Yeah, I believe that the most over looked part of this statement is that, well, fuck, these guys are for the most part million dollar babies. Of course they are gonna live the high life, can you blame them if they can?
King, with no cap then LA, NY and any other tropical team , ahem Miami..would be the only teams to ever win again. Small market teams in colder climes would be fucked, with the exception of maybe PDX, if and I do mean if, PA wanted to go on a spending spree, and I doubt he would again.
Yes this is true to a degree. Miami's owner is losing money actually, he owns the team for fun since he's a billionaire. The Lakers are still projected to win about the same number of games they won in 2011, people are forgetting how good Pau, LO and Bynum were that year. Kobe was slightly better too.
I agree (and disagree) with both of you, on some points. The Kobe trial was a HUGE distraction, especially during the playoffs. That, combined with a simmering feud between Malone and Kobe (and the ongoing Shaq/Kobe feud) caused the Lakers to lose focus during the finals. After a cake walk through the Western Conference playoffs, I think the Lakers took the Pistons too lightly. The East was very weak that year, and the Pistons were the third seed, without any superstars (or even any all-stars that year). But, ultimately, I think it was Malone's injury that was the most severe blow to the Lakers chances in the finals. Malone and Payton both played like shit in that series. For the entire series, they combined for a total of 41 points. Malone scored a total of 20 points in 4 games and Payton totaled 21 points in 5 games. After putting up just 4 points in 44 minutes in Game 1, it was clear Malone was far less than 100% healthy. Detroit, on the other hand, was totally focused and hungry. The Lakers had the super stars/future Hall-of-Famers, but the Pistons were quite clearly the better team. In spite of Stern's efforts to make basketball an individual sport by marketing individuals over teams, basketball is still, at its roots, a team sport. Five good players that are focused and playing as a team, can still wipe the court with a team loaded with distracted, feuding super stars. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening this time around. Shaq, Kobe, Malone and Payton ALL had HUGE egos. All were used to being "the man" and not taking a backseat to anyone. By contrast, Howard, Nash and Gasol don't seem to have the gargantuan egos of that 2003-04 Lakers squad. While he may be old, Kobe is still the undisputed leader of that team. He's the veteran with all the rings, and despite his age, still one of the best players in the league. Gasol is used to deferring to him, Nash is, and has always been, a team first player, and as good as Dwight Howard is, he's not a dominant offensive player who demands the ball on every possession. This squad, in terms of pecking order and clearly defined roles, is a much better fit than that 2003-04 team that lead the league in egos and in-fighting. And, that makes them scary good. BNM
I have a different theory: it's the fans. Superstars all troll forums. They assess the fan base accordingly. Now, if you were Dwight Howard, who would you want to play in front of? The fan base who text their way through games, don't have a basketball IQ and think that God himself is a Lakers fan? or the fanbase who's consistent narrative is one involving a curse, has no other distractions and is a cynical, overanalytical lot?
