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Sidelines
Kalani Simpson
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Showtime on hold, but it’s early
SO which lost the most luster in all this?
Well, there's the player, who so badly wanted to be the shining star that the game plan was to clear everyone out for him, as if he were going to go one-on-everyone, the way he does so beautifully when he takes the last drive to the hoop. But then his time as the one, only, and official "Man" resulted in a 34-48 season during which sources said (not my sources, but, you know, "sources") he was not a teammate most dreamed of playing with. So now here he is, newly humbled, Mr. Team, playing once again for the coach who wanted him to -- gasp -- pass the ball more. The man who had publicly dogged him, through both Zenspeak hint and, later, in black and white on the New York Times bestseller list.
Then there was that very same coach, the guy who played the "him or me" card, got himmed, wrote a tell-all book on what an unspeakable ordeal the whole thing was. "The Last Season." Great. But now, oh, who's that third from the end of the bench having come right back to the very same job?
And of course there's the organization itself, whose plan blew up so badly it finds itself back here below square one, starting over, only worse. Asking back the coach it let go, but this time giving him Michelle Wie money to seal the deal.
Let's say C. The team. Kobe Bryant will get his highlights, Phil Jackson has a whole lot of cash (and both can always fall back on a fist full of rings). Even after all of this craziness, they are still men of respect.
But the Los Angeles Lakers ...
You could see it, last night, when the "visiting" Golden State Warriors opened the game on a 14-2 tear. Well, Lakers fans had to take comfort that it at least looked like, in this exhibition, that the Warriors were using their real lineup.
What? Oh.
Apparently that is the Lakers' real lineup.
In the starting five with Bryant and Lamar Odom were Smush Parker, Kwame Brown and Chris Mihm.
With Kareem available on the bench?
Warriors were whipping out alley-oops and behind-the-backs. Guys who we have never heard of (Zarko Cabarkapa to Andris Biedrins) were trying alley-oops. Just because, in the moment, it seemed like the right thing to do. Just because apparently you can do that against the Lakers, nowadays.
They were trying out stuff. They were deking and dunking. They were playing with them out there.
In the second quarter Jason Richardson took an alley-oop and almost put Odom through the hoop along with it.
Somewhere, Jack Nicholson was having a "Shining" moment.
So much for Showtime. It's headed up the road a couple of hours north.
Of course, as the game went on, the Lakers made a run. Of course they did. Odds were they would. It was an exhibition and you try out lineups, you let young guys run; Golden State shot 1-for-7 from 3-point range in the third quarter; despite his fall from grace, Bryant is still quite possibly the best basketball player on the planet.
He may no longer do McDonald's commercials or flash a million-dollar smile or take Brandy to the prom, but he really is that good. Good Lord.
But you could see it, when the starters were in. It looks like for another season, Jack just may have a tough time handling the truth.
We saw it in Chicago.
This is what happens when you blow it up.
Of course, in this case a couple of the old hands are still here to try to slog through the tough times. Last night Kobe went baseline to slam a windmill reverse jam. Phil leaned back on the bench and looked very wise. For a night it worked.
But the Lakers have lost their luster. So much for Showtime. They're just another team.
The big man is in Miami, laughing it up.
Kareem is in reading glasses, long retired, behind the bench.