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My least favorite team is the Lakers. I liked them when they had Magic and Kareem, and as a Jazz fan, I enjoyed the rivalry between the Jazz and the Lakers in the 1990’s, when the Jazz dominated them. The Lakers were fun to hate with Big Bully Shaq, the cocky Kobe Bryant and the Zen-whiner Phil Jackson.

When Kobe ran Shaq out of town, and then had his off-the-court personal issues, he was beyond fun to dislike. And when Phil rejoined the NBA as the once-again Lakers head coach, I was surprised. The two will never win a championship together again unless they can figure how to get LeBron James to become a Laker.

The December 1 game on TNT, ugly basketball from beginning to end, reminded me why I dislike the Lakers so much. The Jazz won, 92-90. It was over. But Kobe gave a dirty look to an official so the official blew the whistle. Time had already expired, but no, Kobe’s going to get free throws. It was obvious to everyone on Earth who watched the replay there was no foul; if anything, Kobe had committed an offensive foul on Devin Brown.

The call stands, Kobe gets free throws and the Jazz lose in overtime.

That was loathsome enough, but that was the idiot official’s fault for blowing a whistle on a foul he didn’t see and not taking it back when he saw there was no foul.

I know every team in the NBA loses anywhere from two to 10 games thanks to calls or non-calls being wrong in the last minute of play, but they need something in the rules for next year to prevent something this egregious.

After the game, though, is when Kobe reminded me to dislike him. When asked about the call, Kobe said with that smug look on his face: “he fouled the hell out of me.”

Yeah, whatever, liar.

Then there’s Phil Jackson. If you look at his post-game interviews, after every loss he complains about the officials. He’s usually stealthy about it, sometimes blatant, but he can continue to coach while George Karl gets suspended for it. The ironic thing is that Phil Jackson has been the beneficiary of more bad calls than any active coach in the NBA.

Right now the Lakers aren’t a team I want to do well so they can be beaten in the playoffs. I want them beaten every night. I am a fan of any team playing them.

Plenty of teams are fun to hate. The Kings were like that with C-Webb and Floppy Divac. The Mavericks are like that, from their loudmouth owner to Dirk Nowitzki who swings his arms like crazy whenever he travels in the paint to draw a foul as he runs to the basket. The Nuggets are like that if you pretend Carmelo Anthony’s punk attitude is worse than it really is.

The Lakers should hire Latrell Sprewell. Then they could be the true villains of the NBA.

Who is your least favorite player in the NBA and why? Email me at thejermsguy@hotmail.com and I’ll post the results in my next column.

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