In 2004, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves in seven hard-fought games in an unforgettable Western Conference Finals. We can acknowledge that this is a hard balancing act, while at the same time recognizing that he has completely failed at it. Both players have been struggling since the start of the season and head coach Byron Scott had no choice but to send both players to the reserves.
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Lakers: Scott said he has not had a talk with Randle and Russell about their demotions to the bench.
Wagner High School graduate Jordan Clarkson, a starting guard for the Lakers, sprained his right ankle in a 123-122 overtime loss to Minnesota on Wednesday and is listed as questionable for Friday night’s game.
“I thought this is exactly how it should be for him wherever he goes, whatever arena it is, that they should give him a standing ovation and they should have some type of tribute to him and to his career”, Scott said. “I said, ‘Listen, I’ve made plenty of them and missed plenty of them too. He was going to have to find me”. But it is what it is. “But in terms of comfort or peace of mind, I’m completely fine”. “I came out there to destroy you”, he said. Towns and Martin had nine points apiece as Minnesota jumped out to a three-point lead after one quarter and the Wolves led 59-57 at the half on Towns’ 15 points and eight boards.Shabazz Muhammad had 15 points and five rebounds off the bench and Wiggins finished with 19 points for Minnesota. Martin scored 17 points in the fourth quarter alone, making four 3-point field goals, helping the Wolves erase a five-point deficit with under 10 minutes to play.
Scott had the right idea initially, but executed it incorrectly. The best way to do that isn’t to put the youngsters on the bench, but Kobe. Regardless of the argument against Kobe being voted in, one former rival believes there’s no question about whether he should be an All-Star this season. There are reports that as the Los Angeles Lakers are moving on without Kobe, they may have to trade one of the team’s valuable talents, Nick Young. After all, it’s not like catering to Kobe’s whims is a new impulse for the organization.
Next summer the Lakers will have a boatload of salary cap space, but so will nearly everybody else. “They can either let him try the free-agent market knowing that, at the very worst, some team is going to spring an Arenas contract on him that they won’t mind matching”.
Russell stepped up, hitting a game-tying runner as time expired in the fourth quarter, forcing the game to go to overtime.
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The debate about the saga of the Los Angeles Lakers and their final season with Kobe Bryant has been over whether or not Kobe’s presence is stunting the growth and development of their future stars. “But no one will see him to the fullest extent until the Lakers hand him the ball and let him go”.
