Back when coach Phil Jackson was in town, he'd always try to motivate me by having me read a lot of books. Often times they would be very philosophical books that really made you think. I guess that's why they call him the Zen Master. Anyway, that worked for a while, but now I'm trying to keep my mind sharp with a new creative outlet, by writing in this diary.
Writing a diary can be a good way to vent your frustrations in a positive way. Make no mistake, there's plenty to be frustrated about in Laker Land these days. When we added two All-Stars to our lineup to form a starting unit with four future Hall of Famers, everyone expected us to dominate the West. Hell, we expected us to dominate, but it hasn't worked out that way so far.
People keep asking me if I have a problem with Dwight. No, I don't. I have a problem with losing. I'll do whatever it takes to turn things around. Sometimes that means being tough on my teammates. They may not like it, but I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to win titles. I'd like to think I know a little something about what makes a champion, considering I've got five rings (one more than Shaq!). Yet despite all that success, I'm still driven to win more. I want that sixth ring, to tie MJ, and finally put to rest that debate over the greatest player of all time.
You might have heard, last week I asked Dwight point blank if he hated playing with me. His lip trembled and his eyes teared up as he tried to find the words, before finally shaking his head no. He then ran off and pouted in the corner. Good enough for me. As long as the guy wants to be here and wants to win, we'll find a way to make it work.
Dwight says part of his struggles this year are due to his back still hurting him. So what? I play with pain all the time - wrist, fingers, head, shoulders, knees and toes. Nothing stops me. I'll take the occasional trip over to Germany to get some work done, then I'm good as new. It's amazing what a little blood spinning can do. No excuses, you play through the pain. He'll learn.
Another guy that gets a lot of criticism is Pau Gasol. Not just from me, the media is all over him. Why do they have to be so cruel to such a sensitive guy? They say he looks like a llama! That's just rude. Ok, he does sort of look like a llama. Whatever, the guy can play. He's having an off year, but that's partially because he doesn't really fit in our system. I love coach D'Antoni and his offensive system has been great for me (I don't mean to brag, but I'm scoring more than I have in 6 years at a career high 47% from the field!), but Pau has been the odd man out. The offense requires a floor spacing big, which isn't his speciality. He's been asked to do things outside of his comfort zone, which isn't fair to him.
Steve Nash is another guy who hasn't quite fit in yet. I was a little surprised that he agreed to come here, after being a part of such a heated rivalry with us back in his days in Phoenix. He was injured early in the season, which prevented us from having much time to develop chemistry together in the backcourt. Steve had a lot of success in this system back in the Seven Seconds or Less Suns era when coach D'Antoni was in Phoenix, but that success has yet to translate here. It's tough, because Steve and I both like to have the ball in our hands a lot, so that takes time to find a rhythm. Of course, I can take over whenever I want - I'm Kobe Bryant! But we have to keep a guy like Steve involved because he's so good in that pick-and-roll game. He's just not on the same page yet with the rest of the team, but he's working hard at it. I showed up for practice the other day and Steve was already there, dribbling the ball up and down the court. Unfortunately, by dribbling, I mean he was kicking it around like a soccer ball. I don't really get that. Must be a Canadian thing.
This new system hasn't been bad for everyone. Ron Artest is flourishing in it. Yeah, I know he changed his name, but I still call him Ron-Ron. He still responds to it, so I'll stick with that. Sometimes I think he even forgets he changed his name. Besides, calling a teammate Metta World Peace just sounds silly. I'd never tell him that though. Ron-Ron is one of the few guys in the league that legitimately scares the crap out of me. The guy has not only punched out opponents on the court, he's punched out fans. Don't put it past him to throw down against a teammate if they cross him the wrong way. Dude is crazy.
The season is more than half over and at 19-25, it's starting to look like we might miss the playoffs. I can't even begin to describe how disappointing that is. It'll only be the second time in my career that my team has missed the postseason. At least last time (2004-05) we had the excuse that Shaq left us (still not sure why he left...), but this time we've actually added star players and somehow got worse. That's really frustrating. I've been in the league now for 17 years, so I'm running out of time to get that sixth ring. I can't afford to have seasons go by without even getting a shot at it.
It's too soon to think about that though, since we're not out of the race yet. We recently strung together a couple of nice wins that could serve as a spark for a late season comeback. It better, or else there will be consequences. Nobody can ever doubt my commitment to winning, so it won't be me taking the fall if we miss the playoffs. That means someone else will have to go. That reminds me, I need to go have another talk with Dwight.
I should get going anyway so I can prepare for tonight's game. It's our last home game for a while, before a very road heavy slate begins next month. That includes a trip to Denver - a place I'm always reluctant to go back to. Not just because the thin air makes it hard to breath up there either. Just too many bad memories from Colorado.
But not nearly as many bad memories as this season will leave me with.
Mamba out.
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