When one thinks about the late 2000s Los Angeles Lakers teams that won back-to-back NBA championships, Josh Powell isn’t exactly a name that easily comes to mind.
However, he was a definite contributor to those teams that won it all two years in a row. While the big man played only about a quarter of the game in terms of minutes, they were valuable minutes, especially considering the frequent injury problems starting center Andrew Bynum dealt with.
During his time in L.A., Powell played with Hall of Famers Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol while being coached by Phil Jackson. He recently spoke with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson while promoting his new book, “I Wish I Knew.”
Among the interesting topics Powell talked about were the way Jackson would prod players to get the best out of them, how motivated the team was for two years after losing the 2008 NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics, Gasol comparisons and misconceptions about Bynum.
But another interesting topic was something that has been making the rounds lately: whether LeBron James deserves a statue in front of Crypto.com Arena alongside numerous Lakers legends.
“LeBron brought a ‘chip to the city and he did it when the situation happened,” said Powell. “If that ain’t telling you that he’s a bad man then I don’t know what else is. He understood the assignment. That’s just like when Russell Westbrook got the 20 (points), 20 (rebounds) and 20 (assists) and then represented for Nipsey [Hussle] and the whole culture. Like, you’re a bad boy when you can just make something shake and be like, ‘Naw. I got this. Let’s do this for Bean (Bryant)! Ain’t no ands, ifs or buts. We’re doing this!’ And the other thing that I hate is like, people try to disrespect the ring because, ‘Oh it was in the bubble’ … but it’s like this man. … First of all, let’s not act like we didn’t see some of the best basketball in years because guys didn’t go out — they weren’t drinking, they weren’t smoking. … They weren’t all the ‘other’ stuff they would’ve been doing and they were focused on the game of basketball in an empty gym. You can’t disrespect that at all. Because if somebody else would’ve won it, y’all would’ve been cool with it. The fact that they took care of business, you know what I’m sayin’? And at that time it was difficult. There was nothing easy. I wish those people could be removed from their families for about a month or two. Some people couldn’t even see their families, you know what I’m sayin’? Have to go through quarantine at least a couple weeks before getting on the court just to make sure if anyone had any cases. Then it’s like, the unknown at a scary time. So, hats off to them because I know that wasn’t easy, you know? And the unfortunate part is that everybody always tries to find a way to disrespect the rings that he [LeBron] got, you know? It’s the same with KD (Kevin Durant), it’s just certain people where they just try to find whatever reasons.”
James likely has a ways to go before he gets his own statue, but the way he’s playing this season at almost age 39, perhaps he can earn the requisite resume as a Laker.