Purple Purge (Dictionary of a Laker Fan)

(Editor’s note: The column ‘The Score’ of Ms. Jannelle So, who is based in the US, resumes with this issue.)

LOS ANGELES — Change

It is the one word that has been constant in the Lakeshow since the Detroit Pistons stole the 2004 National Basketball Association (NBA) Championship from the Los Angeles Lakers. A few days after the Laker tragedy, team owner Jerry Buss bid Coach Phil Jackson goodbye. The Zen master gave the franchise three championships in years of exciting, interesting fights.

With Jackson’s exit came terse and tension-filled negotiations as the team’s big man, and without a doubt the league’s best, demanded to be traded after the purple and gold management refused to give him a contract extension. Shaq was on his way out, and the team he served for eight years and won three championships did nothing to stop him.

With the two pillars of the triangle offense gone, La-la-land crumbled. Radio airwaves saw the traffic of positive and negative views from different Laker fans. Everyone was anxious. The community was affected by what was happening to their sporting heroes. For eight years, during the time of political divisiveness and other social problems, Los Angeles was held together, not under the stars and stripes banner; but by the yellow flag of their basketball team.

Mourning

Wednesday, July 14, 2004, will go down in history as one of the saddest days in Los Angeles. As Shaq’s trade to the Miami Heat became official, the public had no choice but to swallow the donut that was left them — a team with no center. The Lakers’ pillar of strength was gone. And this brought about a feeling of emptiness.

"The era of greatness is over," laments one radio show host on Extra Sports (1150 AM band).

Last July 9-11, even before the trade deal was sealed, the Staple Center store had a liquidation sale. Prices were slashed from 10 to 90 percent off. The fans knew. They fell in line on Figueroa street, waiting for the store door to open. And when it did, they went straight to the racks where Shaq jerseys hung. Starting this season, those jerseys are going to be a mere memento.

"It’s certainly a disappointing day in a lot of ways in Los Angeles," Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak said during the press conference last Wednesday. "I can’t deny the impact a player like Shaq has had on my life and in the city the past eight years. The playful moments, the moments of brute strength and force. The amazement of a player so big that could be so nimble on his feet or such a great passer. He’s impacted so many ways on the franchise and the city of Los Angeles." Kupchak also added that despite the loss, the team was looking forward to rebuilding.

Rebuilding

Shaq in black in exchange for four guys — Lamar Odom, obviously the fulcrum of the agreement, Brian Grant, Caron Butler and a future draft pick. The most dominant center in the league that only has a few good ones was worth four players. Despite his age (32) and a seeming weight problem, supporters of Shaq here in Los Angeles maintain that he remains unstoppable.

Still, other Laker fans are supporting the trade. Like management, they are ready to close the chapter of that championship era and start with a refurbished, younger team. Here’s a summary of news and views from Laker fans discussing the merits and demerits of the deal:

Odom definitely has value. He is a natural power forward whose talents can cover the floor. He can shoot, score, pass, rebound, and play defense with his long arms. But Laker fans perceive Odom as a look-at-me player who works better when the ball in his hands. How can you maximize that now? Of course it will be hard to pry the ball out of Kobe’s hands.

There are also concerns being raised about Odom’s previous stint with the LA Clippers where he was busted twice for drug possession. Only one more strike before he gets thrown out of the NBA.

Brian Grant is a 6-8, 240-pounder who plays with a lot of heart. Unfortunately, he may be another case of "the spirit is willing but the flesh is not." Both of Grant’s knees are arthritic. Also, despite his size, experts are saying "he’s too small to be a big-time big man." And what is this bit of information going around that it was in fact Grant who helped force a sign-and-trade from Portland to Miami in the summer of 2000 because he was tired of banging bodies with Shaq in the Western Conference?

Butler is a shooter. But not a few are saying he’s overrated.

The three have arrived here in Los Angeles and a press conference was held in El Segundo to introduce them to the fans. In a radio interview, Grant said he didn’t expect the trade but he understands the Heat management for letting him go. He said it was an honor for his former team to have a player like Shaq to want to play for them. Now he looks forward to playing with Kobe.

Die-hard Laker fans who are forcing themselves to look at things more positively are saying that this new line up is not so bad. To them, the additions will make the team more athletic, more energetic, and more exciting with a lot of running. Only time will tell if this formula of building a team around a superstar guard will work better than building a team around a superstar center.

Power

This is something that Kobe has, whether he’s on or off the court. Both Jackson and Shaq had not-so-pleasant (to say the least) working relations with Kobe. Both are now gone.

The word out here is that Kobe has been calling ALL the shots for the Lakers. Team Owner Jerry Buss is saying "yes" to everything Kobe wants because he loves the guy. And team manager Mitch Kupchak is saying "yes" to Buss because he loves his job.

As icing on the cake for the 25-year old guard, Laker management serves a contract worth $136.4 million for the next seven years. Sweet.

To most Laker fans, however, the decisions their beloved franchise had been making over the last month have left a sour taste. How much more ego-pampering does Kobe need? And how much more will the Laker management give in to him? Apparently, when it comes to pleasing Kobe, the sky is the limit. And at the whim of this one guy, the whole face of the NBA is changing.

Kobe resigned with the Lakers on Thursday, July 14, 2004, a day after the Shaq trade deal became official. This didn’t sit well with fans who were already accusing Kobe of pushing Jackson and Shaq out of Los Angeles. But after the stroke of the $250 designer pen, Kobe took on questions to defend himself.

"That I had something to do with Phil and Shaq leaving, that’s something I didn’t laugh at," he said. The whole signing and the press conference that followed shortly after took place at the Lakers training facility in El Segundo, California was televised in full by the Laker TV.

"That upsets me. It angers me and it hurts me," Kobe added, his wife, Vanessa and daughter, Natalia, were present, along with his agent, Rob Pelinka.

Whether he had or didn’t have anything to do with it, he got what he wanted.

Leadership

It’s Kobe’s team now, the Lakers.

In previous games, he’s tried to prove a point by waiting for the team to need him before scoring baskets in the fourth quarter. Now there’s no need to do that. He has all the airtime, floor time, all the time in the world to prove that he can carry the team all the way to the finals even without Shaq.

Risk

Buss has decided to roll the dice with Kobe, investing all that money and effort in giving the Lakers a face-lift. And perhaps because everyone is intrigued by how this new team will perform in this coming season, or how Kobe will play his Messianic complex to the hilt, prices to the Laker games have gone up by $7.50 per ticket. Is Kobe really worth it? That’s the million dollar question here in Los Angeles right now. But fans are still paying, if only to see Kobe fail.

Before working on the basketball court, however, Kobe will have to show up at another court in late August. He will stand trial for the felony sexual assault case in Colorado. Proceedings are estimated to last until fall next year. If convicted, Bryant could be given a sentence of anywhere between four years to life in prison.

And so the final word in the Kobe-and-Laker-supporters’ dictionary is the word they hope to erase or disappear into oblivion: Guilty.