I feel the opposite and quite inspired by this team. We have Lebron, AD and THT who are all returning. Also Dwight and Rondo who we never should of allowed to leave the bubble championship team. Then we have Ariza, Ellington and Bazemore who are all returning Lakers too. Then we have Russ and Carmelo who have always flirted with wanting to be lakers and Nunn who worked out for us. Only Monk and Jordan don’t have strong ties to us. The rest of the roster feels like they know what it means to be a laker and have sacrificed a lot to be here.
agree with svtzr. and quite frankly, the "kids" years were probably the worst in my lakers fandom. knowing i'd see that same team the following year was really depressing.
Great take listing all that. Not to mention Reaves whose grandmother LOVED Kobe so he grew up on a farm no less, a Laker fan plus there’s his nickname.
I can go either way. (No Bi). I actually enjoyed the Kids years because I love seeing talent develop. Even the last 2-3 years with LeBron and AD, my favorite players were AC and THT. But, I also love winning and championships, and realize the Kids we assembled, while talented, were never going to get that far. So, I'm happy with this team which is built for a ring, mercenary or not.
Honestly, I think this is the future of the league. When guys are making over half a billion dollars over the course of their careers, it is going to be much more difficult to build around them under current salary cap rules.
I grew up watching the great Dodger infield that was drafted together. Garvey, Lopes, Russel, and Cey. Added Baker, Reggie Smith, others. It's a different experience winning with home grown, but the way of the league has definitely changed, and so has the fan experience. Some of us just have to adjust. The team should be super fun to watch this year, as we are loaded with the talent. The number of All Star teams and All NBA teams this team members have been on is pretty staggering. Rob has outdone himself. Just, wow!
Was the end of that what I thought it was? Or is sarcasm meter broke? Watch some games and get back to us?
So what’s your problem That the team wasn’t put together in a way that was impossibe, but which you keep longing for? And LeBron is here. For some reason those two things make it impossible to enjoy what you just said, not to mention we’ll be favored with the elite teams to win a 2nd championship in 3 years … with a Showtime level of fun quotient. More to what I meant was watch some games and get back to us with how little or much enjoyment you’re truly getting from this team.
We simply didn’t play good basketball, and it was a chore to watch. We weren’t really building anything, and I knew it, which is why I was elated by the AD trade.
Couple important Melo reads... First one from Windy on Bron and Melo finally teaming up and the road that brought them together Next from MCMENAMIN from today's practice with quotes from Vogel and Melo on where he's at and his role with this team
Part of that was bad coaching. Part of it was the issue of Kobe's final years. I think the kids were a good mix of talent, but not personalities. Randle, Russell, Ingram, Ball, Clarkson, Kuz, Hart, Nance, Zu, Thomas Bryant, etc. could have eventually made some noise but they had no chemistry together.
Why do you feel the need to police people’s opinions? I don’t recall doing that to you. Let it go. My favorite way to build a team isn’t the free agent mercenary route. Doesn’t mean we won’t be great. Doesn’t mean we won’t be fun to watch. I’m free to express that opinion. If you don’t like it, block me or move on.
One issue that I think is being overlooked in the kids vs AD discussion is the cap. Had we wanted to keep the kids, we would probably have to max Ingram and Randle at some point in time or pay close to it to retain them. There are quite a few players in the NBA who are getting the max, but really a handful of those who deserve it. This is - in my opinion - a huge reason why it is necessary to build the team araund true superstars, if you really want to compete. Otherwise you end up with just a good or even very good team, but not a championship one.
We would likely have been good, but not great. There’s no denying that. Our youngsters had nobody to show them the way when that player was at their peak. they got glimpses of Kobe, and then part of a season with Bron for some, but not the same as going to war for years together. I think they all benefitted, but we’re too many years from their peak to be truly valuable to us.
Agreed. They still had better opportunities to learn from all-time greats than most young players though. I'm not sure if playing next to prime Kobe would give them a better learning experience than watching him up close in the twighlight of his career - he was just as wise and a workaholic then, maybe even more willing to teach.
