The Zen Master may be fresh out of ideas. In a turn of events that not even the most brilliant expert could have predicted, the Lakers have dug themselves an 0-3 hole against the Mavericks. Call it nagging injuries for Kobe Bryant or call it female troubles in the locker room. Whatever the case, Los Angeles has found itself in unfamiliar territory — on the brink of elimination in only the second round.
On Monday, Lakers coaches decided to work a clip from the Hangover into the team’s video session. They either thought Alan’s “wolfpack” speech would inspire the team or loosen them up enough to get them to start playing well. Obviously, it had no effect. According to ESPN Los Angeles, Phil Jackon picked a few new clips to show the team after they lost their third straight game to the Mavericks. This time, Jackson thought watching Jackass might help snap his team out of its funk.
“The things they do are dumb,” guard Shannon Brown explained. “And the mistakes we were making in the game were dumb, too.”
Watching Johnny Knoxville strap himself to a rocket and go flying into orbit may help lighten the mood, but let’s not get carried away. For starters, the guys in Jackass do dumb things for fun. As far as I know, the Lakers aren’t intentionally doing stupid s***. What’s next, Family Guy?
My advice to the Lakers would be to keep their motivational tools in-house. Why do we need to know that they are watching comedy shows and movies in an attempt to get back on track? If it works for them, that’s fine. To this point all it has done is give us a cheap laugh.
