LA Lakers Woes.

It's a shame for all Lakers fans not only to witness the Lakers become the second best team in their home town, but largely irrelevant in the current Free Agency scramble.  Sportswriters have criticized Kobe Bryant for his huge ego and lack of willingness to shed some of his stardom and share the light with others.  I categorically disagree.  I don't mean to say that Kobe Bryant's ego isn't bigger than the LA Metropolitan area -- it is indeed.  The problem isn't something that Kobe could have solved by changing his attitude alone.  The problem began several years ago when Kobe signed a $134 Million dollar contract to remain a Laker for the remainder of his career and in doing so pretty much assured the Lakers would fall to obscurity with a contract that would prevent them from reloading in the waining years of his contract.  Even though the Lakers are not afraid to venture into NBA luxury tax territory to spend money on the talent that they need to compete, they must do so carefully or risk years of rebuilding.  True that hindsight is 20/20, but I envisioned this scenario playing out when Kobe's contract was first announced.  That said, I never could have predicted that Kobe would be unable to play hoops for fully 2 seasons with his various season ending injuries, but certainly such risks and the necessary mitigations need to be factored into contractual decisions.  In this respect, Kobe's ego clearly did doom the Lakers.