What was he thinking?

The rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics involves the two most storied franchises in basketball history. They account for over half of the 64 championships in NBA history (Celtics 17, Lakers 16).

 The Lakers and Celtics have been bitter rivals for decades, dating right back to their first NBA Finals meeting in 1959. 

 Despite this, Rajon Rondo has done the unthinkable and donned a pair of Kobe Bryant’s new “Zoom VI Rice HS PE.”

What was he thinking?

The "Age" old question

"The reason you can't play defense is because you can't," Lakers legend and Hall of Famer Jerry West told a group of automotive dealers in Orange County late last month. West suggested the Lakers are too “long in the tooth” and that there is reasonable cause for concern.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and the Lakers have started a seven game road trip three from three with wins over the New Orleans Hornets, Memphis Grizzlies, and the latest upset of east coast rivals the Boston Celtics with a typical defensive slugfest.

In the fourth quarter the Lakers held the Hornets to 13 points on 27.3% shooting and allowed the Grizzlies 16 points on 30% shooting. Most notably, the Lakers shut down the Celtics, allowing them to shoot only 30.2% in the second half, a team who leads the league in field goals with 49.7%. The Lakers also managed to dominate the paint, outscoring the Celtics by 18 and collecting 11 more rebounds.

This season the Lakers rank pretty high defensively, holding opponents to 44.1% shooting —good enough for fourth in the league— and only allowing 96.4 points—10^th best in the NBA— while ranking first for defensive rebounds.

The Lakers are far from the youngest team in the NBA with 10 players on the Lakers roster 30 years or older including four of their starting five with Bryant 32, Artest 31, Gasol 30 and Fisher 36. They aren’t the fastest team around but I don’t think there is any reason to panic, this is a team coming off back to back championships from three consecutive trips to the finals.

There is still a long way to go in this season and Phil Jackson’s response to critics couldn’t sum it up any better, “Is it the playoffs yet? No.”

Melo-Drama in Hollywood

The league is constantly full of rumors involving Carmelo Anthony, and after Russian billionaire Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov publicly announced Anthony would not be “taking his talents” to New Jersey, the rumor wheel hasn’t stopped spinning. 

The latest has certainly gained the interest of Hollywood and the Laker Nation with the rumored deal that would send Andrew Bynum to Denver in exchange for Carmelo Anthony. ESPN was first to report the rumor and it has taken off from there. 

It’s no secret that Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak wants to shake things up despite Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson’s confidence in the current roster reaching their goal of another three peat. Acquiring Anthony would not only shake up the seemingly sluggish Lakers, but the rest of the league as well. 

Anthony is a four -time All Star with a career average of 24.7 points on 45.9% shooting, but is far from a complete player and is regularly criticized for his lack of defense. The Lakers have the top offense in the league so do they really need another scorer?

Short answer is yes—Kobe could use the help on the perimeter—but the real question is at what cost?

Bynum is a dominant big man (when healthy) and this is a franchise that has built dynasties on dominant big men: Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neil, and Andrew Bynum. 

Having said that, Anthony is a top five player in the NBA and opportunities like this don’t come up every day, coupled with Bynum’s inability to stay healthy. Health has constantly been an issue; even as I type this, he is struggling with injury.

Despite this, Bynum is a seven foot force that can effectively block up the lanes with excellent rebounding and shot blocking. Plus, he is only 23 so any decision to trade should not be taken lightly. 

Bryant and Anthony have a past. Bryant has a high opinion of Anthony, and they played together in the 2008 “Redeem Team” that won gold in Beijing. This is promising that they could coexist. Bryant is a willing passer and Anthony would be another scorer he could be confident in passing to. This would also allow Bryant to dedicate more energy to the defensive end, although they will both have to make compromises.

Bryant would also be a good mentor for Anthony and no doubt would help Anthony develop his defensive game. The Lakers would in turn gain a franchise player for when Kobe is ready to pass on the torch.

No matter what way I look at it—and as much as I like Bynum—this deal seems to make too much sense to pass up.