2010 LeBron the Laker?

Discussion in 'Los Angeles Lakers' started by Shapecity, Nov 13, 2007.

  1. Shapecity

    Shapecity S2/JBB Teamster Staff Member Administrator

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><span id="RDS_Site">

    My NBA fantasy goes like this:</p>

    The Lakers don't trade Kobe Bryant. They let him play out this season and next, assuring themselves two more seasons with a marquee attraction. As well as a top-rated soap opera.</p>

    Then he opts out of the final two years on his Lakers deal and signs somewhere else.</p>

    Wherever. Cheers, KB. Best wishes. Don't let the jetway door at LAX hit you on the backside.</p>

    LeBron James watches this unfold. He watches it closely.</p>

    And the guy whose life's goal is to be a "global icon" ... decides a much better point of departure for those aspirations is Hollywood.</p>

    As opposed to Cleveland.</p>

    He doesn't use his option to extend his Cavaliers contract another season and becomes a free agent in the spring of 2010.</p>

    And signs with the Lakers. After some back-channel coversations, all hush-hush (because it would be wrong ... and because, yeah, it would be tampering) assuring him the way-under-the-cap Lakers would be waiting for him and pay him the maximum.</p>

    Yes. That is my fantasy.</p>

    Bron-Bron in La-La-Lakers land.</p>

    I would trade Kobe for LeBron straight up. Right now. You bet.</p>

    Heck, I'd throw in another player and a draft pick, too, with Kobe, to get LeBron. <span id="RDS_Site">But Kobe has the right to block a trade he doesn't like, and let's just guess and say he wouldn't approve of a trade sending him to Cleveland. I mean, you can visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame only so many times, right?</span></p>

    <span id="RDS_Site">(Even </span><span id="RDS_Site">if relocating to Cleveland gave Bryant a chance to find out if he could get to the NBA Finals with Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes and Zydrunas Ilgauskas - as James did last June.)

    So that means the Lakers have one season without a superstar. So be it. It may happen anyway.</p>

    But it's not an utterly wasted year. Andrew Bynum becomes a go-to guy. Luke Walton is still around. The Lakers win 30 games and get a lottery pick.</p>

    And then they get LeBron James. Picking up where Kobe Bryant left off - somewhere well short of an NBA title, that is. LeBron & the Lakes win two or three NBA titles, he gets a couple of MVP awards ... and Kobe fades into obscurity somewhere east of the Mississippi.</p>

    We know this remains heresy in Los Angeles, that someone somewhere might be better than Kobe. Even after the 2007 Summer of (Falling Out of) Love.</p>

    James will never have Bryant's flair. He isn't the same sort of showman. He isn't as athletic. He can't create shots like Kobe can.</p>

    He isn't going to score 81 or even 60.</p>

    But James is a better teammate. Which he demonstrated before Sunday's game vs. the Clippers at Staples Center by balking at suggestions his "supporting cast" is inferior.</p>

    Critics have "always disrespected the talent around us," he said.</p>

    James also a better passer. A better rebounder. Far stronger.</p>

    And he is nearly 6 &frac12; years younger than Bryant.</p>

    Let's face it; the odometer already has rolled over on Kobe.</p>

    LeBron, meanwhile, will be 25 - on Opening Day of the 2010-2011 season.</p>

    James likes playing in Los Angeles. He said so before the game.</p>

    "They really love the game of basketball here," he said. "You don't have to be in the NBA or be an NBA player to know that."</p>

    He said he enjoys bantering with L.A. fans, the two occasions per season the Cavaliers are here. He said the only difference between the Clippers and Lakers crowds are the number of celebrities.</p>

    "Celebrities come out when the Lakers play," James said. "Some celebrities come out when the Clippers play. But you do have to play the same kind of basketball. I don't change my game if I'm playing the Clippers or playing the Lakers."</p>

    He rarely changes his game at all. Sunday, he single-handedly crushed a Clippers comeback and finished with 22 points, eight assists, six steals and five rebounds in 36 minutes, in Game 5 of a six-game Cavs road trip.</p>

    The James game is hoisting a team and putting it on his broad back. (Ask the Detroit Pistons about it.) His game is physically overpowering the opposition when he has to, but making his teammates better when he doesn't.</p>

    Asked point blank if he has considered playing in Los Angeles, James said the politically correct thing.</p>

    "I don't know," he said. "I never thought about that. You know, I focus on playing with the Cavs and trying to win an NBA championship.</p>

    Me playing someplace else, never crossed my mind, thus far."</p>

    Thus far. Thus far. Two words there at the end, and do you think that was an accident?</p>

    Two years of Kobe drama, one year of clearing gobs of cap space and stocking young talent, then here comes LeBron James to L.A., ready for the next step on the "global icon" trail, with 23-year-old Andrew Bynum at center.</p>

    And there goes another Lakers dynasty.</p>

    It's just a dream, for now. But I'll bet Jerry Buss and LeBron, too, have indulged in the same fantasy. Whether or not they admit to it any time soon.</div></p>

    Source: LA Daily News</p>
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  2. Chutney

    Chutney MON-STRAWRRR!!1!

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    He can team up with Yao, Amare, and Bosh... oh wait.</p>
     
  3. kobe23

    kobe23 JBB JustBBall Member

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    kobe should sign for less money during the 2010 season.. say 10M a year (used to be odom;s) ... then Give Lebron the max... thats a big 3 of Kobe, Lebron and Bynum... Lebron and Bynum will be the next shaq - kobe duo and kobe will be the leader of the pack ala derek fisher, reggie miller (right before retirement)... LOL LOL LOL</p>
     
  4. Whatthef?

    Whatthef? Sactown Laker

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    As long as Mitch is the GM, no one is coming to LA. Labron will only go to a winner and as long as Jerry keeps Mitch the Lakers will be no better than average.</p>
     
  5. o.iatlhawksfan

    o.iatlhawksfan ROFLMFAO!!!!

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    Some unneeded hype!</p>
     
  6. #1_War_Poet_ForLife

    #1_War_Poet_ForLife The Baker of Cakes

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    He's going to Brooklyn, and you know it.</p>
     

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