Quote:
Originally posted by Jimmy4
Why will Kobe be bulking up this off-season? If anything he'll have more distractions, and the possibility of him spending a good portion of time in jail has to mess with his mind a little.
Is Malone coming back for sure? I don't remember hearing anything about that.
Kobe isn't the next MJ. MJ's teams has less talent and still won.
Comparing Odom to Pippen is an insult to Pippen.
Although, it will be interesting to see them lose to better teams in the west this year, like Houston, San Antonio, or Minnesota 
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I couldn't have said it better myself.
Side Notes:
There is no way Kobe is the next MJ. There probably won't be another MJ for a long, long time. He was the epitome of an all-around player, on and off the court. He never went public with his feelings about his teammates. He was a Grade A asshole (read the books), but his teammates respected him because he was such a class act with the media. He was America's player.
Malone is not coming back for sure. Last I heard, the Spurs were courting him (dammit). Odom is not like Pippen. He has not played with Kobe yet and they have a long way to go to establish chemistry: Look what happened this year with GP and Karl. I think they are both on their last legs. It's easy to blame the triangle offense when your entire team doesn't have confidence in you. GP got schooled by Chauncey Billups, and he got the Finals MVP for it. Malone got injured this year and missed a lot of games. He probably isn't looking forward to this "running offense" at his age.
Worst of all, IMHO, the man who was holding this team together has packed his bags and left the Staples Center. Phil Jackson was the glue for this team, and he's gone. Don't get me wrong, Rudy T is a great coach, but he's never dealt with a team like this. LA fans will not settle for second best. His Houston title teams remind me of the Pistons: they played like a team. He's got to gel this team together when very few of the players on the roster have experience playing together. He's got a real tough job ahead; this is definitely going to be a trying year.
Los Angeles won't be a western conference cellar-dweller by any means, but their domination is over.