Kobe Bryant won his first MVP award yesterday, but most of us knew that he won it on April 11th. That was the day the Lakers beat the Hornets 107-104, and took command of the Western Conference. Kobe had a lot of nice things to say about his teammates and the Laker organization, but what made Kobe MVP was more a case of addition by subtraction.
Instead of citing the addition of positive attitude players like Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol, and the profound effect they had on Kobe. I would like to point out the benefit of subtracting players like Smush Parker, Brian Cook and Kwame Brown. Our attitudes and emotions are many times shaped by the people we spend the most time with, namely the people we work with. All three of the above mentioned players had terrible body language on the court and were rarely happy sitting on the bench. If you’ve ever worked with a disgruntled employee and had to listen to the chronic complaining and negative emotions, it has a way of catching up with you. Just ask the Denver Nuggets, who experienced similar dissension in their first round melt-down against the Lakers.
With the exodus of Parker, Cook and Brown, the whining and complaining turned into extra work outs and drills. We are as emotionally strong as the people we surround ourselves with, and this is the first year the Lakers have had players working out in the summer as hard as Kobe did.
When Kobe came into camp after his summer of discontent; he had one thing on his mind and that way to just play basketball. Whether he was in Los Angeles, Chicago or New York, he was still the best player in the world and aimed to prove it every night. In the past, when Kobe got annoyed with his teammate’s abilities, he would do one of two things. He would shoot the ball every time, or the opposite, pass the ball every time and give them that let’s see what you can do look.
This year when Kobe pulled that, guys like Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic starting nailing threes and delivering. This was in the pre-season, and Kobe had this look saying, I’ll believe it when you do it in the regular season. When the regular season started, the much maligned supporting cast continued to deliver both offensively and defensively, much to Kobe’s delight, because all along he had really liked a lot of these guys. He just didn’t think they were championship material, but that’s why Kobe’s a player, not a GM.
Heading into game two, MVP trophy in hand, look for the Lakers to blow-out the Jazz by twenty. The key to the game will be how the Lakers attack the glass on the offensive and defensive ends. They were badly out rebounded in game one (58-41), and Phil Jackson certainly won’t let a trend like that continue. Kobe also has a way of playing harder in situations like this, especially knowing how advantageous a 2-0 series lead going into a game 3 in Utah would be.
At Kobe’s press conference there were a few surprise visitors. One was Andre Iguodola of the Philadelphia 76ers and also Corey Maggette of the Clippers. Not sure if it were friendship or motive, but if either has an interest in playing for Lakers, consider yourself lucky if you’re a Laker fan.
In the recent NBA coaching carousal news Mike D’Antoni is apparently out in Phoenix and interviewing with the Knicks and Chicago. Chicago is the better fit, New York the bigger dollars. The best fit for D’Antoni would be with the Toronto Raptors but they have a coach in Sam Mitchell who has done a good job, and has 2 years and 8 million left on his contract. Supposedly, D’Antoni wants the Bulls job and is trying to use the Knick as leverage. Steve Kerr has given D’Antoni till Friday to make a decision.
Rick Carlisle should be offered the Mavericks head coaching position on Friday. The defensive minded Carlisle takes over an extremely talented team, but one that is a little different then what he has coached before. Not sure if there will be a shake up in Big D, but whoever is in Dallas next year, look for the defense to get back to where it was under Carlisle.
Not sure where Avery Johnson will wind up, as D’Antoni has stolen a little bit of his thunder. Kind of surprised Phoenix doesn’t have an interest. Also surprised his interview with John Paxson and the Bulls didn’t go better. All in all, if D’Antoni leaves the Suns, it’s a big plus for the Lakers as they have been a major player in the Pacific Division the last few seasons. I can’t see them improving without D’Antoni, as he was the architect of their entire offense. He also hand selected every player into his system. Any direction change at this point, would appear to be down not up.
