2014-15 Official Lakers Season Thread, Vol: We Love Each Other

[CP1708]

Absolutely loving watching game 4 02.

God I love this game.

 

[CP1708]

Shaq was really carrying Kobe here on the bench while Kobe scores 13 outta 15, steals, blocks, rebounds.....

 

[frink85]

Pau & Jeremy

jesus I need a PS4

also I feel like we're gonna see a lot of the clip at 1:12 this season.

 

[essential1]

Clarkson Deal

2014-15 - $507,336
2015-16 - $845,059 Non-guaranteed
2016-17 - $1,180,431 Qualifying offer.

Had he signed in July, would have been able to tie him up 3 years, then Qualifying offer in year 4, but this was the longest contract they could give.

View media item 1150878

From the looks of it, if you throw in the picks we'll have next year. We'll have a early 20s pick, and late 30s pick, we'll have about $26-27mil max cap room for 2015.

 

[kingjaffejo]

That's still great tho. Especially if he turns into a stud by year 3. So young, so cheap.
That's the motto this go round right...

 

[essential1]

That's still great tho. Especially if he turns into a stud by year 3. So young, so cheap.
That's the motto this go round right...

Ehh if he's a stud by year 3, he won't be cheap because teams will make their run at him.

 

[kingjaffejo]

And I also feel like 27 mil of cap space isn't enough at all

 

[kingjaffejo]

Ehh if he's a stud by year 3, he won't be cheap because teams will make their run at him.

But we would have his bird rights no??
And we can go over cap to sign him so wouldn't we have the upper hand in negotiations and what could be offered...

 

[essential1]

Ehh if he's a stud by year 3, he won't be cheap because teams will make their run at him.

But we would have his bird rights no??
And we can go over cap to sign him so wouldn't we have the upper hand in negotiations and what could be offered...

Would all depend on how it's done. Considering Kobe is off the books year 3, it isn't that much of a big deal.


Theoretically we could try to do what Morey did with Parsons and Ultimate Failed. You offer the QO, which that's the cap hold on him. Get all your ducks lined up in a row first (the big name stars). Then match whatever he gets offered before the 72 hour window closes. That's what Morey was trying to do by adding Bosh then match Parsons.

And I also feel like 27 mil of cap space isn't enough at all

Enough for a max player, and about $8mil player.

 

[kingjaffejo]

I just don't personally think Clarkson will be a player we are going to have to worry about holding onto for the future ...that's something that could easily be handled.

I dunno the more I think about 3 years from now the more I worry about how this roster will have developed.
The road back to the top will be a steep one for this franchise

 

[bravelude]

I just don't personally think Clarkson will be a player we are going to have to worry about holding onto for the future ...that's something that could easily be handled.

I dunno the more I think about 3 years from now the more I worry about how this roster will have developed.
The road back to the top will be a steep one for this franchise

Everythinf too early to tell. rookies have that mental challenge to over come. the physical aspect is not a doubt sorta speak.

he looks Reggie Miller.KD build, so.he has to score. maybe an Ariza?

being able.to.stay mentally strong.is the challenge.

 

[bravelude]

thats why guys like KD are just a step below KB m all. they lack.mental toughness. they focus year in and year out trynna maintain their strengths like.scoring. they fail.to.evolve, they cant handle.it.

 

[pmatic]

If Clarkson is anything worthwhile in two years, that Boozer claim will be even worse.

 

[mr j 858]

Man I swear some people on this thread already hyping him up and treating Clarkson like he's a lottery pick after they saw him play well in the Vegas summer league

 

[mj 23]

We haven't experienced success in awhile, so clarkson is our savior. Let us cook J

 

[pmatic]

I like to think him being part Filipino is partly responsible for his hype.

 

[licensed to ball]

Are you guys serious?

You're missing the biggest sign of Hall of Fame greatness.
His first name.

 

[darthska]

That's still great tho. Especially if he turns into a stud by year 3. So young, so cheap.
That's the motto this go round right...

"So young, so cheap"?

Questionable motto is questionable.

 

[pmatic]

In response to Ballard's Kobe article, Ding has a bunch of mini-stories on Kobe: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...titive-fire-unique-kindness-in-untold-stories

 

[CP1708]

Bryant has broken his nose and will be diagnosed with a concussion from a blow to the face delivered by Dwyane Wade in the 2012 All-Star Game. (Bryant makes both those free throws, too, by the way.)

He finishes the game, a three-point Western Conference victory, and breaks Michael Jordan's career All-Star scoring record. Bryant feels bad enough, though, that he skips the postgame media session.

Before leaving Orlando's Amway Center, getting more treatment and taking a long flight home, Bryant has one stop to make: seeing Wade, who had hit Bryant from behind upon being blown by on a third-quarter spin move. The moment is recounted in the book Relentless by Tim Grover, trainer to both Bryant and Wade:

"Kobe wanted to see him face-to-face before he'd go to the hospital. It wasn't about vengeance or retaliation or settling the score. It was about the law and order of the jungle, two animals instinctively facing off, the lion king getting up on that rock so the rest of the jungle could see who was in charge. One direct, silent look that says, 'I still own this, motherf----r.'"

 

[CP1708]

It is the second round of the 2009 playoffs. The Lakers have just played a Sunday afternoon game in Houston.

John Ireland, now the team's radio voice but then a TV sideline reporter, does some live postgame shots at Toyota Center. By the time he returns to the team hotel across the street, a lot of the players are hanging out at the hotel lobby bar.

Bryant: "Hey, John. You want a beer?"

Ireland: "Thanks, but you don't have to buy me a beer."

Bryant smirks and points down at 17 beers—all open, all untouched.

People have been buying him beers for the past two hours.

 

[sb]

kobe gawd

 

[frink85]

Shaq and D-Wade are about to win the 2006 NBA title together for the Miami Heat. Kobe has some time on his hands.

He is told that there is a "wish kid" who wants to meet him but is too ill to fly from Las Vegas to L.A. Bryant tells the Make-a-Wish Foundation that he will just go to the kid.

Juan Carlos is not really a kid. He has a girlfriend there in his hospital room, along with his parents and siblings. He is 17, the very same age as that beaming, brash Bryant who wore his sunglasses propped up on his head inside the Lower Merion High School gym and announced he was skipping college to "take my talent to the NBA."

Juan Carlos hasn't gotten out of bed for a very long time, much less gone outside for any sun. But when he compliments Bryant on the cool shades he is wearing on this day, Bryant hands his sunglasses over as a gift.

Juan Carlos brightens. In return, and using the burst of energy Bryant has brought him, Juan Carlos surprises the hospital staff:

He shows Bryant he can walk.

Two weeks later, Juan Carlos passes away.

damb RIP to the dude

great link, those stories are really put into perspective who Kobe is on and off the court...not some selfish jerk ballhog but the ultimate competitor with a soft side

 

[freeze]

The 2005 season has not gone well. Shaquille O'Neal is gone, the Lakers are struggling, and the criticism of Bryant is mounting.

Bryant sits alone with John Black, who runs the Lakers' public relations department.

Bryant: "What are all these motherf-s going to say when I lead this team to a championship?"

Black: "They're going to say you're one of the greatest players of all time."

damn skippy.

 

[freeze]

With a brutal seven-game victory over the Celtics in the bank for Bryant, the 2010 offseason is dominated by LeBron James' decision to leave Cleveland for Miami.

What matters to Bryant is Phil Jackson agreeing to return to coach the Lakers again in pursuit of a third consecutive NBA title. Bryant sends James a text message. It goes like this:

"Go ahead and get another MVP, if you want. And find the city you want to live in. But we're going to win the championship. Don't worry about it."