On Friday, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com's in-depth feature on Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant was released. It's a wide-ranging feature that covers everything from his rehabilitation process after his leg fracture last season to the attitude that he takes as he nears the end of his career. It also addresses the series of accusations that have been made in regards to Bryant being the source of the Lakers' trouble in landing free agents through the years, and his complicity in the mess LA now finds itself in.
Some rival executives question where management's role is in all this.
Polarizing, yes. But solely to blame for the Lakers' demise during this two-year transition until the next big free-agent class in 2016 (which includes Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant)?
"They're the ones that gave him a $48 million extension knowing that nobody wanted to play with him," one rival executive said. "And they were also the ones that gave away multiple first-round picks for an over-the-hill Steve Nash. Not to mention firing every coach that Magic [Johnson] decided he didn't like."
The Lakers also have as much to gain as Bryant in the deal, if not more. Their 20-year, $3 billion broadcast agreement with Time Warner is tied to ratings, which certainly will be better with Bryant than without him.
As for Bryant's feeble supporting cast, you have to go back to the middle of the last decade to find a player the Lakers have drafted in the first round who has made an impact for them on a playoff team, much less a championship team: Jordan Farmar (2006), Bynum (2005) and Sasha Vujacic (2004).
"Why is that Kobe's issue?" another front office executive said. "Not putting much emphasis in the front-office staff has put the Lakers in the direction that they're in."
via Beginning of the End - CBSSports.com.
There was discussion in the TrueHoop piece of Jim Buss and his decision-making that has contributed to the awful team set to begin its season on Tuesday, but it was also reflected in the decision to grant Bryant that extension.
There are certainly points to be made on both sides, and Berger's piece serves in part to provide a balance to show that some executives maintain that perhaps Bryant is being overly targeted.
After all, any mess this big has to have been made by multiple culprits.