Even the mentality for all NBA players are that until they win it all, they are a scrub. Why do you think so many players are desperate to get on a "contending" team? Barkley didn't sign a crappy contract with the Rockets out of sheer joy for playing. Karl Malone didn't flee to Lakers because he hated the Jazz so much.
He signed a crappy contract because he thought if the Rockets gave Pippen the Max contract the Rockets would win the championship.. Pippen = Fraud
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/C7Lp5aQq4zI&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/C7Lp5aQq4zI&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
LOL sometimes we get scammed in life... Poor Barkley! Point is, no NBA player considers themselves truly great until they win one.
Code: 99-00 LAL 22 22 39.0 0.442 0.344 0.754 1.2 3.3 4.5 4.4 1.5 1.5 2.50 4.00 21.1 00-01 LAL 16 16 43.4 0.469 0.324 0.821 1.8 5.4 7.3 6.1 1.6 0.8 3.19 3.30 29.4 01-02 LAL 19 19 43.8 0.434 0.379 0.759 1.5 4.4 5.8 4.6 1.4 0.9 2.84 3.40 26.6 He was important to all three championships.
Bryant started the 1999–2000 NBA season sidelined for six weeks due to an injury to his hand in a preseason game against the Washington Wizards.[45] With Bryant back and playing the first full season as a starter, he saw an increase in all statistical categories in the 1999–2000 season. This included leading the team in assists per game and steals per game. The duo of O'Neal and Bryant backed with a strong bench lead to the Lakers winning 67 games, tied for 5th most in NBA history. This followed with O'Neal winning the MVP and Bryant being named to the All-NBA Team Second Team and All NBA Defensive Team for the first time in his career (the youngest player ever to receive defensive honors[46]). While playing second fiddle to O'Neal in the playoffs, Bryant had some clutch performances including a 25 point, 11 rebound, 7 assist, 4 block game in game 7 of the Western Conference finals against the Portland Trail Blazers.[47] He also threw an alley-oop pass to O'Neal to clinch the game and the series. In the 2000 NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers, Bryant injured his ankle in the second quarter of game 2 and was out until game 4. In game 4, O'Neal fouled out of the game in over time, so Bryant took the lead and scored eight points and put the Lakers ahead 120–118 for the win.[48] With a game 6 victory, the Lakers won their first championship since 1988. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_Bryant Yeah it is Wiki but I'm pretty sure these are legit. He averaged over 20 pts in both the regular season and the playoffs so if that is not doing jack then oh well.
My point is not that role players made heroic plays but that each championship team had someone the rest of the team completely trusted in leading them. You can ask any of those players on the Rockets team who was their leader and I bet you they will say Hakeem.
I get your point and agree that any great team has to have a leadership but I think your argument is a little simplistic. For example I noticed you left off the Spurs or the Sheed / Billups Pistons. Tim Duncan is considered the leader of the team yet it was often the play of Parker or Ginobli that was the difference maker for them. The Sheed / Billups Piston team truly played team ball and there was no go to guy that they looked for. I agree that having a leader of a team is important but its not always going to be one person.
For the season: 22 pts per game 6.3 rebounds 4.9 assists He sprained his ankle in game two of the Finals and this gave the Pacers some life. From wikipedia: Los Angeles and Indiana were evenly matched for the first period, both scoring 28. But Los Angeles suffered a major setback when Kobe Bryant left the game in the 2nd quarter due to a sprained ankle and did not return. Ron Harper went in for Bryant and scored 21 points for the game. Desperate to try to gain the lead, Larry Bird resorted to the "Hack-a-Shaq" strategy. Shaq shot 39 free throws, making only 18, an NBA record for most free throws in a Finals game. Despite this low percentage, Shaq made 9 of 16 in the 4th quarter to keep a Lakers lead. The Pacers cut the lead to 99-96 and were looking to foul Shaq, but when Shaq got the ball he passed to Robert Horry who converted not only the layup, but the foul shot as well giving them a 102-96 lead en route to a 111-104 Laker victory. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_NBA_Finals His numbers and influence the next two seasons were even better. He scored 30 pts per game and hit 47% from the field in the PLAYOFFS in 2001 and did his job guarding Allen Iverson for most of that series.
Kenny Smith mentioned on TNT once that there many leaders on the Rockets team like Mario Elie. Vocal leaders. That's the point I'm trying to make to you. Everyone on that Rockets team had a leadership trait. A couple years back, Hakeem got hurt and Larry Smith (yeah the guy all Yao fans hate for no reason) subbed for him. The Rockets won 11 games in a row without Dream. Why is the current Rockets team so good? the leadership of Battier and Artest and Rick Adelman. Don't ever forget the coach as a leader.
Kobe has never won a championship as the best player on his team and was losing in the first round every year before the power-shifting Gasol heist. All of a sudden the Lakers are legit again. Anybody else noticing a pattern here?
what the confusion is about this thread is not about 'leadership'. As I mentioned before the Rockets had many leaders on their championship teams. Its about your best player making your teammates better. for a leadership example, Ron Artest showed leadership by getting into Kobe's face. That has nothing to do with the score etc, it was a leadership move. The Rockets teammates took that gesture as we don't care who you are, you can't do that to us.
i just hope if the rockets dont win this series they can wear kobe out enough where he cant go all the way.
I'm gonna go 'head and defend Kobe here. I mean who does Kobe have for support? He has Gasol, who is soft and a great regular season player but folds under pressure in Playoffs. He has Odom, who is too inconsistant to be reliable. Bynum who, well I don't have to say much about him He has Sasha who is just worthless, cannot make his threes, plays fake hustle and is a douche. The only players on the Lakers team that can be counted as good role players are Brown, Fisher, and Ariza. These are the only players besides Kobe who are championship material.
