Hart Surgery: Threesomes!

By: Micah Hart

A report out Tuesday says the Lakers are going to sign Gary Payton. As my friend Josh points out, if the Lakers sign Payton, they will now possess the world’s best center, best shooting guard, and a top-5 point guard. They will also have the world’s best coach, best two perimeter defenders, and the game’s most intimidating post presence. Many are saying this will mean another championship for La-La Land, provided Kobe Bryant doesn’t trade his yellow-and-gold uniform for a Charles Manson throwback jersey (get it?). However, just because the Lakers are assembling a triumvirate of first-ballot Hall-of-Famers does not automatically win them the title. I say, let history be our guide.

In 1992-93, the Dallas Mavericks were one of the worst teams in NBA history, going 11-71. They were not much better the next year, improving only two wins to 13-69. These two seasons did give them high draft choices though, and they used them well, adding Jim Jackson, Jamal Mashburn, and Jason Kidd, respectively. By 1994-95, with Mashburn and Jackson both averaging more than 24 ppg and Jason Kidd running the show, the Mavs improved drastically (by 23 wins) to 36-46.

The future looked bright in Big D. Unfortunately, this trio would not learn to share. Amazingly, by the middle of the 1996-97 season all three were traded - Kidd to Phoenix, Mashburn to Miami, and Jackson to New Jersey. They never even made the playoffs, let alone win a championship, unlike…

…The 1996-97 Houston Rockets, who had a threesome of their own. After winning a title in 1994 and repeating in ‘95 with the addition of HOFer Clyde Drexler, the Rockets slipped for a year. Before the 1996-97 season, in an attempt to reclaim their champion status, the Rockets traded for the Round Mound of Rebound, Mr. Charles Barkley. Not only did the Rockets have three great players, they now had three of the Top 50 in NBA history! A title was sure to follow, right? Wrong. The troika bickered constantly, battling injuries left and right, and lost to the Utah Jazz in the playoffs both years they were together. At the conclusion of the 1997-98 season, Drexler hung em’ up. Another potent threesome and another disappointment, but not a lesson learned, because the very next year…

…Houston traded for yet another of the NBA’s 50 Greatest, Easter Island figurehead model Scottie Pippen. You would think the Rockets would have learned their lesson! Pippen only lasted the 1998-99 season in Houston, as the Lakers bounced them from the postseason in the first round amidst another season of team disharmony. The next season Pippen was shipped out to Portland, a team that until then had very little in common with…

…The Milwaukee Bucks, who continued the unbroken, unsuccessful chain of threesomes with one of their own, beginning in the middle of the 1998-99 season. By trading for Sam Cassell, the Bucks now possessed the running, gunning trifecta of Sam Cassell, Ray Allen, and Glenn Robinson. After making the playoffs in 1999-2000 (their first full season together), these three players would combine for 62 ppg in 00-01 and get all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals. Once again though, too few shots to go around led the team to miss the playoffs in 2002, and another threesome bit the dust. Recently Cassell was shown the door, traded the day after the draft to Minnesota - much as Robinson was traded before the season to Atlanta, and Ray Allen was sent at midseason to Seattle for none other than Gary Payton…

…Who will now complete the Lakers’ Three Amigos for the 2003-04 season. There are certainly many reasons to think this team can win the championship without a challenge. But before we allow them to plan their parade route, keep these few things in mind:

Payton has never been known as a leader.

Gary Payton was never a locker-room favorite in Seattle, and his constant griping over the last few years finally led the team to get rid of him. His tremendous stats back up his reputation as one of the game’s elite players, but he has never been known as a boon to team chemistry. If things don’t start out well for him in L.A. and he is not getting his stats, the Lakers may not get much love from the Glove.

Sharing has never been the Lakers forte.

Even during their championship runs, Phil Jackson faced a constant battle between Shaq and Kobe over who was The Man and who was the sidekick. Kobe is an explosive scorer, but too often he goes on his own, eschewing the triangle offense to try to go it alone. Adding another volatile personality to the mix is only going to make it tougher to rein the team in when Kobe goes on one of his “I-must-carry-the-team-and-no-one-else” streaks during the season. The Lakers have been successful because there are only two people who have to shoot the ball. Adding a third scorer is going to create a paucity of shooting opportunities for someone, and god forbid they also add Karl Malone.

Gary Payton can’t guard Tim Duncan.

Adding Payton will make the offense more exciting, but won’t address the problem that bounced them from the playoffs this past season. The Lakers have to add another post presence, someone who can guard Tim Duncan (or at least try to) and get them double-digit rebounds every game. Karl Malone is not the answer here, and there may not be one. The Lakers would be much better served looking at someone like P.J. Brown to solve their post woes.

The new Lakers may put it all together. If Shaq is in shape, if Payton gets along, and if Kobe’s new nickname isn’t “Prisoner 73Q4-XB9″, the Lakers could challenge the ‘96 Bulls record of 72-10. But if recent history tells us anything, it’s that an NBA basketball court is awfully small, and it’s hard enough to manage two egos on it, let alone more. Don’t go penciling them into the Finals just yet.

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Micah Hart is an original contributor to the CSR, and works in sports media in Atlanta. Micah can be reached at micahbhart@yahoo.com. He reminds you to Hook 'em Horns.

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