Lakers Remain "Kobe's Team?"

Dwight must truly mature under Kobe's tutelage for this super team to succeed.

ESPN.com- EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- As a 34-year-old veteran about to embark on his 17th NBA season, Kobe Bryant knows that he's much closer to the end of his career than he is to the beginning.

That doesn't mean, however, that he's going to quietly fade into the background, even on a team that he described as "on its face, the best talent I've been around."

The Lakers might have added a three-time Defensive Player of the Year in Dwight Howard and a two-time MVP in Steve Nash since last season, but the No. 1 guy is still going to be No. 24 if he has anything to say about it.

 "I got a question earlier about whose team this is," Bryant told reporters at the Lakers media day Monday. "I don't want to get into the, 'Well, we share ...' No, it's my team. But I want to make sure that Dwight, when I retire, this is going to be his. I want to teach him everything I possibly know so that when I step away this organization can ride on as if I never left."

Howard, a former teammate of Bryant's at the 2008 Olympics, with his happy-go-lucky personality and fun-loving ways, said he is at the point of his career that he is looking forward to falling in line behind the no-nonsense Bryant.

"I'm willing to go through that process, learn from one of the greatest to ever play the game and I think it will be great," Howard said. "I think learning from a guy like Kobe, I know he's going to be tough on me but I expect that and I want him to do that. So, I'll take all the heat that he's going to give me because I know at the end of the day that's going to make me a better player and a better person and it's going to make this team better."

Here we go. The shenanigans have begun already. Right? Not so fast...

A lot of Kobe-haters will look at this and say, "Classic selfish Kobe." How could they not, it's very rare that a guy says a team is "his" even if it's so painstakingly obvious (Lebron's Heat, Melo's Knicks, Rose's Bulls).

But I think Kobe means well by this; he wants the world to know that he's the leader of this team. When they play like crap, it's his fault they did so. When they're running teams out of the building, he's the conductor. He'll be the driving presence both on and off the court, for better or for worse. Kobe's had the all the pressure on him since the day Shaq left, and it's probably not going to change until he retires or if there is a noticeable change in his play. At 34, he may have lost a step, but he has adjusted his game appropriately, staying below the rim and taking far more jumpers. Though the ESPN NBA Rank may have had Dwight at #3 in the league and Kobe at #6, I still think Kobe possess the maturity and basketball IQ that allows him to still be the best player on the team even at his advanced age.

Another factor is Dwight actually falling in line with Kobe, Nash and Gasol (maybe even Ron Artest). Yes, in that order. He is the youngest and least mature (by a mile) and will need to truly learn from them if he wants to prosper in Los Angeles. Just because he plays for a super team all of the sudden, doesn't mean we can forget the hell he put the Magic, the NBA and ESPN through in the last year or so. He's still a kid and a seriously indecisive one at that. While he might say he's going to let the other guys lead, I'll have to see it before I actually believe it. Taking the Laker reigns, like so many have done before him, is not an easy task and it doesn't magically happen. But if the transition does occur rather smoothly (under Kobe's tutelage), then watch out Heat fans, L.A. could be racking in the hardware over the next five years or so.

And while this is Kobe's team and Dwight has a lot of conceptual grasping to do, one of the most important aspects of this team will be Steve Nash's role. Kobe can continue to be the face of the team, and probably should be (for the good of the whole organization) but Nash needs to be the floor general. Simply put, he needs to run the Lake Show. The offense must go through him in order for it to succeed. Dwight's post game is still somehow brutally raw and we all know what happens when the ball gets stuck to Kobe's hands. So those two must forgo their offensive egos and let Nash control the flow or this whole "Kobe's team" thing could go from minor statement to full-blown fiasco.

But how could we forget this?