| Jamison spent a single year as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, scoring well off the bench for a team that stunned the NBA with its poor regular season and embarrassing playoff exit |
Although the Los Angeles Lakers headed into the 2012-13 NBA season as widespread favorites to win the Western Conference and face off with the Miami Heat, and maybe beat them, in the Finals, they were lucky just to get into postseason play. L.A. was eliminated in a quick, four-game sweep at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs, who went on to win the West, in order to cap off their odd and highly-disappointing campaign.
One first-hand witness to that travesty of a year-long failure was Antawn Jamison, a 16-year veteran who spent the 2012-13 season with the Lakers after signing a one-year-deal the previous offseason to provide some depth. Now, he has switched locker rooms but stayed in Los Angeles, and the Staples Center, as he is a member of the Clippers now.
Jamison, who has played with big-egoed stars like LeBron James, Gilbert Arenas, Kobe Bryant and others throughout his career, chimed in on the latter, joining the constant basketball debate about how much longer Kobe will keep up his incredible play on the side of Bryant, saying that his former teammate can win another title if he wants one.
From ESPNLA.com's Ramona Shelburne: "I would never count Kobe Bryant out of anything…I've played with a lot [of special players] but never played with an individual player who had the type of mindset, the drive he has. If [Bryant] says he's going to win a sixth ring…he's going to do everything possible to get that ring."
Those are really impressive words regarding Kobe from someone who he played with for just a season and is now a fierce divisional and city rival with. The stories about Kobe's eminent fall from grace as one of the NBA's elite are repeated all the time nowadays, with minimal if no evidence of a significant reduction in production present at all.
Trust Jamison, an experienced player evaluator who has seen everything in his tenure in the league, Kobe is not going away anytime soon.
