The past couple of years, the Los Angeles Lakers have tried to land a big star in free agency, but ultimately failed.
This past off-season, the focus was on big man LaMarcus Aldridge, who decided to go to the San Antonio Spurs. The summer before, however, the Lakers had their sights on Carmelo Anthony.
Anthony, of course, wound up staying with the New York Knicks, which furthered the idea that big-name players don’t want to play with Kobe Bryant. According to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, however, the reason Anthony even considered the Lakers as a destination was the chance to play with Kobe:
Melo says he considered the Lakers in free agency because of the chance to play with Kobe
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) December 1, 2015
Anthony isn’t the first to debunk rumors about Kobe being the reason a player didn’t come to Los Angeles in free agency. Aldridge recently revealed that despite rumors to the contrary, Kobe was the best part of the Lakers failed free agency meeting this past summer.
What it ultimately came down to for the Lakers is that the product on the floor simply doesn’t measure up to the competition, despite the great amount of potential the team has. Players want to win now and the Lakers simply don’t offer that ability at this time.
Had Anthony chosen to come to the Lakers, things could have very well been much different in Los Angeles. As it stands now, the Lakers will have to continue to develop their young players in hopes of finding that next star of the franchise.