So Kobe Bryant has finally found a wingman, somebody to stand beside him and blast away at the Lakers, blowing up bridges, burning down fences, two soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder in the fight for justice and truth.
Good for Bryant, but bad for the Lakers.
Because his wingman is, um, ah, er, their coach.
Charged with healing this summer's deep wounds, Phil Jackson will apparently show up bearing salt.
Instead of beating down the rebellious Bryant, he is apparently joining him.
Two outlaws working together to steal the last remaining bits of Lakers sanity.
Crybaby Cassidy and the Zendance Kid.
Jackson made his views clear this week in a series of interviews that, in subtler tones, were just as indelibly damaging as Bryant's tagging spree of several months ago.
Like Bryant, Jackson said that a member of the Buss family misled him.
"We were promised by Jim Buss we'd have big changes," he told Petros Papadakis and Matt Smith on their KLAC radio show. "We've yet to see that. We're still looking for that."
Like Bryant, Jackson intimated that Andrew Bynum might be more valuable as trade bait.
"There's incredible pressure for that kid to step up and produce this year," he told the radio hosts, later adding, "He hasn't had the kind of success that generates the kind of press he's had."
Finally, like Bryant, Jackson talked about the need for the Lakers to repair the relationship torn apart by Bryant.
"I think actions are going to have to speak louder than words. . . ." he told The Times' Mark Heisler. "It's going to take some mending and other people in this organization have to be part of it, too."
If you didn't know better, you would think that Jackson and Bryant shared not only a Staples Center bench, but a timeline for fleeing that bench.
Actually, they do.
Jackson is in the final year of his contract, and has said he will not agree to an extension offer until, among other things, he is confident that the Lakers can contend.
Bryant, if he shows up and plays this season, would undoubtedly be traded afterward rather than be allowed to opt out of his contract before next season.
In other words, they're both short timers who have lost their patience, which is no excuse for also losing their manners.
While we have come to expect this stuff from Bryant, Jackson should know better.
