Los Angeles Lakers Only Choice Is To Shut Down Kobe Bryant
The Los Angeles Lakers are stuck at crossroads with Kobe Bryant. Do you jeopardize the future by playing the aging guard this season or sit him out this year in an attempt to land a high draft pick.
There are three ways to come out of an NBA season successful. 1. Win the title 2. Take a step toward winning the title 3. Get a top ten draft pick. Those who fail to succeed in any three of those tasks, have a hard time making any positive steps in the following season.
Take a look at the Denver Nuggets for example. Denver had a disappointing season in 2013-14, and earned the 11th pick in the NBA draft. Where are they now? Exactly where they were last year, not in the playoffs, and not in the bottom three in the conference. Mediocrity kills in the NBA, and if the Lakers don’t decide to shut down Kobe Bryant sooner or later, they can be stuck in no man’s land for quite some time.
The Lakers currently sit at fourth on tankathon.com‘s tank rank, but if the Lakers win just two games back to back, they can fall all the way down to eighth. Now, this does not sound like much big of a deal, but for the Lakers, their whole future is at stake. As most people know by now, the Lakers 2015 pick that they give to the Phoenix Suns in the Steve Nash trade is top-5 protected. This meaning that in order for the Lakers to keep their first round pick, they must be given a top five pick in the NBA lottery.
The Lakers still have 44 games left to play this season, which mean there is still plenty of time for the Lakers to solidify their spot in the bottom five teams.
Now, what possibly can the Lakers do to stop winning? Oh, how about shut down the player who cares more about winning than anybody else in the NBA? That’s right Laker fans, sitting the Black Mamba for the rest of the season is the best option for the Lakers present, and future. It’s simple, when Bryant is in the game, he will do whatever it takes to win the game for his team. This mentality has brought much success to the Lakers franchise over the past 19 years, but now is NOT the time to be competitive.
Over the last few seasons, there has been much talk about the Lakers being better without Kobe Bryant, and that is just plain ridiculous. Byron Scott would say the same thing about those who think Kobe Bryant makes the team worse:
"I just say those people are idiots. He is one of best to ever have played the game. When you take him off the team you are going to have nights where you struggle….We are a much better team when Kobe is on the basketball court."
Sure, when players hear that their best player is out for a game for two, they get motivated to step their game up. But, if Bryant were to sit 44 straight games, do you really think that the rest of the Laker players would feel that motivation every single game for the rest of the season? Of course not. Taking Bryant away from the Lakers team is the best way to assure the Lakers a player such as Karl-Anthony Towns or Emmanuel Mudiay (Jahlil Okafor has locked up number one pick).
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Now, instead of focusing on how this affects the team, let’s look at how great this can be for Bryant. Say what you want, but Bryant is still an exceptional offensive player in this league, and although he has a hard time closing out on shooters on defense, his high basketball IQ allows him to remain a solid on-ball defender.
In fact, Bryant ranks second among all shooting guards in scoring, third in rebounds, and third in assists. So although Bryant’s massive contract expires after next season, there is no doubt that he can continue to play in the league for a few more seasons at a high level. Bryant won’t be able to be a first option on an elite team, but the way he has played recently, racking up near triple-doubles, has shown his ability to dominate games in other areas.
Nowadays, it seems as if we only get to see two Bryant’s. The one who racks up 22 points, 7 assists, and 7 rebounds and takes around 17 shots, or the one who scores 30 points on 28 shots with 2 assists. Bryant isn’t capable of being an elite scorer at a somewhat efficient rate anymore, but he has shown that he can still use his exceptional court vision to open up his scoring game, and prevent defenses from constant double teams leaving him with more one-on-one match-ups (which he still dominates).
Why waste what’s left in the 5x champion’s tank on a season where winning is the last priority? If the Lakers can earn a top five pick, and select let’s say, Towns, get back a healthy Julius Randle, and sign some big free agents, Bryant might have another title run in him.
I understand that Bryant took WAY to much money than what he should have in November of 2013, but if the right team was put together, there is no doubt that Bryant would take a pay cut. Sitting Bryant for the rest of the season can not only allow him to rest his knees until they will really be needed, but also continue to work on his game adapting to his physical limitations.
Here is the worse case scenario if the Lakers don’t shut down Bryant. He will do just enough to keep the Lakers out of the bottom five, giving their 6th or 7th overall pick to the Phoenix Suns. Then, because the Lakers will have basically no young talent, and no potential going forward, free agents won’t be attracted to join the purple in gold, leaving Bryant to retire in 2015, and a long road back to the championship glory days.