Lakers Rumors: LA Must Make Moves to Settle Locker Room Unrest
Jim Buss’ legacy hangs in the balance.
The Los Angeles Lakers are on the verge of implosion. To save the franchise from plummeting into an endless pit of irrelevance, Buss must orchestrate a blockbuster trade or at least a pair of smaller, yet effective deals.
Winning is the best medicine. It instantly eliminates conflict and destructive rumors. LA isn’t winning, though, so those enemies persist.
There is an internal battle going on inside the Lakers locker room. One pair of crosshairs lies on the forehead of Mike Brown.
Ramona Shelbourne of ESPN reported that the initial signs of a player mutiny are stirring in Hollywood.
Remember that hyped-up player-only meeting that went down before All-Star weekend? Well, there’s more where that came from. Shelbourne wrote:
"Sources say the team's ongoing struggles on the road -- with L.A. dropping to 6-14 away from Staples Center following a loss in Detroit and blowing a 21-point lead to the undisciplined Wizards -- have some veterans longing for a return to the trusty Triangle offense preferred by Brown's predecessor, Phil Jackson.
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She continued saying that, according to sources, “Multiple players have continued to meet privately since the initial team meeting to discuss running elements of the Triangle offense again.”
Who didn’t see this coming? Allow me to answer that question. Buss.
This was every single Lakers fans’ fear after hearing of Brown’s hiring. He failed to earn LeBron James’ respect with the Cleveland Cavaliers and it cost him his job. Now, rumors of a revolt have Brown experiencing déjà va.
But the Lakers head coach isn’t the only shot-caller under fire. After the team’s second-straight loss to an inferior opponent in the Washington Wizards Wednesday night, Pau Gasol vented to Radio Catalunya. Thanks to Elio Martinez of NBA Maniacs and an Internet translator, here’s the Spaniard’s rant:
"(There is) lack of concentration, overconfidence and a certain level of selfishness, in general. I’m not a person or a selfish player, but we have to move the ball more, and we have to look further the team game, because we have enough talent to use different players.
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Hmm, I wonder who Pau is referring to…
In the Lakers’ pair of letdowns, Kobe Bryant launched a whopping 57 shot attempts at the hoop only to watch 17 of them fall through the net—that’s 29.8 percent for you statistic lovers. But Gasol isn’t the only one becoming impatient with the Black Mamba. Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times reported that Coach Brown told the media after the Wizards loss:
"He took some difficult shots that allowed those guys to come up with long rebounds and push the ball down the floor and get some easy baskets. He was one of those guys that I did not think took great shots in the second half.
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And to all the fans thinking its Kobe, he’ll bounce back—this is a different Kobe from the assassin of years past. Medina also reported a rare excuse from Bryant after the Detroit Pistons loss as No. 24 admitted to the press:
"Everybody just kind of played tired. I definitely was a little tired. I should have stayed in bed like I've been doing instead of coming to shoot-around [Tuesday] morning.
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That explanation came from the guy that, in the 2009 NBA Finals, was asked if he had hit a wall after a loss. Bryant responded by saying that he didn’t, but if he did hit a wall, it’d mean nothing because he’d “run straight through it.” (Via CBS Sports' Ken Berger.)
This is Buss’ time to shine.
His arsenal is loaded with the trade assets necessary to execute a deal that will return the Lakers to their winning ways. Again, winning would solve every single issue that the drama-filled franchise is dealing with right now. He must man up and press the right buttons.
If he fails to pull the trigger, Los Angeles will win absolutely nothing and Brown and Bryant will continue to take on friendly fire.
David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.
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