Lakers Players Show Class, Poise and Character In Troubled Times
By Hannah Kulik
The Lakers are in the midst of their worst season in franchise history. Injuries have taken a toll. The team was doomed from the beginning when management decided, despite severe salary cap limitations, to invest so much money in Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash and then went out and overpaid for Jeremy Lin and Jordan Hill.
The team was forced to fill the rest of the roster with players who would work for the minimum, and selected a coach whose resume included, in his prime, two failed stops in New Orleans and Cleveland, who is so out of touch with modern basketball that he thinks the three-point shot is overrated. Their owner is despised. Their general manager is fond of reminding free agents about the “Showtime” era, which was so long ago that many of today’s players hadn’t even been born. Attendance at games is down. Television viewership is sinking like the Titanic. Things are so bad that Jack Nicholson is threatening to abandon ship. Time Warner Cable should demand a refund!
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Yet, juxtaposed against this train wreck is the fact there has been little outward dissension among the players. It could easily be otherwise. This year, from game to game, the players haven’t known who would start, who would play big minutes, and who wouldn’t play at all. In some cases, the best players on the team have played the fewest minutes, while those with little or no hope for a future with the team have very often been the starters.
Here is how it has gone much of the year: Byron Scott has been openly hostile towards Nick Young and Lin, yet for the most part they have taken it without making any serious waves. Hill and Ed Davis had to suffer the indignity of watching Robert Sacre and Ryan Kelly start ahead of them, but at least publicly, they never said a word. Jordan Clarkson spent most of the season on the bench, which may have cost him a chance to make the all-rookie team. Then, rather than being eased into the line-up, he suddenly found himself a starter trying to match up with the likes of Kyrie Irving, Damien Lillard, John Wall, and Ty Lawson. Now, it was recently reported that Clarkson will be headed to the bench again for the last ten games of the season, which will do wonders for his confidence going into the off-season.
Kelly is still playing out of position at small forward. For part of the season, Wesley Johnson couldn’t crack the starting line-up though he was the only true small forward on the roster. Veteran Carlos Boozer, a former all-star, was demoted, and then he spent most of the year coming off the bench playing uneven minutes.When Bryant was around, Wayne Ellington often wouldn’t play, but the next game, when Bryant was out, Ellington would play 40 minutes. Tarik Black did not play, then he played, then he didn’t play, then he started, then he didn’t play at all, and now he starts.
Most nights, when a player was having a particularly strong game, he could always count on Scott taking him out at a crucial moment or when he was on a roll. One thing for sure, if you had a great game, it almost assuredly means you will not be on the court in the final minutes when games are often decided.
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The latest example is Sunday night’s game against the Hawks. Davis, playing modest minutes as always, had 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Nearly every night, Davis plays sparingly in the first half and then re-enters the game with a couple minutes left in the third quarter and plays until there are three or four minutes left in the fourth. By then, nearly every night, the Lakers are either winning or they have come back from a large deficit and are in position to win. That is precisely when Scott takes Davis out of the game, at which point the Lakers go on to lose.
Following a late time out and needing a score, it was obvious to everyone that Atlanta would try to attack the rim. Sure enough, their guard went right around Laker players at the top of the key and drove to the basket. With Davis having been just sent to the bench, he had an easy, uncontested lay-up which sealed the victory for the Hawks. After the game, the first words out of James Worthy’s mouth were, “Too bad Ed Davis wasn’t in the game at that point.” You think?
It would be one thing if this was all the players had to contend with, but unfortunately, it gets worse. Imagine how debilitating it is to fight game after game not only for a win but for your NBA future, all the while your coach, your front office, the media, and the fans, root for you to lose in order to preserve a high draft pick that may, or may not, ever amount to anything. If you are a professional athlete, is there any more toxic environment to play in than what the players on this Lakers team have been forced to endure? If Scott hasn’t driven them crazy with his coaching, seeing your fans celebrate when they lose has to be the most peculiar feeling in the world to a professional athlete.
All of this should have crippled the players’ psyche, and no one could blame them if the team dissolved into massive unhappiness and finger pointing. Yet, despite these dreadful conditions, the players have consistently shown nothing but poise, class, and character. They patiently answer questions from the media after every game (i.e., every loss). No one complains. No one blames anyone else. The players praise one another and seem genuinely pleased when someone has a good game. They sound like they still have fight in them.
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On the court, they play hard most games. Those on the bench root with enthusiasm for whatever players are on the court. Outwardly, there does not seem to be any jealousy or hard feelings over Scott’s revolving and always peculiar rotations. They don’t question his authority, despite regular coaching decisions which sabotage any chance of winning.
What is holding this team together? The answer is, what they arguably lack in talent, the players make up for in maturity and character. They seem like regular, nice guys. They are still trying hard to win, and despite their record, they act as though they expect to win. Perhaps their collective “likeability quotient” is why we continue to watch these players on television. In the wake of two consecutive dreadful seasons, some players have even said they’d like to return next year.
But, are the players too docile? Have they been too accepting of how the team has been managed? Would they be more inspired on the court if they showed more fight behind the scenes? At this point, the end of the season cannot come soon enough. Until that happens, it is likely the players will continue to get along and support one another on and off the court, no matter how bizarre it is to play for a team where everyone around them is happy when they lose.