Kobe did no such thing, it is just Revisionist history on the part of a Kobe-hater. Charlett drafted Kobe and Jerry West engineered a trade for Kobe, giving up a 27-yr old starting center named Vlade Divac. at the time, LA was in the midst of post-Magic Johnson funk, never advancing past the 2nd round of the playoff--- FAR FROM BEING THE BEST TEAM in its conference, never mind the league. stop making things up; i am embarrassed for you
Its funny how people change history. When Kobe was by himself and was "the man", the Lakers sucked. Kobe whined and moaned and made a total spectacle of himself until the queationable Gasol trade. The idea that Kobe did it the hard way is ridiculous. The guy whined in moaned to get on a contending team when he was drafted (LeBron didn't) then he whined and moaned when he got rid of Shaq and realized he couldn't do it by himself (LeBron didn't do that either). The bottom line is you need at least two high caliber players to win a championship.
You're right I don't know where he got that from. From this video and the video I posted in the first page. It was obvious that the Lakers wanted Kobe and were willing to take a risk to get him. <object width="640" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/K3un_Y9HzW8&hl=en_US&fs=1?color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/K3un_Y9HzW8&hl=en_US&fs=1?color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object>
Kobe cried like a b**** realizing he would never win without Shaq, became a drama queen, then had Gasol fall in his lap. That's a 1/10000000 occurrence.
At the 1996 draft, business compelled Bryant to bluff his way out of New Jersey and into Hollywood. His agent, Arn Tellem, and sneaker benefactor, Sonny Vaccaro, told the Nets their client would play in Italy if they had the nerve to pick him. The Nets blinked at No. 8, Bryant fell to Charlotte at No. 13, and the Lakers sent Vlade Divac to the Hornets in a pre-arranged trade
stop lying. when Jerrry West traded for the 17-yr Kobe, Shaq was still an usigned free agent. as my previous post said, LA Lakers team was suffering the pain of the post-Magic Johnson era, never advancing pass the 2nd round. After Johnson retired in 1992 to 1997 (the year that both Kobe and Shaq joined the team, the Lakers were probably 4-7th best team in the WC---FAR FROM BEING A CHAMPIONSHIP CALIBER TEAM so, stop lying stop lying. if anybody ran Shaq out of town, it was Shaq himself. every year, he reported to camp out of shape, which caused many of his injuries. he refused to have sugery during the off-season, instead opted to have the surgery during the season. with all these marks against him, he demanded the owner to give him another max contract 2 years before the current contract ran out. Shaq tried to publicized his contract negotiation and called the owner a cheap skate. Shaq action forced the owner's hand, who realized that he can afford only one max contract. Jerry Buss opted for the 24 yr-old Kobe, always in shaped never injured, instead of the 31 year old Shaq, often out of shape and injury-prone. it was an easy decision.
Dude you are making things up. Kobe pushed the deal. He WHINED about playing for Charlotte. Just like every other player who has forced a draft day trade. Why in the world would Charlotte trade for Vlade Divac??? Please!!! The Lakers wern't the best team in the league, but they were making the playoffs. Far from where the Cavs were which was rock bottom. Kobe is a great player, but his career did not start the same way Michael Jordan and LeBron James did. He began on the historically second best franchise in the league that was already winning. James and Jordan started on historically losing teams.
haha its obvious im failing here! this is what get for having four hours of sleep my bad guys lol :grin:
There's also this: The Hornets had invited Bryant for a workout, but he cancelled the visit. The team had scouted Bryant twice but wanted a private workout to get a better feel for his potential. "He wouldn't work out with us and that bothered us," Bass [Charlotte VP who made the deal with the Lakers] said. "We couldn't meet him. His agent was trying to aim him to the Lakers and they threatened us." The Hornets got the message that if they drafted Bryant, he wouldn't play in Charlotte. They weren't the only team to be warned off taking Bryant for their own. The New Jersey Nets, coached by John Calipari, considered Bryant with the eighth pick but chose Villanova's Kerry Kittles after hearing a similar message. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/03/05/1289903/passing-on-kobe.html
The only relevant distinctions are these: (1) Kobe didn't quit while playing against the Celtics D. (2) Kobe never staged a prime time event about his free agency decision.
are you that dense. at the time what has Kobe done? he was but an unproven 17-yr high schooler who plays the 2 or 3. at least KG was a 7-footer. what has Divac done, a 7-foot Center w 7 years NBA experienc, with a ppg in the 12-15 range. many in the league thought Jerry West had lost his marble giving aways a proven 7-foot starting center for an unproved 17-yr old high schooler.
Well there can't be a comparison with James and Jordan anymore. That's over. Jordan would have never left the Bulls. Lebron had a chance to be something special. He will never be "the guy" again. There is no argument there. It's not even like Lebron had a bad team. They had the best record in the NBA? I'm not hating on the fact that he left. I just don't ever want to hear Micheal Jordan and Lebron James in the same sentence ever again. If anyone is compared to Jordan it is Kobe. And he still is not Jordan!
People are upset because we wanted to see Lebron be IMMORTAL, or at past try to be. Since he was 16 we have been hearing of him being the goat. People wanted to see him lead a team whether it's Cleveland, new york or another to a championship, to be considered among the greatest of the greats. We, all his fans, felt he could do it. We are upset that LeCoward didn't believe in himself and was scared of the challenge, he didn't embrace it. Like someone else said, people love a hero, Lebron has become villain.
