June 17, 2008.
Already I think I’ve lost a few readers. How dare I bring up the single most forgetful day in recent Lakers memory? In retrospect, was it really that bad? Okay, so maybe it was. But shouldn’t the Lakers winning back-to-back championships allow fans to move on from their 2008 finals defeat?
Well, it’s all a matter of perspective. To some the 39-point loss to the Boston Celtics in the finals stands as a blemish in the Lakers franchise’s long and illustrious history. In many ways that statement is accurate, but what if I told you that loss had to happen in order for the Lakers to come together and win titles No. 15 and 16? Imagine if the Lakers had won the finals in 2008. Would they have tried just as hard to win the following year even after Andrew Bynum went down with a knee injury? Would they have mustered up enough tenacity to overcome a 13-point deficit to the Celtics and win in 2010?
There’s something about that date that sticks out, and it isn’t just the mental picture of the Lakers walking off the court as green confetti trickled down from the beams overhead. That’s the day that Kobe Bryant the player became Kobe Bryant the leader.
He didn’t make his way off the court and refuse to talk to the media. He didn’t run into the tunnel and remove his jersey to symbolically separate himself from the team. He did none of that.
Instead Bryant opted to face the media, albeit frustrated and disheartened, to say things like, “once you go through your ups and downs, struggle a little bit, taste defeat…it makes you stronger,” and, “we can’t expect to win a championship by focusing on the offensive end,” and “we have to continue to work…understand that [the finals aren’t] guaranteed to anybody.”
Next: Bryant leads the way using lessons learned in 2008
Bryant saw the bigger picture. He had all the pieces–all the missing links he so desperately sought out during the previous summer, and it was just a matter of adding a few distinct qualities to a team built for a dynasty.
Defense, focus and mental toughness.
All pivotal in each of the Lakers’ consecutive championship runs, all instrumental in the Lakers maintaining their motivation this season and all put on display in their 99-83 road victory over San Antonio Spurs—a team that hasn’t lost a home game since November 2010.
The Lakers’ effort on the defensive end is something that Bryant has been harping on all season long. Actually no, scratch that. He’s been emphasizing it for the past two seasons. Most recently, over the last seven games, the Lakers have been on a defensive tear, their latest effort against the Spurs—one of the best offenses in the league—was almost poetic.
The Spurs shot a measly 27.3 percent over the first 12 minutes. The next 36 weren’t much more productive for the Spurs as the Lakers completely removed any flow and ball movement from their offense. They effectively limited the contributions from two of their three key guys—Manu Ginobli and Tim Duncan, who both ended the night with a combined four makes in 17 tries.
Perhaps the biggest contribution on defense came from the guy that Bryant described during that same 2008 press conference as the player who solved the Lakers’ need for “rebounding and shot blocking in the middle.” Andrew Bynum ended the night with 17 rebounds and three blocks.
“This team is going to win regardless if I get 15 points or if I get four points. That’s the kind of team we are,” Bynum said after the game. “But this team won’t win if we don’t have defensive toughness on the inside. I just think that’s the biggest thing I can bring.”
At last Bynum understands his role on the team.
Bryant can preach defense, Phil Jackson and his coaching staff could teach it, but the one inherent defensive advantage that Bynum holds above the rest is his length. That’s something the Spurs and many other teams simply can’t match.
Next: Lakers’ mental focus and toughness weathers any storm
As a team, the Lakers looked razor-sharp on offense. At times they ran the triangle impeccably, leading to easy baskets, good floor spacing and Pau Gasol putting his full range of skills on display. By maintaining their focus and taking care of the basketball, the Lakers only committed six turnovers, taking away the Spurs’ ever-reliant transition offense.
The Lakers have been on all sides of the regular season spectrum. They’ve won close games, lost some heartbreakers, been on both the giving and receiving end of blow-outs, have rose above the mid-season trade chatter, started off winning eight games in a row and at one point lost four straight. They’ve weathered every imaginable storm and here they stand now, playing their best basketball of the season and not even completely reaching their peak.
“I think we’re in a good moment,” Gasol said. “Right now we’re going through really a confident time but it’s still the regular season, it’s still one game. … We have to be at our peak later on, not right now.”
In terms of flipping the switch, the Lakers have yet to turn off the one that controls their mental toughness. It’s still a long road ahead to June and no one knows it better than Bryant.
“Even if you’re playing extremely well throughout the course of the year, you still have to make improvements,” said Bryant. “You can’t just play one way and stay at the same level. You have to continue to try and get better whether you’re playing poorly or you’re playing great at the start of the year.”
Spoken like a true leader.
Bryant isn’t perfect. At times he does too much and leaves the Lakers with little room for error. Even as he’s setting personal milestones left and right this season—his next could come as early as Tuesday night in Atlanta—he still remains focused on leading his team towards one thing.
Climbing Bill Russell’s ladder.