The genesis of everything was the Hawks game. And that video was straight money for opening with that play. When Kobe got walked under and twisted his ankle, that was the beginning of the end, not the actual Achilles itself.
From that point, Kobe was working thru it, trying to still play, while still rest, while trying to keep it loose and fresh. One of those things where he knew he couldn’t afford to sit a week or two. So he actually asked to increase his minutes, to keep it loose. And for a while, he was managing it, like he had always done.
Mike would have loved to rest him, but how could he? He has a vet player that has been known to fight thru stuff, telling him, play me more, to keep it loose. Sit him, and that ankle tightens. And on top of that, the team was built to win a championship THAT season. And there they were, the 10th seed.
He had EVERYONE ailing, Dwight wasn’t 100%, Nash was never right, Ron and Jamison were hangin on by string, Blake was gaming it, Pau and Kobe were the old dudes of the entire bunch (game/minutes wise) It’s not like he had options.
We all saw it coming in that Golden State game. He went down the first time, you’re like ****. He fights thru it, he’s Kobe. He goes down again. Damn man. Fights thru it anyway. Goes down again, COME ON MIKE, GET HIM OUT OF THERE………jumper Kobe, 3 pointer Kobe, 3 pointer Kobe, tie game, yeah, good job Mike, good job leavin him out there, good coachin.
Then he died. He carried a team with multiple hall of famers plus 2 other former franchise stars just to try and get into the playoffs, for 80 games. He did exactly what we said he would do. He died on the court. He gave everything he had, to give it the ol college try.
Mike had nothing to do with it in terms of what he could have done. Phil would have had to do the same thing, force Kobe to play big minutes. The roster was built on NAME power, not actual youth and energy. Mitch had no youth on that team to help carry them thru December to April. The biggest hurdle was Nash getting hurt in game 2, and Blake 3 games later. No PG set them so far behind the 8 ball, they HAD to dig out from a huge hole, just to make it. The old guys had to fight from day 1, in training camp, when Mike Brown was runnin them thru 4 hour practices, in September. Fairly obvious, they would have tried to land some more young guys before the year began to try and save some of the older legs. They had no contingency for Nash breaking his leg, and getting nerve damage. Or Dwight’s back being off and on. Or if Kobe died. And figured Pau would be better suited as a #4 guy, than a #2 guy. And that Ron and Jamison would be able to relax and let the main guys carry their bodies. In the end, it was Earl Clark and Jodie Meeks trying to keep us afloat as the youngest guys on the court. Ebanks, Morris, and Glock didn’t have enough to help us, I really wish they would have. Theoretically, their legs would have been nice pieces, and Ebanks especially could have helped as he had shown flashes of talent, but as we all know by now, that kid didn’t work at all on his game.
At one point, I think they were the 13th seed, and got all the way up to 7th. And that season, literally only one dude had a quality year, and that’s Kobe. Dwight, Pau, Nash were all down. Ron, Jamison, Blake weren’t much help, Meeks was much better in 2014 than he was in 2013 (God I wish we could have switched those) and Clark was like the 2nd best player on the year after Kobe, which says a ton.
To view all that, all those down years, and then say Kobe should have played LESS, they would have been giving up their fighter’s chance of just make the playoffs, and then take your chances that your elite guys would turn it on and make some sort of 2011 Mavs run.
In hindsight, maybe you lose that GS game, win the next 2 with a still alive Kobe, and finish as the 8th seed and try to take on OKC. LA matched up MUCH better with the just as old Spurs, not the young, fresh legs OKC. Everyone knew that, including the Lakers. They wanted the 7th seed. They wanted the Spurs, not the Thunder. Just cost Kobe his basketball life to get to that 7th spot is all.
. Don't remind me of Jeter 
