The Lakers are a threat again
Looking at the Los Angeles Lakers lineup and their team standing this season, I’m left in my head with a big question: “HOW?!”
The LA Lakers started their season very weak, but looking at them now, they’re not just a contender for the title but they look like champions already. Of course, the factor will always be Kobe Bryant, and more than ever, this season proved him to be the sole reason for LA’s performance, a few years back it’s almost impossible to say if LA is Kobe’s or Shaq’s team, but now, it’s definitely Kobe who’s carrying the weight on his back.
The season started rough for the Lakers this year simply because of one guy’s fault, who else - Kobe, as good as he is an athlete, he never looked for his teammates often giving the ball at the very last moment, and before he realizes it, it’s already too late.
I don’t know how, when and where exactly did he change his mind, as well as his game, about his individual performance and actually started passing the ball around, but what I do remember is that he suddenly stopped getting his usual 40+ points as it went down to an average 20 night after night increasing his assists in the process. I remember it to be around the same time rumors were coming out that Kobe wants to be traded. One thing I know for sure - he changed his game.
After Kobe stopped playing individually, the LA win-lose record started to improve, they were even a team at the bottom of the rankings the first 10 to 20 games of the season but now they’re number one in the Western Conference division, just goes to show that the Lakers don’t really need star players around Kobe, they just need him to pass the ball.
As of now, I think it really is safe to say that Kobe alone is enough for a championship, thanks to Phil Jackson’s magic of course.
Filed under: NBA on March 15th, 2008
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