Loyalty In NBA.....Seriously???

The trade deadline for NBA teams has ended and majority of the teams would be happy with their efforts to build up their roster. Los Angeles Clippers added Nick Young to their roster. Mind you Chris Paul and Nick Young would be a formidable duo on the back court. On the other hand teams like New York Knicks and Portland Trail Blazers fired their coaches. Overall it was an eventful day.

I got to say that amidst all this Los Angeles Lakers pull up a blinder. They transformed themselves to a team which will now be a serious contender for NBA title. They acquired point guard Ramon Sessions, forward Christian Eyenga and Jordan Hill. True, Ramon Sessions and Jordan Hill are not that great but in Ramon Sessions they have got a talented point guard who will fit into the defense scheme of coach Mike Brown. Surely with Sessions around Kobe, he will get more scoring chances and will be shooting far more than his present stats. As far as Jordan Hill is concerned he will be a definite add up to the Lakers bench which have one of the lowest scoring percentage in the league. Christian Eyenga will first need to practice a bit to enter into the playing team. Overall with this trade, the Lakers have given themselves a chance to the title.

This is one side of the story. In acquiring Jordan Hill, Mitch Kupchak manager Los Angeles Lakers traded one of the Lakers legends, co-captain, Derek Fisher. The contribution of Derek Fisher in building Lakers is immense. He was drafted to Lakers in 1996 along with Kobe Bryant. He has won five rings with Lakers accompanying Kobe. The friendship between Kobe and Derek is for all to see. It’s not that he has not been traded earlier. He was traded to Utah Jazz but was drafted again in 2010. Kobe Bryant played an important role in acquiring back Fisher.

Derek Fisher during his 11 seasons with Lakers has given some amazing performance both on and off the field. From his famous 0.4 shot in San Antonio to his clutch performances in the Finals against Orlando and Boston, he is one of the class to have worn purple and yellow. It was widely expected that he will retire in the same dress. But trading him team management have shown that they want to start Sessions as the starter.

Derek Fisher trade could be seen as the cost cutting measure. In a team where Kobe Bryant, the highest paid player is gunning for his sixth ring, the move to save a few dollars is such that the team could have done without. It didn’t though, because this move, more than any other deadline deal, proves that the NBA is a business and that there are precious few situations where loyalty comes into play.

While Dwight Howard waived his early termination option in Orlando and said that he was “too loyal” during a press conference to announce the move, the Los Angeles Lakers were dealing their locker room leader and co-captain to save a few million dollars.

We might be on our way to learning just how much of an impact Fisher had on the Lakers locker room and on Kobe Bryant. I am looking forward for the second half of the season in which I am expecting Sessions to play up to his name.

Amidst all these I am hoping Lakers to win matches and to give Kobe his sixth!!!