I like Kobe as a player and all. Iff that is true Kobe is jeopardizing his chances to win a championship for the rest of his career. He is not playing tennis double but basketball and that requires at least 5 players t and a bench.
To say that I am disappointed about My Lakers is understatement. I think one of the Lakers problem is Kobe not meshing with or deferring to d'Antoni system and personality. He needs an ego as big as his own to fully exploit his talent .. The few in the games that I think could: Phil Jackson, Greg Popovitch, Doc Rivers ..We'll see.
Looks another trophy for Miami, people.. Prepare yourselves
The last thing I wanted to see was another Heat trophy ceremony. I skipped it totally last season.
I was primed to root for the Lakers if ever they would meet MIA but it seems that will not happen. Kobe haters are happy for him to not tie Jordan's 6 titles. But watching Dwane Wade celebrate is worse than any horror movie I have seen, and as I said, I used to be a big Kobe hater till Wade showed up breaking a player's elbow and kicking one in the groin, not to mention, breaking a nose to boot. One thing though than teams ought to know, MIA can be beaten once you beat them big on the rebounds. Somebody's got to pay for having a small lineup. This is the NBA, where giants rule.
Back to the Lakers, I saw the Denver game the other night, and there simply was no intensity, no fire, and no will to win for the players on court except for Kobe who time and again would hit those amazing desperation 3's. And fully agreed, they need a bench as well. A sixth man who does 15-20 points and a seventh who does 10-12 are essential so that when the starters rest, you either protect a lead or keep the game close. A dream team built on paper should have an internal desire to win and do just that, sad to say, the latter is missing for the Lakers.