Christmas Day Showdown
Agents' cells are ringing, buzzing and playing their clients' hit songs: everyone who is anyone in the Biz wants to join Jack Nicholson and Dyan Cannon on the sidelines at the Forum for the Lakers-Heat showdown. Never mind Christmas, the Diesel is returning and when he last departed Los Angeles he wasn't happy.
Shaquille O'Neal, the force behind three Laker Championships (2000, 2001,2002) will return to Inglewood with his new team, the white-hot Miami Heat. Lending credance to the right-wing rant that Southern Californians are blue-state kooks, owner Jerry Buss and General Manager Mitch Kupchak accommodated Kobe Bryant's wish for his own team and forced Shaq's hand to leave after the Lakers' loss to the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals. Howard Beck wrote a sharp piece: "The Collapse of Kobe" in the December 17th edition of the NY Times (I won't link it because you have to register and Times articles are archived and must later be purchased). The gist is that in Kobe's Ahabian pursuit of the White Whale - to become greater than Mike (my metaphor, not Beck's)- he has become estranged from every influence that might have helped steer him well (e.g. his parents, first agent, Phil Jackson, Shaq, Karl Malone, etc.). In addition to the personal problems he seems to create, there are rumors that his teammates don't like him and top free agents don't want to join him either.
What makes all of this intriguing is that NBA fans recognize that Kobe is a hard- working, competitive, über talent- potentially an all-time, top tier star. But in the absence of winning big without Shaq, he is flirting with a Dominique Wilkins career: highlights, stats, no (new) rings. As a result of last night's home, overtime loss to the Washington Wizards, the Lakers fell to 13-10 and are tied for seventh in the Western Conference Playoff scramble. Shaq, on the other hand, has elevated his teammates and Miami has been transformed from an average team to having the fourth best record in the thirty-team NBA. Shaq looked like a Princeton post man, dishing seven assists in a win against the Nuggets last night and the Heat rose to 18-7 and sit atop of the Eastern Conference.
For reasons that are well documented, there is no love lost between Shaq and Kobe. Kobe says that he will speak to Shaq. Shaq has indicated that Miami's performance will do his talking. Tune in on Christmas.
Shaquille O'Neal, the force behind three Laker Championships (2000, 2001,2002) will return to Inglewood with his new team, the white-hot Miami Heat. Lending credance to the right-wing rant that Southern Californians are blue-state kooks, owner Jerry Buss and General Manager Mitch Kupchak accommodated Kobe Bryant's wish for his own team and forced Shaq's hand to leave after the Lakers' loss to the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals. Howard Beck wrote a sharp piece: "The Collapse of Kobe" in the December 17th edition of the NY Times (I won't link it because you have to register and Times articles are archived and must later be purchased). The gist is that in Kobe's Ahabian pursuit of the White Whale - to become greater than Mike (my metaphor, not Beck's)- he has become estranged from every influence that might have helped steer him well (e.g. his parents, first agent, Phil Jackson, Shaq, Karl Malone, etc.). In addition to the personal problems he seems to create, there are rumors that his teammates don't like him and top free agents don't want to join him either.
What makes all of this intriguing is that NBA fans recognize that Kobe is a hard- working, competitive, über talent- potentially an all-time, top tier star. But in the absence of winning big without Shaq, he is flirting with a Dominique Wilkins career: highlights, stats, no (new) rings. As a result of last night's home, overtime loss to the Washington Wizards, the Lakers fell to 13-10 and are tied for seventh in the Western Conference Playoff scramble. Shaq, on the other hand, has elevated his teammates and Miami has been transformed from an average team to having the fourth best record in the thirty-team NBA. Shaq looked like a Princeton post man, dishing seven assists in a win against the Nuggets last night and the Heat rose to 18-7 and sit atop of the Eastern Conference.
For reasons that are well documented, there is no love lost between Shaq and Kobe. Kobe says that he will speak to Shaq. Shaq has indicated that Miami's performance will do his talking. Tune in on Christmas.
posted by Man of Ages at 10:42 AM
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