What now Lakers?

It is clear that the Los Angeles Lakers season is pretty much done with. With being placed in the 7th seed for the palyoffs, the team lost to the Spurs with a finish 4-game sweep routing Lakers 103-82. For four straight games, the San Antonio Spurs showed off all the teamwork and tenacity that the Los Angeles Lakers lacked all season long. And when the Lakers' tumultuous season finally collapsed Sunday night, the smooth Spurs rolled right past them to the second round.

 
So what happens now? With the season over and Kobe injured, what will be of the Lakers?

"What has defined Kobe is his relentless work ethic and will to win, his drive to push himself to be the best, to push through injuries, to show up to play every night, to care about every ****ing game.

Kobe can be criticized for a number of things – but never his drive and willingness to lay it all on the line. Criticize MDA, or Li’l Buss, or D12, or the basketball gods, whatever.

This injury was simply the result of Kobe being Kobe, fighting for a fucking useless eighth seed on a dysfunctional team that had no chance of making noise in the playoffs. The minute Kobe sits down on the bench and concedes to time, odds, injuries, etc. while there is still a chance of any playoff spot, is the minute Kobe stops being Kobe.

Those last two free throws are exactly what separate Kobe from everyone else. It’s who he is. In the basketball world there is no better cause than fighting for a playoff spot, fighting to stay alive to play one more game. Kobe did that. And it is exactly why he is and has been so special. He was a martyr for the only thing that matters in basketball – winning the next game to keep the hope (however faint) of a championship alive."

-VoR

People can agree that Kobe will come back even stronger than he was before. It certainly isn't Lakers nation without the Balck Mamba. Howvever, some say that this is the end for Kobe. With a torn achilles, practically one of the worst injures any athlete can have, Kobe can be at the end of his career. Then again, when has Kobe not been injured? He seems to have the intensity of never giving up. Always reaching for the goal and proving others wrong. So from my perspective, I believe that he will return even better than he was before. A laker game can nott the same if Kobe Bryant isn't on the court.