The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the best franchises in NBA history. From the days of Magic and Kareem to Shaq and Kobe, they have dominated and won Championships. So, why, during their Game 4 loss on Sunday to the Dallas Mavericks to end their season, did they resort to streetball antics. First came Lamar Odom's ejection after throwing an elbow at Dirk Nowitzki. Then came Andrew Bynum's completely classless flagrant foul on J.J. Barea in which he threw a forearm at Barea while he was attempting a layup, knocking him hard to the ground, earning Bynum an instant ejection. Bynum has a reputation for committing dirty fouls, mind you. He then proceeded to take off his jersey, while still on the court, and exit the game showing no remorse, or any other emotion, for that matter. He will, undoubtedly, see a multi-game suspension to open the next season, but is that enough?
Phil Jackson is one, if not, the best coaches basketball has seen. The man has 11, count them, 11 NBA Championships and you're gonna send him out like that. I know those two do not represent the whole organization, but the actions of a few can ruin everything. Kobe Bryant was very humble in defeat. That's what separates superstars and average players. Kobe knows they'll be back. He actually wants to be held in the highest standards of the greatest players to play the game and he wants his team to be known as one of the greatest franchises of his era. It's just a shame his teammates don't see it that way.
For those who haven't seen the Bynum foul...Enjoy!!
LOL – I’m so glad you blogged about this. As a Sacramento Kings fan and ultimate Laker hater, it was amazing and a relief to see them get swept. They have always have had our number and it seems like Laker fans always get the last laugh. The dirty moves that Bynum and Odom did not surprise me at all. It seems like when a player plays for the Lakers, they get some sense of entitlement and they have a change in attitude. Nice guys turn into arrogant guys. It may be because, it is a winning franchise and anything less than a championship for them is a failure. They are now playing for a team full of history and a tradition of being top dogs. I have many close friends and family that are Laker fans and their attitude toward their team mirrors that same sense of entitlement. Laker fans in general seem like bandwagon fans. You have all these movie stars and celebrities who have never followed basketball or sports in their lives and then boom!! They are die hard Laker fans. I have family who have never lived in the LA area and they love the Lakers and hate the Kings. Whatever happened to supporting your community? The Kings do so much for the community in terms of economics and charity. I love the Sooners and even though I don’t live in Oklahoma anymore, I grew up there and spent 11 years of my childhood there.
You say Kobe knows the Lakers will be back. I hope not anytime soon. It’s time to share the wealth and time for other small market teams to enjoy some success. Perhaps maybe the OKC Thunder? It’s almost unfair; the Lakers have that winning tradition, they play in a large market area with large TV revenues, superstar players want to hob nob with movie stars and celebrities, Hollywood is down the street for those who want to act in the off season, the weather is perfect since basketball is played in the winter and Southern Cal weather hovers around 70 degrees at that time, they can feel like normal people again because they won’t get mobbed going to the movies or grocery shopping like they do in small market areas, there are stars everywhere, the Lakers can afford to pay their inflated salaries because they generate way more money than small market teams, and because of the money they can have 2-3 superstars on the team where a small market team is lucky to have just one.
Well I just laid it all out there, I think Kobe is right, they’ll be back soon. =(
LOL – I’m so glad you blogged about this. As a Sacramento Kings fan and ultimate Laker hater, it was amazing and a relief to see them get swept. They have always have had our number and it seems like Laker fans always get the last laugh. The dirty moves that Bynum and Odom did not surprise me at all. It seems like when a player plays for the Lakers, they get some sense of entitlement and they have a change in attitude. Nice guys turn into arrogant guys. It may be because, it is a winning franchise and anything less than a championship for them is a failure. They are now playing for a team full of history and a tradition of being top dogs. I have many close friends and family that are Laker fans and their attitude toward their team mirrors that same sense of entitlement. Laker fans in general seem like bandwagon fans. You have all these movie stars and celebrities who have never followed basketball or sports in their lives and then boom!! They are die hard Laker fans. I have family who have never lived in the LA area and they love the Lakers and hate the Kings. Whatever happened to supporting your community? The Kings do so much for the community in terms of economics and charity.
ReplyDeleteI love the Sooners and even though I don’t live in Oklahoma anymore, I grew up there and spent 11 years of my childhood there.
You say Kobe knows the Lakers will be back. I hope not anytime soon. It’s time to share the wealth and time for other small market teams to enjoy some success. Perhaps maybe the OKC Thunder? It’s almost unfair; the Lakers have that winning tradition, they play in a large market area with large TV revenues, superstar players want to hob nob with movie stars and celebrities, Hollywood is down the street for those who want to act in the off season, the weather is perfect since basketball is played in the winter and Southern Cal weather hovers around 70 degrees at that time, they can feel like normal people again because they won’t get mobbed going to the movies or grocery shopping like they do in small market areas, there are stars everywhere, the Lakers can afford to pay their inflated salaries because they generate way more money than small market teams, and because of the money they can have 2-3 superstars on the team where a small market team is lucky to have just one.
Well I just laid it all out there, I think Kobe is right, they’ll be back soon. =(
Sorry to ask but did you delete by response to your blog? I was going to use it as a reply for my unit 4 blog assignment?
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