now it’s our time to go through it, but it's tough because we're Lakers fans. We NEVER go through this. We’re at the bottom but if history holds true…That won’t last too long.

History On the Horizon (My 5 Biggest Questions Going Into the 2013-14 NBA Season)

Jordan’s Bulls. Shaq and Kobe’s Lakers. Russell’s Celtics. Miken’s Lakers. That’s it. Two titles in a row is nothing to sneeze at by any means, but three in a row is the stuff of legend. NBA immortality. That’s what’s at stake for LeBron James and the Miami Heat going into the 2013-14 NBA season. James enters his 10^th season CLEARLY, whether you like it or admit it or not, entrenched as the league’s best player. Never has his “King” moniker been so fitting as James is the reigning and consecutive NBA MVP, Finals MVP and NBA champion. (Something only Jordan and Russell did by the way.) I mean, you just gotta give it up at this point. The man is one of the best basketball players ever and he's at the apex of his powers. You're going to get to say you watched LeBron James play basketball and that's going to mean something one day. (Plus this commercial is cool as hell. It's getting harder and harder not to like this guy.)

In the offseason, Miami added former number one pick, walker, zombie, Greg Oden and the always complicated, Michael Beasley. These are low risk, HIGH reward moves that could help Miami cement themselves into NBA history, but here's the issue with that. The last team to make three straight finals where the Los Angeles Lakers from ’08-’10. That team could only win two of three and the Heat are in the same spot as my Lakers a few years ago. After three straight years of going to the edge of the playoffs, does Miami even get back to the Finals let alone win it?

Getting to the Finals four times in a row is damn near impossible. (The last team that did it was the Boston Celtics from ’84-87. And they only won two of four. And that was with the original "Big Three" Bird, McHale and Parrish.) The injury bug has merely “nipped” at the Heat's heels and nagging injuries to Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh didn’t derail their title hopes these past two season, but does that luck last? No matter who your team is, if you love the NBA and the history of the game, you have to at least understand why this is the biggest question going into this season. CAN THE HEAT THREE-PEAT?

2: Can Rose rise with the Bulls?

The Chicago Bulls are the best threat to beat the Heat almost by default. With the return of superstar guard and former MVP Derrick Rose, the Bulls looked primed to truly challenge Miami. To play devil's advocate, a few years ago, and at full strength, the Bulls still fell to Miami in only five games, so what’s different now you say? Maturity.

You always have to wait your turn in the NBA. The Bulls were 41-41 in 2009-’10 before they took a huge leap to 62-20 in 2010-'11. Teams never get that good and win right way. Rose got hurt during the playoffs the next year and last season the Bulls lost to Miami again in five games. But now the Bulls are more seasoned, they have a much better two-guard in Jimmy Butler, Deng and Noah are improved and healthy to boot. There are a few challengers in the East but none as intriguing as the Chicago Bulls and Derrick Rose.

3. How will Dwight Howard play now that he’s “happy” again?

A few years ago I watched Dwight Howard’s Magic play Derrick Rose’s Bulls live in Orlando and I took away two things from that game. There are a lot of hot women in Orlando and Rose and Howard were All-Stars for a reason. You could ALWAYS tell them apart from the other players on the court. I didn’t have bad seats but they weren’t great, but Howard and Rose popped off the court the same way they popped off the screen at home. They were that much better than everyone else. Rose looks like the same guy I saw in Orlando after a few preseason games but Howard doesn’t look like THAT guy anymore.

Howard played with a level of athleticism that no one else in the league did. Not even LeBron James. He was a defensive anchor and could jump instantly but not anymore. He has to bend to leap now when he just use to rise up almost effortlessly. I give him credit for his time in LA if only because he came back months before he was suppose to, played on a bum shoulder and STILL led the league in boards. Primadonna/wish-washy behavior aside he’s still the best center in the league.

Playing in Houston with James Harden, Howard’s finally got a young elite player that can flank him. Kobe Bryant wasn’t the kind of player that would ever work playing with someone like Howard. Kobe doesn’t play games. He doesn’t joke. It’s all business all the time and it’s ALWAYS HIS team. As great as Harden is, he’s going to take second billing to Howard and without any issue in doing so. All the excuses are gone for him this season. He’s where HE chose to be. He’s got a great YOUNG team. He’s healthy. Let’s see what you got Howard.

4. Which West “window closing” team can come back?

ESPN ranked Oklahoma Thunder forward Kevin Durant and teammate Russell Westbrook number 2 and 5 respectively. Houston’s James Harden was ranked 4. Damn! According to this rankings, had OKC kept Harden, the Thunder would three of the top five players on the planet. Westbrook is going to miss the first few weeks of the season and they lost Harden’s replacement in Kevin Martin but the Thunder are still going to be good because they have the second best baller in the world in KD but is that enough? 

Kendrick Perkins is a complete waste on the court and forces them to play 4 on 5 when he's in the lineup. (I have a higher plus/minus for the Thunder and I don't even play for the team!) Plus we don't even know if Westbrook comes back the same. I really think OKC screwed themselves by taking Harden's failure in the Finals versus the Heat too much into account when it came to keeping him. OKC was banking on Serge Ibaka getting better so they payed him instead of Harden. They should have amnestied Perkins when they had the chance, took the cap hit by resigning Harden because it's looking more and more like their title hopes left when Harden did.

San Antonio Spurs got about as close as you can get to winning the title without actually winning it. Now they’re a year older and the Rockets, Warriors and Clippers are all on the rise in the West. Each year I keep expecting Tim Duncan and the Spurs to fall off a cliff but it doesn’t happen. Greg Popvich keeps finding ways to get the best out of this team. On the plus side, Tony Parker is going to be healthy and Kawhi Leonard looks like a budding All-Star so the Spurs aren't totally out of it. But does Duncan have enough left in the tank? Especially after laying it all on the line to win last season.

The last "window closing" team in the West is the Memphis Grizzlies. They seemed so close to winning the title when Zach Randolph looked other worldly and Marc Gasol stepped up but fast forward a few years later and all that has changed. They got rid of a great coach in Lionel Hollins, shipped off their 3rd best player in Rudy Gay and still didn't improve their horrid outside shooting. It was a struggle for Memphis to get to 90 points and in the NBA nowadays that's a huge problem. I say Memphis is a 50 win, lose in the second round type of team at best.

5. What the hell is going to happen to the Lakers?

I know, I know. There are a TON of other great questions going into the season. Are the Boston, Brooklyn Nets too old to win it all? How will the Knicks look? Will the Pacers take the next step? Can Doc Rivers get the Clippers off the hump? Which team is going to suck bad enough to get Andrew Wiggins? If not from a historical perspective, the Lakers are just fascinating from a pure intrigue standpoint. Let's face it, the Lakers are always a story when you're talking NBA basketball. (And this is my list, I’m Laker fan and I’m going to talk about my team. So yeah, deal with it!)

They lost two of their best players from a season ago, only Steve Nash is under contract past this season and Kobe Bryant is trying to come back from one of the most devastating injuries any athlete, regardless of age and sport, can have. But the Lakers two biggest issues continue to be off the court, in my opinion anyway. They STILL have the wrong coach in D’Antonio and Jim Buss is about as fit to run this team as the lady that was giving me my popcorn in Staples last week.

A year ago it just "seemed" like Mike Brown wasn’t the right fit, so the Lakers smartly removed him from the position. Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Kobe were in full swing, and Phil Jackson was itching to coach, but what does Jimmy Boy do? Hire a coach that cares about defense the same way the French care about fighting back in a war. A coach that NEVER adjusts to his players and forces them to play his style NO MATTER WHAT. Until the Lakers fix this mistake THEY’LL NEVER, and I'll say it again, NEVER, win an NBA title.

When Kobe comes back (Because we all know he's crazy enough to suck the blood from his daughters' necks if meant getting back on the court sooner.) there is NO WAY he lets the Lakers suck. The team was horrible last year and he STILL dragged them, kicking and screaming no less, into the playoffs. But why do that again this year? Why kill yourself for this team Kobe? Lakers fans I'm sorry to say this, but the boys got no shot and you know it. Why not bottom out and get one of the lottery picks in the best draft since ’03? Am I the only one that knows that being in NBA "no man’s land" is the worst thing ever. You’re not good enough to win the title but with Kobe you’re just good enough to sneak into the playoffs as an 8^th seed. And what does that get you? No lottery pick and a first round ass beating. (Milwaukee Bucks fans are SCREAMING at their computers right now.) You want to be contending for a title or sucking your brains out. Those are the only real places to be in the NBA and smart execs know that. Winning titles or rebuilding. Not treading water.

The Lakers are going to have the cap space to rebuild via free agency and I’m still not sure who the team attracts to Los Angeles. Melo, LeBron, Wade and Bosh could all become free agents in the offseason, but I don’t see any of those guys coming specifically with a coach like D’Antonio at the helm. (Lakers fans get over it, Melo ALREADY got a dose of D'Antonio, so you think he wants to sign with LA to get coach by a guy he hated. That's like becoming roommates with your ex-wife.) I'm not sure if LA has the pieces to make a splashy trade like they tried to do for Chris Paul (I’m STILL mad at David Stern!) and they did do for Dwight Howard. They're going to suck and if they do make the playoffs it's not going to be pretty, but when you’re the Lakers you're always going to have people talking. Love 'em or hate 'em, basketball is better when the Lakers are in the mix.

It’s time to rebuild in LA and here’s hoping they do it. But what do you guys think? I know I missed a few, so leave me a comment below telling me what you think is the biggest question going into the season. Follow me on Twitter @ParisLay. Thanks for reading and as always ENJOY THE VIEW!

The Storm Is Coming...

It was all good just a week ago... Dwight Howard with Jim Buss when he joined the team last summer

How long has it been? Really think about it. How long has it been since the Los Angeles Lakers have truly looked lost? As in, there is no real, clear vision of what the future holds for the team. Now, I'm always a "glass half-full" guy when it comes to my Lakers because I was so in denial last season that I wrote this. And this. Being only 26 years old, I’ve only really known the Lakers one way: winners. I "kinda" remember the early 90’s Lakers teams middling their way through seasons right before and after Magic Johnson retired. (LA even managed to get to the NBA Finals in 1991 acting as a "sacrificial lamb" for Michael Jordan as he started his road to becoming the greatest player of all time. It's the reason why my first memories of Mike aren’t too fond.)

At least back then the team had nice young and exciting pieces like Nick Van Exel, Cedric Ceballos and Eddie Jones. (Right now, the team is a basic who's who of old overpaid All-Stars and second rounders that should be on the bench... in the D-League!) Even with the young talent those teams had, it was the trust in the front office that truly comforted Lakers fans. We had the best front office. We had the Lakers front office and the trust in them to make all the right basketball decisions. Dr. Jerry Buss and Jerry West had proven over the years that they could make all the right moves to make the team championship contenders again and again. It wasn’t long after those middle of the road seasons that LA acquired Shaquille O’Neal in free agency and made a draft day trade for a high schooler named Kobe Bryant. They were smart enough not to waste their (Kobe and Shaq’s that is) talents with the wrong coach, so they quickly hired Phil Jackson and the rest is history. Hell, they were even smart enough to hire Phil again after his second retirement, but if you’re wondering what happened the third time around I can tell you that it’s all about the new ownership.

Glory days of Shaq and Kobe.

Once Dr. Buss stepped away from the day-to-day operation of the Lakers, things seem to have gotten worse and worse each season. Lately, the basketball decisions in LA are about as smart as they would be if you were having Stevie Wonder fix a Japanese car from the future. It’s just a job you need sight for and Jim Buss doesn’t have the sight to run a basketball team. If he did, the following three things would have never happened.

 

I still don't know why Phil isn't back yet.

One, he would have rehired the greatest coach in the history of the sport when he was asking to come back. That’s like being a movie producer and having Martin Scorsese interested in taking over your picture, but you decide to hire M. Night Shyamalan instead. The two best players on the team (One that had one you five titles (Kobe) and one (Dwight) that was an impending free agent no less.) wanted you to hire Phil Jackson. The fans wanted you to hire Phil Jackson. Phil Jackson wanted you to hire Phil Jackson! It seemed like the Lakers were headed for a breakaway slam-dunk to "win the game" when they quickly fired Mike Brown but they instead pulled up for a half-court Hail Mary three pointer… at the opposite basket… when they hired Mike D’Antoni over Jackson. Buss let his ego get in the way of making the correct basketball decision.  (But hey, if the one dude I was “suppose” to hire was treated like a son by my father and I'm talking treated like a “the son I wish I had” son and if same said dude was boning my sister, I’d be little anxious about hiring dude too. Talk about awkward Thanksgivings.)

Two, “Lil” Buss should have traded Dwight Howard on the trade deadline. This is the new NBA, so if a superstar player doesn’t want to sign an extension and wants to hit the market then trade them ASAP. (Cut to: Cleveland fans kicking the screen.) The money you can get paid is set in stone. The days of "playing the field" so you can "drive up" the price are over. (At least for the “max level” guys. The lower and middle of the road guys can still get teams to bid and overpay them. Cut to: Gerald Wallace laughing and counting money.) The team that you’re heading into free agency with always has an edge nowadays because they can pay you more than any team you’d look to go to. So, with that in mind, why EVER let Dwight hit free agency?

Three, he should have never let this happen:

Yeah, I saw that yesterday morning on my way to breakfast. (Needless to say it ruined my whole morning.) LA didn’t put up “Stay KB8” banners when Kobe Bryant was a free agent. And if they did, he had at least won titles in LA for God’s sake. They didn’t do it with Shaq and he was coming off one of his best seasons and NOT back surgery. Dwight Howard had one “okay” season and he gets a billboard all over the building and all throughout the city?! Dwight Howard?! The Lakers don’t beg players to come here. Players want to be Lakers. Players want to play in LA. But with the flux in front office leadership, players aren’t so hot on LA anymore. And that’s the problem.

Unlike most Lakers fans, I’m not mad at Dwight Howard. Shocking, I know. You see, I think he actually made the right basketball decision and I’m a total supporter of players making the best decision for themselves. I’m mad at the Lakers for not doing with Dwight what Orlando had the good sense to do; trade him. Grant it, you were never going to get equal value back, because much like the one-eyed man is king in the land of the blind, Howard is the “king” of the big men in the new small ball NBA. I’m also not one of those fans that’s going to say, “dude can’t ball". Howard did comeback way sooner from surgery than he was suppose to and even with a bad back and nagging shoulder issue he still managed to lead the league in rebounds. I lived in Orlando for 3 years and I know firsthand what he can do when he's focused, happy and healthy. (Before you get upset and say "I would've rather had Andrew Bynum", google what Philly got out of him this season…. I’ll wait… oh yeah that’s right, HE NEVER PLAYED!)

Look, even with Howard LA barely made the playoffs and much of the heavy lifting was done by Kobe before he was ran into the ground by D’Antoni, injured. Without Kobe, and with Dwight still being misused under D’Antoni, who’s to say LA wouldn’t have been even worse off. To play devil's advocate farther, you could make a real argument that, A) Howard peaked 3 or 4 seasons ago, B) he would never be able to handle the pressure of playing for a team with yearly title or bust expectations and C) he could possibly never recover that athleticism that made him such a dominant force. (Although that is the only reason I wanted him back. To see how he performs with a full off season’s rest and recovery from his surgery.)  So if you’re a fan of the team, relax but get ready. Must you forget the Lakers won titles BEFORE Howard, they won a title OVER Howard and they WILL win again. LA has a long list of problems and trust me, I get pretty far down that list before I get to “Dwight Howard”. The question isn't if LA will win again it's “when” but that could be a long time from now. With that said, Laker Nation I leave you with these immortal words from Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman.

I May Be Wrong, But I Doubt It! (Episode 15)

No, you're not dreaming, this IS REAL!

After the Lakers put up a billboard, basically begging Dwight Howard to stay in Los Angeles, I had to enlist the help of a Lakers historian to help me break it all down. (I was living in Orlando when they did this for him and it's even more pathetic now. The only thing that screams "I'm thirsty" more than the Lakers "Stay D12" billboard is Ray J's "I Hit It First".)  For the first time, I'm joined on the podcast by my father Zeph Jones. (In my family, my brother, actually Zeph III, is called "Lil Zeph" and my father, Zeph JR, is "Big Zeph" and he's the only person, that I know, that has a better knowledge of the game than my brother.)

We talk about the Lakers past season, Dwight Howard's free agency, Kobe Bryant, the historical greatness of LeBron James is UNBIASEDLY explained, Miami Heat's similarities to the Showtime Lakers, why he thinks Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, not Michael Jordan, is the greatest player ever, what the Lakers must do to win again and much more. Honestly, this one is in my top three podcast ever and it's probably the smartest basketball conversation you'll hear in awhile. (That's 100% because of my father by the way.) Subscribe, share and join the discussion by leaving a comment below. Feel free to give me a follow on Twitter @ParisLay. Thanks for listening and enjoy the view!

The Unspoken Greatness of Tim Duncan

Tim Duncan...Greatness has never been so quite.

Once upon a time, someone asked me who I thought the best basketball player of this generation was. Who was the one player I’ll remember the most? Who was the player that I’ll proudly look back to and gloat that I was able to see? The easy answers would be players like Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. All of these guys great. All of these guys NBA Champions and NBA MVPs and NBA All-Stars and blah, blah, blah, but none can ever really be called the “best” player of their generation. Shaq was the most "dominant". On the nights when Shaq gave a f**k, no one, and I mean no one in the history of basketball, was stopping him. Part of it was skill, but a good chunk of it was Shaq hitting the physical lottery. No one is stopping 7’ 2” and 325 pounds when it’s engaged and motivated. Garnett was the most "intense." KG always gave a crap. Even on those hopeless T-Wolves teams in the early 00s he always gave 110% and played each game like it was Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Bryant was the most gifted and most fun to watch. He's the closest thing we will EVER see to Michael Jordan and enough can't be said for that. He runned-and-gunned his way to over 30,000 career points and has played at a 1^st Team All-NBA level for over 16 years. I can’t even begin to explain how hard that is to do.

Celtics fans really hate this picture for some strange reason

But again, none of these guys were the “best”. All except, Kobe where traded at least once. (Before LA hijacked Pau Gasol from Memphis, Kobe did everything but wear a “for sale” sign on the court.) Shaq was too busy rapping or being funny to truly care about basketball the way he should have. (Shaq is the GREATEST WASTE OF TALENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE NBA. Again, dude hit the physical lotto, but didn't do everything he could have done to be the best player ever. And that pisses me off. Shaq only made 3 All-NBA Defensive Teams and each was only 2nd team. He only won one MVP and had he gave a crap about making at least 70% of his free throws, he could have scored at least 2,500 more points. Shaq, you owe my Lakers at least 2 more titles and I say they should have waited at least 10 years to retire your jersey. AM I THE ONLY ONE THAT KNOWS YOU WERE A F***ING CELTIC!!! Ugh!!! Let me move on before I get madder.) Garnett wasn’t good enough to build around and had to go to Boston to win a ring and he may even be traded again after this season.

 

The Debate can go on for years. Kobe or Duncan?

I’m the world’s biggest Kobe fan, but I have to admit that there were a lot of years Kobe wasn’t the best teammate and/or, by all accounts anyway, the best person to be around. Trade talk not withstanding, Kobe had his troubles off the court (Lakers fans seem to forget about Colorado.) and was so un-coachable at one point in his career that Phil Jackson said "Screw it! I'm out!" (Do you think Phil Jackson ever thought about NOT coaching Michael Jordan during his prime?! How bad of a person was Kobe to have a coach give up on him during his prime?!) Only one player was good enough to truly build around. (As in, other players would have killed to play with him. And if they couldn't kill to play with him, they'd take less money to play with him.) Only one player NEVER, EVER, EVER had his team think, even for a millisecond, of trading him. Only one player has won 70% of his games. Only one player has won at least 50 games  every year. (Strike shorten season of 1999 not withstanding.) That player is Tim Duncan.  Even his nickname is boring. The Big Fundamental?

We, basketball and sports fans in general really, have romanced over the “flashy” athlete. Over the ESPN SportsCenter highlight warriors like T-Mac (Who looks like he’s going to ride Duncan’s coattail to his first title. Feel free to run outside and scream at the thought of that like I just did.) and Vince Carter. But we get mad when a guy complains about not making enough money. We think it’s the end of the world when a guy beats his wife or girlfriend. We can’t stop “killing” a guy when he has a “me” first attitude or when a superstar throws his teammates under the bus. We "say" we just want our athletes to play hard, always give a crap, make their teammates better, get better when it counts and not be a complete tool off the court. 

For years now Tim Duncan has done all that and MORE but what does he get? He gets called “boring”. Funny huh? Duncan does it right all the time and yet we don’t give him the props. We can "say" we like all that "good guy" stuff but we secretly like watching the car wreck. We love when a guy is a d-bag. We can't get enough of it when a guy gets the talking heads on sports radio or First Take and PTI going. Tim Duncan is like a mini van doing the speed limit, where as Kobe’s like a Ferrari doing 95 in a 55 zone. It’s just more fun watching the Ferrari, even if it’s gone off the road a time or two and could possibly kill us. In a week or so, Duncan has a chance to win his 5^th NBA title (Tied with Kobe and Derek Fisher for the most by an active player.) and his 4^th Finals MVP, some 13 years apart from this first Finals MVP. A feat only Kareem can lay claim to. 

Duncan and Shaq in one of their epic battles.

Sure, Duncan did have some good luck on his side. He’s had the same coach, a steady organization and a string of good teammates throughout the years. But that’s like early man beating his chest about all the great things they accomplished. It all starts with the sun homie. Tim Duncan gives life to the Spurs the same way the sun gives life to the planet and everything else falls in line. You can’t have ANYTHING WITHOUT THE SUN. (Extreme example I know, but I couldn’t think of anything else damnit so sue me.)

This very well could happen again.

As a Laker fan, I know all too well of the heartbreak Tim Duncan and the Spurs can bring. Duncan has at least two LA championships and the Spurs were the “harbingers of doom” again this season for the Lakers. (A four game sweep in round one of the playoffs.) So I’m sure when I post this, only a few people will read it because after all, it is Tim Duncan I’m talking about. I mean, who wants to read about Tim Duncan?  But when I look back on these last 15 years of basketball and I’m really honest with myself, there’s one player I’d start a team with. God love him,and he’s my favorite player ever, but it ain’t Kobe Bryant.