Not a lot of people know this, but Jerry West is a native son of West Virginia. He is also the son of a Hatfield daughter. While the Hatfield/McCoy feud has died down in the past few years, sporadic violence still occurs.
The ascension of Mr. West to the heights of stardom essentially "won" the feud for the Hatfields. The most famous McCoy was the distantly-related Jack Dempsey- who claimed ancestry from both clans. Duxbury's Juliana Hatfield gained fame as a songstress, and Jerry West was pretty much the third slap of the mat for the feud. One family had proven its' superiority.
Old scores are never truly settled. One McCoy won't allow the feud to end. Earl McCoy and his family have taken it upon themselves to "e'en up" the score. Juliana Hatfield was savagely beaten at CBGB's by a woman who left in a car with West Virginia plates. The registration was traced to a car stolen from McCoyville, West Virginia.
And someone keeps trying to shoot Jerry West.
Since 1960, several attempts have been made on Mr. West's life. Metal detectors were secretly installed at the Forum, as part of West's contract. West moved his family to a heavily fortified compound. Retired S.W.A.T. agents patrolled the player parking lots, and travelled with the team on road trips. Even then, the attempts continued.
In 1994, an arrow slammed into Jerry's seat at the Forum as he bent down to speak to a child. While the shooter was never apprehended, a man matching Earl McCoy's description was seen fleeing the scene in a 1975 pickup. Earl was later killed by a group of seven foot black men in purple and gold warmup suits.
Up until July 14th, 2004, Earl McCoy was the only man who ever missed West. On July 15th, everyone in LA not named Donald Sterling joined him. Kobe misses West...he's just too spoiled and dumb to know it yet.
Shaq Daddy was shipped east for Brian Grant, Caron Butler, Lamar Odom and change. When the dust cleared, LA had a Divac/Grant/Butler/Medven...the Russian guy/Odom frontcourt. Malone will go wherever the easiest title route leads through.
Odom is the key to the deal, and he is a fragile tweener who has an affinity for the Hippy Spinach. He had a fine season last year, but so did Bo Jackson and Bill Walton, once. Butler is a hard worker, and Grant has a monster contract that goes POOF in 2007 or so. Grant and Odom will make $75 million over the next 3 seasons....didn't Shaq want $100 milly?
This was not a fast trade. It was not a slow trade. It was a half-fast trade. The Lakers didn't plan this out well, which is shocking, as Kobe and Shaq have been feuding like cheerleaders for years. They panicked, and dumped Shaq for the best offer that popped up. Had they worked the phones a bit harder, I'm sure they could have wrung more out of someone than what they got.
However much Shaq has slowed, he is still a freakin' monstahhhhh. He shot about 55% from the field in the playoffs. He dunked on Duncan, KO'd KG, and looked like the only one who was trying during the Detroit debacle. He averaged 26.6 ppg, and shot 63% on the highest stage afforded to an NBA player last June.
LA lost the Detroit series for 3 reasons. One, they were out-coached. Two, Detroit had a better team. Three, the man LA is building around shot 35%.
LA won't suck that hard next year. Odom and Kobe should score in bunches, and they have good frontcourt depth. GP may improve with a new coach. Vlade is as good as most centers he'll face. Still, they are no longer frightening. Here's how you beat LA now: rough up Odom, and swarm Kobe. If Payton leaves, no one else on the team is good for more than 7ppg.
Kobe is driving the bus now, and we'll see how good he is next year. He has a Jordan situation now- he'll have to carry the team, especially offensively. If he thinks he's the next Air, Kobe can silence all doubters now.
Ironically, Jordan was probably the only man who could have walked into that Laker locker room, shut the door, and used his commanded respect to right that ship. Shaq would listen, and Kobe is young enough to bully. Whatever Jordan would have cost, it would have been cheaper than giving Brian Grant $42 million dollars over the next 3 years.
Does anyone else think Miami just dumped all of their pot-smoking players? Butler works harder than most stoners, but Lamar has a history...and Grant HAS to be high to rock that hairstyle. That sh*t looks like Kelp.
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