Friday, June 18, 2004
The Lakers Big Breakup and Other Offseason Fun
If you thought the regular season was a soap opera, wait till you get a load of this offseason. The Lakers knew that Kobe would opt out of his contract this offseason, so that leaves them with Shaq and Phil. In theory they could have used Kobe's money (and Karl's and Gary's) to go after talented players to put around Shaq and use in the Triangle offense. Nope. Instead, Phil wanders off to the hills to do some meditating and Shaq gets a big vote of no-confidence from Kupchak and demands a trade. Who would have thought that the Laker with the best shot of returning is now Kobe? Come on now, what is a good soap opera without a shocking season ending twist of events?
The funny thing is that this is all such a waste. How is it so hard for Kobe and Shaq to get along? Why is this so hard? These guys are simply being crushed by their own egos.
In other news, McGrady is sick of losing, so he'll force a trade to a team that has to give up half its roster for him. Between the ransom they'll command for McGrady and the first pick in the draft, I wouldn't be too shocked to see the Magic in the playoffs next year.
So lets recap, the list of big names that could potentially be changing teams this offseason now includes the following:
Kobe
Shaq
McGrady
Francis
Artest
Rasheed
Iverson
Pierce
Abdur-Rahim
Ray Allen
Antoine Walker
Yogi Stewart (just kidding)
The list goes on. Most of these guys are likely going nowhere, but has there been an offseason in recent memory where so many big name stars were rumored to be available? Throw in the NBA draft and the expansion draft, and we've got some fun times ahead.
Call me a kid in a candy shop, cause I'm going to enjoy this.
The funny thing is that this is all such a waste. How is it so hard for Kobe and Shaq to get along? Why is this so hard? These guys are simply being crushed by their own egos.
In other news, McGrady is sick of losing, so he'll force a trade to a team that has to give up half its roster for him. Between the ransom they'll command for McGrady and the first pick in the draft, I wouldn't be too shocked to see the Magic in the playoffs next year.
So lets recap, the list of big names that could potentially be changing teams this offseason now includes the following:
Kobe
Shaq
McGrady
Francis
Artest
Rasheed
Iverson
Pierce
Abdur-Rahim
Ray Allen
Antoine Walker
Yogi Stewart (just kidding)
The list goes on. Most of these guys are likely going nowhere, but has there been an offseason in recent memory where so many big name stars were rumored to be available? Throw in the NBA draft and the expansion draft, and we've got some fun times ahead.
Call me a kid in a candy shop, cause I'm going to enjoy this.
