Henry Abbott: Kobe killing Lakers

Not suprising that it was Abbott, but not suprised at some of the content

Some laker fans have known this for years. If you are trying to recruit leave Kobe's ass at home period

Not surprised at all, known Laker and Kobe hater.

Author gave Dantoni free pass. Said Dantoni and Nash tried to help Lakers get with the times but that Kobe killed that.

How is it that a player who has won 5 championships with 2 essentially different teams all of a sudden is the cancer that won't let the franchise move on to further success?

Kobe has an ego? SURPRISE----SHOCKER! And any article that makes it sound like Howard was the victim, and that D'Antoni wasn't one of the reasons why he moved on, is not to be trusted.

News flash. Every team goes into a rebuilding phase at one point, and the Lakers are no exception. It cannot be blamed on Kobe. Howard, Carmelo, Lebron....they were not coming to the Lakers whether Kobe was there or not. They had other agendas, other goals. We'll get free agents, we will build through picks. It will just take time.

We even have players mentioned in the article refuting it's credibility

So much nonsense and revisionist history that it would be hard to bullet point it all. A few choice issues though can't go without comment:


"Fisher looked at the Lakers then as we all did: From Wilt to Kareem to Shaq to Pau, they were the team that could always pull one more star out of the hat. But since the night of Fisher's explosive delight, the squad's most stunning trick has been in how completely and quickly it turned the NBA's show-pony franchise into a goat, ranked 28th in ESPN's most recent Future Power Rankings. Four years, five coaches, three early playoff flameouts, two key departed big men, one celebrated owner deceased. The Lakers have been in near free fall.

It would seem that the only connection fans have to the Lakers' title tradition is Bryant, the man who helped make the franchise one of the most popular brands in sports. "

So the Lakers used to win and Kobe was around plus a lot of other stuff. Now they are not winning and Kobe is still around, but the "lot of other stuff" has completely changed. And the compulsion is the blame the one thing that remains from the glory days? Good sleuthing there, Abbot.




"One Lakers insider remembers a time in 2012 when Bynum -- about a year after declaring that the Lakers had on-court "trust issues" -- was due for a contract extension: "Andrew's question in contract talks was: 'How are you going to rein in Kobe?' We couldn't give direct answers. My immediate thought was, Well, he doesn't want to play with Kobe if we can't answer that question.""

Mr Bank in Every City is out of the league. Talk about an unreliable narrator- why would Abbot think his perspective has any credibility? The best part is Abbot published this WITH the benefit of hindsight into Bynum's subsequent troubles!




"It's no wonder, then, that the Lakers' summer of 2014 free agency fizzled. Just a few years ago, the NBA whisper network was thick with the notion that LeBron was destined to be the next hero of purple and gold. But when James hit the free agent market, the Lakers' talks with James' agent, Rich Paul, failed to even materialize in a sit-down meeting with the star."

Abbot sure is good at beating up straw men. Who really thought LeBron was going to LA besides the 5% of homer fans on the old ESPN boards? Abbot himself has written before about how LeBron is sensitive and doesnt want to be seen as a mercenary and wants to cement a legacy etc. Was he wrong then or now?




On Howard's contract talks: "Howard shortly thereafter chose to leave for the Rockets, even though it cost him roughly $30 million in guaranteed salary."

How disingenuous can you be, Abbot? When Laker fans were trumpeting the "extra 30 million" Dwight would have to leave on the table to jump to Houston, Abbot was quick to point out he "doesn't actually lose 30 million" due to both state taxes and the assumption that the 5th year would pay some nonzero amount. Doubletalk at its finest here.




"While the Lakers were going after Anthony in vain, they quietly pursued Chris Bosh as well, but he preferred the carcass of the Heat. Paul George, Angelino through and through, had once been the team's safest choice. But sources say one reason the two-way star had re-signed with the Pacers in the fall of 2013 instead was that he was turned off by the thought that Bryant would police his efforts."


Or he signed his superextension off his rookie deal, like every other player of note in history.




"SO DID KOBE BRYANT deserve the extension? And if not, why give it? The answer might lie in yet another question: Is it possible the Lakers felt free to squander cap space on the contract because there was no point in having cap space? When you can't even bribe players to play with Kobe Bryant, what's the point in bribe money? "

Could this be any dumber? This is a professional writer? Really? His theory is "Nobody will play with Kobe so what's the point of having cap space let's just voluntarily spend it....on Kobe?" If the Lakers actually thought/knew that nobody would play with Kobe, but all their troubles would wash away and FAs would come rushing to LA if he departs....well you are all smart fans, I don't need to spell it out for you.

What exactly is very telling? And what is it telling you?

Henry Abbot is a POS douchebag hater. Most of that shit in that article is fabricated. Ramon Sessions left not because of Kobe, but because the Lakers sought an upgrade and got what they thought was an upgrade in Steve Nash. Ignorant piece of shit.