Wmc 15/16: We are finally at the END! BYE BYRON!!!

24. LOS ANGELES LAKERS (25.5)
This could be the most watchable awful team in NBA history. They’d have ranked higher, if not for a local broadcast team that makes it seem as if every single shot — and especially every Kobe chuck — is a MASSIVELY IMPORTANT PART OF AN EPIC TALE THE BARDS WILL SING FOR CENTURIES. Close your eyes, listen to Bill Macdonald narrate a random L.A. loss, and you might think Kobe was leading the Lakers into battle against the C Bags in Game 7. If Kobe throws two straight passes that indicate a basic understanding of basketball, brace yourselves for high-pitched proclamations about FACILITATOR MODE.

Kobe’s fight against time, and his refusal to acknowledge what it has done to his game, is great theater. He has resisted the step down from star to role player, but the Lakers have enough ball handlers now — Jordan Clarkson, D’Angelo Russell, Lou Williams, the rising Julius Randle — that Kobe should feel comfortable dialing back his usage. But there will be games when Kobe loses patience with the kiddos, when every teammate seems as soft as Charmin, and he reaches down for the pivots, spins, and fadeaways that were once unguardable. Those shots rarely go in anymore, and they require more and more arc as Kobe’s hops expire. They stand against every trend of the post-2010 NBA. Still, they carry a potent nostalgia.

Also potent is the Lakers’ unmatched collection of unintentional comedy fodder: Williams, Kobe, and Nick Young sharing one ball; Young doing literally anything; Ryan Kelly’s hair; Metta World Peace and Marcelo Huertas being here for some reason; Robert Sacre’s bench antics; the inevitable blank stare from Roy Hibbert when Kobe screams at him; fans slowly realizing Clarkson is about to become a free agent even though the team had the leverage and cap room to push for a longer deal; and Byron Scott, dead man walking.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-annual-nba-league-pass-rankings-part-1-2/

 

Does Lowe even watch the Lakers? How does someone who sounds like an internet forum troll get a voice in a mass publication? Dude sounds like a hormonal teenager ragging on a team he hates - and not like a professional journalist.

 

And somehow the Knicks are the 16th most watachable team?

Garbage. Does this guy know anything other than "3 pointers and layups are where the NBA is going"?

 

I don't know how watchable they will be, but I think they'll be better than people think. A healthy Carmelo does help to some extent...

 

I don't know, to me all this negative talk makes it so that we have to make the playoffs just to shut these critics up.

 

It looked pretty much like what it was. A championship team that has just gotten a little embarrassed came out to prove a point. Much better for our young players to see that intensity for the first time in a preseason game instead of the regular season. Hopefully learn something without it being done in a meaningful game. Maybe they will feel embarrassed enough to come out and look to make amends in game one. A lot of distance between us and the Warriors but not nearly as much between us and number 8.

 

this jerk. What an a** ****! Pure Lakers hater.

 

To be fair Ralph Lawler is an annoying gas bag.

 

OH ME OH MY.

 

BINGO!

 

I totally agree on Wackdonald ... Our previous play by play guys had way more knowledge of the game and wouldn't yell like the homers from the Clippers , Blazers or Spurs broadcasts ...

Now he's the perfect representation of our current "losing state" ... who gets excited by every play ... He doesn't fit our classy style/tradition.

What would you say if we replaced Tanter by a random DJ announcing our starting 5 by yelling over some music ?

 

What would I say ..... to this post .... Booo! Yeah he wasn't my first choice either. When Joel left I wanted the Radio guy, but he got a much better deal that allowed him more freedom as well, elsewhere. I too was disgruntled that Billy Mac was what the Lakers settled on. Just me .... but he fits like an old slipper now. No problems. Screw the haters on Stu he remains a link to and is still one of the best in the business. IMNTBHO.

 

wait...a grantland writer hates the lakers and apologizes for james harden? no way.

like that he couldn't find anything bad to say about clarkson (NO THREEZ!!!11), so he bagged on his contract (ignoring that with early bird rights and the skyrocketing cap, it means very little). your boy morey negotiated the predatory contract you claim la should have, then RELEASED THE GUY FROM IT, only to watch him get a crazy huge offer in FA and be forced to let him walk.

but that guy's a genius, and james harden is a rich man's kobe.