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The Jeter Effect
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This Deadspin article notes that in Thursday's game against Sacramento, the Lakers fell behind early, then mounted a furious late comeback and took the lead before faltering and losing. That's no big deal except for one detail: The bad play was when Kobe Bryant was out there and taking all the (bad) shots. The comeback -- and the sloppy ending -- were from the young players on the team. And that's why the column suggests that Kobe's "farewell tour" is hurting his younger teammates, who played better and learned more when he was on the bench. And THAT raises the question of whether the Lakers' future should be more important than playing Kobe and satisfying the ticket buyers today. This would be moot if he'd done what some stars have done and just retired immediately once he realized he couldn't play well anymore, but nowadays all retiring stars have to do the full-season farewell. (Deadspin)
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