It might happen tonight, it will certainly take place by the end of the weekend. Kobe Bryant will pass Michael Jordan as the third-leading scorer in NBA history. Don’t expect much in the way of a celebration by Kobe. He’s not a happy camper these days.
If you think this is going to be a hatchet job on one of the best players of all time, forget about it. But in light of Kobe’s blow up at practice on Thursday, where he yelled at his GM about the players he’s surrounded with and called his teammates soft, it’s clear that Bryant has never figured out one simple truth. His desire to excel is admirable, but it’s also at a level that just isn’t in the makeup of nearly everyone else.
One of the reasons that many of the greatest players in their respective sports have generally not succeeded at the coaching or management level is that they just can’t grasp that the vast majority of players don’t think the way they do. It’s an asset in terms of their playing careers, as they push themselves beyond any normal limits. But very few people, even high level athletes, are wired that way. That makes for what frequently becomes a liability when these true superstars retire as players and try their hand at coaching or management.
As for Kobe, he probably needs to be someplace else other than with the Lakers as he winds down his phenomenal career. I have no real idea where he would be the best fit. But it’s sure not a team that has zero chance to contend. As a result, Bryant is clearly not in a great frame of mind, and it’s entirely possible that he’s destroying whatever chemistry the Lakers are trying to put together. This is already a bad basketball team, but with Kobe fuming on a constant basis, chances are they’re going to get even worse.
Whether or not the Lakers are trying to move Bryant is something I don’t know. But if I were the GM, I’d be calling a meeting with Kobe and letting him know that he’s better off playing his last season or two someplace else. That’s because at this point, he’s not doing the Lakers much good, and perhaps more significantly, the Lakers aren’t doing Kobe any good either.
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