“He’s not built for the Los Angeles Lakers like I am” Doug Gottlieb reveals just why Kobe Bryant thought LeBro James is not the ideal ‘Lakers Material’
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Doug Gottlieb
The house of the Los Angeles Lakers is a place where all-time legends of the NBA have built their names as individuals and set a path for the league as well. We are talking about Ervin “Magic” Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West… oh yes, and Shaquille O’Neal to a certain extent can be considered. With so much history involved in a franchise that has seen the most title reigns in the NBA, there may be a standard that one may have to live up to.
LeBron James is undoubted one of the best players of all time, and surprise, surprise, he is now a Laker. Why would someone as established and powerful as LeBron not want to work with this prestigious organization? But Unfortunately to them, they are having one of the worst seasons they have had in the last few decades. Maybe not in terms of rankings, but in terms of a system or a working rotation that shows they are hungry to win.
The LA Lakers re-enter their awkward slump losing four games back to back
Things have just taken a turn for the worse as the Lakers recently had to sideline Anthony Davis due to an ankle injury. Only a month left for the regular season to end and Davis is not expected to return beforehand to help them finish off stronger. The players of the purple and gold have struggled to win games that are very important with some of them involving major blowouts. LeBron James has been their surviving hope now, but at what cost?
For a brief set of three games in between the eight that Davis had not played in, the Lakers shot extremely poor from the arc averaging 24.7% on 33.6 attempts. Those games would have a completely different outcome if the team had shot better or paid attention to creating better shot selections which in turn would have given them three wins added to their record. In between these last eight games were two unwanted blowouts caused by the LA Clippers and New Orleans Pelicans. The team had performed so badly that fans booed the Lakers AT HOME.
Kobe Bryant says LeBron James does not understand the LA Lakers
We have established the fact that the Lakers have seen the best of the best over the years, which also means they would not accept anything less of what they were given in the past. Over the last few months, fans have not accepted LeBron as a Lakers due to his inability to perform as great as the other former legends. Being 37-years old and averaging 29 points and over five assists as well rebounds is a big deal but it would not matter to Lakers fans if you cannot help them win.
Doug Gottlieb of Fox Sports Radio revealed in a segment that Kobe Bryant thought LeBron James can never be a true Laker. According to him, Kobe said, “He said to me unequivocally, LeBron does not get, know or understand LA. And he is not built for it the way I am built for it. I took negativity and it fueled me. But that’s not fuels LeBron. He’s not the savage competitor that me and Mike (Michael Jordan) are. I’m the type of player that wants to kill you and your family. LeBron just wants to be loved.”
Kobe Bryant had played with the Lakers his whole career which would give him decent leverage over saying things as such. But as far as the conversation had lasted, one cannot say LeBron did not have shoes to fill because he is already a great player. The LA Lakers are the GOAT franchise in the NBA, if the fans have an opinion about you cannot retaliate by saying “they know nothing about basketball”
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Rakibul John Rodgers
(1258 Articles Published)