Kobe Bryant's retirement announcement effectively ended the Lakers' 2015-16 season.
But it opened up possibilities for 2016-17 and puts pressure on team owner Jeanie Buss to show that she can be a maverick owner like her father, with whom Los Angeles won 10 championships.
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The Lakers, who actually won in Washington on Wednesday night, just lost by double digits to a team that had lost 18 in a row (Philadelphia) -- not to mention the fact that the team had a player that most L.A. fans thought the Lakers should've drafted in June (Jahlil Okafor) -- and no one cared.
Kobe's final NBA game in his hometown of Philly stole the headlines.
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In a strange sense, Bryant's retirement takes the pressure off the franchise. Coach Byron Scott can continue to make outrageous statements, such as: "Yeah, there's going to be some games like that that you're just going to live and die with it," Scott said of Bryant's shooting, according to ESPN. "You just hope that you don't die too much. You hope that you can live a little bit more. Yeah, there's going to be some nights like that."
"... Got to get some better shots than that," Scott added, "but other than that, just got to keep playing. I do trust that he'll get to the point where he'll make them on a much more consistent basis, but it has just not happened yet."
It's Kobe's farewell tour.
D'Angelo Russell doesn't need to become an overnight NBA superstar and Scott doesn't need to play him more minutes, because winning this season no longer is the objective.
It's Kobe's farewell tour.
Scott, executive vice president of basketball operations Jim Buss and general manager Mitch Kupchak get a yearlong timeout because Bryant has to have his last dance -- no matter how bad he plays.
It's Kobe's farewell tour.
But with the Lakers on hold, it's also a time for Buss to start plotting the team's future. The Lakers just might keep their 2016 pick, because it only goes to the 76ers as long as it isn't a top-3 selection.
Scott has only one more guaranteed year on his contract, according to USA Today Sports. Jeanie Buss' brother, Jim, said he needed three years to get the Lakers back into contention, but his first two years could result in the two worst records in franchise history.
The Lakers will be free of Bryant's $25 million salary, as well as his reputation as a difficult teammate, next season, so Bryant no longer will be an excuse for Los Angeles to miss out on big-name free agents.
Does Buss get rid of her brother to bring in her fiancé, Phil Jackson, to run the team? Or does she give her brother, who has badly erred on multiple occasions already, another year to transform the Lakers?
An interesting rest of the season awaits.
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