Win Like A Champion

Watching the Lakers play the Mavericks tonight in game four of the playoffs, it's clear that the Lakers are not the champions they claim to be. Part of being a champion is playing like a champion. Up until the moment another team wins the Championship, if you won the championship last year, you're still the champions. The Lakers are the reigning champions right now, despite being eliminated tonight.

Getting back to point, even though you have the title of champions, you need to play like one. There's a difference between playing tough such as the "Bad Boys" of the Detroit Pistons did with players like Bill Lambier and Dennis Rodman, but cheap shots don't mean you're playing tough.

What Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom did tonight, was flat out embarrassing. Especially Bynum's elbow into the chest of a defenseless JJ Barea. Barea was up in the air attempting a lay up, when a frustrated Bynum decided to stop him with an elbow, nearly ending Barea's season when Barea hit the floor hard.

What's worse is that Bynum has no remorse. In a post game interview he said, "No, I'm not disappointed in myself. It is what it is."

Even worse, is the attitude of Bynum walking off the court after being ejected. He ripped off his jersey and strutted off like a street thug. I'm not a Kobe Bryant fan at all and I don't care for some of the temper tantrums Kobe has thrown in the past, but Kobe would have never have done what Bynum did. If Kobe were to be kicked out of a game, he would just walk quietly off the court, the way a champion should.

Yes, the Lakers were defeated tonight. Yes, they will not be this year's champions, but play like one, win or lose. If you lose, don't play like little kids who are sore losers. You're still the champion for about another month. What Bynum and Odom did, were an embarrassment not only to the Lakers and the Buss family, but to all people who are Lakers fans. Lakers fans deserve more from their players. Even Magic Johnson, after the game berated his beloved organization.

You know who played like champions today? The Mavericks. Despite all the classless play by the Lakers, not a single Maverick threw a punch back. That takes a lot of restraint.