Both of the bolded statements are backed up by his decision. On the Heat, he's the best player, but he's not the guy with the killer instinct. Same article, he says that he doesn't want to wait eight years, he didn't. I don't think he's ring chasing with this team, at least not how we have defined ring chasing in the past, like Karl Malone, Gary Payton, Ron Artest, Rasheed Wallace etc. going to championship teams.
Jordan didn't join the Pistons in 90-91. Kobe didn't join the Celtics in 08-09 because they're beaten up. They simply came back and returned the fashion. They could still be the best player in Pistons and Celtics if they did. But that's not even in their mind. They are not LeBron, who's just a coattail rider.
1) how the hell were the celtics going to sign kobe? when kobe demanded to be traded and this kind of situation opened up, how do you know he wouldn't do the same? he wanted to be traded until the gasol trade went down. if gasol never came, trust me, he would have bounced to another team with the quickness. 2) umm... pippen came into the league in 87. by 90-91, pippen put up 22, 9, and 6. jordan knew he had a great and top 5 player sidekick who was still young. you think jordan was stupid? seriously, reason out your thoughts.
Kobe never wanted to leave LA, he's making a point, bring some quality player better than Kwame. That's similar to how CP3 is demanding a trade now, he just wants some help. That's very different from LeBron's situation. You don't win 2MVP out of 2 best records and cry for help. That's like Kobe bolted for Mavs or Spurs after they won in west and MVP in 08 but no match in finals against Celtics.
They can always force a trade and something can be worked out. If you just want to be a 2nd fiddle, it's not that difficult.
Why would the Lakers, who have Kobe under contract and are an NBA finalist, agree to trade him to Boston, their biggest competition for the championship? That makes no sense at all. No offense, but you seem to just be making up things as you go...
he met with OTHER teams dude. he was threatening them. if the lakers never got pau, do you think he would have stayed? that should be an easy answer to a kobe fan like you. the lakers were ready to trade him (esp. buss) b/c he put the lakers' organization under the bus. but i think cupcake pulled the trade of the century for pau. PS - he did talk to the mavs during his quest to get "better" teammates. the lakers were entertaining a trade kobe v. dirk but cuban said no. imagine that, an owner saying no to a trade for kobe. so no, kobe would do the same if pau wasn't pulled in. and plus, this kind of free agency never happened back then where all the great players are free agents at the same time. how would you know kobe wouldn't have done the same thing? oh, you're "thinking" kobe won't do that right? great answer.
So you're saying Wade isn't in their league? Wade's probably the best of all of them, although I fear Bryant the most. I think it's the consensus that those 3 guys are pretty much 1a, b, and c in the league right now. Boston went from 29 to 61 wins with Bird being the only significant addition. You're right, they got good fast BECAUSE OF LARRY BIRD.
Maybe not that year, but the year before that, e.g. Kobe could have replaced RA in Celtics trade. Think about that. Kobe got no MVP but generally considered the best player at that time. But no, Kobe never had that kind of mentality. He wanted to win, but he wanted to win as da man.
What are you talking about? He's not a FA, he couldn't do that at all. All he did was barking in parking lot to a noname fan. And we wouldn't even know if there's youtube. BTW, Lakers had the best record in west before Bynum was injured that year. And if they didn't trade Gasol, they'd still have Marc for the 2nd season by now, along with Kwame's expiring contract that would get some quality return anyway. They may as well win one ring if not two by now.
It's easier to be great defensively when you have someone to bail you out on offense (Jordan). People thought he was top 3 maybe until he left Chicago. Much like people think Gasol is great now since he joined up with Bryant. Yeah, Boozer was terrible, which explains Utah offering him a huge contract to leave Cleveland. Guys who are 'a dime a dozen' get 80 million dollar deals all the time.
Kareem may have won the MVP, but who played center in the finals when they won the championship? Are you now comparing Worthy to Wade? In what universe is Worthy good enough to carry a team to a title like Wade did? Which of Gasol, Bynum, or Odom is good enough to carry a team to a title like Wade did? No. Bird improved the team by 30+ wins by himself. See my earlier post. Neither Pippen, nor McHale, nor Robinson were good enough to lead their team to a title like Wade did. This is not opinion, it actually happened. Sorry.
^shaq averaged 19 points and 10 boards in the entire 05-06 playoff run for the heat. wade averaged 28, 6, 6. the distribution is similar to kobe and pau. i wouldn't call that "carrying" the heat to the finals. if you had said wade carried the heat in the last FOUR games v. the mavs for them to win te finals, then you're right. he was absolutely monstrous in those 4 games. he didn't carry them the entire postseason like you are implying.
"There's magic in the number three." -- Dwyane Wade LOL, you think that's crowning LeBron to the da man?
i said when the season starts. right now, wade has history with the heat. bron hasn't played a game for the heat yet. let lebron suit up for the heat and see what happens. if you're the best player in the NBA, you'll let it be known regardless of who you play with.
I don't know man. Think of Kobe bolted to Spurs or Mavs after MVP season 08 because Gasol was not good enough. MJ bolted to NYK, LAL after 1990 because Pippen was not good enough. That'd be hilarious. They'd still be best player in respective team and won championships. But they'd always be losers in my book.
Well, he wasn't top 3 when he left Chicago because he was well past his prime. He was considered a top player in the league around the middle of the first threepeat, and particularly after MJ retired the first time, when Pippen led the Bulls to the conference Finals and actually was voted #3 for MVP. So it's not MJ made him; he would have undoubtedly put up much bigger numbers without MJ (since that's exactly what he did). Boozer isn't a scrub but he's nowhere near a great player. He is one of those guys who puts up good numbers but has so many holes in his game that his net contribution isn't that great. If you honestly think he has ever been on the level of Gasol you don't know anything about basketball. Gasol is better offensively and much better defensively and has been his entire career. The guy was one of the most underrated players in the league in Memphis and is still somehow underrated on this board.
