What if Kobe is the one telling the truth?
Maybe the world's been a little too hard on Kobe Bryant.
The story went that Kobe Bean drove Shaquille O'Neal and Phil Jackson out of town so he could show the world just how good he was, and he wound up stuck on a mediocre team. For three years, the Lakers have given the kind of joy that only schadenfreude can provide. Watching Bryant on sorry teams would be like watching Gordon Gekko suffer from cancer. Karma's a bitch, ain't it?
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Maybe Kobe didn't order steak. Does that mean he deserves potted meat?
He'd be like Kevin Garnett, his incredible feats and intensity being wasted by clueless suits wipe their watches and wind their … He'd be like Charles Barkley, being asked to make players look good when no makeup artist or magician could do such a thing.
He wouldn't be a villain. He'd be worthy of sympathy, the sort sports fans reserve for stars they think deserve more success than their teams allow them to achieve.
It's hard to imagine Kobe's name in the same sentence as sympathy, but the two might fit together well.
Kobe is adamant that he didn't ask the Lakers to get rid of O'Neal (or Jackson), and he's probably telling the truth. Shaq didn't scream "pay me!" at Lakers owner Jerry Buss from the floor during the preseason of his final year in Los Angeles because of Bryant. He did so because Dr. Buss hadn't given him the mega-extension he wanted. Why would Buss have changed his mind during that season, when Shaq's scoring dropped six points per game from the year before?
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And, for what it's worth, Buss shouldn't have extended O'Neal's contract. Though Shaq helped win a title in Miami, it would be foolish to think Shaq gave the Heat $30 million worth of production. He is aging. The Diesel's body broke down, largely due to his aversion to performing scheduled maintenance.
On top of that, he was no longer better than Bryant. He was irreplaceable, but he should not have been the lead dog on that team. Paying all that money for Shaq -- when it was time for him to step back for Bryant like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did for Magic Johnson in the mid-'80s -- would have been foolish.
But that doesn't mean the Lakers should have gotten so little in return for O'Neal. For the best big man of his generation, the Lakers essentially got Lamar Odom, 65 games and 3.8 points per game from Brian Grant, Jordan Farmar, a year of Caron Butler and a couple of seasons from Kwame friggin' Brown. It was like the Lakers put Shaq on eBay and forgot to add a reserve price.
None of those things are Kobe's fault. Those fall on general manager Mitch Kupchak, who should wear a ski mask when he picks up his paycheck, and assistant GM Jimmy Buss. Unless, that is, there's something wrong with him becoming a better player than Shaq. At last check, getting better was a good thing.
And even if Kobe didn't want Shaq around, it's hard to believe he wanted to be surrounded by the scrubs the Lakers trot out every game. Just because someone doesn't want steak doesn't mean he deserves a Spam sammich in its stead.
Just like no one deserves potted meat, Kobe didn't deserve this.
For years, many believed that Kobe deserved to play for these Lakers. He wanted to be without Shaq, and that's what he got for wanting to break out on his own. That's a bit petty, but it made sense. Shaq was the best player on the Lakers' title teams, and the gregarious Diesel was far more likable than the aloof Bean.
But playing with Smush Parker at the point? Sharing the floor with Odom, whose game will never mesh with his? Having to depend on Kwame friggin' Brown? This greatly exceeds the penalty Bryant deserved for running his yap to the police. If he sticks with this outfit, he might as well go all the way and change his name to Job.
No true fan of basketball would wish that upon such a great player. Kobe's the best player in the league right now, and it's not that close. His game has no weaknesses. In fact, there are few things that he doesn't do very well. He plays with flair and confidence. He's unstoppable with the ball and a lockdown defender. He's clutch. He works hard, and he's gotten better every year in the league.
Surrounding all of that with mediocrity is tragic, just as it was to see Kevin Garnett stuck with what Kevin McHale assembled. KG would give everything he had, but Michael Olowokandi couldn't even bring himself to brush his damn hair. That ain't right.
But as hard as losing has been on Garnett, the blah of the Lakers must be harder on Bryant. His precocious ascent to superstardom put him in a unique position. At age 23, he was a marquee star of a three-peat dynasty. By 25, the juggernaut had run its course, and Kobe was the only star left standing for the Lakers.
He'd been around long enough to taste success, but he was young enough for a team to go into rebuilding mode without worrying about wasting his prime. His best days were ahead of him, so the Lakers had no need to press.
Kobe had won enough to make losing intolerable, but he had enough left in the tank that there was no reason for the Lakers to get back on top. It's easy to see how he might have gotten taken for granted under those circumstances, and it seems clear that's what happened. Everything involving Andrew Bynum -- a project whom the Lakers refuse to trade, according to most reports -- points to that conclusion.
After hearing Bryant emotionally tell Stephen A. Smith that he wants to be traded, then recanting hours later while speaking to Dan Patrick, the whole thing just seems sad. It seemed impossible for years that Kobe Bryant could engender such an emotion, but it's hard to feel otherwise for him.
No player this good deserves a situation so bad.
Bomani Jones is a columnist for Page 2. You can reach him here.
