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The Roar

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Kobe just enjoying being Kobe

Roar Guru
11th December, 2014
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Have we seen the last of Kobe Bryant? AAP Image/Alan Porritt)
Roar Guru
11th December, 2014
0

Watching the Lakers this season is like sitting down to your trashy, guilty pleasure TV show. You know it’s bad, but it’s just so entertaining that it just doesn’t matter.

Zach Lowe is certainly not watching the Lakers to write 2,000 word essays on their defensive schemes.

With high speed internet and relatively cheap access to every NBA game on demand there is always the opportunity to appease the basketball purist in you with a Spurs game (the critically acclaimed, award-winning drama of basketball) but sometimes you want something that appeals to you on a different level.

Smack bang in the middle of the circus that is the Los Angeles Lakers is Kobe Bryant, in Year 19 of his NBA career. His body isn’t the same thanks to multiple injuries and 46,000 minutes of mileage but he still has the ability to captivate an audience with his visually appealing and skilful game.

Then, there is the cartoon version of Kobe that he presents to the world that is both fascinating and entertaining.

His move onto social media last year has produced some insightful and very Kobe moments and has inspired the hashtag #KobeSystem (which Kobe has never used). #KobeSystem is a philosophy that can be applied to every aspect of life and can be used as a justification for pretty much anything.

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Took the last donut at work #KobeSystem. Got up at 3am and ran suicides on the neighbour’s lawn whist listening to Taylor Swift on max volume #KobeSystem.

Recently he has been blasted in the media for taking too many shots and hurting the Lakers chances of winning. Some of the criticism has been warranted, with Kobe shooting a career worst 39.0 per cent while also shooting an almost career high 22.8 FGA per game.

The Lakers are also 6-16 and second last in the Western Conference.

The numbers don’t lie, Kobe is being selfish and hurting the Lakers big time but that doesn’t make me want to avoid their games one bit. In fact, it’s the opposite.

Half of this is the nostalgic part of me wanting to see Kobe take every shot available to take me back to the days when the Lakers were relevant and Kobe was in his prime. Think of this season as a live tribute to the Kobe of old.

The other half is just to marvel at his craft that he has spent thousands of hours perfecting over 19 years of professional basketball.

The jab steps, the fakes, the magnificent fade aways, I want to see them all. If that means Wesley Johnson, Jordan Hill, Jeremy Lin and Carlos Boozer stand around watching, then that’s fine by me.

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Part of the selfishness comes from record chasing – he only needs another 180 points to pass Jordan for third on the all time scoring list – the other part from the Laker’s lack of motivation to finish with a good record.

Rumours have it that when he passes Michael for third in all time scoring he will start playing the team game.

Kobe is a smart man, he knew the Lakers were not signing Melo, LeBron or anyone of significance last summer. He also knows that the Lakers lose their first round draft pick to Phoenix if it falls outside the top five thanks to the Steve Nash trade.

His best chance of winning another ring now is not by trying to turn Lin, Boozer, Hill, Johnson and Nick Young into a championship team (that will never happen) but by waiting patiently and going all in next season.

If the Lakers keep their first round draft pick then they can potentially add two first rounders to their roster to partner Julius Randle. They also have Houston’s first round pick if it falls out of the top 14 thanks to the Lin salary dump.

Depending on whether Ed Davis picks up his player option they will have just over $50 million on the books with a roster of Bryant, Hill, Young, Randle, 2 x 2015 first round picks, Robert Sacre, Ryan Kelly and Jordan Clarkson.

That leaves enough cap room to chase a free agent or two depending on who they go for.

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Potential unrestricted free agents in 2015 include: Kevin Love, Paul Millsap, Greg Monroe, Rajon Rondo, Jeff Green, Brook Lopez, Al Jefferson, Monta Ellis, Tyson Chandler, Arron Afflalo, Roy Hibbert, David West, DeAndre Jordan, Marc Gasol (unlikely), Luol Deng, Dwyane Wade (unlikely), LeBron James (unlikely), Goran Dragic, LaMarcus Aldridge, Lou Williams and Paul Pierce.

That is a very big shopping list that the Lakers can go after and if they can trade away Jordan Hill’s $9m contract, then they could get a very decent roster together.

All this brings me back to Kobe. I know the Lakers aren’t winning this season, the Lakers organisation knows there is not much point competing for a playoffs spot so why don’t we just enjoy Kobe being Kobe?

Let him cash in his massive pay cheques every week while shooting a metrics-busting 25+ times a night.

He is in the twilight of a great career and still has the power to entertain us all the way he has played his entire career. Yes, he takes too many bad shots, but when he has stretches where he posts game-winning triple doubles followed by double-digit assist games where he only shoots 11 times, how can you not enjoy it?

The real tragedy here would be for Kobe to shoot 10-15 times a game while playing the facilitator and drag the Lakers to a 30-35 win season. No top five pick and no super reload for Kobe to win another title.

At his age injury could strike at any moment, so let’s saviour the last few drops of what has been a very enjoyable bottle of vino.

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#KobeSystem

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