#WASHED

Kobe Bryant's problem is that he's old and the Lakers are bad

article via Mike Foss

Kobe Bryant has built a reputation as a champion over 19 years in the NBA. Winning is usually a good thing. We like winners. Many don’t consider what goes into success, and simply celebrate the end product. You never want to see how the sausage gets made.

It’s in the sausage-making process we find an ESPN The Magazine story penned by Henry Abbott that says while Kobe Bryant is perhaps the greatest Laker in history, he’s also the team’s greatest liability.

The Lakers went 27-55 during the 2013-14 season. Dwight Howard left prior to the start of last season. Pau Gasol and Kendall Marshall left after it. Unnamed agents and league sources provided Abbott disparaging quotes about Bryant like: “Kobe is like the big rock in their front yard. You can’t mow over it, so you just have to mow around it.”

The common denominator found in all of the Lakers’ struggles and personnel issues is Kobe, Abbott notes. It’s true. Bryant has been a Laker for 19 years and is the most prominent member of a laughable team. If longevity is a crime, Bryant is guilty.

Another common denominator in Los Angeles is that the Lakers insist on wearing purple and gold still. No league sources commented on whether that antiquated color scheme should share some of the blame for the Lakers’ problems.

(USA TODAY Sports)
Bryant may very well be a terrible teammate and a plague upon the Lakers. But if that’s the case, it’s not like he woke up one morning and decided that this would be the day he was going to systematically ravage the most storied franchise in the NBA. Kobe Bryant has always been Kobe Bryant.

The difference is, Kobe Bryant hasn’t always been 36, and the Lakers haven’t always been in the cellar.

A younger Kobe won five NBA championships in the 2000s. A younger Kobe was an NBA MVP, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, and reached the postseason 16 times in 17 years. He might have been just as mean then, but he won and it was fun to watch.

Now, Bryant is old. The Lakers are bad. It isn’t fun anymore. The same things that made Kobe successful are the same things he’s being faulted for now.

Unfortunately for Kobe, he didn’t get out in time..