No joke. Larry Hughes/Drew Gooden/Anderson Varaejao/Daniel Gibson/Sasha Pavlovic look like HOFers compared to Kwame Brown/Brian Cook/Smush Parker/Luke Walton/Sasha Pavlovic
This is a great example of the standard Lebron is held to. In that game, he putup 20/14/8/2/2 and you say he was "near nonexistent".
Not even close. Kobe has built this reputation through some impressive scoring outbursts and a bunch of media hype, but he's the most overrated player in the NBA. It's not a shock that the Lakers have played just as well or better without him as with him for his entire career. Compare that to any other MVP in the league, especially Lebron. You need to stop buying what ESPN is selling and actually watch the games. Kobe wins because he has stacked teams. Now Lebron has a stacked team and he too will win. It's not rocket science.
Yeah Kobe struggled to get anything going. Highly uncharacteristic of him. Don't think I have ever seen him like that. He still did alot of little things to help the team win. He still played solid D, great on the boards and he didn't try to force anything. Also he did have a couple of huge buckets in the 4th quarter when the Lakers took the lead.
Still better than the performance LBJ put up in the last 2 games against the Celtics. LBJ & Cavs GAVE UP IN THAT SERIES. Even the owner of the Cavs admitted it. The team was down by 8 with 1.5 minutes left and nobody fouls. They conceded. One thing about Kobe, he plays to win and never gives up.
See the double-standard? Lebron was great on the boards, passed the ball, and got to the line (same way Kobe scored all of his points), yet he was "almost nonexistent" or whatever. Also, Kobe hit ONE (1) bucket in the 4th. And this is hardly the first time he's been like this. Heck, just go back to the last game 7 the Lakers played, against your Rockets (also reffed by Joey Crawford, hmmm). Or to the last series the Lakers lost, where Kobe was terrible and especially so in the last game. Kobe gets worse as the pressure goes up. Anyone who watches the games can see this but the media has built this false idol that he's some sort of superclutch god that casual fans lap it up.
LOL! Like he did in game 7 against Phoenix? For giving up in that series (and it's hard to take the word of a disgruntled owner who compared LBJ to Benedict Arnold), Lebron put up way better numbers than Kobe did against Boston.
I am just going to assume you didn't watch game 6 of that series. Is that a fair assumption? Lets just agree to disagree and move on.
No, I watched game 6 and Kobe was fantastic. Just as Lebron was fantastic (even more so) in game 6 against Detroit. The point is this-- they are both great players who need help to win. Up until this year, Lebron has had not had quality help. Kobe fans like to rail on Lebron because he doesn't have any rings, but neither would Kobe if he had the kind of "support" Lebron has had his whole career. IMO, Lebron is a far more balanced player-- both in what he contributes to the non-scoring parts of the game and in his scoring efficiency/shot-selection; Kobe can make more difficult shots and is flashier. I think if Lebron had been paired up with Shaq it would have been a minimum 5-peat. Now with Wade and Bosh, that's just what we're going to see. People have no idea how good this kid is.
Oh, I misread the context there. I was referring to the Phoenix/LA series. As far as game 6 against Boston, I think Lebron was overwhelmed and did give up at the end (but to be fair, the game was basically over). I don't know how much of that was behind-the-scenes stuff with management issues and the whole Delonte thing. He was obviously fed up with Cleveland at that time, but probably also caved to the pressure since they were expected to win it all for a second year straight and collapsed. I do give him a lot of credit for taking that scrappy bunch to the best record in the league two years straight. No other player could have come close.
What does that even mean? Lebron's clutch stats are at the top of the league, above Wade and well above Kobe. But basketball isn't decided in the last seconds.
Fisher was a MAJOR reason for this. The guy is an awesome leader. As was the emergence of Bynum. But Bynum went down and they went hunting for a replacement and got lucky to come up on Pau.
You don't seriously believe that he has been winning 50-60 games+ (for the past several years) by himself? I think you are greatly underrating guys like Zyduras Ilguaskas, Anderson Varaejao, (Drew Gooden or Mo Williams). He may not have had big names but he had many decent NBA players. Better than those D-League teams Kobe was taking to postseasons during the mid-'00s. EDIT: I think Kobe is a better man defender and shooter. LBJ a slightly better passer and superior finisher. Probably a better ball handler. All in all, I think Kobe is a better overall player AS OF RIGHT NOW due to how dominating he has been this past decade. From 2000-2010, an 11 season span, Kobe has been involved in 5 titles.
