Smush Parker - our official website forMiami Heat Guard, Smush Parker

    Smush Parker Home
    Smush Parker Bio
    Smush Parker Stats
    Smush Parker Sitemap
    Smush Parker Pics
    Smush Parker Video
    Smush Parker News

    Contact Us

Gutierrez: Kobe's Game Dangerous

It’s a dangerous game Kobe Bryant is playing.

And the risk-reward ratio isn’t exactly favorable.

It’s them or me, he’s saying.

I can’t win with these guys, he’s saying.

I’m running this show, he’s saying.

But unless he gets the teammates he wants, the results he wants and the Shaq-free championship he desperately wants, then he’ll only end up alienating himself even more than the enigmatic figure already has.

To recap, Kobe Bryant has asked the Los Angeles Lakers organization to make significant changes to the roster this offseason, recently getting specific enough as to ask that the team re-hire Jerry West and give him full authority on personnel decisions.

It’s the type of power move a player like Kobe Bryant has all the clout to make. He’s the most talented player in the league, after all, in one of the largest markets in the league, and he’s practically carrying that market on his own.

It’s the type of suggestion Los Angeles Lakers fans have been making since the team floundered after going up 3-1 in last year’s playoff series against the Phoenix Suns.

It’s the type of recommendation any player with championship aspirations would make after a perplexing season that began with tons of promise but ended in continued regression.

But coming from Kobe Bryant, a player who has always seemed to keep an arm’s distance from his teammates, it’s not exactly the best way to become the unquestioned leader of a team.

Granted, winning in the NBA is not about being best of friends or group hugs, as Kobe Bryant and O’Neal proved while feuding all the way through a three-peat mini-dynasty.

But despite Kobe Bryant’s request, no general manager can change an entire team in one offseason. So Kobe Bryant is essentially alienating himself from the teammates who will return to the Los Angeles Lakers next season, and possibly even his new teammates.

If for some reason the Los Angeles Lakers can’t move Lamar Odom for a more traditional post player, it’s unlikely Odom will take kindly to Kobe Bryant’s very public, not-so-subtle suggestion that he can’t win with him as his number two.

If the Los Angeles Lakers don’t upgrade the small forward position and Luke Walton returns to the Los Angeles Lakers, it’s likely even the mild-tempered Walton will have taken offense to Kobe Bryant’s words. Smush Parker, Kwame Brown, Maurice Evans – none of them can be very happy about being called second-class citizens in the Western Conference by a player who rarely gives them a chance to show their worth.

And even if the Los Angeles Lakers can pull off a significant trade and score a major overhaul, it’s quite possible those new players will come in with reservations about a teammate who already has called out his previous supporting cast and isn’t shy about displaying his discontent either on the court or off it.

Best-case scenario? That would be if the Los Angeles Lakers somehow score a major trade for another star who is frustrated and willing to take on even Kobe Bryant’s ego for a chance to contend for a title.

Jermaine O’Neal is one who wants out of Indiana badly after several playoff failures, and he’s also just passive enough to allow Kobe Bryant to shine in the big moments without complaint.

Jason Kidd had what he determined as the second best season of his career this past season, meaning he has a few more good seasons in him. And with the Nets destined to be mired in mediocrity for several more seasons, Kidd would make a perfect backcourt complement to Kobe Bryant not only because of his passing ability but because the two of them would make for arguably the best defensive backcourt in the league.

Worst-case scenario? There are several possibilities for disaster, but the worst would be if the Los Angeles Lakers don’t give in to his demands entirely and try to sell him on a few minor changes and a draft pick as the answer to his concerns.

After trading O’Neal three seasons back, essentially choosing Kobe Bryant over the big man, the Los Angeles Lakers would never give in to trading the league’s most dangerous scorer and one of its biggest draws. That would leave an unhappy Kobe Bryant with unhappy teammates and, in all likelihood, an unhappy coach trying to piece it all together.

Kobe Bryant better have thought this thing through and had some idea that the Los Angeles Lakers would cave to his demands. Otherwise this game could end a lot like the Los Angeles Lakers’ season did: miserably.

See more at www.hoopsworld.com