well, according to espn, shaq has ok’d a trade to the miami heat in exchange for lamar odom, brian grant, caron butler, and a draft pick.
after one all-star dream team season, it’s all over. the owner jerry buss has picked kobe as being the future of the team. kobe in turn has forced coach phil jackson out, and this has pissed off shaq so much that he refuses to return.
now kobe’s got to try and win with coach rudy t., assuming that he actually comes back. (suddenly, kobe’s developed this meglomaniac ego: where’d that come from? he’s demanding that teams visit him at his house to lure him via free agency, instead of the normal visit to the respective franchises!) and sure, gp’s back, but only because he can’t get any decent money anywhere else after last year. the mailman may retire, and really, what the hell is left? the lakers weren’t that deep to begin with. all of a sudden they look like the magic a few years ago: a great player, a couple of really good ones, and nobody in the middle.
it’s really a tragedy that egos get in the way of it all. shaq and kobe are going to look back with remorse and realize how good they had it. kobe’s going to see how much easier it was to play with a dominant big man, and shaq’s going to miss that superstar wing player, and think he’s back in orlando back in the day.
the other day, i was watching this show on the first of kobe & shaq’s championships back in 2000, and the narrator said, “in the postseason, kobe and shaq learned the hard way that no player goes farther than the eleven other men wearing the same jersey.”
oh well, so much for that.
Posted at July 10, 2004 8:48 PMSigh.
Be thankful for small favors…like not being Kobe or Shaq. They can keep the posse, the publicity and the money, the ego and politics don’t sound like they are worth it at all.
Comments are now closed for this entry. Thank you for playing.