Kobe Bryant passes away, it’s time for Lakers Nation to unite eras
By Ronald Agers
LeBron James and Kobe Bryant combine forces to restore not only the reputation but the culture of U.S.A. Basketball.
This past summer was a huge disappointment for the U.S. Basketball team. It was nothing compared to how bad things were way back in 2004. People forget that LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were on that Olympic team when they were in Greece.
That Bronze medal team was embarrassed, uninspired and by the way, LeBron and D-Wade for some reason sat at the end of the bench barely getting any time during the entire tournament. This debacle changed the way U.S. Basketball set their roster. This writer can’t be sure but will speculate that Kobe Bryant was one of the reasons that James and Wade decided to come back and try again in 2008.
Just look at this video behind the scenes between the two players. Trust me, it was widely reported that it was not nearly as light-hearted and fun.
https://twitter.com/espn/status/1221115726095843330?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1221115726095843330&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flakeshowlife.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D109086%26action%3Dedit
With the world catching up to the U.S.A. in basketball and the implosion of the 2004 Olympics. CEO of U.S.A. basketball, Jerry Colangelo reached out to these two players that were the undisputed Kings of the NBA to lead the team back to greatness and Olympic Gold.
In a prior interview, Kobe Bryant talked about the mind frame, the adjustments and the focus needed to bring the Gold medal home.
Again this is about the influence that these two players collectively had on the Olympic team we have today. Soon we will be competing again in the Olympics. Think of where the basketball program would be if these two do not team up with Jason Kidd to make it even cool for NBA players to invest their time for 18 months.
As sad is this article has been, let’s look back at the good times. How about when the Lakers dynasty really started.