That’s what Los Angeles Lakers injured shooting guard and future NBA Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant said earlier this month with regard to L.A.’s woeful, lottery-bound 2013-14 season, per the Los Angeles Times’ Mike Bresnahan.
The storied Lakers are accustomed to winning, but they haven’t been doing much of that during an abysmal campaign spent near the bottom of the Western Conference standings. As a result, general manager Mitch Kupchak—and the rest of the Lakers’ front office—needs to plan a viable blueprint to steer the franchise back to prominence.
That’s an unenviable task provided the Purple and Gold’s current state of affairs.
Only three players—Bryant, Steve Nash and Robert Sacre—have guaranteed contracts for the 2014-15 season, per ShamSports.com. Two of those three guys have reached the twilight of their respective careers and have been derailed by significant injury problems.
L.A. will essentially be building a new roster from scratch, which is a recipe for disaster given how many great teams crowd the Western Conference. The Lakers are at a crossroads, so what is the ideal route to venture down on the road to rebuilding?
Coaching Situation
Although head coach Mike D’Antoni has been struck with the majority of blame for the Lakers’ atrocious season, no other coach on the planet could have led this injury-plagued roster to a respectable record.
He got the best out of role players like Jodie Meeks, Jordan Farmar and Kendall Marshall, but it appears as if his run on the Lakers’ sidelines will come to an end this summer.
Stephen A. Smith said on ESPN’s First Take, “I had a source tell me last night [that] Mike D’Antoni is gone at the end of the season,...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
