L.A Lakers should think twice before playing Kobe.
Thank the good lord for Shannon Brown. In the wake of Kobe?s sprained ankle Brown could be the man to fill in down the stretch. (The reaction Lakers fans had as they read that would be the equivalent of how the Indianapolis Colts fans would feel if they had to bring Curtis Painter into the game because of a Peyton Manning injury)
Still, life with Shannon Brown might be better than bringing back a limping Kobe Bryant before his time. There are two things though, that stand in the way of Kobe getting comfortable in street clothes while the Lakers approach the playoffs.
- His Ego.
- The Lakers insistence that they need him down the stretch.
We?ll address the first issue. Kobe loves the attention he gets. He loves playing through pain, shooting around in front of the media after a loss, jutting those bottom row of teeth out whenever he hits a big shot so the whole world remembers how determined he was. Kobe needs to remember that the most attention he?ll get is winning another ring. That?s the only attention he really needs.
The Lakers are certainly reluctant to play without their leader. He scores a team his 25 points and has played in all 67 games for the Lakers this season, but rest is more important than leadership at this point.
The Lakers have already done a good job of limiting his minutes. The 33 minutes a game he?s averaging now is the lowest number of minutes he?s played since the 1997-98 season. If the Lakers rest him they?ll have to endure the storm of Shannon Brown. They?ll also have to worry about Ron Artest heaving horrible shots up there like he?s playing drunk on offense. But they can weather that.
The key here is to remember that this team knows how to play together and they?ll be fine if Bryant misses the next five or six games.
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Amy Cobb Amy Smart Ana Beatriz Barros Ana Hickmann Ana Ivanovi
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