Lakers Discussion Thread

pr1nc355

pr1nc355

Orange Pyramid
O.G.
May 24, 2006
5,009
134
#1
Some comments about this came up in the Khloe and Lamar thread, but to avoid getting too O/T there, I thought I'd start my own.

So here's the scoop: they won the NBA championship in 2009 and 2010 and had a pretty good 2010-11 season, but the post-season had an ugly ending. They lost to the Mavs in a sweep on Mother's Day. Intentionally rough physical contact was made by Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum, who were ejected. Kobe Bryant, the team's current star, and Magic Johnson, a Laker legend, publicly declared their disgust with Odom's and Bynum's behavior.

If that wasn't bad enough, rumors of personal drama among team members surfaced and blew up in big proportions. In the middle of it is Pau Gasol. Pau, who is (or at least was, until recently) one of the best centers in the NBA and a national sports hero in his native Spain, has been singled out by fans and in the press for his poor post-season performance. Team chemistry supposedly fell apart due to Pau's feud with another Laker, originally thought to be Kobe. Pau was engaged at one point to his gf, Silvia Lopez Castro, but taking the advice of Vanessa Bryant (wife of Kobe), Silvia refused to sign a prenuptial agreement. The engagement was then broken off. Pau was also accused of being repeatedly unfaithful to Silvia during their 2-year relationship, so she broke up with him after hearing about his infidelity from Vanessa. Many people speculated that Pau was unable to perform at his best because of this distraction. Then Silvia was accused of sleeping with Shannon Brown. So now it's thought that the Laker who Pau had the rift with was not Kobe, but Shannon. Also, Vanessa and Silvia were involved in a catfight, with Vanessa calling Sylvia a slut.

The above paragraph is all rumors and speculation, but what's happened so far that is "accurate" (at least quoted to be from the players in more reputable news outlets) is that Pau went on record stating that he didn't have any probs with Kobe. Kobe stated that Vanessa and Silvia barely even knew each other. Pau did state, though, that he and Silvia "were suffering", but are still together. He also stated that he felt he was unfairly singled out for the Lakers' poor performance in the post-season. The Lakers management was quoted as saying that Pau appeared to be very emotional during his exit interview.

So...now the city of LA is holding its breath and wondering what next season will bring us. I predict a major overhaul for the team. I think that even if Dr. Buss decides to bring Pau back, Pau may not want to return. There are a lot of fans very angry with him, and I'm sure he knows that. Is Dwight Howard as a replacement for Pau Gasol a possibility?
 
#3
I've actually been hearing rumors regarding a trade but getting rid of Odom as well and bringing in Howard.

In regards to the quote - “ My girlfriend and I are fine, we’re happy, we’re doing well. Kobe and I are fine. She [Lopez Castro. Pau’s fiance] was suffering because she saw me suffering. And I was suffering because I was seeing her suffering. When you add that to other stuff to what’s already happening, it’s tough.
— Pau Gasol clearing up the rumors

That's what I saw. I never heard anything about Shannon but everyone just assumed it was Kobe because of what went down with Shaq.

______

Do you have links for Kobe and Magic's reactions? Game 4 was so disgusting to me I couldn't watch so I youtubed the ejections but I never heard what they said. Plus I haven't been able to watch anyone's exit interviews yet.

I definitely think that the entire team is on the line, except Kobe. Even Fish.
 
#4
As a diehard Lakers fan, which there are plenty of us around am hoping that they pull it together for next season. Regardless if they do or not they won two championships in a row. Now about the rumors of who is going to be traded only time will tell.
 
#7
Non-Laker fans are definitely rejoicing. Our team, with their poor performance and disgusting behavior fueled the "Laker hater" fire. If this thread stays short, fine. It's for those (however few) of us who want to discuss the Lakers.

Here's the piece on Shannon Brown. Again, it's all an uncomfirmed rumor:http://blacksportsonline.com/home/2...ors/?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4dcdb9682c4c6ad1,0

I saw the Magic and Kobe reactions on my local news, but I'll see if I can pull up the video clips.
 
#9
Thank you for the links, my dear :smile:

It really makes me sad how our season ended. Mostly because of the way Phil went out. I would have loved for us to threepeat but it wasn't just that we didn't win, we went out on a super embarrassing note, and that's what gets me.
 
#10
^^You're welcome. And in case I ever forget to say it, I'm so glad to have a companion on this thread =)

ITA with you. It'll take a complete makeover to restore the glory days, but hopefully we won't have to wait too long to get there again.
 
#11
I won't buy into the drama until I hear it from the Lakers themselves, but we know that will probably never happen. All I can say is that there definitely was some kind of drama. It doesn't matter what it was. Anytime you see the Lakers fall apart I believe it's all an underlying issue within the team that we as fans cannot see. When the Lakers have a bad day, they can't say it's because they were fighting with each other or because their spouse cheated on them or whatever. We'll just criticize them for being childish and letting their emotions get the best of them. But as human beings, how many times have we gone to work with emotional distress because of things going on in our personal lives? That's reality. We can't control these things and we can't control our emotions. It affects how we think and act and feel.

I'm sure the Lakers wanted to defend their title and play strong, but whatever went down really affected their emotions and destroyed their game play. We know Pau is an awesome player and for people to say he ruined our chance at the playoff run is cruel.

I feel bad for Phil Jackson as well, but he's had an amazing career and shouldn't let this season put a damper on what he's accomplished in his lifetime.
 
#12
pr1nc355 said:
^^You're welcome. And in case I ever forget to say it, I'm so glad to have a companion on this thread =)

ITA with you. It'll take a complete makeover to restore the glory days, but hopefully we won't have to wait too long to get there again.
Click to expand...

All the haters i work with keep saying that the dynasty is over but I disagree. I think as long as Kobe's on the team they will do whatever it takes to make him happy and he won't be happy until he wins another ring.

I guess we'll see what happens though because there's a lot of great teams these days.


ejoy43 said:
I'm sure the Lakers wanted to defend their title and play strong, but whatever went down really affected their emotions and destroyed their game play. We know Pau is an awesome player and for people to say he ruined our chance at the playoff run is cruel.

I feel bad for Phil Jackson as well, but he's had an amazing career and shouldn't let this season put a damper on what he's accomplished in his lifetime.
Click to expand...

I agree. I don't blame Pau at all because it's a team sport. I don't think it's fair to place the blame on any one person.

I don't think he feels this has put a damper on his accomplishments but I'm sure the fans do.
 
#13
Caifornia: Once again, I'm with you! Kobe's still the best, IMO, and I'm sure the Lakers' management will again rebuild around him, which is smart, I think. They had to do that when Shaq left, and just a few years later, they won the championship. No reason they can't do it again, even with the other great teams in the league.

I agree with you and ejoy that Gasol isn't the only name to blame. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't agree with us. People that I know personally who are Laker fans are very PO'ed at him. I peeked into some of the stories and boards surrounding the rumors, and going by the comments being left on those, people are NOT being kind to him. He likely won't get the welcome reception he's gotten in the past if he returns in Laker uniform next season. It'd be wonderful for him if he would "redeem" himself and prove the haters wrong, but we'll all just have to wait and see.
 
#14
I'm trying to distance myself from any Laker forums because I'm still a bit heated so I'm only looking at ESPN for my info so I've not seen any of the fans reactions.

I think that hopefully if he returns people will have gotten over it by then. I'm definitely mad at all of them but in a few weeks I will be looking forward to next season not dwelling on how poorly this one ended.

I think Drew played like a spoiled child and his hard foul was disgusting, yet he doesn't seem to be catching flack.

I'm curious to see if he's traded.
 
#15
I was talking to my coworkers about the Lakers today, and we reminisced about the good old days. One of the coworkers is in his 50s, and he said his favorite Laker era was the Magic/Worthy one of the early 90s. I've never answered the question about which era was my fave before, so I had to think about it. I finally decided mine was the early 2000s, with Kobe and Shaq. I was fortunate enough to attend several games during that era. Back then, Shaq was just like the rogue warrior in ninja movies. The rogue warrior would have about 10 ninjas jump on him at once, but in a moment, the warrior would beat the ninjas off his body and emerge victorious. Maybe it's a weird comparison, but it's the best description I can come up with of how I saw Shaq back then.
 
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