Countdown to Self Destruct in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

I’ve seen it before. No time left, Lakers trailing by 2. Kobe dribbles baseline into a triple team. The ball bounces off his foot and out of bounds. The Lakers lose. This is what happens when Kobe has to do it alone. Or when he thinks he has to do it alone. Or when he feels his MVP status slipping away. It is true; Kobe has been a team player as of late. But the fact that it is worthy of comment demonstrates how futile those efforts have been in the past. The Gasol trade was good for the Lakers. Kobe had someone he could trust. It’s not that his other teammates were not worthy of trust. Just that Kobe didn’t seem to trust them. With Gasol out, it is time for that monumental lifting of his team onto Kobe’s broad shoulders. He must carry them until Pau returns. Or must he? Growing up, Kobe lived a good chunk of his youth in Italy. Kobe's father, Joe “Jelly Bean” Bryant played professional ball in the Italian league. This was before the Internet, before DirecTv, ... [link]