[CBS Sports] Howard no lock for Lakers; interested in Rockets

I beg to differ. He's one of the best 4's to ever play the game. An argument could easily be made that he is the finest power forward to ever lace them up, and that's no secret "hidden" in San Antonio. He isn't "underrated." Not at all, with all due respect.

 

Who even says "the Kobe/Duncan" era? lol pretty sure Duncan isn't in the spotlight as much as Kobe for the same reason Tony Parker is not. Not that they are on the Spurs (though I will admit that is a contributing factor), but because their games aren't flashy and they don't crave the spotlight. Dude, Duncan goes OUT OF HIS WAY to avoid the media and letting them get to know him at all. He's forgettable (as far as the media is concerned) because he wants to be.

 

Where is the authority that indicates that Duncan is the best player in his generation? Isn't this a pretty subjective title? How do you judge this by? Rings? Jersey sales? Total points scored? Total rebounds? Field Goal percentage? How many of these categories do Duncan have over Kobe anyway? How about impact to the generation? I'm pretty sure more basketball fans talk about Kobe than Tim Duncan. Hell, there's even a thread that compares Duncan to Olajuwon and people are dissing Duncan like he's been carried to those 4 rings because he's always been surrounded with talent...which I don't believe one bit. Duncan is a great player, but you seem to be disgarding Kobe like he's some hack that happened to be mentioned because Lakers fans are on drugs. Well, wait, maybe you have a point. So that means, any hack can be thrown on Sports Center and considered the greatest of all time if he just plays for the Lakers. So Dwight only needs to play at an all-star level and maybe win 1 or 2 rings, and people will consider him one of the greatest centers of all time if he plays for the Lakers. You are basically backing up that Laker authors point with these statements.

From 2000-2010, Kobe was the 4th quarter closer on a team that won the championship 5 times and went to the finals 7 times. That's right...Shaq shot barely better than Dwight from the free throw line so he was out come crunch-time. 5 titles and 7 finals appearances in 11 years. What makes that decade even more incredible is that Tim Duncan took the Spurs to 4 championships in those same 11 years. Those two guys definitely owned the decade, but Kobe will be remembered over Duncan for a few reasons. His style of play was much more exciting than Duncan, the buzzer beaters, and the fact that he was on the Lakers gives him that notch above in the legend status. These things all translate to the jersey sale numbers which I'm sure are a bit of a gap between Kobe and Duncan. Player of his generation huh?

Oh yeah, and Kobe's 81 points is probably the most amazing single-game performance of all time considering the level of athleticism and performance enhancing drugs in the era he did it in. Yeah, Jordan did it (well 63) against the Celtics in the playoffs...Kobe did it with his team down by 18 in the second quarter and they won the game. If I'm not mistaken, Jordan lost that game to the Celtics. Also, if you are counting total career points, Kobe is #4 all time and Duncan is #22. So what makes Duncan better? Because this isn't Olajuwon we are comparing him against now.

 

That Kobe/Duncan era is something I just made up as I was typing it, but it's pretty dope...haha. But from 1999-2010, the Kobe and Duncan won 9 championships. I'd say winning 9 titles in 12 years deserves having an era named after you. By the way, even though my posts are somewhat trollish, you gotta admit it's pretty impressive that I can pump these things out on my I-phone while I'm drinking at a bar with very impeded access to internet references.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nba_champions

 

Never seize to amaze me that Kobe's fans think Kobe is so clutch, but he isn't. Selective memory only remembers the ones he hit, and those are far in between.

Kobe is one of the least clutch players since 2000.

Player FG FGA FG% 3PM 3PA 3P%
Kobe 606 1525 0.397 99 351 0.282
NBA Clutch Shooters Since 2000

Didn't Kobe singlehandly lose the series against Thunder last year? Or Kobe chucked all the shots (except one) in the last five minitues of Wizzards game? I have to admit Kobe was a better player in his younger days, not because he was young. The older Kobe becomes, the less bball iq he has. The more Kobe shoots, the more Lakers will lose. Lakers record this year when Kobe attempted 25 shots or more: 4 win and 11 losses.

Bball is a team sport. It takes more than sheer determination to win, and Kobe just doesn't know how to win anymore. When he gets into his zone, it's hero ball!

Too bad he will never win another ring for as long as he is option #1.

 

These sorts of stats are deceiving though. I hate this whole generation caught up on efficiency stats in basketball because they are complete BS. Usually when Kobe needs to throw up a crapload of shots, many times, it's because the team is playing horribly and he needs to play hero-ball. When the team plays good, he doesn't need to take over. If players like Kobe cared about their batting average, they would never go for homeruns. Kobe doesn't know how to win anymore? He won the championship in 2010. That's pretty harsh. That's like me saying the Rockets don't know how to win anymore because their last asterisk no Jordan championship was in 1995.

 

By the way...same with Michael Jordan. I'm old enough to remember the "Jordan will never be Magic or Bird because he's just a ball hog" references. If you watch some of the NBA Classics games featuring the Bulls, you'll see MJ hoist up the most ridiculous shots.

 

Just listen to yourself. Do you seriously believe the garbage you write??

Or did you not watch the series between Lakers and Thunder or the game vs Wizzards??? Somehow you only remember back in 2010 but forgot events happened recently.

Selective memory! It happens more often with Kobe's fans than any other fan groups.

This is NOT the same Kobe as he was three years ago! I will say this one more time: The older Kobe becomes, the less bball iq he has.

 

BTW, I was a Lakers fan and we can go back to Wilt if you want. The first NBA game I ever watched as a kid was '73 Finals Lakers vs Knicks. It wasn't even televised on TV. It was pay-per-view when one of my uncles took me to Wiltern theatre (in LA) to watch the live game.

 

Exactly, so you will recognize that most of these stars that people hold on pedestals have a ton of horrible games. It's not quite the same, but you get into the baseball hall of fame if you get a hit 3 out of every 10 at bats over the course of a 15 year career. Every single NBA star can be pointed out on many games as being completely horrible. Look at Jerry West. Almost every season he made the finals, he got smoked by the Celtics. I have no doubt that Kobe will be even more god-like when he's retired and everyone starts remembering all of the clutch moments and ignores all the rest. Especially since he's on the Lakers...I'll admit that.

And why are you referencing one regular season game vs the Wizards and telling me I'm posting garbage? You're telling me a guy that has played 17 seasons in the NBA is not the same player he was when he won his 5 rings. What am I supposed to say to respond to that? Should I say that Magic wasn't the same player after he became HIV positive? I guess you win the prize for stating the obvious.

 

Ok, I will make easier for you to understand. Last couple of years,

Kobe = more Hero ball
Wiz, Thunder = hero ball
Hero ball = more losses than wins
Hero ball = low bball iq
Kobe = low bball iq

The way you support Kobe, you probably became a Lakers fan post Magic, and if you did, I can't really blame you for your homerism for only hero you ever came to known as a Lakers fan.

And don't let anyone convince you otherwise that Kobe is the greatest Laker of all time!

 

Magic Johnson advises Howard to join the Rockets in an interview with german sport news site spox.com (official german NBA Site)

Original link (german)

Sorry, might not be the best translation. My written english is a little rusty.

 

MVP's, Finals MVP's, DPOY's, getting multiple of them in 1 year? You know the individual awards, so you don't overrate them for being carried to titles by other people, and multiple goes to sustained excellence?

Kobe's title in 2000, was all Shaq, and 01/02 was like Drexler in 95, you knew he was good, the second best player on his team and needed to actually win, but every man, woman, dog and inanimate object knew the other guy was the one leading the show.

 

DocRocket, please say something!

Man, it's disheartening to read these reports from left and right.

 

I agree Duncan is not underrated, he is rated correctly, but because kobe is very overrated people talk like kobe was the best player in his generation (which he wasn/t Duncan is/was the better player), which to some fans looks like Duncan is underrated.

 

duncan is undercelebrated but he wants it that way

 

Am i in the right thread? I had to double check after seeing all this duncan and kobe talk lol

 

Kobe is anything but low basketball iq. Please, he prob knows all of the tricks in the book.

 

and to those of you that attack on Kobe low buzzer beater %. Are you kidding me? Those shots are incredibly hard to make, you think its easy? The pressure of the moment, the intensity of the defense, and how it keys in on you knowing you, Kobe Bryant, will take the last shot. Everybody's a critic when they haven't ever done something remotely similar and to keep on doing it nights in, nights out. Calling him a bad basketball player by attacking his basketball iq... some people...

 

i don't think morey will allow that to happen. i'm not all that convinced dwight will ever be 100% again with the back issues.