Ah, June in Los Angeles!

Remember the old days, when the start of June meant watching the Los Angeles Lakers, wrapping up their season?  Their season used to end sometime between the French Open and Wimbledon.  Instead, the past few years have ended around Cinco de Mayo, if not before.

So I don't feel a lot of sympathy for Kobe Bryant when I read the paper nowadays and see him complaining about the lack of talent that surrounds him.  Because I also remember that season when he was "supported" by three other future Hall of Famers, and they still couldn't get it done.  When that team imploded, I could only think of two things:  1)  Poor Karl Malone is never going to win a championship; 2) No one with the talent and drive to help the Lakers win another championship is ever going to be willing to play for the team as long as Kobe Bryant is on the roster.

That's what makes it so funny:  Now, even Kobe isn't willing to play on "his" team.  He wants so bad to be Michael Jordan.  Well, Jordan eventually figured out (after the humbling Double-A baseball experiment) that he was not all-powerful.  That, along with Scotty Pippen figuring out it really is tough to carry a team, and the two of them were able to pair up for a second "three-peat."

And *that* makes me think that maybe Bryant and O'Neal may have finally figured out, three years too late, that they had it pretty good when they were on the same team.  And they'd probably be willing to swallow their pride (and their pocketbooks?) and play on the same team again.  If the chance ever came up.  Which it won't.

Ah, June in Los Angeles!

I thought maybe Kobe had finally learned his lesson about wanting to be Michael Jordan, but I was wrong. His ego knows no bounds.