Lakers ranked fifth in Pacific Division
By Courtnie Martin, Sports Reporter
Who can ever forget the dynamic years of the Los Angeles Lakers? They controlled the NBA for half a decade and had very little competition. Kobe Bryant took home five rings and coach Phil Jackson has more rings than fingers. But such an incredible history must come to an end at some point, and lately it’s been showing as the team has gotten shamefully blown out in seven of their last 10 games.
Perhaps the most eye-burning performance in basketball this season was the sight of watching the Lakers get publicly embarrassed against their rival the Los Angeles Clippers. Call it March Madness, but the Lakers took a spanking. At one point it looked as if they were playing hot potato with each other, constantly resulting in a Clippers’ steal and humiliating slam-dunk or alley-oop. The Lakers lost by 50 in their home gym. Another embarrassing loss was a 131-102 game against Oklahoma City Thunder.
What makes matters worse is the once-fiery team lost Kobe Bryant recently when he admitted he was going to be out the rest of the season due to a bad knee. Although Bryant’s numbers weren’t making much of a difference for the washed-up team, his spark and style of play has certainly been missed. After the team began accepting the disappearance of Bryant, they got wind of their ever-so-famous and legendary coach officially agreeing to uproot from the Lakers to head to New York after more than 30 years away. As president of basketball operations for the Knicks, Jackson will be collecting a hefty $15-million salary per season.
Knicks reigning star, Carmelo Anthony, has been reported as saying, regarding the Phil Jackson hiring, “I’m a chess player, and that was a power move.”
Regarding what Jackson specifically has to offer, Anthony said, “Phil knows how to build teams. And he knows how to win, that’s the most important thing.”
With all the stories going on with the Lakers, it appears as though they are simply playing to get the season over. Although they have retained some big-name players such as Canadian and two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash and Goliath-sized Pau Gasol, the big names mean very little in a league that is growing and leaving behind the older players. The way the Lakers are going they will be the worst team in the NBA in no time.
