Kobe Bryant: LA Star Wrong to Think Lakers Have Enough Talent for a Title Run

The Los Angeles Lakers won't be hurt too much by the lockout like other teams, but with the changes they've made, they're no longer a serious threat to contend for the title.

Kobe Bryant did a Q&A with Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, and while he was smart enough to not talk about his divorce, he made a bonehead move by stating that the Lakers could still win the title this year.

When asked if he believed the Lakers could win the title this year, Kobe responded with: 

"We have a good roster here. People look at our roster and it doesn’t have the sexy names people want to see nowadays with the super teams. But I believe it’s good enough to get it done." 

Their team chemistry will come in handy toward the end of the season, but on the big stage they no longer have what it takes to win. 

Obviously, Kobe can't come out and state that he thinks the team stinks or anything like that because he's already facing public backlash thanks to his pending divorce. 

However, he has to realize that his team did not improve over the offseason. In fact, they got worse. 

Things would be completely different had the Lakers landed Chris Paul, or if they could've struck a deal for Dwight Howard. 

Instead, Los Angeles traded Lamar Odom away for a draft pick, which will prove to be the Lakers downfall this season.

Odom was a special player for the Lakers during their title runs, and without him, they will struggle. Kobe mentioned to Spears about how he was upset when he first learned of Odom being dealt.

“[Expletive]. It’s tough because I didn’t know what was going on or why he got traded. Did he ask for a trade? Was it something we kind of facilitated? I didn’t know. It sucked.” 

Adding Josh McRoberts and Troy Murphy doesn't help make the Lakers a dominant team, and it means the success of the team will have to rely on the starting rotation. 

More pressure will be placed on the top players, especially Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. 

The Lakers still have the talent to be competitive, but they lack the depth needed to make a strong title run. 

It's understandable for Bryant to stay positive in an interview, but he's offering up false hope by believing this team is capable of winning it all this season. 

The Lakers won't be dominating this season, and it honestly would not surprise me if the Clippers took over as top dogs in Los Angeles.