To Tank or Not To Tank....That was the Question.

The Lakers 2014-2015 season has come to an end, and not a moment too soon. Being the tireless, devoted fan that I am, I did everything I could think of to inspire the Lakers to victory. Tried as I may, nothing I attempted seemed bring them much luck. Nonetheless, I gave it my best shot. Here is one way I tried to save the season and revive the team:

For every Lakers game that I attended, I wore a different jersey. I was attempting to demonstrate my team spirit to the masses. Below are a few examples:

I brought out the old school Kobe "8" jersey for my first game of the season. I even posed with his likeness before the game. It may have inspired him to score 39 points, but it wasn’t enough to inspire the rest of the team to play defense as the Lakers lost to the Suns 112-106.

Next I brought out the Big-Shot Rob home white jersey to inspire the team to knock down their three pointers. A lot of good that did.  I might as well have been out there hoisting three’s. It was brick city. But despite their performance from beyond the arc, this would be the one game that I attended (out of nine) that they actually won! The Lakers beat the lowly Kings 98-95.

Inspired by my previous visit to the Staples Center, I continued with my ingenious jersey plan.  By bringing out the Captain’s jersey, I was hoping the Lakers would go retro and shoot some sky hooks.  In the end, the Lakers got hooked by one of Cap’s old archrivals, the Portland Trailblazers 106-94.

A few days later, I kept it 80’s old school by wearing the jersey of the player I was nicknamed after in high school, Kurt Rambis, aka Superman. But on this night there would be no Super heroics from the team. The Lakers lost to the Miami Heat 78-75.

Taking it way back, I brought out a Mr. Clutch Jerry West 1960's-era jersey out of the closet.  Meh. West failed to sway the young Lakers as their season continued to go south.  The Lakers dropped yet another one, this time to the Thunder 108-101.

                                           

At a season-ticket holder event, I dropped in to take a photograph with “Never-saw-a-shot-he-didn’t-like” Swaggy P, and “Never-saw-a-party-he-could-pass-up” Jordan Hill. I was wearing my Horry jersey again hoping that would inspire Swaggy's recently lost jumper.                                     

I was also photographed with two Lakers from the Showtime era in “Big Game” James Worthy, and “Coop-a-Loop” Michael Cooper. Have the young-ins watched any tape of these two legends?

In a last desperate effort to save their dignity and pride, I brought out my Shaq jersey to inspire the troops to dominate and crush that night’s opponent the New Orleans Pelicans. Alas, the Lakers submitted and wilted to the birds from the Big Easy and lost by 21 points.

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Looking back, I’ve had to time to evaluate, scrutinize, and analyze the Lakers efforts this season. There were rampant rumors, media-fueled speculations, and no shortage of conspiracy theories about their lopsided record. Were the Lakers really tanking in order to secure a high draft position?  

             

I couldn’t believe. I wouldn’t believe it. Not our Lakers. As fans, we’ve endured some painful seasons in the past, but they were merely bumps in the road while the organization rebuilt the team.

Surely the Lakers wouldn’t purposely tank the season just to acquire a potentially good player in the NBA draft?

I had to pause and think about my own past. In my earliest years of playing hoops, I was never taught how to purposely lose. What kind of message would that send? Why teach a young kid how to fail?  If I had been taught to let the other team win, or to give up while being behind in a game, I would have never achieved my average of 2.5 points per game in my senior year of high school (sarcasm here)! 

I’ve played, coached and even refereed my beloved sport of hoops. I’ve never known anyone who taught a player how to lose, or to purposely throw in the towel. It’s just not something you teach a player. The only part of losing I was ever taught was how to lose gracefully…which happened quite often as a senior because we lost more games than I care to remember.

So why would the Lakers tank? Why should the Lakers tank? This is LA, and we don’t tank. I won't apologize for being smug about this. We play to win all the time, every time. Their record of 21-61 (a franchise worst) was just a fluke, right Kobe?

You can’t script a season like this: Nash, Kobe, Swaggy P, and Julius Randle, were all expected to be major contributors, yet each of them succumbed to an injury in one form or another. It was unreal!

Then, late in the season, there was this gem from Coach Scott. His frustrations had reached their boiling point:

That sounds like an old-school vet trying desperately to find some players with a heartbeat.  I don't believe a coach who was tanking would utter something like this. The Showtime-era teams of the 80's that he played on would never have agreed to lose games purposely. Although Magic did recently say that is what this team must do, I don't believe he would have done it back in the day.

I refuse to accept the theory that they tanked the season. They just didn’t have the players, healthy or otherwise, to compete night after night. This group did the best they could (or so I made myself believe). Most of them won’t return as Lakers next season. Likely some of them may never suit up in a NBA uniform again. But I wish them all the luck in the world. Thanks for trying.

It’s time to move on. It’s time to forget this injury-plagued, loss-filled fracas. It’s in the past now. We made it! You, me, and a whole lot of other die-hard fans got through it. We survived the lows, and now were ready for a new beginning.

It been tough, but there is optimism for what’s on the horizon.

We’ll have a nice pick in the upcoming NBA draft. We’ve got some youth potential in Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle. 

Plus there will be plenty of big-named free agents to pursue. And we’ll have the cap space to pursue them thanks to the retirement of social security-bound Steve Nash.

Let’s not forget, Kobe will be back for his swan song. Though hopefully not in a suit.

                                                             
The Lakers franchise is too popular to stay down for long. Witness the number of Lakers jerseys in the crowds while they are on the road. Even after two forgettable seasons, and with most of the Lakers stars on the injured reserve list, fans across the country still donned the purple and gold when the Lake Show came to their town.

The Lakers are still the big draw they've always been. And with a little luck, and some new faces, next season we'll be back in the mix.

Some last thoughts on what I'd like to see next season: I want a return to the salad days of yore....when purple and gold confetti fell from the rafters after every winning home game; when free tacos vouchers were handed out like candy on the way out of the arena; when the never-tiring tune of "I Love LA" by Randy Newman was played after another W. 

And last but not least, I'd like to see the familiar site of the Lakers lifting the championship trophy towards the heavens in the month of June.

Until then, this blogger will continue to work on his own game with the faint hope that his favorite team will pick him up off the waiver wire.

I will continue to blog during the off-season. Good things are coming! Hang in there! Be patient! Have faith! Or, do whatever it is you do when the Lakers aren’t playing. 

Until my next post, this Lakers fan will keep the candle burning for us all. 

Thanks for reading!