Lakers vs. Blazers - October 28, 2008

I remember thinking to myself several years ago at the very beginning of the Lakers’ Shaq-Kobe Three-peat era to relish every moment and never take for granted the notion that my team was a serious contender for the title – not just for one year, but for the next couple of years. Well guess what? Strap on your seatbelts ‘cause here we go again.

Man! That was a fun game! Oh sure, it was a little sloppy here and there. But I think we were all a bit rusty last night as we opened the new season, weren’t we? I know even I fumbled with the remote once or twice trying to rewind for highlight plays during the game. So I can’t fault Kobe and company for looking a little out of rhythm last night. From opening tip to the final buzzer this game wasn’t even close. Even when the Blazers pulled to within 8 points, the game was never really in doubt – though Doug Collins voice went up about three octaves with every Blazer hoop during that stretch. How good is this team when Walton is your 11th guy off the bench, relegated to a few minutes of garbage time and the only ‘touches’ Chris Mihm will likely get this season are during pre-game warm-ups? This team is scary deep and extremely loaded.

No doubt the biggest mistake in the game was when Priscilla or Godzilla or whatever the hell his name is threw his shoulder into Kobe and then walked up to him and tried to stick his chest in Kobe’s grill. What the hell was this guy thinking? Why didn’t he just tell Kobe “You suck at basketball” and then go hit on Kobe’s wife afterwards? Why would anyone do anything to upset Kobe within the 48-minute timeframe of an NBA basketball game? There was a TV show in the 70s hosted by Chuck Connors called Thrill Seekers. It was about people who would do outlandish and crazy shit just to do outlandish crazy shit. After that bonehead move in last night’s game, I was fully expecting Chuck Connors to come out onto the court and begin talking about the dangers of the events as they unfolded. Of course, that would’ve been a little creepy, what with Chuck Connors being dead and all. Anyway, Godzilla you are a stupid, stupid man…

So, good stuff all around last night. Hard to believe last night’s game marked the unofficial one-year anniversary of a time when the Lakers lost on opening night to a mediocre Rockets team and the fans were still wondering whether Kobe or Andrew Bynum would be traded. Kobe was booed that night and later I would eventually go on to call him an a-hole in this very space. My how times have changed. Oh, Kobe’s still an a-hole, but at least the reigning MVP is still wearing the purple and gold and that’s just the way we like it.