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by Marcus Brooks

Created on: December 19, 2008

At one time, the Los Angeles Lakers played like a bad team. Just after "Shaq Diesel" left, Kobe finally had his team. He had serviceable center, Kwame Brown, the underrated point-forward, Lamar Odom, point guard, Smush Parker and the often-injured center, Chris Mihm. Kobe also had nine time, NBA champion coach, Phil Jackson to lead him. He asked for this. Remember that.

But, Kobe didn't have enough bad Toronto Raptors' and Memphis Grizzlies' defense. He didn't have enough 81 point games and 62 points in three quarters, respectively. The "cupcake" teams gave way to the more competitive San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers, Detriot Pistons, Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns. He grew tired of chasing Allen Iverson through staggered screens, and then getting jumpers shot in his face. He disliked of bench players, like Linas Kleiza (Nuggets) having career scoring nights against his defense. He whined and complained to General Manger, Mitch Kupichak about bringing in superstar talent. Take into consideration, Kobe ran off one hall of famer. He wanted a future, hall of famer in return.

After two, disappointing seasons, he got his wish. Point guard, Derek Fisher opted out of Utah and returned to Los Angeles. The Lakers drafted high school phenom center, Andrew Bynum. They also drafted a lanky 6'7 swingman in Sasha Vujacic and a rugged UCLA guard in Jordan Farmar. But, the big treat came from a former Laker legend.

Jerry West controlled the executive office of the Memphis Grizzlies. However, he remained close with Lakers owner, Dr. Jerry Buss and Kobe. Somehow, he felt like Santa Claus and gave away his team's franchise star for garbage. He traded all-star power forward, Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown, rookie guard, Jarvis Crittendon and for the rights Pau's brother, Mau Gasol. The Grizzlies let the Detriot Pistons take Brown off their hands. Mau Gasol has played sparingly this year. And, the franchise guard became rookie O.J. Mayo. The Grizzlies took steps back and fell like an elderly person.

Kobe received a shipload of talent. His bench topped the NBA in minutes played and scoring output. He won his first regular season MVP (Most Valuable Player) while averaging around 26 points, six rebounds and about six assists a game. Gasol and Bynum averaged almost 30 points a game combined. They made Kobe's job a lot easier. Fisher provided a calmness necessary in big games. Farmar and Vujacic provided energy and instant offense from the bench. Odom improved as a passing, big man in Coach Jackson's triangle offense. Who said that Kobe's team lacked talent?

Kobe's team lacked leadership. As team captain, he whined at his players. He called them out too many times in games. He blamed them for his defensive lapses. He whined to the referees about getting hit. He whined to them about moving screens and opposing guards "hooking" his jersey to drive past him.

Kobe took less shots (19.8 a game) than ever in his career. He had the energy to play better defense. Nevertheless, his team gave up about 101 points a game, while they scored 109 points a game. Their opponents shot 45% from the floor to their 49%. The Lakers showed off their spectacular offense. They also showed their laziness and lack of discipline in their defense.

Bulls icons, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, took far less talented players and built a dynasty. They used Coach Jackson's triangle offense, but a stifling man-to-man defense. They overpowered teams weak and strong. They never made bad teams better against them. They played with focus and urgency. With the added talent, Kobe displayed lack of focus and urgency during games. He still got the wins as their 58-24 record showed last season. But, some of the wins looked ugly. A lot of the losses did also.

The Lakers reached the title game on reputation only. The 4-0 sweep of the Denver Nuggets proved their opponent was bad. Their 4-1 victory versus the Spurs showed the latter being too old to compete. Their 4-2 victory in Utah revealed Jerry Sloan's inability to coach against Jackson.

During the Finals, Boston's front overpowered and outrebounded Gasol and Odom. Power foward, Kevin Garnett willed his team to be physical on defense. Paul Pierce took on Kobe in a personal challenge and matched him toe-to-toe. Ray Allen emerged from a season-long, shooting slump on rained threes on Fisher, Farmar and Vujacic. The Lakers came up small in Boston and looked feeble in L.A. We knew who the winner was going in. Boston just validated the prediction.

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