The art of artfully helping a legend close out a career with dignity ends up, most times, looking more like scribble.
It’s messy.
It’s unscripted.
It falls prey to the bullheadedness of the star, and to a high or low level of thoughtfulness of the organization.
The toughest day of basketball I’ve watched this season was the Nuggets’ trip to Los Angeles to face the Lakers. That night, Kobe Bryant, a living legend, looked like a mere mortal. Air balls. No late game takeover. No explosion to the rim.
Mortal.
That was the fourth game of the season. Bryant hasn’t looked any better since.
On Friday, Lakers coach Byron Scott was placed in the unenviable position of defending a star whose star is fading. Or has faded. Bryant is suffering through the worst season of his career. His shooting percentages are lower than low. The Lakers are losing games hand over fist.
Because of all of this, what began as a murmur is growing into a chorus. If he’s playing terribly, even if his name is Kobe Bryant, shouldn’t his minutes be reduced? Shouldn’t someone play in his place?
Scott’s response was quick and unequivocal.
No.
That was the right answer.
The Lakers are going nowhere but back to the lottery at the conclusion of this season, and that is their advantage in navigating these waters. If Bryant wants to go out in a blaze of inglorious jump-shooting, well, five titles, two Finals MVPs and one league MVP say he has more than earned the right to do so.
And he’s doing it without hurting anything. Not much anyway. There is a matter of developing a great young talent in guard D’Angelo Russell, the second pick in this year’s NBA draft. But Russell’s struggles and general lack of confidence and aggressiveness are other issues. And, anyway, it was probably never destined to go smoothly with one of the more overbearing athletes of the past 20 years hovering over him and taking the most shots on the team.
The similarities to the Broncos’ plight with Peyton Manning are striking. And the Broncos have been masterful at doing what they can to keep Manning’s legacy and dignity intact by keeping his struggles this year explained away by injury. It’s a cloudier situation because the Broncos have a team that has legitimate title aspirations. Player performance matters in Denver, while it can be summarily dismissed in Los Angeles, maybe even turned into a positive if the end result is getting the No. 1 draft pick, and LSU star freshman Ben Simmons pulls on a Lakers jersey next season.
Rest assured, no one is hurting more over this than Bryant. For 20 seasons, he has prided himself on excellence. He has laser-focused his way through workouts, through off-court troubles that would derail most other players’ performance and through anything else that stood in his way.
He has been great. And he’ll not suffer through another one of these seasons. He’ll retire before that happens.
Then, the Lakers can move on.
Now? Now everyone will have to endure the 1-for-14 nights. There have been two already. As with Manning, only Kobe can stop the suffering by removing himself from the equation. But superstars don’t get to be superstars by suppressing their egos.
It doesn’t make it easier to watch. In fact, it makes it more difficult, seeing a player who has been truly great succumb to Father Time.
But letting Bryant play it out is the right thing to do.
Christopher Dempsey: cdempsey@denverpost.com or @dempseypost
Spotlight on …
Kevin Love, F, Cavaliers
When: While Stephen Curry mania continues to spread throughout the NBA, other players who have gotten out to hot starts have flown under the radar nationally. Cleveland’s Kevin Love is one of those players. But he doesn’t slip past our radar. He is The Denver Post’s NBA player of the week.
What’s up: Love averaged 24.5 points, 12.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in four games last week. He shot 57.6 percent from the field, including 55.6 percent on 3-point line attempts. Most important, the Cavs won three of the four games. They have started the season strong despite LeBron James’ complaints about too much Cavs complacency.
Background: You’re familiar with this tale: Team signs talented player. Talented player doesn’t have chemistry with existing star player. Talented player isn’t accustomed to the best of his talents. Talented player gets hurt and watches the remainder of the season. That about sums up Love’s first year with the Cavs (last season). Things are different now. He’s been a force inside and out, similar to what he was for so many successful individual seasons as part of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Dempsey’s take: The Cavaliers clearly learned lessons from last season’s misuse of Love. Now they’re allowing him to be him, to work on the block, to crash the boards — and to step outside and knock down 3-point shots. Love is a big reason the Cavaliers sprinted to a 12-4 start. If the Cavs do what most think they will do — advance to the NBA Finals — Love’s play will be a huge reason.
