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| Kobe's reaction perfectly embodied the sentiments of Lakerdom. |
As I write this, the NBA playoffs
has started. And for the first time in
nine years – and just the second time in my tenure as a basketball/NBA/LALakers fan – my beloved Lakers are not in the playoff picture. They finished this season with an abysmal 27–55
record – the worst in franchise history!
Last season was my most disappointing as a Laker fan, but though I am not expecting much from the Laker
team this year – thus, the disappointment is still lesser than last season’s
(because the lesser the expectations, the lesser the disappointments) – this
development still left a bad taste to me.
As someone who is used to see the Lakers’ being “invincible” no matter
what, seeing them to end this season in such an awful state is kind of a
shock.
The start of the season was
actually pretty optimistic, even though Kobe wasn’t able to play yet. The Lakers were hovering along .500. They win some and lose some. And during those wins… wow… the Lakers were a
lot of fun to watch. They had an awesome
eclectic rotation of players and the minutes were distributed evenly. Nobody was getting more than 20 minutes. But everyone made sure that every minute of
their playing time counts. Everybody
contributed. Everybody played with
energy. Hence, the box score of the
Lakers were often looking like this:
Therefore, they had an
unpredictable team identity and game style.
They were not title contenders, but they were surely entertaining at
least.
Then the injuries happened. Every single one in the roster has been in
one point sidelined due to injury. This resulted in significantly depleting the
team’s depth. Mike D’Antoni seems to
have been made the scapegoat for this, that the up-tempo pace he insisted the Lakers
to play on led to these injuries.
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| Yep, it was this bad. |
Of course, the blame is not at
all completely on Mike D’Antoni. The
injuries and the Lakers’ worst season record ever – I won’t put all of these on
him. In fact, under D’Antoni, I’ve never
had the feeling that this weakened lottery-bound Lakers team
underperformed. Really. It seems to me that D’Antoni made the best
out of the situation at hand and the resources he has been provided. This Laker team under D’Antoni never gave
up. The injury plagued, depth-lacking
Lakers played hard even though they were outmatched and losing. Even when the Lakers were already rapidly
sliding in the playoff race and then, eventually, virtually out of playoff
contention already, I never found the perception that this Lakers team slacked
off and just took it lying down, considering that as such situation,
business-wise, it is preferred to “tank” – to intentionally lose as much as
possible – so the team would have more chance of receiving a higher drafting position during the lottery. And I can find something to be proud about in
that. You can never accuse my Lakers of
tanking this season. (Even if they did,
Mitch Kupchack and Mike D’Antoni did it in the most subtle way possible –
masking the tanking by making an appearance of “not tanking”: up-tempo pace =
injuries; injuries = depth-depleted Lakers; depth-depleted Lakers = weakened
Lakers; weakened Lakers = awful season record; awful season record = high draft
pick position. And with the Lakers
already weakened and set to lose, the “playing hard” aspect of the team, having
no significant effect on the ending result whatsoever, serves as a perfect
smokescreen of the Lakers’ shrewd tanking strategy. If that’s true, that is equally impressive.)
Nonetheless, though this season’s
appalling outcome is not completely Mike D’Antoni’s fault, it still happened under
his watch. As the leader, he’s accountable. And I think it unlikely he’ll be back as
coach next season. I want a new
coach. But I’m not at all for replacing
D’Antoni just for the sake of replacing him.
If there are no better options available (and don’t tell me everyone is
better than D’Antoni. I don’t buy that),
it’s prudent to keep D’Antoni at the helm for a little longer.
So, the 2013-2014 NBA season is
done for me as a Laker fan (but as an NBA fan, I’m still enjoying the
playoffs. I really want the Indiana Pacers
to win the title, but that seems unlikely).
There could be a silver lining in all of this. But we’ll only be able to really see it when
we’re already looking back at this particular moment of Laker history, enjoying
the success we’re having then and realize that that wouldn’t be possible if not
for this.
Until then and forever, proud to
be...
Some random musings:
• I hope the Lakers’ pick will
turn out to be an awesome franchise player.
• I hope Kobe will still be able
to play in an elite level in his return.
• I hope Pau returns to the
Lakers. For a reasonable contract, of
course. He might be no longer playing in
a “best finesse big man” level, but I think he can still contribute. Maybe.
Hmmm. Okay, I admit, I want him
back primarily because I’m greatly fond of the guy (might write something about him in
the near future, before or during the off-season)
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| Pau doesn't look soft in black at all. |
• My most favorite Laker thing
this past season: the “HOLLYWOOD NIGHTS” BLACK ALTERNATE JERSEY! It looks so awesomely bad-ass! That is something I’ve been wanting for the
Lakers to have for a long time. It’s
kind of a bummer though that this fan milestone had to come in the Lakers’
worst season ever.
• My second most favorite Laker
thing this past season:
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| Swaggy P! |
• Paul George was the one I was
originally hoping the Lakers will pursue.
Too bad that is nigh impossible to happen anymore after he signed that
extension with Indiana. I guess I’ll go
with Kevin Love (the consensus among Laker fans) then. (And I won’t mind LeBron.)
• Jim Buss promises he’ll step
down if the Lakers aren’t contenders within the next three years. We’ll see.
Lakerdom is impatient. We need
another championship… fast!
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| Kobe should get at least one more before retiring |
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