EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) Derek Fisher and Kobe Bryant joined the Los Angeles Lakers together in 1996. They've been in the same backcourt for most of the ensuing 16 seasons, winning five NBA titles during their intertwined careers. <\/p>\n
Fisher's departure Thursday for Houston and Ramon Sessions' arrival from Cleveland made the Lakers younger and faster at point guard, their weakest position. <\/p>\n
The Lakers don't yet know if the trades made the NBA's sixth-best team any better - and they still don't know whether the moves made Bryant angry. <\/p>\n
General manager Mitch Kupchak said he didn't speak to Bryant before or after trading Fisher to the Rockets, and Bryant canceled a scheduled interview on the Lakers' flagship radio station when news of Fisher's departure broke. Kupchak also didn't speak directly to Fisher, intimating the 37-year-old NBA players' union leader took the news hard. <\/p>\n
''It's hard to put into words what he's meant to this organization, on the court and off the court,'' Kupchak said Thursday at the Lakers' training complex. ''It's one of the hardest parts of the job that a general manager has, separating the emotions of a relationship you've had. ... We think Ramon will make an immediate impact. Despite Derek's presence, we felt that we needed more speed and more quickness in the backcourt.'' <\/p>\n
But the Lakers lost more than an aging point guard whose skills and athleticism have eroded considerably in the past few years. Fisher and Bryant were the Lakers' unquestioned locker room leaders, with Fisher's cerebral calm contrasting nicely with the fiery intensity of the NBA's leading scorer. <\/p>\n
Kupchak and Lakers executive Jim Buss slept on the trades before making them Thursday. Kupchak felt the Lakers couldn't justify keeping three point guards - Sessions, Steve Blake and Fisher - on the roster making significant salaries, so Fisher had to go after starting their first 43 games this season. <\/p>\n
''I'm concerned, yeah,'' Kupchak said. ''As each day goes on, it will get easier and easier, but you can't underestimate Derek's contribution from a chemistry standpoint. You can't say this team is going to wake up tomorrow and play as if he was never here.'' <\/p>\n
Kupchak is breaking up part of a team that isn't exactly broken, notwithstanding a few awful performances on the road. The Pacific Division-leading Lakers (27-16) have gone 7-2 in a brutal 15-day stretch since the All-Star break, and they've won 18 of their last 19 home games since Christmas heading into Friday's visit from Minnesota. <\/p>\n
Kupchak acknowledges concern about dismantling part of the roster that reached three straight NBA finals from 2008-10, winning two titles, yet he is determined to make the Lakers younger. He also didn't hesitate to upend the Lakers' chemistry earlier this year when he shipped angry forward Lamar Odom to the Dallas Mavericks after a trade to land Chris Paul was blocked by the NBA. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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