There’s something happening with the Lakers. Three games into the season is clearly too early to make any bold proclamations about a team’s fate over the long run, but the about-face performed by Los Angeles’ Lakers’ over the past week, in the face of constant distractions, has been as nothing short of phenomenal. A young team with a disgruntled superstar, who’s been called selfish by his detractors in the best of times, has gelled into a selfless, cohesive unit, seemingly overnight. Kobe suddenly seems to trust his teammates- and they’re proving themselves worthy of his trust. All of a sudden, this is a pretty dangerous team!
The off-season was dominated by Kobe Bryant’s trade demands, the organization’s statements about its apparent willingness to trade him, the subsequent in-house feud between Kobe and the Lakers’ front office, with the media there to document and magnify every non-event. The start of the regular season did nothing to diminish the chaos and the Lakers turned in an opening night performance against the Houston Rockets that, despite a brilliant comeback in the final 90 seconds, could best be described as uninspiring. Against this backdrop, the team’s next two games of the young season would consist of a trip to Phoenix and a visit to Los Angeles from the Utah Jazz, yet another Western Conference contender. It was hard to see anything but a disastrous start to the season for the Lakers. That’s when (for now at least!) the worm began to turn.
In the two days following the Lakers’ season-opening loss, while everyone was speculating that it was only a matter of “when” and not “if” with regards to a possible Kobe Bryant trade, a funny thing happened- Kobe’s rumored suitors saved the Lakers’ locker room. On Halloween, Mark Cuban announced that his Dallas Mavericks, one of the three destinations on Kobe’s “wish list”, would not be pursuing a trade for the Lakers’ superstar. The following day, John Paxson, GM of the Chicago Bulls’, the most frequently rumored destination for Kobe, announced that the Bulls were also putting an end to their pursuit of Kobe. These two events didn’t put an end to all the turmoil in LakerLand, but they allowed the Lakers (and Kobe Bryant in particular) to relax and make basketball their primary focus again.
The night following John Paxson’s statement, November 2, the Lakers took the floor in Phoenix as heavy underdogs against a Suns team that had thoroughly dominated them in the teams’ first-round playoff matchup last spring. Few, if any, expected the Lakers to be competitive, let alone victorious in Phoenix, which made their spectacular blowout win over Suns, in which they led by as many as 31 in the fourth quarter, an absolute shocker. If that weren’t enough, the fact that no Laker scored as many as 20 points and Kobe Bryant led the team not in points, shot attempts or minutes played, but assists, made the evening feel particularly significant.
The Lakers returned home to face the Utah Jazz, one of the NBA’s top teams, two nights later. The Jazz, who are extremely versatile on offense, not to mention a much stronger rebounding and defensive team than the Suns, figured to bring the Lakers back to Earth. In a much more competitive game than the contest in Phoenix, the Lakers and the Jazz locked up in a very entertaining game that really tested both teams. Kobe Bryant led six Lakers (SIX!!!) in double figures with 33 points (he also added 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks), with fellow starters Derek Fisher (19 points, 5 assists), Luke Walton (10 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists) and Ronny Turiaf (10 points, 4 rebounds) joining him with double-digit points. However, the biggest impact from the Lakers’ supporting cast was by two of the team’s young reserves, Andrew Bynum and Jordan Farmar. Despite fouling out in the fourth quarter, Bynum was almost unstoppable, making six of seven shots on his way to 15 points, while adding 9 rebounds in just 19 minutes. Also, with Derek Fisher on the bench in the second half, Jordan Farmar was able to step right in and take command of the team, scoring 12 points, handing out 4 assists and helping spark the Lakers to 73 second half points and a relatively easy 10-point win.
Needless to say the Lakers must manage to build on this early-season success by continuing this run of outstanding play against the remainder of the league as well. Their next two games, both at Staples Center, will see the Lakers take on Chris Paul the 3-0 New Orleans (which should be quite a challenge), and then the winless Minnesota Timberwolves. With the schedule poised to take a far more difficult turn in the coming weeks, it is very important that the Lakers take advantage of every winnable game they play. However, regardless of what happens in the short term, the 2007-08 Lakers have shown that despite not having many household names, there is certainly a good amount of talent on this team. If they continue to play the same brand of passionate, selfless basketball we saw over the weekend, this team could exceed everyone’s expectations.
Don’t look now, but there’s something happening in LakerLand…
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