Kobe And LeBron; First Puppets, Now Teamates?

November 18, 2009, at 5:51 pm

At first this sounds absolutely crazy. So bear with me.

On Bill Simmons most recent podcast he suggested that Kobe and LeBron want to play together. I told you this would sound crazy. Now while it’s obvious neither man would want to play second fiddle to the other consider these things.

Both are obsessed with winning.

Playing together would give them the best chance of winning many many rings over the next 10 years.

They generally like each other.

They played on the Redeem Team together and LeBron even picked up some of Kobes work ethic.

Kobe got his ring without Shaq.

He got the monkey off his back so to speak. He proved he could carry a team to a championship being the alpha dog. What does he have left to prove?

Kobe is 31, but an old 31.

He’s played in 959 games, logged 35,000 NBA minutes and that doesn’t even take into account playoffs or the Olympics. Is it that far fetched that Kobe would be willing to share the limelight with LeBron in order to extend his career?

A whole lot of hypotheticals but let’s say LeBron decides he wants to be a Laker and Kobe approves. Under the cap the Lakers couldn’t outright sign LeBron however they could pull off a sign and trade with Cleveland.

A max contract for LeBron would start at between 15-18 million or so. What if the Lakers in a sign and trade sent Andrew Bynum (14 million in 2010) Lamar Odom (8 million in 2010) and Jordan Farmar (3 million in 2010) and 3 first round picks for LeBron and cap filler (think Anthony Parker/Jamario Moon.)

Who doesn’t win in this scenario?

LeBron gets his max money (and the extra year on his deal only the Cavs could offer him) the opportunity to play in a major media market all without sacrificing the ability to win it all (both in the near and short term.) Gasol, LeBron, Artest, Kobe? Are you serious? Is anyone else even coming out of the West for the next five years?

Really this is the only way the Cavs can save face. If they lose LeBron for nothing it kills them. Getting Bynum doesn’t equate to keeping LeBron but it helps soften the blow. Anyone notice Bynum finally seems to be getting it this year? He’s quietly averaging 20 points, 12 boards and nearly 2 blocks per game. Without Gasol out he’s stepped up big time. And although it feels like Bynum has been around as long as Kwame Brown he’s only 22.

It’s an incredibly far fetched idea at first glance. But, when you put the pieces together it actually seems like a solid fit.