Payton: Lakers Not Comparable to 2003 Squad
When the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Steve Nash and Dwight Howard in the offseason to join Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, many compared the superstar quartet to the 2003-04 Lakers, who added Gary Payton and Karl Malone to a team that already had Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. One player who does not like the comparison is Payton.
“I don’t see any comparisons,” Payton said.”(Mike) D’Antoni is a coach that came in during the season and he didn’t know what was happening, he didn’t know what kind of players he had, he didn’t know what was going on.”
Payton, who is in Los Angeles for the launch of Thuzio, a website that connects fans with athletes, believes Jackson would have been a better fit for this Lakers team than D’Antoni and said that Jackson’s Triangle offense wouldn’t have hampered Nash as much as people think. It may not be the best offense for a ball dominant point guard but Jackson would have found a way to make it work.
“You have to have the right core of players. You have to have the right players for the type of style that he wants to play right now,” Payton said.
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