LeBron had to call himself vocal leader of the team because the media attention was all on Kobe. When LeBron was talking the talk, Kobe was walking the walk. Without Kobe taking over when it mattered, LeBron is still LeBronze.
I have to disagree about Howard. His glaring lack of improvement on one side of the ball throughout his career makes me think that he doesn't put in nearly the work that a lot of other top players do.
This is true, also I had the pleasure/ and luck to ask coach K a few questions on team USA, on bryant he said everyones especially the young players(lbj, wade, carmelo) s eyes were on kobe bc kobe was playing with the usa team for the first time since he was injured the other years and he just came off 35 ppg and dropped 81 that season. so they all wanted to see how he practiced and what he did, and he came in, and purposely spent the whole day doing defensive drills and did not shoot one basket, coach k said that set the tone and they all followed lead and committed to defense. And kobe had a meeting with coach k, said we have scorers, i know that, i just ahve one request, let me guard the best player on the other team every game
i just think he doesn't have guidance. i think he works hard, but for big men, sometimes you need guidance offensively. maybe we'll see a change with hakeem.
That could be it. Or it could be that he just doesn't have the ability to be a significantly better offensive player. Perhaps my expectation that he should be dominating like Shaq out there is unreasonable.
LOL! maybe you should take a look in the mirror "t_mac"..if i remember correctly t_mac was a top 5 talent but had horrendous work ethic.
LOL seriously?? that's your point? you never considered t_mac to be top 3 at one point in his career? he was at one point neck and neck with kobe and people were debating who was better...sigh and you're a t_mac fan boy
Did T-Mac always have a poor work ethic? I think he definitely didn't train properly (have you ever seen his form when lifting weights?), but that doesn't mean that he was always lazy.
....while Wade can still be dominant at times without a top work ethic(see Tmac in his prime), I think the league has had SEVERAL players who were stars early in their career only to drop off quickly due to their work ethic failing them as they left their more forgiving younger age. I have heard the same thing from other sources about Wade - that he isn't a guy who spends a lot of time working on his game....and maybe this is the silver lining in the whole axis of evil pairing. Although Lebron, Wade, and Bosh are all considered "stars" - none have ever been known for their work ethics or drive. Could they be a bad influence on each other career wise? I mean, they are favorites now while they are still relatively young, but if these guys aren't pushing each other - could we reasonably expect a decline in all of their skills earlier than normal? Wade is already a lot older than the others so we will likely see it with him first. It starts with a routine injury which turns into a nagging one...then the rehab takes a little longer each time - eventually they are a player who gets by on rep and respect from the refs to stay a star but skill wise the decline is pretty drastic. I'm not saying Riles should rethink his strategy - clearly this was the best option for all parties involved, but I think when it's all said and done they all managed to hurt each others careers a little bit more than expected.
T-mac fanboys always talked about how injury ruined T-Mac. And simply ignore that good work ethic can help avoid injury. T-Mac has been reporting to camp fat since he's got that new contract with Rox.
i don't know what t_mac's work ethic was but it definitely was not on kobe's level. and that was a point made by many people that were in the league or had connection to the league. i get my info from what's reported and so does about 95% of the ppl on this board. and it was always debated that if t-mac worked as hard as kobe he would clearly be the best player in the league because he had more talent and that was what he relied on. but my point to "t_mac's" comment about being elite without good work ethic is baloney as proven by t_mac himself.
GP is def hating on Wade but its a bit surprising since his only title is mainly attributed to Wades MJ-esque performance.. Id take Kobe over Wade too but theyre 1A and 1B imo and besides that Kobe has a game winner over Wade in his back pocket
if Tmac had Kobes work ethic and drive hed def be the better player.. coming from a guy who doesnt even like Tracey
no, i was retorting your point. wade had to work extremely hard to earn his status right now b/c not a lot of people considered him to be a top 5 player coming out of college (or at least i wasn't). he's now a top 3 player. tmac was a top 5 TALENT so he may not have to work as hard (i think he worked hard or else he wouldn't be in the L according to butch carter, but he may have trained wrong - like the other poster said -- b/c he has a lot of genetic problems with his back) to be a top 5 player.
