It is also difficult to believe that after trying so hard to get to New York that Anthony would suddenly leave for the Lakers, even though he owns a home in LA. Anthony is not in LeBron’s stratosphere, but he still is the franchise player on the Knicks. Think he’s going to leave to be the No. 2 or No. 3 guy in LA?
It’s difficult to see even one of those guys going to the Lakers. Forget about both.
When you’re average ticket is in three figures, however, and you have banners and legendary jersey numbers filing your arena, the last thing you want to acknowledge is hopelessness. So whether or not they were responsible for igniting the LeBron-Melo story, it’s a safe bet that the Lakers aren’t the least bit upset that it has become an item.
Because when a glamorous franchise has limited expectations, attention must be diverted. In the upcoming season, the Lakers will be telling their fans they have high hopes – for 2015.
CHECK OUT JAN HUBBARD’S ARCHIVE FROM SHERIDAN HOOPS.COM. TERRIFIC STUFF ON THE NBA, PAST AND PRESENT.
Jan Hubbard has written about basketball since 1976 and worked in the NBA league office for eight years between media stints. Follow him on Twitter at @whyhub.
El quieran emplear Joomla! no es resolución de cada uno. Yo creo que lo malo” que tiene Joomla!.
Why does Sheridan constantly write negative articles about the Lakers? There are more free agents besides the 2 you listed. You are obviously biased in your writing. You should probably stop writing. If you actually had any idea and listened to local sports radio in LA and knew people in the community, people initially weren’t happy Dwight left, no one with a rational mind set would be, but to say we still aren’t handling it well? common….please stop making yourself look like a D- quality writer. No one really is bothered anymore about his decision to leave. He couldnt even win a playoff game for us and thats supposed to build up enough equity for us to care that much? Don’t be such a joke in life Chris.
First thing to do when you comment is address your disdain to the proper person. Chris did not write the piece. It is clearly indicated that the piece way written BY JAN HUBBARD.
Secondly there are not more FA(s) as you suggested. There are possible restricted FA(s) such as Paul George, John Wall, and DeMarcus Cousins who are young players to build your franchise around. The Lakers will never get a chance to speak to them because they are going to sign extensions with their current teams this October or next July. No Bron, no Melo means goodbye Laker relevancy until their next superstar is either drafted by Buss Jr/Kuptchak or gifted to them by some silly GM from one of the other 29 teams.
PS: And no, Kevin Love is not a superstar. Prepare for the likes of Luol Deng, Danny Granger, Brandon Jennings, or Greg Monroe to eat up that $55 million cap space Lakers management keeps bragging about.
Link you need to read: http://www.hoopsworld.com/2014-nba-free-agents
Everything has changed because of the new CBA. Howard would have been S&T in the old CBA. Artest would not have been amnestied in the old CBA.
The false hope that the Lakers front office may have started, should have been ignored by the Main Stream Sports Media. The OTHER problem not being discussed in this article, is that ESPN and the rest of the Media give 5x too much attention to the Lakers, because of the large national fan base. That fan base will be declining in coming years because I don’t see the Lakers making the playoffs for another 5 years. The Clippers are the new team in LA, just as the Nets will be the new team in NYC.
Lakers likely won’t get Kevin Love or LMA either, because those teams will trade their stars before free agency. Lakers will re-build next year much as Mavs are doing This year (mediocrity).
And finally, Kobe is a Negative for Lakers, because no star will want to risk going to LA if Kobe is going to retire, without any reason to believe there would be cap space to replace him. Steve Nash is likely to retire too, but who is going to be the point guard? Melo+Bron aren’t compatible anyway.
The Lakers aren’t a “new” business. This analogy is idiotic, as are you.
Respectfully, it’s obvious to me when a writer who doesn’t cover the Lakers writes about them. Our fans are irrational; how will the Lakers brand survive the “unquestionably the best center in the league” leaving the team, the Lakers are spinning next season with hopes of more superstars joining the team.
It’s true, many of our fans are irrational–that’s the case for any team. But what you’ll find in So Cal are very intelligent fans who understand the Lakers can’t win it every year, and that rebuilding is necessary. However, we hold out hope that the Lakers will pull off another quick rebuilding cycle with more superstars to come. Don’t call that irrational. Call it being spoiled. The Lakers have done it before, more than once. Personally, I don’t think LeBron will end up in LA, but maybe Carmelo. Who knows at this point?
Finally, I wish the national press would wait and see just how much of a loss it is with Howard leaving the Lakers. Time will tell. At this point Lakers fans understand it would have been better to keep him, but we’ve moved on without emotion because we observed Howard closely over the last year, and his performance and attitude didn’t measure up with what we’ve come to expect of our superstars (e.g., Kobe, Shaq, Kareem, Magic, Worthy, West, Baylor, etc.). And how does a player whose brand is flailing have a devastating effect on the Lakers–the most solid brand in the NBA? I’ll put my confidence in the Lakers, not Dwight Howard.
@Rick: Well said. Thank you.