I'm saying!!! Gasol was the got damn whipping boy before Dwgith got there. LA Fans: "Gasol is soft.....get rid of him....." LA Fans: "Screw Bynum....Kobe is right...Bynum is lazy and doesnt want it"blah blah now all of a sudden.....Kobe made them All-Stars as if they didnt have the talent prior. lol Eff the dumb isht......Kobe Bryant is a manifestation of Phil effing Jackson and without Phil...Kobe goes "Kobe" and shows his true colors. He aint ISHT without P. Jax and a big man.....he MUST have those those two things. Without them, he's Dominique Wilkins at best with a J.R. Rider attitude. Laker fans cannot for the life of them see this.... news flash: NO ONE WANTS TO PLAY WITH KOBE Nash is using ben-gay after just waking up and he coat-taling....he done. Melo plays in NY and trust me....during his PRIME years.....he dont wanna play with this broke down version of Kobe either.
Haha for sure, I'm too used to arguing passionately in the Dish lol. Many leaders lead by example, you don't have to be a peppy orator or rally-er to be a great leader. Kobe leads by example and teaching. Same as the likes Bruce Lee and Ghandi- You don't have to make those around you feel secure and self-content to be a great leader, in fact often it's the opposite medicine that does the trick. "Kobe Bryant is the spoiled child that L.A. has created." -Nelly I don't want to argue the spoiled angle anymore, the same can be said about too many other stars. But Nelly really crossed the line with that statement. You can say what you want about Kobe, but the man CREATED himself.
You're Dwight. You go to the Lakers. On paper, Finals team. Kobe. Nash. Pau. You. Metta. Then, Nash gets injured. And is out. For a long time. Team does not do well. Defense is bad. Yet, you're tops in rebounds and blocks. So you know it's not you. Then, Kobe gets injured. Uh oh. That team, you realize, was really put together for a 2-year chance at a championship. First year, a failure. Then, you've got next year with Kobe probably being out half a year, possibly never being the player he used to be, and Nash a year older. Not good. Then, you take away Mike Brown (who knows an in-out style) and add in D'Antoni. To a team that is bad on defense to begin with. Then, you look at a team like the Rockets. Young superstar. Young borderline All-Star (15.3 in a second full year? Yep). A coach- OK, not a proven coach, but at least one you feel you can learn from and relate to. You have a window of 4-5 years as opposed to 1. And you really do have a championship as your #1 goal. Who do you choose???? I really think that the media enjoys the drama- OOHHH, Kobe unfollowed Dwight! Dwight can't take LA! Dwight hates Kobe! Nash is glad he's gone! Dwight didn't want to be the man! He's not serious about winning a championship like MJ (Jordan did so much good for basketball, yet there is a lot of whitewashing, as well- no one ever mentions that he did not win a ring until 1991, that he came back in 1995 and got knocked out by the Magic, nor do they mention his Wizards run- it's as if Jordan only played for 6 years). Bottom line is that Dwight Howard, after carefully taking notes (which several mentioned that he did) from each interview, made the best basketball decision- the best opportunity to win a championship. As he said, 2-3 years ago, maybe he stays with LA. 2-3 years down the road (I'm assuming if LA gets some young, marquee free agents), maybe he stays with LA. But right now, in 2013, the best choice is the Houston Rockets. And the weird thing is that, among everyone talking about this, the one who has reiterated this point several times and has made the most sense out of anyone is.....surprise....Dwight Howard.
I cant believe skip and SAS said that Howard didn't want to be apart of the lakers big men? Are freaking SERIOUS!! Rockets have a great history of big men. Ahh i love these kind of basketball talks with friends. lol im the nelly of my group of friends.
This article from back in February says it all: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs.../kobe-bryant-dwight-howard-pairing-a-bad-mix/ The worst pairing in the NBA’s supposed Super Team era is unfolding into an ugly, public spectacle of clashing egos, conflicting agendas and contrasting personalities. Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard were a bad fit before the Los Angeles Lakers decided to unite the league’s most prolific scorer since Michael Jordan with a player generally considered the best big man of the modern era. They were a bad fit before their reported tiff last month, before they staged a fake fight photo with Coach Mike D’Antoni and Bryant posted it on Twitter, before Bryant confronted him at a team meeting, and before Howard’s torn right labrum gave them divergent goals. Bryant has hinted that he could call it a career when his contract expires after 2014, making his push to match Jordan with six titles – and possibly surpass him with a seventh – more urgent than ever. But while the 35-year-old Bryant is concerned about how things will end next year, the 28-year-old Howard is more worried about his long-term health and career. Howard already decided to play before his back had fully healed from surgery last offseason; produced well below the standard he set with the Orlando Magic and owes no allegiance to the Lakers beyond this season, since he will be a free agent in July. He has also had to endure much of the blame for the Lakers’ shortcomings; a 6-foot-11 bulls-eye for fans of an angst-ridden franchise that has been moving in reverse since winning back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. When the Lakers lost Pau Gasol for possibly the next two months with a torn plantar fascia last week and Bryant publicly declared that the Lakers didn’t have time to wait for Howard’s shoulder to heal, Howard was placed in an awkward position: Play and risk further damage to his banged-up shooting arm or sit and risk further damage to his reputation, which has taken a pounding ever since his flip-flopping-trade-me-don’t-trade-me-fiasco in Orlando. Howard thought he had it bad when former Magic coach Stan Van Gundy exposed him as disingenuous and coolly told reporters last March that his franchise big man wanted him fired over a few sips of Diet Pepsi. But in Los Angeles, where the championships are the goal and anything less is considered failure, Howard is now dealing with having his toughness and commitment questioned by his coach and his teammates – an odd predicament for a player who only missed seven games in his first seven seasons. Losing sight of what he had, Howard sacrificed his own personal kingdom in Orlando to possibly inherit an empire in Los Angeles – whenever Bryant decides to walk away – but he has treated the 16 championship banners and eight retired jerseys that hang above him at Staples Center as a haunting burden; allowing them to intimidate rather than motivate. Credibility shot after some questionable bouts of indecision in recent years, Howard now carries himself with the body language of a player who would rather be elsewhere. The Lakers weren’t his first choice and possibly won’t be his next choice with the prospect of having to spend another season with Bryant and D’Antoni serving as a deterrent to the extra $30 million that he stands to earn by staying and signing for five years. His desire to be liked as resulted in him receiving more hate. Bryant has provided cold-blooded, tough love rather than the support and encouragement Howard’s fragile psyche demands and has challenged Howard to accept a role as an ancillary piece instead being the focal point he was in Orlando. The Lakers had to take the risk when Howard became available after pouting his way out of Orlando. Their championship legacy was built on mostly on the broad shoulders and imposing size of gifted and skilled centers from Mikan to Chamberlain to Abdul-Jabbar to O’Neal to a lesser extent Gasol. They had a special talent in Andrew Bynum, the starter for the past two title teams, but Howard had more to offer with his explosiveness and ability to defend, rebound and dominate in ways that go beyond putting the ball in the basket. But since that Howard was somehow left behind in Orlando and replaced by inconsistent and sometimes ineffective version, the subsequent failing of his union with Bryant should be less stunning than the Lakers’ inability to steam-roll through the Western Conference with four potential Hall of Famers. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade needed two seasons to develop the necessary on-court chemistry to turn the Miami Heat into a champion. Carmelo Anthony and Amaré Stoudemire are only slightly beginning to work in New York because the two don’t share the floor very often. But merging superstar talent is a huge risk that requires a willingness for the two sides to forgo individual numbers in order to make it work. In Los Angeles, Howard complains about touches while Bryant – aside from a short-lived run as a facilitator – continues to fire away without conscious. This isn’t the first time Bryant feuded with a teammate and this certainly isn’t the venomous, combative relationship he shared with Shaquille O’Neal. O’Neal had a playful side that often rubbed the serious-minded Bryant the wrong way but despite their differences, the two players were dedicated to winning championships, disagreeing mostly on how they should go about winning them. O’Neal and Bryant also had three years to learn each other before Phil Jackson arrived and brought it all together for an eventual three-peat. Howard and Bryant don’t have the benefit of time or Jackson, who probably is the only coach who could convince Bryant to defer more to Howard and get Howard to maximize his physical gifts. D’Antoni, hired to solve a problems that got Mike Brown fired, has struggled to utilize his talent-laden roster and stubbornly misused Gasol before he went down. So the challenge of getting Bryant and Howard on the same page probably exceeds his capabilities – especially with the two players on opposite ends of the intensity scale. Arguably the most carefree superstar in the league, Howard is in a constant battle with Bryant, who is easily the most ambitious and maniacal. Howard never had an urgency to his career, since the Magic eased him along when he was drafted out of high school, gave him time to develop and only looked upon him for leadership after he had established himself. Even when he took advantage of Kevin Garnett’s knee injury in Boston and led Orlando, to the 2009 NBA Finals, Howard always seemed like someone who felt he was bound to get back, simply by his sheer force. Bryant has had a compulsion to be great from the moment he arrived in the NBA out of high school, so much so that the Lakers actually had hold him back until they moved the all-star in front of him (Eddie Jones) after his superior talent became undeniable. He was determined to win without O’Neal, is determined to win now that Jackson is gone, but his advanced age has diminished the impact of his will. The Lakers’ championship aspirations are pretty much a fantasy with a disastrous start and continued injury-related interruptions. But if the Lakers are to avoid their first lottery appearance since 2004-05 – when the first season after O’Neal left resulted in the selection of Bynum – Howard and Bryant will have to find some way to get their paths and purposes to connect. Given all that has occurred during a not-so-breezy season in Los Angeles and the lack of trust between its two biggest stars, it might already be too late.
The hating on Dwight in that show is disgusting. They're hating him just to hate him now. SAS said at 2:45 on that Nelly clip when asked why nobody wants to go to LA to play that the reason was "Every marquee free agent wants it to be their show." That is literally why Dwight left, and they still can't accept that.
Horrible post, particularly o this rockets fan site. You mist not have witnessed any of the Lost Dynasty that was the Twin Tower rockets. Ralph and Hakeen (Akeem then) would take turns defending Kareem and the other would stuff him from the weak side. There wasn't anything that Kareem or the lakers could do about it. If drugs had not taken the careers of Lewis Lloyd and John Lucas, the rockets would have been a dynasty for a decade.
So, are you blood or did you marry in to Kobe's family? I mean, seriously. You think Kobe only leads by example? His compulsive drive to feed his own legacy comes with serious self-aggrandizement and condescension.
Does anyone know who Tito Herkaglue is? Anyone? And can we please sign him to the MLE? LOL! Nelly had SAS pronouncing isht all wrong....ole girl huffy and SB was damn near silent. Hahahaha. They were owned in the worst way. "TITO HERKAGLUE"......lmmfao! SAS actually said that....lol YOu never see him flustered....at least not until now. lol
SERIOUSLY. Who is this horrible person that's hosting? Using "we" and "us" when talking about the Lakers? What is this nonsense???!!!
Nelly's two main points were perfect: 1) Pointing out that every time someone criticizes Kobe, someone like SAS will say it's blasphemy and 2) This hagiography of Kobe by the fans and media has created a spoiled baby (best part of interview)
To Dwight saying he left because of Phil not coming to the lakers. Was he supposed to come out and tell the media he left cause he hates Kobe Bryant? Talk about some more bad PR that Dwight doesn't need.
