Lakers have a problem when it comes to signing free agents, no one wants to join a team with a psychopath as the designated go to star.

I think as good Laker fans, we can look on the bright side of the Lakers getting eliminated in the first round. Laker management will be forced to add more pieces to this team if they want to improve on this year's early exit from the playoffs. Had the Lakers made it to the second round or even the conference finals, management wouldn't have done a thing to improve the team for next year, and we all know this team in not capable of winning a championship as it is right now. Short term, obviously it hurts to see the Lakers meltdown in Games 6 and 7. Long term, however, this will probably have been for the best. Lets go Lakers!

lakers have never had a problem signing free agents and you're opinion of kobe would only matter if you had some basketball talent worthy of the nba. most nba players sans raja bell believe kobe is the best all around player in the game right now. they also know phil is one of the best coaches and buss an elite owner.

kids grow up dreaming of wearing the purple and gold, and expect the summer of 2007 when our window opens to attract free agents like flies to honey.

I think this playoff series made Kobe a lot more likeable as far as free agents go. When asked who his favorite teammate was, the one he got along with the best, Sasha Vujacic answered Kobe Bryant.

I like that OC Register article. Is it November yet? 20/9/7 for Lamar would be huge. 15 and 10 for Kwame would be great also. I'm glad Phil is trying to talk Mihm into playing the wing, and I'm glad that the players know what to work on during the off season.

TRADE KOBE!!!

I really have never seen the fascination with Kobe Bryant as the leader of a team. Yes of course he is a terrific scorer, with tremedous athletic ability. However Kobe lacks the emotional maturity to be a team leader. Smush Parker did not have a good game after Kobe was yelling in his ear after the game 4 upset of the Phoenix Suns. Kobe was yelling in Smush Parkers ear like some High School player. Kobe needed to ACT like he's been there before, there is no need for fist pumping after making a buzzer beater shot in the FIRST QUARTER of a game, act like you BEEN THERE before!!!!!!!

No top tier free agent with an upside to their career will want to sign with the Lakers. With Kobe taking ALL the shots, that would limit the players future contract negotiations and diminish their future value, ie;(see)Lamar Odom.

After the past two seasons it should be quite evident who the actual trouble maker was on the Laker team during the Shaq era. The spats with Shaq during his Laker tenure coupled along in succession with occuring spats with other Laker teammates as well as opponents to name a few; Karl Malone, Chuckie Atkins, Caron Butler, Sasha whom he shoved on national TV and Lamar Odom. Opponents include Mike Miller whom he elbowed in the throat as well as Raja Bell who is getting the last laugh.

Kobe has not matured to a level to actually be a leader who makes himself and his teammates better. This season was one in which Phil Jackson was in a no-win situation in reining Kobe into following the offense. Kobe just went out and did what he wanted to do, and that was to win a scoring title for himself. Had Phil chastised Kobe, then the old wounds from the book would have been opened and Kobe would have tanked the season away, so Phil had to give Kobe free rein. My feeling is that it will not be the same next season, you can take that to the bank.

Trade Kobe while he has value now,...get LeBron James in a Lakers uniform. James seems to have more emotional maturity than Kobe and will be a great talent in the future.

I loved the story about Phil giving Kwame a sheet of paper with "15 & 10" on it!!! It's obvious that we're keeping just about everybody so let's gear up for another exciting season next year!! I hope that Kwame plays summer league ball so he can stay conditioned in the nuances of the Triangle. Also it will help him build chemistry with Sasha & Ronny!!

The Laker brass seems to want to build a team from the inside rather than superstar grabbing & I'm cool with that! My hope is that they involve Kareem even more in the development of their big man to the point that he should be ON THE BENCH NEXT YEAR & NOT SIITING IN THE STANDS!!!

Also I'd like to see us bring in Ron Harper or bring back Jim Cleamons as an ssistant to aid in the maturation of our young guards Sasha & Smush (if he stays). I've never been a big B. Shaw fan & if Smush's disappearing act in the playoffs is any indication, then maybe we could upgrade in the assistant coach department.

I'm a really big fan of Mike James, hope Mitch can coax him into joining us. He's a good spot up shooter, solid defender, and he has leadership skills & playoff experience! I think he'd be the perfect upgrade at the point.

I am fed up with all of the negative Kobe talk. You are spineless, ignorant and utterly hypocritical if you are criticizing Kobe Bryant or any of the Lakers at this time.

One rebound....1.....separated Kobe Bryant and the other Lakers from reaching the second round of the playoffs after beating the team thought most dangerous to them. One rebound separated the Lakers from taking a Weak" cast (based on "public opinion"), a selfish, star-focused, ego-maniac, and a money driven, girlfriend pleasing coach, from doing something NEVER thought to be possible at the beginning of training camp this season. One rebound separated Kobe Bryant, thought to be the plague a year ago.....and again right now, from doing the ONE thing everyone has criticized him for NOT being able to do in his whole career thus far.....Lead a team successfully IN the post season while making THEM better.

What would all of you hypocrits have said IF Tim Thomas had missed that shot? What would you have said, if Lamar had gotten to the rebound before the ball ended up in Tim Thomas' possession?

Instead, Lamar was unable to capture the rebound, Tim Thomas was able to maneuver along the 3 point line making the shot, and the Lakers lost in overtime. The game was still quite possibly in hand, when Kobe received the inbound pass and missed the game winning shot. WHAT IF THE SHOT GOES IN?

I now understand how Sacramento felt when Robert Horry hit that Game 4 shot. I now know how Portland felt after coughing up a 15 point lead with roughly 10 minutes to go in Game 7. Quite possibly, a slight change of events could have led to the Lakers not winning those 3 championships, and Portland and Sacramento instead winning a couple of their own. It demonstrates to us the fact that there are times when the breaks go your way....and times when they don't.

However, to use those breaks as reasons to criticize 1 player unmercilessly is dead wrong. THIS IS THE SAME KOBE BRYANT THAT HELPED SHAQUILLE O'NEAL WIN THOSE 3 TITLES. Do you think they could have won ANY of those without Kobe? While Shaq was "playing into shape" each of those following 2 championship seasons....what was Kobe doing? That's right, he was keeping things together. While Shaq was on the bench at the end of close games in the post season because he couldn't hit freethrows....who was finishing off the opposing teams? You act as if those 3 championships were 20 years ago and this is not the SAME Kobe Bryant.

It has been stated time and again that he is criticized no matter what he does. I totally agree with that and have reached the conclusion that it is merely hatred. You hate Kobe because you first, don't understand him. People hated and still do to some exent different races because they really don't understand them and because they are different. You'd rather raise up a young gun like LeBron James, than give the proper respect to a tested gun like Kobe Bryant. EVERYTHING he does is put under a microscope. When he didn't shoot much in Game 1 and the team lost he was criticized. He shot the same amount in Games 2-4, and instead of receiving praise for doing it right....some of you actually discredited him and said the others were just playing up to potential. However, at the end of it all, it is once again about Kobe NOT doing something that YOU think he should. Who made you gods to thik that you have the authority to say what is right or wrong? Why do you choose to only condemn 1 player, when there are hundreds that deserve more criticism?

I am a Laker fan and believe as I have since training camp....that the best is yet to come. WHEN Kobe, Phil, Lamar, Kwame and Bynum are hoisting up that championship banner in a couple years.......that will be enough satisfaction for me.

STEVEN!!!!!!
listen to yourself, you said kobe affected smush by yelling at him. have you ever played sports? this is not even college, this is the pros, it's their job, if you can't play after being yelled at you need to quit the league. the most yelled at player used to be sasha, and he stepped up. show me a team that is losing and not fighting amongst themselves, and i'll show you a bunch of losers. were you really expecting the lakers to win the championship this year? mind you they weren't supposed to make the playoffs. do you remember when we were praying for teams ahead of the lakers to lose, so they can have the 8th spot?

FYI...Steven's a Hater!!! To quote the real MVP "Do I know this guy? Who is this guy?"

Lamar Odom 20, 9, and 6.
Kwame Brown 15 and 10 with a promise to work on his outside shooting just in case he and Mihm have to play together.
Mihm on the wing?

Well, if all that occurs I guess it really wouldn't matter who coaches the team next year. I just have to wonder about the progress of Bynum and Turiaf. Where does this leave Smush Parker.

I know I was tough on Phil Jackson over the last 2 or 3 days. What's done is done. Just because he says that he never thought this was a Championship year doesn't mean isn't suppose to coach like it is. He deserves a little heat for blowing a 3-1 series lead without making any adjustments. But in my mind his biggest sin was not retaliating for the clothesline on Bryant...maybe I'm being a little hard but for that he needs to be shown the door.

I know PJ's marketability is pretty good, but my point is that winning cures all. If the Lakers play defense from the beginning of the year next season, we'll have a great year. We will be winning with the core players we have now, and that is with or without PJ.

Winning cures all, by that I mean that the fans will quickly forget PJ if we win without him. But losing...someone has to answer for that. In my mind blowing a 3-1 lead against Phoenix for not making adjustments, that is PJ burden to bare. And if PJ is not held accountable by any of the sports reports from the Los Angeles Times or the local news outlets, KCAL 9, ABC, or CBS, then I'll do it myself!

mike

To Steven,

Lebron James is the most selfish player i have ever seen in the NBA. he plays during the whole time by himself. The only problem with Kobe is Medias, they are really trying not to promote him. they always write wierd things about Kobe just to get reader's attention, because majority of readers would like to read about Kobe. To me Lebron james is still on the developing stage.And you Steve need to ge to developing blogs in order to write in this blog.

Go lakers

If Ronny really does work out with Kobe over the summer, its going to put him on the fast track to becoming a legit player for us next season. I really liked his aggression, atittude, and activity on the court when he did get some burn!!

In other news,

What happened to the Clippers last night? Giving up 130 pts. to the Suns?! That's inexcusable!! There's no D in the CLIPPERS!!!

To quote Mark Jackson "You're better than that!"

JJ,

Good to know we're on the same page Blog Brother! I've heard Speedy Claxton mentioned a lot but I just think James would be better from a defense & leadership standpoint. I don't mind him coming in with a little swagger cause I think it will give us a little more nastiness in practice & in games!

Those were the intangibles that Harp & D. Fish brought and if we can talk him in to taking the 5mil. for the season, I think it would be the below the radar aquicistion that we'll be celebrating next season.

During the 81 game, he was the ONLY Raptor that seemed to want to fight back. I believe he had 30+ on Smush that night!

It's amazing how everyone wants to throw Phil and Kobe under the bus after this loss. The Lakers were ONE rebound away from facing the Clippers. This team OVERACHEIVED in winning 45 games and pushing PHX to the limit.

What we need to be talking about is what's going to happen this offseason. Will Kwame Brown commit to improving his game and average a double-double. Will possibly playing together in the world championships this summer help the growing two-man game between Lamar and Kobe. How are Baby Bynum and Turiaf going to improve as the season goes on. Will the PG issue be addressed this offseason.

This is what we need to be worrying about. Firing Phil or trading Kobe will only set the team back further.

Personally, I think we need help at the point guard position more than anywhere else. Yeah, Smush and Sasha are still young, but we need a solid defending point guard in his prime to come in for a couple of years while Smush and Sasha are learning.

More than anything else though, and I will continue to harp on this, we need some freaking defense!

KOBE BRYANT FOR KEVIN GARNETT?

...Thoughts, queries, wax poetics.

Steven???? Steve Nash in disguise???

Go home to the desert. We love our Lakers and just wait becos when we come back, we will rule for a couple of years!!! That is Jerry Buss at the helm and having the two of the best in NBA (Phil and Kobe), he will do what is right.

Watching Nash....

I objectively watched Nash play last night against the Clippers and thought to myself..."is this guy really the MVP of the league?" Shouldn't the MVP be able to play defense? Steve Nash is an offensive player - period. I think this aware should go to the best all-around player in the league... And to put Nash into the company of multiple MVP winners is just plain wrong.....

Mike T,

I'm jumping off your phil must go bandwagon, let it go son, every single laker shares some blame in blowing this 3-1 lead just as they share the glory for getting it in the 1st place. You heard the organization we ain't looking for a hired gun to come in and change this, we're gonna learn from this loss and be back with a vengance.

Looking to forward to seeing a sneak peak of 06/07 season when kobe and lamar play for team usa. Wonder if Kobe'll wear number #24 then.

Some of you just don't want to get it. How many more seasons should it take before you realize that Kobe will not bring the Lakers another title. Kobe is better served as a #2 second scoring option, that way he can focus on defense and scoring off turnovers. With Kobe being the focal point of the Laker offense the other players can not get involved with him shooting 25-35 times it disrupts the flow and rhythm of his teammates.

NBA players don't play the game for FREE. So with that being the case, why would a top tier Free Agent even want to come to the Lakers with Kobe taking 25-35 shots while their stats diminish as well as their ability to negotiate top dollar on future contracts? Do you think Lamar Odom can get anything when his contract is up with the Lakers?

Trade Kobe while he has value, get a Lebron James. This Kobe Bryant lead Laker team is worst to watch and more unpredictable than the Laker teams of the Cedric Cebalos days.

One more thing,

Steven, you've been traded to the Phoenix Blog. Go there and post all you want.

If we can trade Kobe for LeBron James, it is wonderful, i like the way LeBron pass the ball to his teammates, but i guess it depends on LeBron. Kobe won so many battles, this year it seems he lost his steps, maybe after he got scoring leader title, he is tired at the end of the season. The last shot Kobe took on game 6 again Phoenix, it shows to me, he still doesn't know how to win. Kobe when answer the press about Raja Bell, Kobe should use words better than that because he is leader.

THE SHOT IN GAME 6 WAS BLOCKED!!! GET OVER IT!!!!

" Do you think Lamar Odom can get anything when his contract is up with the Lakers?"

Steven, you're an idiot. Lamar just majorly outplayed All-star Shawn Marion in 6 out of 7 games, he's one year younger than Shawn and makes just a little less money - makes Marion look like the one over-paid don't you think? Lamar has several years left on his contract, but when he's a free agent in 2009 if he's still putting up the numbers he did in the 2nd half of the season and the playoffs this year, you can bet he'll still be making 8 figures easy.

As for the rest of your 'argument' - the evidence is stacked heavily against you making it pretty clear you speaking out of your arse - Kobe's teammates all loved him this year because he made them better - some (like Smush and Kwame) had career years and are now legitmate NBA players, and almost everyone on the team increased their stats over last season, so where you're getting "dimished stats" is beyond me. The numbers don't lie, why not try looking at them for yourself before making obviously false statements? The interviews don't lie either, all the players have said throughout the season that they love playing with Kobe, and if you followed the playoffs at all you'd know why Kobe took so many shots during the regular season, but you seem to be steeped in denial (and I don't mean the river in Egypt) so I don't expect any of the actual facts would matter to you no matter how many of them we post up here.

Steven,

Your statement "This Kobe Bryant lead Laker team is worst to watch and more unpredictable than the Laker teams of the Cedric Cebalos days."

You're ignorance or rather your Kobe bias is showing. The Lakers were the biggest draw in attendance in the entire NBA for the season. And by most accounts excluding yours, the Lakers/Suns series was the best and most watched series in the first round.