The NBA draft is over, and LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony have both opted out of their contracts. The Lakers have 5 players currently signed for next year, including two rookies they just drafted, and no coach. General Manager Mitch Kupchak has just made it clear the Lakers are prepared to go big.
The big topic swirling around the media: Can the Lakers woo both James and Anthony to come to Los Angeles?
It does seem improbable, but the Lakers are notorious for making the improbable happen.
Can these three truly co-exist?
To do so, a pecking order between these three dominant NBA players would have to be established right from the get-go.
And to me, that order is a complete no-brainer.
#3 – Carmelo Anthony.
Why is the current scoring champion relegated to third position? It’s simple. Anthony is not clutch. He never has been, and going into his 9th season, he never will be. This deficiency is exposed year after year during the playoffs, when his teams cower when faced with the pressure, and find themselves eliminated usually in the 1st round, if they make it at all.
The way you make Anthony happy – let him get his during the regular season. James seems perfectly happy deferring to other players to score. Bryant will need to follow more of the Tim Duncan-Tony Parker dynamic of limiting his minutes to maximize his efficiency during the Playoffs. Anthony can salivate over another scoring title with a shooter’s green-light.
But come playoff time, he needs to understand exactly where he stands – in third position. He can act as the decoy – taking only high percentage guaranteed shots – and otherwise defer to James the playmaker, and Bryant the clutch-scorer. If Anthony can swallow his pride and occupy this role, he would be effective with the Lakers.
#2 – LeBron James.
Why on earth would the most dominant current player in the NBA, with two championship rings, and an alpha-male personality to boot, ever defer to anyone other than himself? Because deep down, LeBron James is a #2 in a #1’s body. His team-first mentality always sounds great during press conferences, but his finals appearances have not been consistent.
Sure, he has two rings, which will undeniably cement him as a Hall-of-Famer and one of the all-time greats, but James’s greatest strength lies in his politics, not his on-court play. Yes he can score, yes he can dominate when he wants to, but in watching him out there during the Finals this year, and witnessing his constant deferring to teammates play after play after play, it isn’t that you ask yourself, “Does this guy want to win?” Rather, the question posed really is, “Is this guy willing to sacrifice to win?”
Taking a pay cut to bring in star talent around you isn’t sacrifice.
Thrusting your entire blood, sweat and tears, and your heart and soul into each and every play during the Finals, is.
When was the last time James got a bloody lip or a black eye or got into a skirmish or even got thrown out of a game?
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Didn’t Kobe Bryant have to wear a mask for half a season after suffering an injury?
Bryant has always gotten the bad rap for being a selfish player, but the greats always are, because come playoff time, their rabid blood-lust kicks in and they simply will not be denied. They will pass as often as they need to, but they will also take the bull by the horns when things aren’t going their way.
And this is the perfect segue…
#1 – Kobe Bryant.
You may roll your eyes because you think Kobe is done. He has just as much mileage as Tim Duncan, and Duncan is still winning championships. Anyone who thinks Bryant can’t be effective today is being foolhardy. The key is in managing Bryant to optimize his efficiency. The way to do that isn’t to say to Kobe, “Your 20 minutes are up, it’s time to sit down.” That’s not the Mamba’s style. You have to surround him with players who are talented enough to get his team into the playoffs with a semi-decent seed.
Kobe got injured in the last two seasons because of an ineffective coach and lackluster talent that forced him to have to exert himself during the regular season just to try to keep his team alive. This is unacceptable. The organization knows this. Kobe understands this.
Give him the talent that will enable him to coast through the regular season, which is exactly how it is done in San Antonio, then let Bryant unleash during the playoffs.
Why is Kobe truly still the #1 option? Because when it’s time to take the big shot, whose hands would you rather have the ball in?
Carmelo Anthony? Great talent, not clutch at all. Melo should never take a last second shot.
LeBron James? I haven’t seen him win enough games with his own heroics to justify him taking that shot. And it is so clear that Lebron doesn’t want to take the shot either.
Kobe Bryant wants it, relishes it, thrives on it. How many game winners in his career? How many heroics?
I don’t want Carmelo Anthony on the Lakers if he is going to continue with his me-first attitude. He and Bryant are friends and he doesn’t even have one ring, so you’d have to assume he will respect Kobe enough to defer.
I don’t want LeBron James on the Lakers either, despite all his natural talent, if he isn’t willing to put the media circus that surrounds him aside and focus on what really matters: Championships. Lebron has 2 rings. Kobe has 5. Respect the authority, and the championships will follow.
Kobe Bryant is your #1. End of story.
So long as Carmelo and LeBron understand this, we will welcome them with open arms.