LA Lakers Press Conference

[ballsohard]

---KG and Jason Kidd are in the back dressed up in suits ready for the press conference waiting on GM Balls O'Hard. ---

Jason Kidd: Wow, what a magical season last year I guess this kind of signifies the end and the start of the new journey.

Kevin Garnett: Man as soon as i put down that trophy I started working again. The feeling of winning a championship is like no other. But it's going to be harder this year. We're not longer the young team that needs to grow up. We instantly became a vet team with a massive target on our back.

Jason Kidd:You're right, last season we came out guns blazing with a me against the world attitude. We worked as hard as you can work and we can't get comfortable.

Kevin Garnett: Because someone out there is working all day to take what we have. They're sadly, sadly mistaken if they thought they could outwork me.



---GM Balls O'Hard walks up to the two players.---

Balls O'Hard: Is everything alright? Ready to go?

Kevin Garnett:Let's go.


---The 3 men walk through the hallway to the table and sit down.

Balls O'Hard: Good afternoon and thank you for your time today. Wow, what a season we had last year. It was truly a dream come true. We renewed our rivalry with our division opponents Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings. We had a very legitimate shot to win our first division banner but ultimately we lost by a game to the Kings who had one of the most dominant runs during the regular season in memory reeling off something like 30 of 31 games. I was very proud of the team for keeping pace with such a well formed squad as the Kings and that really showed me come playoff time we had a serious chance to make some noise.

Balls O'Hard: When looking at our path, very few believed in us, and I'd be lying if we loved the path to get to the ultimate destination. We had to go through Utah, who were still learning each other but had as much talent as anyone in the league. The Dallas Mavericks, who took us with the brink with the best player in the game, Penny. The Kings who have been our nemesis since day 1 in the league and had maybe one of the more complete team builds i'd ever seen. Then in the championship we had the Bucks, who played like they were shot out of a cannon since their acquisition.

Balls O'Hard: The craziest series we had was against the Dallas Mavericks down 3-1 and all of our guys show the type of character we knew they had and hunkered down and snatched the victory from the Mavs hands 3 times in a row. At the end of the day, it came down to us making adjustment and them not making adjustments.

Balls O'Hard:During the offseason we saw a lot of change in the league and the Western conference. We saw the Mavs trade the best player in the league. Saw the Wolves move Grant Hill in place of some depth and Jim Jackson. The Kings let go of Augmon but retained Popeye going all in on Tracy McGrady's talent, and we think it'll be a good bet. The Trailbazers continue to be the patient snake slithering below the surface for the right time to strike. The Jazz didn't do too much but still have impressive talent on that roster. The Warriors are always a threat with Kemp on the roster. And the Grizzlies are growing up, really fast.

Balls O'Hard:The one thing you saw was us standing relatively pat. We had some discussions this offseason about some small moves but ultimately we felt it'd be best to trot the roster we have right now out on the court because we feel they had very strong chemistry together. This roster plays so well together because everyone has such a definable role, but with those roles comes a lot of versatility which is what, I think, makes this roster so dangerous. With that, i'll leave it open to the media. You can ask questions to myself, KG or J Kidd.

[NOLa.]

What % do you give your teams in terms of repeating last seasons results?

[Soundwave]

Clark Kent, Daily Planet:
Any plans on upgrading the half-time shows after acts such as the one below were so well received by the L.A. fan base? Is it even possible?

phpBB [video]

[LoCo89]

Jean Baptiste Étienne, of La Révolution de Vancouver (Memphis Branch) newspaper:

There's been rumors of potential playoff seeding changes spearheaded by yourself and other GMs of the Pacific. Care to comment?

[TrayWithAnA]

With the championship obviously being the biggest prize and the conference title coming in second, do you ever feel real disappointment by not winning the division crown? From experience here in Detroit, we know the division title holds little value in comparison, but do you see yourself really pushing towards that marathon prize in the future knowing that you are as good a shot as any in the NBA championship picture? Do you see it as a new twist on an already conquered mountain?

[ballsohard]

What % do you give your teams in terms of repeating last seasons results?

Each season is unique so it's important for us to focus on this journey as a unique experience and really challenge ourselves each and every game, not by replication but by adapting to our new challenges. So 0% chance that we repeat what happened last year, but we do feel we have a good opportunity to win the championship again this year.

[ballsohard]

Clark Kent, Daily Planet:
Any plans on upgrading the half-time shows after acts such as the one below were so well received by the L.A. fan base? Is it even possible?

phpBB [video]

We typically do our best bookings in the playoffs when a little more talent is left to get. Last year we had the Finley/Brand and Billups group booked, but they couldn't make it due to an accident a couple of weeks before.

[ballsohard]

Jean Baptiste Étienne, of La Révolution de Vancouver (Memphis Branch) newspaper:

There's been rumors of potential playoff seeding changes spearheaded by yourself and other GMs of the Pacific. Care to comment?

It's something we brought up at the competition committee meetings. While we think winning a division should have some meaning, there are rare cases where we think a second place team should hold at least home court in the playoffs if they have the better record. We play virtually the exact same schedule, so with that in mind, we think it makes a lot of sense to reward teams with better records the higher seeds. It's an apples to apples debate and if you have more apples at the end of the year you should place higher... How about them apples?

[ballsohard]

With the championship obviously being the biggest prize and the conference title coming in second, do you ever feel real disappointment by not winning the division crown? From experience here in Detroit, we know the division title holds little value in comparison, but do you see yourself really pushing towards that marathon prize in the future knowing that you are as good a shot as any in the NBA championship picture? Do you see it as a new twist on an already conquered mountain?

I can't lie, it'd be nice to have the home court advantage all the way through, but even if we won a division banner, we have too much pride in our organization to hang it. Our only goal every year is to win the championship so we think hanging division banners would be kind of against our "mission".

[coltsguy510]

What role do you see Larry Hughes playing this season compared to last?

[LoCo89]

Jean Baptiste Étienne, of La Révolution de Vancouver (Memphis Branch) newspaper:

There's been rumors of potential playoff seeding changes spearheaded by yourself and other GMs of the Pacific. Care to comment?

It's something we brought up at the competition committee meetings. While we think winning a division should have some meaning, there are rare cases where we think a second place team should hold at least home court in the playoffs if they have the better record. We play virtually the exact same schedule, so with that in mind, we think it makes a lot of sense to reward teams with better records the higher seeds. It's an apples to apples debate and if you have more apples at the end of the year you should place higher... How about them apples?

Jean Baptiste Étienne, of La Révolution de Vancouver (Memphis Branch) newspaper:

Oh I'm fine with that answer, I'm just here because a complaint was filed that nobody showed up to an Easter Sunday presser

[Xist2Inspire]

Random Reporter: This one's for Jason. Jason, how have the past two seasons been for you? From leading Orlando to an incredible playoff run and Eastern Conference title, to being traded to LA, to a second consecutive Finals appearance - this time a victorious effort - and receiving Finals MVP honors. What has all this meant to you at this point in your career?

[ballsohard]

What role do you see Larry Hughes playing this season compared to last?

Balls O'Hard: Good question. When Larry was drafted here we saw him as a guy who could eventually become a third option after some developmental years. We think he's growing into that. After starting his entire rookie year, last year we felt we needed a spark off the bench and may start off again with that this year. We're going to give him a little more time out on the court and possibly let him see if he can be an option off the bench. As everyone knows, the Lakers org values having a strong 6th man.

[ballsohard]

Random Reporter: This one's for Jason. Jason, how have the past two seasons been for you? From leading Orlando to an incredible playoff run and Eastern Conference title, to being traded to LA, to a second consecutive Finals appearance - this time a victorious effort - and receiving Finals MVP honors. What has all this meant to you at this point in your career?

Jason Kidd: it's been a really long two years. I can't lie to you, i went through mixed emotions being traded after leading a team to the NBA finals. Orlando will always have a special place in my heart because they drafted me and gave me the keys to the franchise. It was a magical run. As soon as I got to L.A., KG called me up and was ready to get to work. KG was tired of never making the playoffs and wanted to know what he could do to get to the promised land. As you can see we worked really hard and won. The crazy thing about winning Finals MVP was that I wasn't selected to be an All Star. I wasn't select to be on an all NBA team, but here comes this guy who everyone is kind of not paying attention to and he sneaks in and takes that away. It meant a lot to me after feeling disrespected most the year to be honest.

[IamQuailman]

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