LAKERS DIE-NASTY - Part 4

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

To his credit Jerry West recognized the skills of the high school- phoneme Kobe Bryant. He got O'Neal to come west and leave the Orlando Magic. Outside of picking AC Green as the Lakers first pick out of Oregon State in the 1985 draft, and Eddie Jones first round in 1994, what has he done except take bows?

In an LA Times interview Chamberlain addressed the Bryant issue.

"Kobe is taking the brunt of every problem they have, he has become their whipping boy, and that's wrong. A lot of his mistakes are just the exuberance of youth. If he makes a sensational play, and they win, he's great. But if they lose then he's a dog. That's not fair. At this point they should take the bad with the good and stop making their youngest player their fall guy."

The miss-match-making comes down to West's inability to recognize what a person's persona is. It's not a new experience. It goes back to his playing days when he was a teammate of Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor. During the five years that the trio were Lakers teammates (1968-69/1972-73) West misinterpreted Baylor and Chamberlain's street talk as jealousy and that they didn't get along. In an interview with the LA Times in April he was still of that opinion. He compared that situation with the problems reported in the press regarding O'Neal and Bryant.

The low profile Chamberlain called the LA Times to CORRECT West's perception of the Dippers relationship with Baylor. He said West never understood it.

"Elgin and I have always been friends, and will continue to be friends" Chamberlain said. "We got on each others case all the time, but that was our culture, our way."

When you consider that West and Baylor were teammates for 13 years (1960-61/1972-73) it makes you wonder why he didn't know Baylor's personality better. Miscalculations then, and miscalculations now. West is perceived as being the best ever NBA GM, other than Celtic great Red Auerbach. He is very much overrated.

To his credit he recognized the skills of the high school- phoneme, Bryant. He got O'Neal to come west and leave the Orlando Magic. Outside of picking AC Green as the Lakers first pick out of Oregon State in the 1985 draft, and Eddie Jones first round in 1994, what has he done except take bows?

The Lakers arrogance is unchallenged in the NBA. In 1991-92 the Clippers finished ahead of the Lakers in the standings by recording a 45-37 record to the Lakers 43-39. They both made the playoffs. The Lakers lost in four games in the first round to Portland. The Clippers lost in five games to Utah.

The following season (1992-93) the Clippers finished ahead of the Lakers again with a 41-41 record to the Lakers 39-43 mark. Both teams made the playoffs. The Lakers lost in the first round to Phoenix in five games. Houston knocked out the Clippers in the first round in five games.

The Lakers current VP and minority owner MAGIC JOHNSON said after a Lakers game that he coached in a 108-103 loss to Clips on April 16, 1994. "We're going to always be the number one team in Los Angeles, I don't care what happens. Tradition dictates that. Everybody knows that. They (Clippers) know it. It's just that way."

With that statement, Johnson proved that Lakers arrogance is not in short supply. In a sense Johnson was right. Like the Lakers, the cheerleading press pretends that it never happened. They continue to champion the Lakers and have never given the Clippers credit for their achievement of topping the self perceived HOME TOWN HEROES in the standings two consecutive years.

Recognized as a leader, Johnson earned himself a 5-11 record in his brief tenure as Lakers coach. His team was one of the three LA Lakers teams that never made it to the playoffs. But hey… we don't talk about those things.

Lakers media director John Black provided more arrogance. In a game against the Clippers last season, Black took it upon himself to change the scorekeepers statistics. He obviously felt he knew the job better than the person who was paid to do it did. Black changed the assists stats of then Lakers guard Nick Van Exel by giving Van Exel more than he was given credit for. (Oh my!!!)

ARROGANCE, YOU WANT ARROGANCE? If there were a famine for arrogance the Lakers have enough to supply the world. To ignore the Lakers arrogance is somewhat like ignoring CANCER. The reality is: IN THE REAL WORLD, the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks are playing for the NBA title. They are not about show biz. They are hard working blue-collar types that get the job done. The Lakers can now return to what they do best…. POSTURING, ACTING, MUGGING FOR THE CAMERA, being HOLLYWEIRD and management will continue to be ARROGANT.

To say the Lakers travesty is laughable is an understatement. It would make the Keystone Cops or Beavis and Butt-Head proud. The team needs new ownership and new management. It's time to move on to the NEW GENERATION of the NBA… corporate ownership.

Hey RUPERT [MURDOCH], enough of the Manchester United stuff. Call out your Fox's and save a dying dynasty from extinction or future embarrassment. Appoint HOMER SIMPSON to take over the team and have BART SIMPSON run it. Yes I'm making light of this subject but it couldn't be any more funny than it already is….. It's the end of a century and the end of an era. The end of a CENTURY and the end of an ERA in which… THE LAKERS DIED NASTY.