There's certainly no Magic in these Lakers, and I'm not talking in any way about Orlando.
It has always been about them, Kobe and Phil, and maybe Shaq, who isn't even here -- Kobe and Phil's personal quests now for individual greatness -- and not for a single moment has it been about you.
How many times were we told that Kobe wanted this more than anyone else, his teeth gritted as if there was nothing more important in the whole world than a basketball game?
And some of you actually believe it true.
Maybe that's what it takes to win it all, obsession of the highest order, but it's their obsession and if there's no fun for those watching and little joy in the journey, why go crazy in the end as if you've been with them the whole way?
Talk about peer pressure, kids, you're about to see your parents swallowed by it.
The folks who live in San Francisco came to their feet cheering a malcontent and social misfit like Barry Bonds because he wore a San Francisco Giants uniform and was a great baseball player. I would imagine most of you considered that foolish.
Keep that in mind as Phil, Kobe & Co. pass by on Wednesday.
Now as you know, there are some cities where winning and losing changes the way people view life the next day, most of the time the fans of L.A. mocking such people for having nothing else in their lives.
But now there will be a parade here, so everyone can pay homage to a bunch of people blessed by God with extraordinary athletic ability, but in some cases, the social skills that would make them outcasts in many workplaces.
Wouldn't you like to see the look on Gasol's face if your boss yelled at him?
You want to have a parade and scream your lungs out for a job well done, then invite the young men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to walk down Figueroa Street and be feted like heroes in the Coliseum.
How many people give it their all every day in their jobs, every year until retirement, 30, 40 and 50 years, with no chance of a parade -- as determined as Kobe, as focused as Kobe, as accomplished as Phil?
Good for the Lakers, but what's the difference between a Lakers championship and one won by the Sparks?
As far as I'm concerned -- with no rooting interest in either -- nothing.
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