2012/2013 NBA season thread

[Senator Clay Davis]

This is rock bottom for the David Stern era. Lakers might get 50 free throw attempts. You didn't misread that. If he can Stern will take the Lakers as far as he can.

[Senator Clay Davis]

The Lakers had more free throw attempts than Steph Curry had points...and Steph Curry had 47 points...nothing more to say really.

[moon]

I would say the league should be embarrassed by their actions in regards to the Lakets in the second half but it is the NBA and rigging things seems to just be par for the course with them.

[Senator Clay Davis]

FT is trending on Twitter. I wonder if we see a game where the Lakers get 80 free throws. I never thought 50 was possible, so dare to dream I guess.

And for fun the Jazz have 49 free throw attempts in their last four games.

[PeteLFan]

Oh shut up you are always crying about the lakers just give it a rest.

Kobe Bryant also tore his Achilles and came back to make 2 free throws before his season ended.

[Hockey_Ninja]

The reports are saying that Kobe tore his achillies. If that's true then it could be the end of his career. Terrible loss for the NBA and the fans. You don't want a sports icon like him to have his career ended like this

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by moon

Good to hear!

Even if KoMe had missed those free throws I am sure the refs would have counted them as good.

It's posts like these that make me sick.

It's unfortunate it happened though; Kobe has to be the toughest player in the history of the league. He doesn't deserve to go out like this. LeBron couldn't even play through cramps.

Kobe is a true warrior.

[Acey]

Watching Kobe's post-game interview. Man it's tough to watch.

[Hockey_Ninja]

This has to be the worst season in Lakers history:

-Assemble a team filled with stars and they are a bubble team
-Clippers become LA's team
-Have a chance to get back Phil Jackson but they go with D'Antoni instead
-Jerry Buss dies
-Kobe tears his achellies

Yikes. I know the Flames have been having a brutal season but boy does this take the cake!

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by Hockey_Ninja

This has to be the worst season in Lakers history:

-Assemble a team filled with stars and they are a bubble team
-Clippers become LA's team
-Have a chance to get back Phil Jackson but they go with D'Antoni instead
-Jerry Buss dies
-Kobe tears his achellies

Yikes. I know the Flames have been having a brutal season but boy does this take the cake!

Most of those might be true, but the Clippers aren't "LA's team", not even close yet. Just because they have a better record in one season does not make them "LA's team".

Win a title or two then maybe you can make a case, but until then it's not even a discussion. There's even talk of them raising a division banner lol. Pathetic compared to all the achievements the Lakers have had over the years.

Lakers had a couple rough years after Jackson and O'Neal left as well, but they won two titles only a few years after. I doubt they can make that turnaround quickly if Kobe retires in the next couple years, but they'll be back soon enough. It's not hard to build a winner if you're the Lakers GM.

Saying the Clippers are "LA's team" is like saying the Mets would be New York's team if they had a better record in one season. It takes a lot more time then that to change people's preferences.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

Most of those might be true, but the Clippers aren't "LA's team", not even close yet. Just because they have a better record in one season does not make them "LA's team".

Win a title or two then maybe you can make a case, but until then it's not even a discussion. There's even talk of them raising a division banner lol. Pathetic compared to all the achievements the Lakers have had over the years.

Lakers had a couple rough years after Jackson and O'Neal left as well, but they won two titles only a few years after. I doubt they can make that turnaround quickly if Kobe retires in the next couple years, but they'll be back soon enough. It's not hard to build a winner if you're the Lakers GM.

Saying the Clippers are "LA's team" is like saying the Mets would be New York's team if they had a better record in one season. It takes a lot more time then that to change people's preferences.

There are no such thing as Laker fans. Remember when USC was all the rage in LA? Oh yeah, they were winning. Or all those Kings fans before April last year? The whole 7 of them? Its Southern California, they don't care about sports, they care about winning. If the Lakers fall back and the Clippers win even one title, 2/3 Laker "fans" are going to the Clippers. Christ LA is now a UCLA town since Lane Kiffin is such a disaster.

As to Kobe's injury, sucks but blame Antoni and the Lakers organization for playing him to death and never giving him any depth on that team. But it might be a blessing in disguise, they weren't going to do much with Kobe the rest of his contract, so might as well start the scorched earth now. Lakers could be bottom feeders until the end of the decade, though I suppose this does increase the chances of resigning Dwight.

[PeteLFan]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

There are no such thing as Laker fans. Remember when USC was all the rage in LA? Oh yeah, they were winning. Or all those Kings fans before April last year? The whole 7 of them? Its Southern California, they don't care about sports, they care about winning. If the Lakers fall back and the Clippers win even one title, 2/3 Laker "fans" are going to the Clippers. Christ LA is now a UCLA town since Lane Kiffin is such a disaster.

As to Kobe's injury, sucks but blame Antoni and the Lakers organization for playing him to death and never giving him any depth on that team. But it might be a blessing in disguise, they weren't going to do much with Kobe the rest of his contract, so might as well start the scorched earth now. Lakers could be bottom feeders until the end of the decade, though I suppose this does increase the chances of resigning Dwight.

Lol you are just as ridiculous as moon. Not much with Kobe ? 1 year left at 34 he's having a MVP calibre season your blind hatred is hilarious.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Yeah Pete and thats got them...barely in 8th? I'm guessing had they made it you'd be picking them to go 16-0 right to the ring right? Better to be an realistic hater than a delusional slurper. He needed two epic performances to barely beat 25 games under .500 New Orleans and 13 games under .500 Portland. Lakers would have gotten swept by OKC regardless of Kobe playing.

[PeteLFan]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Yeah Pete and thats got them...barely in 8th? I'm guessing had they made it you'd be picking them to go 16-0 right to the ring right? Better to be an realistic hater than a delusional slurper. He needed two epic performances to barely beat 25 games under .500 New Orleans and 13 games under .500 Portland. Lakers would have gotten swept by OKC regardless of Kobe playing.

He carrying his team on his back, no one else is helping. Dwight Howard has only recently started to play with any type of effort, Steve Nash has been a flop and injured all year long. They lost backup Jordan Hill early on in the season, but he has carried this team. Not to mention Pau Gasol being injured as well, but lets not have facts get in the way of your biased hate of Kobe and the remarkable season he has had at 34 years of age carrying this team and willing them into a playoff spot with zero help.

[moon]

The refs have given him plenty of help.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by PeteLFan

He carrying his team on his back, no one else is helping. Dwight Howard has only recently started to play with any type of effort, Steve Nash has been a flop and injured all year long. They lost backup Jordan Hill early on in the season, but he has carried this team. Not to mention Pau Gasol being injured as well, but lets not have facts get in the way of your biased hate of Kobe and the remarkable season he has had at 34 years of age carrying this team and willing them into a playoff spot with zero help.

Nash's issues (namely worst defender in the league) were well documented prior to the trade. And Kobe's dominance of the ball have rendered him as an off the ball shooter. Derrick Rose hasn't played and the Bulls are going to the Playoffs and he's better than all the Lakers players who were hurt except now Kobe, so injuries are no excuse. A mid 30's guy coming off an achillies injury with a still weak team around him in cap hell. The Lakers are not in good shape right now.

[darklord700]

The beginning of next season, we'll see how good or not Nash is. In all likelihood, DH will resign and Pau will be there too. So Nash and two bigs can't be too bad a line up even if they are old.

[Senator Clay Davis]

The big question is will the Lakers amnesty Kobe? $80 million to be saved if they do, so no matter how loyal you wanna be $80 million is $80 million.

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

The big question is will the Lakers amnesty Kobe? $80 million to be saved if they do, so no matter how loyal you wanna be $80 million is $80 million.

Tough call... what if he ends up getting healthy earlier than thought? I was just reading an estimate from LA's trainer saying 6-9 months. If that's the case, it's more than enough time for him to be a factor next season.

You know, I was reading an article on ESPN where all these guys are speculating that the Lakers can just amnesty him, he can take next year off, and then just resign him the following summer.

But here's the problem with that: If he's amnestied (regardless of whether another team picks him up or not, though you'd imagine Cuban doing it just because he can), then LA loses his bird rights. He can't just sign with LA unless they get far enough under the cap to sign him as a free agent, or sign him using one of their exceptions (absolute max $5 million). So is staying with LA so important that Kobe would agree to be amnestied, and then sign with them for $5 million or less?

The Lakers can also attempt to get far enough under the cap to sign him outright. Let's say he took a 66% pay cut and resigned with them in the summer of 2014 for about $20 million. They'd need to renounce any bird rights on Gasol and everyone every other free agent they have. They'd then have Nash, Howard, and Bryant plus their 2014 first-rounder as the only guys under contract for about $52 million, and then they'd have about $10 million plus $5 million in exceptions to fill out the other 10 or so spots on the roster. Which would be almost certainly a worse roster than the one they have this year.

[PeteLFan]

This says it all, he's a warrior.