Kobe Bryant. (Getty Images)
Brian Shaw shook his head at the mere thought.
Last week, as Lakers star and sure-fire Hall of Famer, Kobe Bryant, sat some games out to rest, an unusual narrative started to gain steam: Were these Lakers better without him? Lakers players were asked. Lakers coach Byron Scott was asked. It was debated on national television.
It was a bit of a slap-in-the-face to one of the NBA’s greatest players, but with the Lakers playing energized and fluid while he sat, the theory was being advanced just the same.
On Monday, Shaw, who played alongside and coached Bryant, got his chance to weigh in. He wasted no time in calling it “ridiculous.”
“I say it’s ridiculous,” Shaw said. “When you have a player that’s as good as he is, you’re gonna always be better with that player on the team.
“Now, you may go through stretches where you play better when he’s not in there because you get a different kind of energy and you play a different style. But having him out there, you always have that player that can bail you out of certain situations. It’s not a fluke that he just recently passed Michael Jordan as the third all-time leading scorer. You can’t discount that.
“The Toronto Raptors don’t have DeMar DeRozan. They’ve won some games without him, but they’re not a better team without him. So, I think it’s nonsense when people say that.”
Follow Chris Dempsey on Twitter @dempseypost or email him at cdempsey@denverpost.com
