45 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, a block, and 4 steals. That was the line for Kobe Bryant in 43 minutes of work in an exciting loss to Houston last night. Those were the numbers from a guy who was accused by his coach of "not putting his heart and soul into performing on the court." These are numbers from a guy who is constantly berated for being a selfish ball-hog, yet gave the ball up to Derek Fisher for a game-tying hoop in crunch time. Tracy McGrady's Rockets walked off the floor victoriously, but this is no suprise. The Rockets are a team everyboy expects to be in the mix when we reach the Western Conference semifinals. This game would have been over at halftime if Kobe hadn't been on the floor. What this game did illustrate is that there is virtually no way the Lakers can improve by trading Kobe Bryant. T-Mac had 30 and 6, but his performance can't hold a candle to Bryant's. A Kobe-T-Mac swap would solidify the Rockets place amongst the Western Conference elite and would take the Lakers out of the playoff picture.
Kobe will never be outdone on the floor. It doesn't matter what the situation is with the front office. This is a guy who has been consistently excellent under the most difficult of circumstances. He has the same competitive drive that we see from guys like MJ and KG: it doesn't matter what the situation is, he is going to put everything he has on the floor because he can't accept anything less. This is not a guy who is going to suit up and then go through the motions on the court. It's just not part of his make up.
I'm not trying to defend Kobe. The responsibility for the circumstances in which he has found himself over the past few years falls squarely on his shoulders. However, from a pure basketball standpoint, I just don't see any way that the Lakers can improve their team by dealing Bryant. I've already shared my thoughts on a potential T-Mac deal. A possible deal to Washington for Arenas? Then you have a team that was two games over .500 in the West trading a player to a team that was .500 in the East for a player who is not as good. Not to mention, there's no Caron Butler or Antawn Jamison to help Gilbert if he came to LA. We all know Kobe wants to go to Chicago, and who can blame him? Most experts are picking this Chicago team to win the East. Although this deal seems the most likely, I still have questions. In all possible scenarios, the Bulls are being asked to abandon the rebuilding process that they has been so succesful thus far. What happens if they give up too much? Then Bryant may be swithcing cities, but the situation on the floor won't have changed. This deal seems to be the only one that may be able to benefit the Lakers enough to warrant action. Still, they won't be getting equal value in return for Kobe.
Finally, I have to question the way the Lakers front office handled this matter during the pre-season. Did Kobe also handle it poorly earlier this summer? Absolutely. No question about it. Again, I'm not trying to defend him, I'm just trying to think about what would be best for his team. Kobe's comments at pre-season media day seemed to indicate that he was ready to put what had happened in the off-season behind him and focus on basketball. For the Lakers front office, this should have the best news they had heard in months. Again, it's virtually impossible for them to get equal value for Bryant. So, they should have said "everybody keep your mouth shut, don't bring this up again, let's just let kobe be kobe." Instead, they felt the need to make it known publicly that they would listen to any offers for Bryant. This doesn't need to be said! Of course you're going to listen to trade offers for him! You're going to listen to trade offers for anyone! Any offers that come along! That's your job!
I highly doubt that the Lakers are going to find a good deal for Kobe. He's going to help whatever team he goes to far more than the Lakers will be helped by who they get in return. If anything is going to come along that could help them, look for it to come from Chicago. In the meantime, this guy is as professional as they come. When he's out on the court, you can expect the best player in the league to give everything he has.
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