Lost Season


"I freaking suck." - Kobe Bryant

It might have escaped your notice, with all that's going on right now, that the NBA season tipped off last week. If you're a Lakers fan, like me, it might be for the best to pretend the season hasn't started... or that it's been cancelled.

After a loss to the Mavericks that dropped the Lakers' record to 0-3 on the season, Kobe Bryant went hard on himself. He said he sucked and he had to play better. He said he was, maybe, the 200th best player in the league right now. That sounds bad, but it might be a somewhat honest reflection of life in LA.

The Lakers are no longer a dominant franchise in the NBA. In fact, they're not even the best team in Los Angeles or the best team that plays home games in the Staples Center. That's rough to admit about one of the best franchises in league history, a team that has won 16 NBA titles. A team that boasts a player, Bryant, that's one of the greatest in NBA history and a five-time champion.

But Bryant isn't the player he once was. Injuries have ravaged his body, and father time is undefeated. And we're seeing that in the play of Bryant, who might be on the worst team of his career in what might be his final season.

The Lakers were woeful last year, to be sure, but it seemed like this year could be better. Bryant came back, the Lakers picked up Roy Hibbert, a once talented center looking to revive his career, and drafted D'Angelo Russell to play alongside second-year forward Julius Randle, himself coming off a season lost to injury. The Lakers also returned bright spots Nick "Swaggy P" Young and Jordan Clarkson from last year's team, and even resigned Metta World Peace.

But the Lakers are 0-4 and look like, possibly, the worst team in the Western Conference. They're playoff hopes are already over -- though some might argue that was true before the season tipped off -- and they look like a lottery team again.

It's hard to watch, and it's hard to imagine this might be how Kobe's great career ends. The NBA is better when the Lakers are contenders. But right now, it feels like that's a long ways away.

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