He could have probably played less than the 26 mins considering the stomach issues. And I disagree, the only thing that kept him under 30 mins was the blowout.
His VORP is -0.4, which averages out to about 1.08 wins below replacement. So, replacing Kobe with a league average player, the Lakers would be about 3-17 or 4-16. Essentially what they are. BTW, here are all the players who are playing above replacement level: Hibbert, Clarkson, Bass. Here are all the players below replacement level: Randle, Nance, Huertas, Black, and Kobe. Everyone else is at the replacement level. This team BLOWS.
It would be huge and that's JUST Durant or Batum. There's still a whole other max contract we have to use after that. I don't think Batum/pieces is so farfetched if we wanted him. I also don't think it's far fetched to think we'll throw a ton of money at ANYBODY besides the worst coach in Laker history.
Should've just retired after the Achilles injury. Kobe was still as good as anyone in the league at that time outside of LeBron. He had nothing to prove. Right now I don't even recognize him. From playing at a superhuman level just a few years ago to this. It's a shame really. It's all our doing too. No 34 year old guard is gonna be able to come back from that kind of injury.
^Part of it is the injury, but part of it is the awful offense Boron has implemented. Lou WIlliams was 6th Man of the Year last year. Look at him now.
He has flashes of skill and ability. A good coach would put him in a position to succeed. We don't have a good coach.
I'm just hoping some of his struggles are due to a shooting slump. He's getting some good looks, and his form and shots are looking better the last couple of games. They just seem to be rimming out. No more airballs.
Saw a quote - he tells Byron his legs are tightening up. So Byron pulls him. Then tries to get him back in in "5 to 10 minutes." This is the guy we trust to run a team?
One thing that is starting to really tick me off is Kobe not giving two craps on the court anymore. Its all laughing and games. KG is a giant douche but he still has that fire and hasn't changed. Just straight disrespect to our young guys who are trying to find their way in the league by him blatantly just saying eff it during games and on top of it laughing and joking with the other team. I know for 1000% certainty that if Kobe was still in his younger days having to play with this version of him, he would be fuming and going after him. And who gets punished for it? The young guys.
I don't think Kobe doesn't care. If he didn't care why would he keep playing? Kobe absolutely cares. I don't see anything wrong with laughing and having fun on the court. It's his last season in the NBA. I can't blame him for wanting to soak it all in. LeBron has fun all the time on the court. Why can't Kobe do it in his final season? If you wanna say we'll wish he'd take better shots yeah I agree. This guy has fought through hell the last three seasons. Saying he doesn't care well that's something I just don't agree with.
Agreed. If the young/prime Kobe saw this Kobe now, he'd rip him a new one. Old Kobe was all business, win at any cost. He would not have put up with type of smiling/laughing when we got our arse handed to us repeatedly. It's definitely not the Kobe I know. I wont remember these last few seasons for Kobe.
Kobe cares about getting his. Kobe doesn't care about winning games right now. Kobe cares about putting on a show. He doesn't care about how it's an overall detriment to the team. Kobe cares about closing out the story of Kobe, not how it's putting the future of the team at risk because the young guys are suffering because of his deficiencies. It doesn't matter if it's year 1 or year 20, you come to work and during that time you take things serious. There is plenty of time for him to laugh and joke around. Times likes this possession below are not fun and something to laugh about, unless of course it's at him.