He has his five championship rings. Entering his 17th year in the league, his team has as good a shot as any to dethrone the Heat and get him another one. His reputation as a player is so strong to so many that, even when he finishes 85th among qualified guards in effective field goal percentage, NBA general managers still consider him the best shooting guard in the league.
He's even reached that point where his domineering persona is widely considered a good thing—a distinction generally reserved for Michael Jordan and not many others.
Yeah, Kobe Bryant is doing OK.
But for one of his former teammates—the one most closely associated with Bryant's success—you'd be hard-pressed to say the same.
Last we heard, Shaquille O'Neal was carrying out a crusade of bitterness (and xenophobia) as an attempt to bully his way back into the spotlight. How else do we describe a stance that has him taking one of the Lopez twins—he's not sure which one—over Dwight Howard as the league's best center?
No, Shaq has had better days. His last half-decade in the league was so un-Shaq-like, that there is a generation of basketball fans that knows him better for weight issues, injury issues and common-sense issues.
That's why, when the Lakers raise Shaq's jersey to the rafters this coming April, his one-time sidekick should be the one to do the honors. Bryant should do it.
He should do it for his former teammate, who needs it as much as any multi-millionaire, first-ballot Hall of Famer can need a hand from one of his former peers.
He should do it for the Lakers, who have done everything an organization can do to support a player. When they made the (correct) decision to stick with Bryant and trade Shaq, they did so because they were forc...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
