Kobe was a Laker. She has a bunch of mercenaries currently.
OK I guess Kobe was a Laker, not necessarily unblemished in terms of character but I’m not privy to the truth so will let that go. I’m guessing Jerry West and Magic might take issue with who was the greatest Laker….
So if not for mercenaries in the form of FAs or arm-twisted trades, how many fewer titles would the Lakers have? It’s part of the culture of the NBA that eventually top tier players name LAL as one of their limited destination options.
Also the dynamic of unloading young talent/picks for veteran top tier talent is different if you are LAL than other franchises. I wouldn’t think twice about Brown for Durant if I knew the Cs could quickly reload when KD ages. Rather, we presume that when KD ages, Tatum will sign with the Lakers.