In the summer of 2012, the Los Angeles Lakers shocked the basketball world by trading for future Hall of Fame point guard Steve Nash and All-Star center Dwight Howard. Those additions to the duo of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol were expected to carry the Lakers to their 17th NBA championship.
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As everyone now knows, nothing worked out the way the Lakers intended to and the team never met expectations. However, Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers, who was still coach of the Boston Celtics, said that he didn’t think people were scared of that Lakers combination according to Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times:
Doc Rivers on Dwight-Kobe-Nash Lakers: "When you put that one together, I don’t know how many people were that scared of that combination."
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) February 4, 2015
Rivers also elaborated on why he believes the combination didn’t work out, pointing to Nash’s age at the time of him joining the Lakers via Bolch:
Doc Rivers on why he wasn't surprised Lakers' trio of Kobe-Dwight-Nash didn't work out: "I mean, Nash was at that point of his career."
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) February 4, 2015
Nash’s body would break down as he could barely stay healthy during his time in Los Angeles. Kobe pushed himself to the point of his Achilles rupturing, and the Lakers would limp to a seventh seed where they were swept by the San Antonio Spurs. Howard would then leave after his only season with the Lakers to join the Houston Rockets in free agency.
While the team never became champions, it is interesting that Rivers felt people weren’t afraid. Going into the season, the Lakers were looked at as runaway favorites to win the championship, but players don’t buy into what the media says.
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