Threats of Kobe leaving the Lakers can come at any moment now. The state of the Lakers franchise remains uncertain, another riddle to figure out in what should be an interesting offseason for a regal franchise, known for winning championships and raising banners into the rafters at Staples Center.
As for Pau Gasol, the Lakers tall, lanky forward from Spain, he is likely to be traded this summer after the brief postseason run, so the team will listen to offers. Gasol, a soft, spongy ballplayer when he can't hustle, grab rebounds and dictate the flow of the game under the basket with a post presence that no one has seen from him much in the playoffs, wasn't a dependable player and Bryant couldn't rely on him to be a second-scoring option.
The Lakers have a pair of largely gifted seven-footers the tallest front court in the NBA, but nonetheless failed to control the boards and close off the lane. The two were bullied by the Thunder, and so were the rest of the team other than Bryant, who refused to quit, despite trailing in the second half of Monday's elimination game. In some ways the Lakers have the best-worst team in the NBA, simply because they have the greatest superstar of this generation but have the most underachieving core of players alongside the Black Mamba, a team captain who hate to lose, hate to come up short of winning an NBA championship.
Kobe was not pleased with his teammates, nor the Lakers executives -- once again devoid of what he plays for, an honorable trophy each season. Bynum was supposed to be a reliable center, and more importantly, all grown up since he was given a five-game suspension for his dirty, thug-like hit on J.J. Barea in the Lakers' Game 4 loss to Dallas of the semifinals a year ago -- he's immature and apathetic after all -- but can become the most dominant center since Shaquille O'Neal. It's the darkest moment, equivalent to an episode of the Twilight Zone. After a wonderful dynasty early in the 21st century, now with a weakened and withered bench, an older core of players incapable of keeping up with the youth and emergence of faster players fitted to run a long marathon, the Lakers have to retool again.
If the Lakers take account of a rebuilding project, they could then again win more titles. But until then, the Lakers won't deliver the goods with their current roster. And now, with an abrupt ending to the Lakers' erratic season, Mike Brown's job status is mired in jeopardy. There's not much happiness in Lakersland. The storyline, after a miserable loss that extended this Lakers demise, is that Bryant is unhappy with the state of the franchise and the personnel decisions of Lakers vice executive Jim Buss. It is almost staggering that Gasol and Bynum went for a combined 2-for-11 and poured in seven points in the second half of an elimination game.
The newly minted executive, who is the son of owner Jerry Buss, finally had a wake up call, and now it's his responsible to make dramatic changes to make certain the Lakers return to usual form. All this season, the Lakers won based on finesse and experience, not youth, speed or hungriness. All this season, the Lakers won because of Kobe Bryant, and with the exception of Gasol and Bynum, it cut their season short. It's well-documented Bryant is here for the long term, obviously, but the rest of the team is called into question.
With all due respect, Magic Johnson, who had a contentious opinion regarding Brown, is not alone. There's already been much conversation on whether Brown will salvage his job for another season, all because he brought in a blue-collar defensive system and deserve credit for his acumen to emphasize a strong effort defensively. But, of late, the Lakers never committed to defense, and Russell Westbrook single-handedly dismantled the Lakers. It wouldn't be surprising if Buss fires Brown, especially when he and general manager Mitch Kupchak can now phone Stan Van Gundy about the coaching job here in Los Angeles.
The worst is, it has been painful to watch the Lakers in the midst of a crisis, one that requires an extreme Hollywood makeover. Sending off Bynum to New Jersey for Deron Williams and Brook Lopez would be a good way to rebuild in the City of Angels -- or even sending the seven-foot center who selfishly is apathetic and doesn't care where he plays next season -- he may wind up in Orlando for Dwight Howard. Bynum, a pouty brat who was benched, sarcastically shot well out of his range, cried, played selfishly and laughed after a disgraceful loss, can be dealt over the summer for good value.
There's no doubt he needs to grow up on a team where his act of petulance and immaturity are problems for a franchise on a mission to amass championships, which traditionally the Lakers have done so well. If no one else knows, Bryant can admittedly tell us how incompetent and useless his current roster is collectively. At this point of Bryant's career, he's tired, mentally and physically burned out when all of this is on him. If they lose, he's the scapegoat. If they lose, he's the one to blame, for either being too selfish or too unselfish, for either being a facilitator or ball hog. Damned if he does. Damned if he doesn't. The hope is that the Lakers can eventually rebuild the current roster with blockbuster trades and signings to put them into championship mode.
Then, once it's all said and done, the Lakers can redefine themselves. There are a number of things -- if they can go back in time -- that the Lakers as a whole would handle differently, like choosing to hire Brian Shaw, which was Bryant's preferred favorite. The realization of the Lamar Odom trade spelled absolute doom, sending him to Dallas, a team that wiped the Lakers out of the postseason. And certainly, they slowly diminished without his services, trading him essentially for nothing in return, for which Bryant was furious and puzzled on what the future held following the deal that was unorthodox. A year ago, Dallas swept these Lakers in the semifinals.
This year, nothing changed, except they managed to win at least one game versus Oklahoma City but went home in five games. The Lakers, I fear, are in a world of trouble until they figure it out. It's not about the lost of the greatest coach of all time, Phil Jackson. It's not about Metta World Peace as the most reliable player Kobe can trust or even his state of mind. It's not about the Odom trade. It's about the Lakers reverting to winners. There were no real surprises, ever since a near-successful trade that would have sent Gasol and Odom to New Orleans for Chris Paul was vetoed.
While there were Rajon Rondo rumors across L.A. with speculations of Howard coming to the Lakers following their early season struggles in the first couple of months, they had to play with what they had, they were so erratic and then traded Derek Fisher, the veteran point guard who led them to five NBA championships. It is clear the Lakers are basketball royalty, and anything less than a championship is a failure. But after the game, after suffering a beatdown for the second straight season that created a soap opera, it was an eye-opener for one of the big-time sports franchises -- among them -- the New York Yankees, Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Cubs, Green Bay Packers, Duke and Notre Dame.
We didn't know it was going to be like this, when the Lakers traded for Ramon Sessions hoping to reduce their weakest area, trying to get faster, younger and more athletic but Westbrook was still too quick and lethal. It's telling, though, that the Lakers need more than just Sessions.
It wouldn't be surprising for the Lakers to pursue a local player in Brandon Jennings, a big-name free agent this summer. It wouldn't be surprising for them to release Brown and replace him with Jerry Sloan, Van Gundy or Shaw. This summer will be interesting, for sure, as the Lakers need to do whatever it takes to reestablish a lost personality.
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