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TrueHoop: Justin Verrier
The expectation game
September, 30, 2013
Sep 30
10:57
AM ET
AP Photo/Alex GallardoThe bar has been set much lower for the Lakers this season. They may be better off because of it.No games can be won or lost in the offseason, but in the five months since being swept out of the playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs, the Lakers have seemingly lost what has largely defined the franchise in its five decades in Los Angeles: the power of perception.
Among the NBA’s elite, the Lakers have the bluest blood. They are one of the few teams in all of sports expected to compete for a championship every season, and with their alluring location, deep pockets and rich legacy, they have the means to live up to such lofty standards: Since the 1976-77 season, the Lakers have missed the playoffs just twice and have more titles than first-round exits. In the summer of 2012, the team turned a very good center (Andrew Bynum) into the best one in the league (Dwight Howard), and pried away Steve Nash, the best player from a division rival, for draft picks. Long before the ensuing disastrous results, building a superteam out of almost nothing only reaffirmed its supposed infallibility. The rich got richer, and so on and so on.
But with Howard's rejection of their richer contract offer in free agency this summer in favor of a deal from the Houston Rockets, the Lakers not only lost their bridge to the future -- the player expected to take the handoff from Kobe Bryant and lead the franchise into the next generation -- they also conceded some of that cherished status. Cap-strapped and lacking any other alternatives, the Lakers very publicly courted Howard, going as far as to roll out "Stay" billboards with his likeness, which long-term fans largely found unbecoming. To see their efforts rebuffed, to the cruel delight of many, stripped away some of the shine that surrounds the club, and that new, confounding image was only further established when the team trotted out new additions like Chris Kaman, Nick Young and Jordan Farmar (on his second tour of duty) to a media throng that had thinned out considerably from last year’s much-anticipated preseason meet-and-greet. Old money bet on the wrong stock and took a big lost, and now it’s forced to try and make ends meet any way it can like every other team.
Even with oodles of cap room awaiting it next summer and the usual inherent advantages it has in attracting free agents, the prospects of a quick return to glory are far more muddled than usual. The last time the Lakers missed the postseason, in 2004-05, the player expected to bring them into the future was already in-house. But now that same player could be what stunts their ability to transition into a new era. Almost a decade later, Bryant is still the best player on the Lakers, but because of his demanding personality, affinity for taking shots and millstone salary, he is also the best reason for other superstars not to play for the Lakers, at least in the immediate.
For the first time in a long time, there are no easy answers in L.A. But that uncertainty is precisely what makes the Lakers so compelling this season.
Perhaps more than any other sport, the NBA can be rather predictable. Certainly, there are surprises -- first and foremost, last season’s Lakers debacle -- but elite players dictate so much of the league’s results that it’s fairly easy to pick out successes and failures: If you have a superstar, you often win big; if you do not have a superstar, you often do not win big. And unlike the NCAA tournament or the NFL playoffs, 82-game regular seasons and seven-game playoff series have a way of straining out any truly shocking circumstances; last year’s ESPN.com Summer Forecast, comprised of 100 voters, correctly predicted 13 of the eventual 16 participants in the playoffs. Barring injuries, we pretty much know what we’re getting into once the dust settles on free agency. The ballet of a LeBron James dunk is indeed beautiful, but the known is at the core of this league, and that is what makes it so ripe for the advanced analytics that have become so popular, particularly in the daily discussion mill.
For so long, the Lakers found comfort in this predictably. There will always be outside noise generated by their palace’s intrigue, but the only question of much consequence remained a constant: Will they win a title this season? This year’s Summer Forecast panel predicts a meager 36 wins and a 12th-place finish for the Lakers. And while Bryant, among others, may still expect championships, the conversations surrounding the team are much dourer. What kind of player will a 35-year-old Bryant be once he has recovered from a torn Achilles? Can a move back to center rejuvenate a 33-year-old Pau Gasol? What does a 39-year-old Steve Nash have left? Can they even make the playoff field? The baseline for success has indeed been lowered.
Even though the spare parts the Lakers picked up on the open market to plug their many holes probably won’t lead to a significantly better on-court product than last season’s 45-win team, there’s a certain freedom to playing when up is the only place to go in the expectation game. Particularly for a team coming off a season in which each game felt as if it meant everything.
With injuries, reported in-fighting, malaise and poor results, last season’s Lakers were quite the poisonous cocktail. But the tumult only exacerbates when you factor in the context they played under. It’s easy to write off preseason prognostications as silly, and perhaps there is some truth to that, but in those summer months we recalibrate our whole interpretation of the league. While the time to reflect helps us better understand the eight months of game action that just happened, it also resets our expectations for what is about to happen: that the Heat are a budding dynasty, that the Rockets are budding contenders in the West, that the Lakers are a budding crisis. None of this has happened, but if it doesn’t, it will seem incongruous based on the perceptions we spend crafting in the summer months. Without the context of the Summer of LeBron, the Heat’s 2011 NBA Finals loss doesn’t seem so devastating. Nor does the Lakers’ 2012-13 season feel like such a letdown without the immense anticipation that preceded it.
Asked on Saturday if last season was the most difficult of his career, Nash concurred: "It was, yeah. There were other difficult years in there, but it was difficult because it was the freshest [in my memory] and there were the most expectations."
The Lakers were unable to replace Howard in free agency, but their consolation prize is a good one: the benefit of doubt. Bryant and others can express championship aspirations, but if they do not achieve that goal, it will only reaffirm what we already perceived. Anything more, though, will surely feel that much sweeter, and that joy of overcoming expectations (see: every athlete Twitter account) is one this franchise has not had the privilege of in some time. The mood around the team has noticeably been lifted from last season, those around the team say, chief among them head coach Mike D'Antoni, who now gets a full training camp and the chance to run his preferred system with players that seem a better fit for it. Any type of success, particularly in the early stages of the 2013-14 season, will surely only build upon that.
That may not be enough to fulfill any championship expectations left over from years gone by, but anything can happen. And given the circumstances this franchise now finds itself in, the excitement brought about by the unknown is indeed something to look forward to.
Grades and observations for the top performers and notable names from Day 9 in Las Vegas.
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Quincy Acy, Raptors: 28 PTS | 10 REB | 1 AST
Kent Bazemore, Warriors: 26 PTS | 1 REB | 1 AST
Abdul Gaddy, Bobcats: 17 PTS | 1 REB | 1 AST
Archie Goodwin, Suns: 20 PTS | 3 REB | 2 AST
Stefon Hannah, D-League Select: 6 PTS | 2 REB | 3 AST
Lester Hudson, Lakers: 18 PTS | 4 REB | 2 AST
Justin Harper, Cavs: 21 PTS | 5 REB | 0 ASTPrevious grades: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9
Danny Chau and Danny Nowell are part of the TrueHoop Network. Justin Verrier covers the NBA for ESPN.com.
Grades and observations for the top performers and notable names from Day 8 in Las Vegas.
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Josh Akognon, Mavs: 18 PTS | 2 REB | 3 AST
Reggie Bullock, Clippers: 22 PTS | 4 REB | 2 AST
Terrel Harris, Blazers: 25 PTS | 6 REB | 2 AST
Matt Howard, Grizzlies: 12 PTS | 12 REB | 0 AST
Austin Rivers, Pelicans: 23 PTS | 2 REB |3 AST
Dennis Schroeder, Hawks: 15 PTS | 5 REB |1 AST
Tony Snell, Bulls: 20 PTS | 7 REB | 3 AST
Jeremy Tyler, Knicks: 20 PTS | 3 REB | 1 AST
Nate Wolters, Bucks: 20 PTS | 5 REB | 3 ASTPrevious grades: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9
D.J. Foster, Danny Nowell and Ethan Sherwood Strauss are part of the TrueHoop Network. Justin Verrier covers the NBA for ESPN.com.
Getty ImagesAre high-profile rookies CJ McCollum, Ben McLemore and Shabazz Muhammad ready for the season?Four of the biggest names of the 2013 draft in Las Vegas officially bowed out for the summer, as their teams wrapped up consolation games as part of this year's event-ending tournament. Our TrueHoop team takes a look back at what we saw from each and what we expect to see moving forward.
CJ McCollum, Trail Blazers
21 PPG, 4 RPG, 3.4 APG, 36.6 FG%, 31 3P%
The good: McCollum proved that he has the skill set to fulfill the team's primary expectation for him, which is to score a ton of points. With one of the quickest triggers in the desert and refined instincts for finding points, McCollum is a genuine threat from most spots on the floor, and led summer league in scoring before hanging it up prior to Friday's game against Minnesota. In a backcourt sorely lacking punch behind starter Damian Lillard, those are qualities the Blazers will surely covet.
The bad: Those points that fans latched onto were the result of McCollum hoisting more shots than any other player in Vegas, making them at just a 36.6 percent rate. What's more, McCollum struggled to free teammates and orchestrate a coherent offense. Nobody really expected slick no-look passes or for McCollum to lead summer league in assists, but the Blazers sometimes hurt for points with the rookie at the helm.
Bottom line: We didn't learn all that much about McCollum. His credentials as a scoring talent remain unquestioned, but the questions about his other talents remain unanswered. In sum, McCollum was probably very much what the Blazers expected, and while fans have every reason to be excited, they should also be prepared for a rookie season that exposes a few current weaknesses.
-- Danny Nowell
Ben McLemore, Kings
15.8 PPG, 5 RPG, 0 APG, 33.3 FG%, 19.4 3P%
The good: McLemore had two strong games at summer league, most recently downing a talented Hawks squad with a 19-point third quarter. When he's on, he moves with uncommon grace and power, both on and off the ball. He's also been a terror in transition because of his ability to outpace defenders and throw down reverberating dunks.
When balanced, McLemore's shot can evoke Ray Allen memories, especially when he sweeps along the baseline, through screens, to get an open look. Because of his athletic prowess, not much room is needed for a clean jumper. The kid rises quickly off the floor, unfurling a rainbow arc that eludes closeouts. Even if his shot hasn't been going in this tournament, the form looks good.
The bad: He hasn't been good at that which he's supposedly good at. For a shooter, McLemore hasn't shot especially well, converting only 33 percent of his attempts. Though the form looks good, his balance appears to be off, to the point where he airballed consecutive jumpers against the Warriors. He's yet to demonstrate an ability to reset his legs and square up when shooting off the dribble.
Shaky as the shot's been, his handle is more concerning. McLemore's dribble is loose, and often stolen. He carries the ball with nearly every dribble, often losing the rock on the way up or down. He's especially bad at dribbling left, which teams have taken advantage in this chaotic setting. Defenses are shading McLemore leftward, daring him to attack open driving lanes.
Bottom line: Despite his glaring flaws, I certainly wouldn't give up on McLemore because his positive qualities are just as striking. He's probably the most powerful dunker in Vegas, and if the college stats are any indication, he'll grow into a sharpshooter from deep.
-- Ethan Sherwood Strauss
Shabazz Muhammad, Timberwolves
8.5 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 0.8 APG, 41 FG%, 38 3P%
The good: The fit is there. Muhammad has the build of your everyday athletic, break-you-off-dribble wing scorer, but he thrived at UCLA mostly in situations where he didn't have to dribble -- off the catch, running the break, posting up. And on a team like the Timberwolves, with a scorer/rebounder and ball handler as its two cornerstones, it's those "other" areas where Muhammad will need to do his work.
Despite the lure always present at summer league to isolate everything, Muhammad primarily stuck to that script, floating around the arc and running off screens, and looked right doing so. His rebound numbers in Vegas were ho-hum, but he can be a great wing rebounder with his size, if he puts in the effort. He also shot 41.1 percent from 3, better than his college average (38 percent).
The bad: The production was not there. The 20-year-old (we hope) Muhammad averaged just 8.5 points on 41 percent shooting. Which isn't awful. But when a player who lives off offense can't produce, particularly against inferior competition, the deficiencies in the rest of his game become more noticeable. And in Muhammad's case that's his ambivalence toward passing (five total assists) and mediocre defense despite the tools to be pretty good.
Bottom line: Muhammad has a lot to work with, and you're inclined to dismiss some of the disappointment to playing a defined and limited role, but it's hard to write all that off after a drama-filled freshman season. That age stuff doesn't matter anymore, but can he be happy with an even smaller role in snowy Minnesota than the one he griped about in Los Angeles?
-- Justin Verrier
Otto Porter, Wizards
6.3 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 1 APG, 30 FG%, 0.0 3P%
The good: Porter has length and he can run. Despite knocks against his subpar athleticism, he will get out in transition, as his active arms create deflections. He should also be able to either push the ball himself off changes of possession, or fill the lanes running with John Wall.
Porter's height (6-foot-9) and ability to shoot could also spread the court and create openings for teammates, or the Wizards might run Porter off screening action for mid-range shots over smaller defenders, which they aimed to do in summer league. Sure, Porter will need to extend his range as an NBAer, and he might even need to tweak his form, but if he showed anything at Georgetown, it's the ability to soak knowledge like a sponge and convert that into quick improvement.
The bad: Porter will need to make up for a lack of athleticism by getting stronger -- a lot stronger. Too many times in Vegas he got bumped off course by steady defense, or the ball easily knocked away from his bear-cub paws.
"Assertive" has also been used so much to describe Porter that I had to look it up again. He's not bold, self-assured or confident. Aggressive? I've seen him try his hand at that in Vegas, but not at the right times. Most of the jumpers he took seemed to be forced off the dribble.
Bottom line: The Wizards didn't draft Porter with the idea of him needing to contribute immediately. So, disregard any preseason prognostications penciling him in as the starter at the 3-spot. That position belongs to Martell Webster, and if not him, Trevor Ariza. So, Porter will have the luxury of developing at a comfortable pace, but that doesn't mean expectations won't soon arise for the third overall pick, even if part of a weak draft class that didn't do much to change opinions in Las Vegas.
-- Kyle Weidie
Grades and observations for the top performers and notable names from Day 5 in Las Vegas.
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John Henson, Bucks: 9 PTS | 15 REB | 3 BLK
CJ McCollum, Blazers: 27 PTS | 6 REB | 1 AST
Gal Mekel, Mavs: 7 PTS | 2 REB | 9 AST 
Thomas Robinson, Blazers: 12 PTS | 18 REB | 2 AST 
Marquis Teague, Bulls: 25 PTS | 1 REB | 3 AST 
Tony Wroten, Grizzlies: 17 PTS | 3 REB | 4 AST 
Jan Vesely, Wizards: 18 PTS | 3 REB | 3 AST Previous grades: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9
D.J. Foster, Ethan Sherwood Strauss and Kyle Weidie are part of the TrueHoop Network. Kevin Pelton and Justin Verrier cover the NBA for ESPN.com.The Knicks: A summer spectacle
July, 15, 2013
Jul 15
7:25
PM ET
LAS VEGAS -- Days after the bottom fell out on Linsanity last summer, the New York Knicks’ brass made a big show of things at Cox Pavilion for their summer league club’s game against the Toronto Raptors.
Raymond Felton, their new starting point guard, loomed about. As did Baron Davis and Amar’e Stoudemire. Allan Houston, Mike Woodson, Glen Grunwald and several members of the front office watched from the red-backed bleacher seats. With confusion over their decision to let Jeremy Lin walk in free agency to Houston dominating league discussion, the sudden appearance of such a large contingent, whether conscious or not, sent a pretty clear message to the world: We’re all in this together.
This year, the newest Knick was running the sideshow. Hours after his two-year agreement to return to New York surfaced, a grinning Metta World Peace, almost out of nowhere, popped up around the very same court for the Knicks’ summer league game against the Charlotte Bobcats. He made a beeline to the MSG broadcast table for an in-game interview, then held court with a pack of reporters for about six minutes, and then he was gone.
The whole thing lasted maybe 30 minutes. In its wake was a small jolt of energy to a generally subdued Las Vegas crowd and a few charmingly silly quotes to harp on.
Topics ranged from Arena football:
“The thing was, y’all know I like to be adventurous. I have no filter and I have no filter in my creativity. Very bold. I changed my name. So the thing with the Arena Football League was really appealing to me. That was something I mentioned to everybody. And I’m pushing kids to play multiple sports, like Bo Jackson did back in the days. So playing arena football, who knows if I would have been good or not? But it was a way to inspire something that’s always in my mind.
To playing in China:
“Then my second option was China; that’s different. ... Too many guys in New York City I grew up playing basketball only focused on the NBA. They forget about other things, education and the world. And being in my prime, I think China would have been very inspirational.”
To Yao Ming:
“I was really ready to go to China and play for Yao. I love Yao.”
To his role with the Knicks:
“Doesn’t matter. I don’t care if I’m starting, or sweeping the floors. You hear me? I want to win.”
It’s what we’ve come to expect from World Peace now, six teams and 14 years into his NBA career: that the things he says and the discussion around him supersede the things he does on the court.
Thanks in part to a better diet, World Peace rebounded a bit from consecutive flat seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, raising his PER almost two points and his 3-point percentage by almost five percentage points. On a M*A*S*H unit, he was a fairly consistent presence; he missed only six games after a knee injury that was supposed to cost him weeks. While he’s not the stopper he once was, the Knicks need all the help they can get on defense, so it’s hard to argue with the deal, especially at a reported $1.6 million (with a player option in the second year).
But the real victory, for the Knicks and the NBA, is that he and his bizarre thoughts will remain in the news cycle. His ability to stretch the floor will always take a back seat to his ability to stretch reality.
In that respect, playing in his hometown, for a team that built its foundation on two superstars (Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony) by name more than production when they first arrived, indeed seems like a fit.
Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty ImagesWith Dwight Howard now gone, Kobe Bryant is at the forefront of the Lakers once again.Though already 34 years and 316 days old, and only three months into his recovery from a torn left Achilles, Bryant told the Lakers’ team Web site last week that he intends to play, at a high level, for at least three more years in the hopes of pushing "the rings count out a little further." That prospect obviously takes a hit in the wake of Howard’s decision to sign a free-agent contract with the Houston Rockets. Which is why, despite the notorious mismatch in personality and outlook with his now-former superstar running mate, Bryant plunked himself down in Beverly Hills last week with the rest of the Lakers strike force to try to coax Howard into staying put. Even amidst all the tumult of last season, a zened-out Bryant would preach patience and staying the course, because doing so represented the only route to winning and aiding his legacy-defining ring quest.
But while the literal wins are sure to decline without Howard, at least in the immediate, Bryant once again comes away from a Lakers free-agency scare a winner. Because like in 2004, when he was the one threatening to walk, the outcome leaves the Lakers constructed very much in his image.
When Bryant re-upped in Los Angeles nine years ago, after the departures of Shaq and Phil Jackson, the Lakers effectively traded in a team built for contention for one that prioritized Bryant. With Lamar Odom and Caron Butler next to him, Bryant’s usage rate and scoring average rose slightly from the previous season, and then, when Jackson returned to the fold the following year, soared to what still stand as career highs. The Lakers accumulated just four playoff wins in the three seasons after he signed his new contract, which then led to roundabout trade demands spurred by his own impatience with the franchise. But Bryant got what he wanted: most notably, out from under the "sidekick" label.
An older, wiser and less-guarded Bryant appears more in tune with the big picture these days. Despite how sharp and tone deaf his message to Dwight was in their sitdown last week, the words that surfaced read more as an attempt to inspire than scare away. Lately, Bryant has sentimentalized his position in Lakers lore, particularly after the death of owner Jerry Buss, who twice talked him off the ledge when he was thinking hard about leaving the franchise, and his pitch appears driven as much by "Been there, bro" wisdom as it does personal gain.
Howard, of course, chose a better chance at future titles over being a part of a history filled with past titles, and as a result, Bryant’s fast-closing window for that coveted sixth ring only grows smaller. But what he got from Howard, who was quickly denounced as a villain by Lakers sympathizers (if he wasn't there already), is the kind of consolation Bryant, in particular, should appreciate: the chance to wear the white hat and save the day.
The Bryant preparing to enter his 18th season is a monolith, ingratiating himself to the fan at large more and more with every curse-word-laced quote and odds-defying pull-up jumper. In this age of quantifiable fact, he is our antihero, and he has already won over a large chunk of the public by swinging his big tween stick at Howard on the interwebs, unfollowing him on Twitter and Instagramming a photo of him soldiering on with best bud Pau Gasol soon after word of Howard's choice was announced.
Now picture what awaits Bryant this season: He's coming off a career-threatening injury, one he’ll probably come back from way earlier than expected; playing for a crestfallen, prestigious franchise that’s already being counted out; alongside sympathetic, good-guy sidekicks in the twilight of their careers; for a coach who encourages a fast pace and heaps of possessions.
Bryant has spent his entire career finding motivation from anyone and anything he could find; he was already ticked off at potential doubters the night he tore his Achilles. Next season offers up a typhoon of adversaries for him to overcome.
Age, one of the important factors in Howard’s decision, is already at the top of Bryant's list.
"I think the [Achilles] injury has something to do with it. It really increased the drive. And probably San Antonio getting so close to winning No. 5, probably hurt me a little bit, too," Bryant explained to Lakers.com’s Mike Trudell about his three-more-years declaration. "I want to make sure I push the ring count out a little further. It was really, really close there. They played phenomenally well. But it's a testament to what skill can do. To what us old guys can do if you play together, if you play with one mind and one purpose you can accomplish great things. It was inspirational for me and hopefully inspirational for the city of Los Angeles and this organization of what we can do, how this tide can change fairly quickly, and we'll be looking at a parade."
The Spurs’ success in the face of annual questions over how long they can win is deservedly hailed around the league, particularly with the rise of so-called super teams. As Bryant indicates, it has even become a bellwether for aging giants like himself.
With Howard gone and the Lakers looking more like the Spurs than the super team they feigned to be last season, there is an opportunity for Bryant to reach similar unexpected heights, to push the Lakers into the playoffs and prove himself against the one force larger than anything he can conjure up.
It may not result in a championship, but for Bryant, the opportunity presented by the loss of Howard is indeed a victory.
Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty ImagesWill a superstar player willfully walk away from the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason?The weather and the celebrity culture and the sheer number of bodies in Los Angeles indeed raise the profile, but the Lakers have been more successful than almost every franchise in sports, and that tradition and consistency are ultimately what drive the constant hubbub that hovers around them -- the outside interest in their palace’s intrigue, the anointing of their best players, the outsized expectations both from fans and around the league, their place at the top of a vast majority of players’ wish lists.
So to see the media blitz the team is employing to persuade Dwight Howard into staying put, with billboards and full-page ads and hashtags and confusing photoshops, is both surprising and incongruent. Even more so than the Celtics, a franchise with one more title overall but with seven fewer championships and 10 fewer winning seasons since the NBA-ABA merger, the Lakers represent high society in the league, and it’s not often you see old money getting its hands dirty.
Veteran Lakers watchers can’t recall anything like this. Not even for Kobe Bryant, who had built up eight years of good faith when his petulance threatened to undermine the club’s high hand in 2004. For them, the Dwight campaign brings out the worst in both parties: in the Lakers, for being reduced to equal footing, and in Howard, for being the type of guy who focuses on the bright lights and misses the big picture.
Courtesy of J Alexander Diaz/Lakers
This image can be seen on a billboard on Hollywood Boulevard and is part of the Lakers' campaign to lure Dwight Howard back to the team in free agency.
This image can be seen on a billboard on Hollywood Boulevard and is part of the Lakers' campaign to lure Dwight Howard back to the team in free agency.
While the flashy display of affection has been scoffed at for its supposed desperation, it at least represents a more modern method of solving a more modern problem. The league’s new collective bargaining agreement allows the Lakers to offer Howard more money than any other team, but buying a contender to put around him isn’t as easy, especially given how messy L.A.’s books are until next summer. That extra $30 million in salary they can provide is indeed a major sweetener, but outside of that, the Lakers’ sales pitch to Dwight isn’t too dissimilar to the one the Knicks employed when courting LeBron James in the summer of 2010: cap space to pair him with a high-quality running mate (in the Lakers’ case, not until the following season), a chance to live in one of the country’s most popular metropolitan cities, greater domestic marketing opportunities and the chance to be a part of their rich history. In other words, everything other than what we want our superstars to prioritize: the best shot at winning a championship.
If the Lakers seem desperate maybe it’s because they should be. Over the past three years, the power has, rather refreshingly, shifted somewhat toward superstar players. The more popular locales will likely always win out for their services over the Charlottes and the Milwaukees, but for the league’s elite players, future potential, not past success, could mark the necessary difference among them, even if it means forsaking one of the league’s oligarchies. The mission of the majority on the owners’ side of the CBA negotiating table was to make the league fairer for all, and while that will probably always be a pipe dream, it at least made it fairer for some. Particularly so for the smart among the some.
Less than two years ago, the Clippers were able to dig themselves out of decades of futility by leveraging the Los Angeles market, the potential of Blake Griffin and sound drafting to land Chris Paul. Soon after, posters of Griffin, Paul and DeAndre Jordan were plastered on three successive multistory buildings downtown, not far away from the "#StayD12" poster currently occupying a wall of Staples Center.
"It's a sign of the future landscape," general manager Mitch Kupchak told reporters Thursday in regard to the billboards.
Whether or not Howard follows them remains to be seen. Current reports indicate that title chances will be the most important criterion in his decision, but the notorious flip-flopper has said all the right things many times before, only to lose sight of them when immediate gains aren't realized. He helped Otis Smith drive the Magic into the ground by doubling down on high-priced goofballs, then asked out soon after opting back in. He bought into being Bryant’s No. 2 despite initial skepticism, but he only seemed happy and productive at the end of his first season, when the offense flowed around his post touches and Bryant was away from the team.
Because of that, Howard’s image, the part of his career he has tried so very hard to protect, to the point of suffocation, can’t win regardless of what he chooses. If he returns to the Lakers, he again will be subject to the Los Angeles media crunch, for a season that figures to be even more difficult than his tumultuous first one. If he goes to the Rockets, he’ll have flipped (or flopped?) to his third team in as many seasons.
It’s more clear-cut when it comes to future earnings: Houston, after shrewdly compiling assets and shedding salary to acquire frontline talent like James Harden, offers the best chance to win, and to win now; Los Angeles, after muscling its way to a deal for Dwight a year ago, offers the best in literal earnings and all the social benefits from not only being the “The Guy” on the Lakers, but also being the guy for which the Lakers were willing to bend over backward.
I guess we'll see where the signs ultimately point.
The gritted teeth. The peaked eyebrows. The scrunched face.
The look has been the logo for Kobe Bryant at his best over the past few years.
But here was Bryant, sitting near the east foul line at Staples Center, his knees near his chest and both of his arms attempting to stabilize his limp left leg, and the look conveyed only horror.
Two nights earlier, Bryant turned in a heroic performance -- a 47-point, 8-rebound, 5-assist, 4-block, 3-steal gem in a much-needed win at the Rose Garden, a place that had so tormented him in years past. It was the type of game that made you believe that nothing could stop him from lifting the tired and tattered Los Angeles Lakers into the postseason.
But here he was, one of the game’s last few giants, crumpled into a heap.
All of it has conspired to create a more educated fan, and, in turn, a new ideal for a superstar basketball player. It’s not so much about heroic feats as much as it as about cold, hard reality.
The guy who jacks up all types of shots, from every angle, against every defense has given way to the guy who can do a little bit of everything and do it efficiently.
The last-second dagger may have gone in, but should it have been taken in the first place? The discussion of Hero Ball has effectively killed our basketball heroes.
Except for a select few, most notably Bryant.
This emphasis on process over raw production regardless of the means most undercuts a stone-cold gunner like Bryant, who, despite a 17-year career that has been nothing short of prolific, has a tendency to take the reins and refuse to give them up, regardless of the obstacles thrown in his path.
But the more the game of basketball becomes grounded in statistical truth, the greater the myth of Kobe Bryant seems to grow. Because while his historic scoring ability has fueled his rise, it’s the defiance of a TV anti-hero that has defined his 17-year career.
I can’t skip college? Watch me.
I can’t succeed without Shaq? Watch me.
I can’t play with a gnarled finger? Watch me.
I can’t win as many rings as Jordan? Watch me.
Even as his age has crept past 30, his brashness, that impenetrability of a teenager, never waned.
So it was no surprise that after a 2011-12 season that saw his attempts rise and his shooting percentage dip, Bryant again defied the odds this year, turning in some of his best performances as the unbridled hope of a Lakers NBA Finals run quickly disintegrated into a daily fight to save face. The means had indeed changed. A healthier Bryant was taking three fewer shots per game, and more and better shots at the rim while scaling back the midrange jumper a bit. He also vacillated roles at times to Stucco over the Lakers’ injury woes, sometimes even eschewing his tunnel vision for the rim to become more of a facilitator, at one point racking up double-digit assists and near-triple-doubles in clumps.
But it wasn’t enough just to do it. In the midst of his facilitating binge, Bryant made sure to underline the ease with which he could do it. He would go into games with the clear mission to get others involved, drop 10 assists or so, and afterward act like it was no big thing, at one point even evoking Neo from “The Matrix.”
By any means necessary, Kobe would often say.
At some point during this season, as the injuries began to mount and the losses dragged the Lakers’ playoff chances deeper and deeper into a hole, Bryant became more myth than man, and the charming cockiness he displayed in postgame scrums -- cracking jokes despite dire situations and swearing openly into live mics, always with a sly grin -- only added to the persona. Slap a 10-gallon hat on him and you’d think the stubble-faced Bryant was a character conjured up by Elmore Leonard.
LeBron James has been superhuman this season. But while his physique is Herculean, The Decision and the emotional toll it clearly took on James has made him seem so mortal, even as he defies gravity. He is also very much a star of now, the model of all-around brilliance and efficiency the game now craves. Bryant, too, has endured his share of personal and professional obstacles, but his foibles only further emphasis the old ideal of a superstar athlete -- the cocky, manly gunner with the ice in his veins and a fear of no one.
But there he was, as always, after the game: in front of his locker being peppered with questions from the media. Only this time it came with crutches underneath his arms and a glossy coating around his eyes as he dammed his emotions.
As ESPN's Chris Palmer noted: "Kobe with tears in his eyes. Never seen him so...human."
Bryant will likely rehab and make a comeback. After the game, a Lakers win over the playoff-bound Golden State Warriors, he told reporters that the thought of pundits questioning his ability to do so already pissed him off.
And, surely, such a recovery will be hailed as heroic.
But already 34 and 232 days and facing perhaps a year-long comeback, it’s possible that, at least in spirit, the NBA lost its last hero of Hero Ball on this Friday night.
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