http://www.7days.ae/en/2008/05/11/reformed-laker-bryant-is-right-man-to-lead-team-usa-in-beijing.html
Reformed Laker Bryant is right man to lead Team USA in Beijing
Last Updated : Sunday 11 May, 2008
Carmelo Anthony will be a lucky man if he is a Team USA captain at the
Olympics. His play on the court this season with the Denver Nuggets was
good enough, but his actions off it have left people wondering if he is
the man to lead the Americans in China.
On April 14, with the Denver Nuggets getting ready for the NBA
play-offs, Anthony was cited for driving under the influence of
alcohol. Three weeks later, after the Los Angeles Lakers swept Anthony
and the Nuggets in the first round of the Western Conference play-offs,
Anthony got a speeding ticket for driving 60 in a 45mph zone. Anthony,
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade served as the three captains of the USA
team in Japan at the 2006 FIBA World Champion****p. Wade is injured and
could miss the Beijing Games, while Anthony is courting problems.
James is playing well and is a certainty to be a captain in China.
Another good one might be Kobe Bryant. He was supposed to be a part of
the squad in Athens four years ago but his personal problems - Bryant
was accused of ***ual assault - prevented him from travelling to
Greece. A judge later dismissed those charges when the alleged victim
chose not to testify. That was not the end of Bryant's problems. On
court with the Lakers, he wanted to be ‘the man' and feuded with
Shaquille O'Neal, leading to Shaq's trade to the Miami Heat. Bryant's
attitude also contributed to Phil Jackson's resignation after the
2003-04 campaign and brought criticism by the coach in his book - The
Last Season. It boiled down to this: Kobe Bryant was an amazing talent,
but he had an ego as big as the state of California. Now he's a
different player, which was evident when he was voted as the NBA's Most
Valuable Player for the first time in his 11-year career, last week,
after leading the Lakers to the best record in the incredibly
competitive Western Conference. Jackson, who returned to the Lakers
after a one-year break, said Bryant changed before this season. "Kobe,
in our initial meeting in Hawaii when we started training camp, got up
and said, ‘I'm Kobe Bryant, co-captain of the team', " Jackson
remembered. "‘It's all about winning in this game and I'm here to win
a champion****p, ' and then he sat down. He knew to do that, he had to
have the help of his team-mates and he started to get them more
involved." Bryant's teammates did see him change. "He understood that
we had to get better, " Lamar Odom said. "When he did that, when Kobe
starts trusting you, that makes you play even better because when
someone that good trusts you and drives you, you can't help but to get
better." Bryant once scored 81 points in a game against the Toronto
Raptors in 2006. But that was one game, and the Lakers did not go on
to win the title that year. When Bryant made his speech in training
camp, it made his team-mates and coach sit up and take notice. Maybe
the Americans, who have failed to win gold or silver at the last two
FIBA World Champion****ps and the 2004 Olympics, should take a serious
look at making Bryant a captain.
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