Couldn't have agreed more. Jerry West should have been kick out of HOF for obviously helping the ****ers by giving Gasol away... I remembered tons of coaches and GMs called foul even before the announcement that they smelt something fishy going on.
LOL...I am not a big kobe fan, but the hate for him is getting out of hand. Yes, he is not the greatest ever. But he is one heck of a player. In terms of surpassing magic johnson, I think it is argueable. The celtics are a great defensive team. It is hard for anyone to score on them. Both teams played great defence. Congrats to the lakers for wining it all this year. but NEXT YEAR IS THE IS THE ROXS TURN. THE TROPHY IS COMING TO H-TOWN. book it.
I'm so glad some of you guys have common sense. I take solace in knowing that others are seeing what I am seeing. And ultimately, this is what I see: You either love Kobe or despise him. But most objective basketball fans despise him because he's The Bad Guy. When you cheer for him, you're cheering for The Bad Guy. The scowls, the entitlement, the calls the refs give him, the selfishness, everything. Even the players in the NBA have a hard time befriending him because of his personality. He is The Antihero. He's not Optimus Prime, he's Megatron. He's not Superman, he's Luthor. He's not Inspector Gadget, he's Dr. Claw. He's not Rocky, he's the Russian. He's not Mike, he's Kobe. I'm fine with someone cheering for him, as long as they admit they are cheering for The Bad Guy. Call me old fashioned, but I cheer for The Good Guys.
I don't despise him because he's a bad guy or a sex offender. And I certainly don't despise him for winning titles-- that's the point of the game. What I don't like about Kobe isn't really his own fault; he's a manufactured superstar. He's a very good player that has been marketed as a legend, because with the departure of Jordan the league feels it needs to have these kinds of players. But he's not Jordan, not even close. He's a high volume, low percentage shooter, much like about 20 other guys in the league. Tonight's performance-- really, his performance in the entire Finals-- is not suprising because that's who he is. But the NBA is trying to push him as more than that, and casual fans slurp it up. Look at tonight's game. Kobe was HORRIBLE. If he had even been halfway decent it wouldn't have been close. But listening to the commentary, you would never know it. Instead of pointing out how he was taking godawful shots, failing to pass, and turning the ball over, the commentators kept going on about how it was so amazing that he had a lot of rebounds. What? Just tell it like it is and stop force feeding us this crap in order to manufacture a story about a superstar. He's not that great.
He's still not in the top 6 of all time. He needs more to break into the group of Jordan, Wilt, Kareem, Magic, Russell, and Bird.
kobe is a great player. period. the only problem is his rabid fans who overrate him by bashing his teammates when they are'nt as bad as they make it seem while overlooking his flaws or diminishing the legacy of other players to prop their boy kobe up. the ones that always compare him to mj even ho he himself does not wan to be compared to jordan himself. people just need to let kobe be kobe.
Hell, you can add a lot more to that list. I mean, if you're going only by titles then sure, Kobe is up there. But titles are a team accomplishment. Shaq has had a far more stellar career, than Kobe, for example. Ditto for Hakeem and Duncan. In the modern era, I'd still put him behind Barkley & Malone, but I can see the titles argument into play. Then you look back at the old school ballers and Oscar, West, Baylor... all these guys have more impressive resumes than Kobe.
I'm fine with that, as long as people recognize that "kobe being kobe" is "kobe being a high volume, low percentage shooter with a decent all-around game". I think it is insulting to compare him to someone like Larry Bird, who was better in every facet of the game of basketball except for jumping. Also, he's not even close to Lebron's league as a player, but people will always downplay that until Lebron gets some good teammates and wins titles (which will happen).
That's not what I'm saying. I mean to say that if this were a stage, and there were roles to be given, Kobe would be the antagonist. Remember last year's game against Battier? When Kobe kept yelling, "He can't guard me! He ain't nothing!" and Battier shook his head and played solid D. Battier had character, Kobe did not. See the Good Guy v. Bad Guy? That. Or how about game 6 a few nights ago. Lakers are up by 25 with 6 minutes or so left in the game. Kobe catches the ball on the left wing and fires a 3 with 15 seconds left on the clock. Why? Please give me a good reason other than fishing for stats. Yeah, that. I could go on. He just fits the role of a Bad Guy (metaphorical) I'm fine with this. The Powers That Be have certainly hyped him up unfairly. But that's their job. It's my job to either fall for it or not. I'm not taking the bait. I think the people who have are mistaken.
Yeah, Kobe acts like an arrogant prick on the court and that probably adds to his reputation, but that's just a small part of it. Truth is, a lot of NBA players are pricks (or act like them). Look at KG with all of his screaming and antics, or Sheed, or Stephen Jackson, just to name a few. The difference is, the NBA doesn't force feed these guys and their antics down our throat. Kobe is different. The guy makes a lot of really stupid plays and he's never called out for it. It's always downplayed, like tonight "sometime's you gotta keep shooting to get your rhythm.. mama there goes that man!" Just call a spade a spade. Note to NBA: your savior isn't that great.
in a game so important, no great player who deserves their due would give a performance like kobe? This game shows that kobe is no jordan? Jordan in a game clinching a title would never ever falter, right bc the ball just doesnt bounce the wrong way in hoops....? Game 6, the game the game the 95-96 bulls won the title against the supersonics. Jordan, shot 26 Percent, 5-22, had 5 turnovers.... Yes they are great, but they both miss as all great players do, its a part of the game, in the end of the day teams win it, cohesiveness and fit wins it, its just a matter of the game, but kobe was one of the best players and helped lead them to the title, just a fact, the guy can do now wrong in some eyes, and in many he can do no right.. . I wish we wuold stop comparing these list who is top 1 or 2, just the fact is both players were great and had a unique dedication and will to win and play hoops, and it was great to watch both of em play!
Well, when people bring up a player to be in GOAT discussions, they'd better have a damn good argument. And there is no such argument for Kobe. He's a great player, top-20, first ballot HOFer whose main claim to fame is being on some very good teams.
way to make up stats. jordan was 5/19 for 22 points with 9 rebounds, 7 assist, and 2 steals in a game 6 that was already out of reach for the sonics
i think kobe's performance is why im so dissapointed with this last game. I was expecting some high drama, last minute heroics or another level type of game play from him (or from the celts) in the fourth. But nothing happened, it was like a scrappy d-league game. i didnt want him to win, but if he did i wanted kobe to make definitive statement of his talent. Its kinda like he won by default, since the celts just couldnt find their offense in the fourth. I mean freaking ron artest hit a bs three, and pau got away with a travel in the closing minutes.
excuse me i said 19 instead of 22, he still shot 26 percent in the game and had 5 turnovers, a very inefficent and not so great game on a game that clinched the title for them. point is not to say mj isn't great or kobe is just like mj, its that all players great or bad have off days and sometimes the nature of hoops the ball doesn't bounce there way, for them to say look at kobe in this game, didnt come through hes not great, he has had the fortune of playing on good teams only reason is his claim for fame? are you kidding me, he won with shaq and gasol, shaq was the main factor but kobe closed games averaged in the 20s and they would not have won without him as well...face it those guys who like to say its because of one or two players or one or two buckets, its a cohesive sport and everybody does their thing, its always going to be won by teams, but the leaders of teams get the glory
But Kobe wasn't the leader of those first three teams and he wasn't the best player in this series either. It's just that the league is so desperate to recreate the MJ phenomenon (when the NBA was making the most most money despite having a generally watered-down league) that they hype this guy. He's a great player, but he's not the player they are making him out to be. When you watch the games you'd think he could do no wrong when in fact he's doing a lot wrong. I mean, 6-24 is historically bad.
