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On Kobe Bryant and the Sixth NBA Title Ring That Will Never Happen
It’s been one long promotional tour, parallel with his rehab, for Kobe Bryant this offseason. Coming back from his Achilles Tendon tear, and convincing everyone that he’s going to be back to his form from last season, and that it’s too soon to count out the Los Angeles Lakers, with the sixth championship ring the only thing on his mind.
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Los Angeles Lakers – Kobe Bryant Going Down With the Ship
The best option for the Los Angeles Lakers to ensure immediate future success (beyond the end of next season) is tanking, without actually mentioning the word. The problem? Few players hate to lose as much as Kobe Bryant does, and he alone, if his comeback from injury is successful, is worthy quite a lot of wins even for a damaged team like the Lakers.
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Los Angeles Lakers – Not Used to Being the Underdogs
It might not be so bad after all. Expectations are far lower than they were last season from the Los Angeles Lakers, which might lead to a reverse kind of season, as Kobe Bryant won’t be expected to do everything coming off an injury, while Pau Gasol and Steve Nash feel like they have a lot to prove, just without the burden of being talked about as title or even playoff contenders.
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Los Angeles Lakers – Dwight Howard Is Easier to Blame Than Kobe Bryant or Mike D’Antoni
Instead of treating the departure of Dwight Howard after one unsuccessful season as something that should be left in the past, it seems that many among those involved with the Los Angeles Lakers, and especially Kobe Bryant and Mike D’Antoni just can’t get over the fact that they might not be the “team everyone would kill to play for.”
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Los Angeles Lakers – Kobe Bryant as the Basis for Any Kind of Hope is Very Risky
When a general manager says he expects his team to win in the 2013-2014 NBA season, what does he mean exactly? Kobe Bryant is one huge question mark coming off his injury, when he actually returns. Pau Gasol probably will never be 100% with his knee problems, while Steve Nash has a very low ceiling. The rest? Athletic players who have disappointed in the league. What is exactly winning?
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Los Angeles Lakers vs Houston Rockets & Kobe Bryant vs Dwight Howard Happening Very Soon
The NBA, slowly letting dates and games for the next season to be known, aren’t waiting around to give the people one of the most anticipated matchups of next season, scheduling the first meeting between the Houston Rockets & Dwight Howard and the Los Angeles Lakers & Kobe Bryant to November 7, less than two weeks into the new season.
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Los Angeles Lakers – Kobe Bryant Shouldn’t Be This Important
At the center of whatever it is the Los Angeles Lakers think they can achieve next season lies the ability of Kobe Bryant, at the age of 35, with nearly 1500 regular season and playoff games behind him, to get over an Achilles Tendon tear and be good enough to carry the team just like he has in the past.
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Los Angeles Lakers – Dwight Howard Left Nothing But Hate Behind
The Los Angeles Lakers don’t know how to cope with losing but to go out and sign the best player available, but with Kobe Bryant chewing up most of the cap space and Mike D’Antoni taking nothing but shots for his defensive coaching abilities and even his once often-praised offensive system, it seems Dwight Howard rejecting their offer to stay has left a much deeper scar than anyone thought it would.
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Los Angeles Lakers – Kobe Bryant Should Have Been the Amnestied One
For so many years, it seemed the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t care about the money they were spending – winning titles, competing for them, was the only thing that mattered. So suddenly, a move that professionally makes no sense – using the amnesty clause on Metta World Peace, is brought forth, while the real financial burden on the team, Kobe Bryant, gets more money than anyone in the NBA.
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Los Angeles Lakers – A Team That Can’t Play Defense
Having Mike D’Antoni as a head coach has its blessings and curses, which one of them is having no defensive system whatsoever. That can be overcome with individual and athletic talent, but the old core of Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Pau Gasol and Chris Kaman isn’t likely to be very effective anyway.