Come Gut-Check Time, Lakers Fail Miserably

Here’s the problem I have with one unnamed Laker saying of Kobe Bryant in The Times, “I don’t know how we can forgive him,” and then Bryant asking every teammate if he said such a thing, and every one of them denying it: One of the Lakers is gutless.

I find this particularly troubling now that the Lakers are about to begin the playoffs, knowing the Lakers’ championship hopes could well come down to the ball being in the hands of a gutless player.

And knowing how much some of the Lakers don’t like Bryant hogging the ball, just imagine how ridiculous they’re going to feel if Bryant winds up passing the ball to that gutless player for the final shot in what could be a season-ending contest.

As for Bryant, if you think he’s had trouble in the past passing the ball, you have to wonder now whether he’s going to hesitate even more, asking himself each time, “Am I passing the ball to the gutless player and going to let him shoot?”

The Laker players complain that Bryant is not a team player, and yet as a team they’ve allowed one of their own to tear into another teammate without retribution.

This isn’t the coach demanding to know who popped off and everyone taking a noble vow of silence to protect one of their own. This is one of them taking the gutless opportunity to say a teammate will be held accountable forever for letting them down, while ironically refusing to be held accountable for what he said.

Worse yet, the Laker players probably know who offered that comment to the newspaper and support him for letting everyone know how they collectively feel about Bryant after his performance against Sacramento.

If that’s the case, “I don’t know how we could forgive any of them,” said one member of my family who would like to go nameless.

*

THE FAMILY took turns guessing who the anonymous Laker might be. One high-ranking member of the family thought it might be Devean George. It makes sense. If George had put his name to the quote, it would have drawn laughs from most readers, so you can understand why he wouldn’t want his name used. But I don’t think it was George, because it appears some of his teammates think the remark was right on target and when was the last time George was right on target?

Another member of the family suggested it might by Luke Walton. That makes sense if he’s looking ahead to life after basketball and following in his dad’s footsteps -- he’d want to practice saying outrageous things. But I know Bill Walton, and he’s a stand-up guy, so I can’t imagine any son of his hiding behind an anonymous quote.

Another member of the family, and I can’t use his name even though he just became a member of the family through a wedding ceremony that cost me a ton, figured it had to be Rick Fox because he’s not sure any other athlete in that locker room can string eight words together without an “ah,” “um,” or “you know” attached.

I don’t know, though, as much as Fox appeared on “Oz,” I would think he would understand more than anyone else what happens to someone who shoots his mouth off behind the scenes.

“One Laker” doesn’t rule out Phil Jackson, who has previous experience being a source.

“Hacksaw” Hamilton, my 690 & 1150 radio-mate who is never right, guessed it was Shaq during our recent on-air chat. How funny would that be to discover a guy standing 7 feet 1 is too chicken to stand up and be held accountable. I don’t think it was Shaq, though, because there were no swear words or expletives deleted in the quote attributed to the gutless player.

The wife, who sometimes is considered a family member, wanted to know whether it could be Karl Malone or Gary Payton since they both took pay cuts to come here and would have a hard time forgiving Bryant if they thought Bryant cost them a ring. It would be nice to know if it was one of them, especially if they’re not going to be back next season, because then who cares if they’re never going to forgive Bryant.

By the way, the older woman I live with also said, “It might be nice if Malone and Payton started to make a contribution too,” and I told her I wouldn’t use her name if I quoted her, and as you can see, I haven’t.

The thing is, name any player, and it could be him, especially with The Times noting Wednesday morning that “many Laker players privately believed [Bryant] passed up shots to reestablish his importance to the offense.” As a result, of course, we now have an anonymous player working as gutless team spokesman.

On the bright side, I won’t have to worry about him coming to me for a man-to-man chat, angry that I’ve called him gutless.

*

WITH ONE game to go Wednesday night, the Clippers already had surpassed last year’s win total. It just doesn’t get any better than that. Coach Mike Dunleavy, however, said he’s very optimistic about next year, and I don’t think he’s planning on getting a new job elsewhere.

Dunleavy said owner Donald Sterling has told him he will pay the maximum salary allowable and will make a pitch to sign one of the top available free agents. “I believe him,” Dunleavy said. (I will pause now for the laughter to subside.)

*

TODAY’S LAST word comes in e-mail from Matthew Kerster:

“After the Choker won the Masters he said to his 2 1/2-year-old daughter, ‘Can you believe it, Daddy won?’ Could you ever say you won anything to the Grocery Store Bagger’s wife?”

Her mother’s hand in marriage.

P.S. Did you notice the look of shock on the face of Mickelson’s kid?

*

T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Simers, go to latimes.com/simers.