Add the fact that he scored 1200 on his SAT's and could have gone to any school he chose, and to it that he could speak fluent Italian and some French........he's just blessed but not humble enough, hence the "Hateration" He's been adored and over protected since he was born. Spoiled SOB.
I beg to differ, not a Kobe fan, actually I despise him, but Tracy is no where close to Kobe as a defender (and I mean all aspects of defending the ball, man to man, or on the ball). For me it is this simple. Kobe is more ruthless and cut-throat than Tracy. His Will to win is off the charts, just like MJ's. Tracy needs to acquire some back bone. Tracy would take the game off if he had a cold
the fact he took moesha out and took him to his place... to watch himself on video playing basketball... actual, I like that about kobe! screw brandi, she looks like fish!
Is 81 pts impressive? Damn right! Do I still hate Kobe? Absolutely. Will T-Mac drop 80+ anytime soon? Probably not. Will Kobe drop 80+ anytime soon? Probably not. Who is a better all-around individual player? Probably Kobe. Who would most GMs rather have on his team? Definitely T-Mac. Why? B/c Kobe goes out for his own numbers, while T-Mac goes out for the team. If T-Mac's shot is off, he's looking to contribute in other ways and get his teammates more involved. If Kobe's shot is off, he'll keep shooting.
Duncan's team is tied for division lead for a lot of reasons besides him. He's playing with the 2nd best point guard in the league (Nash being 1st). They have Ginobli, Finley, an All-Defensive team member in Bowen and a strong bench. Now look at Kobe....The players around him are horrible. Even I have a strong dislike for Kobe, but must admit when they get more talent around him in LA they will be contenders for some time.
Just to throw a random thought into this discussion, I was wondering, why in the world didn't the Raptors double Kobe at all? This was confirmed in the chron article where McGrady called Mike James and James said they didn't double him all night. It just doesn't make sense! When the Rockets played Toronto a few weeks back, McGrady was double or triple teamed the ENTIRE game and it really threw him off. He had to defer to his teammates and we all know the outcome of that game. So ... seeing as to how much the Raptors feared T-mac, why in the world did Sam Mitchell let Kobe run amok on the Raptors??? I just can't figure out a reason ...
you guys can keep saying T-Mac is a better "team" player as much as you want but the facts just don't back that up. Sure Kobe is egotistical but there are a lot of intangiles that I'm sure a lot of gms will take. Kobe also shoots a better percentage so the opinion that T-Mac won't keep shooting when his shot is off is just that, an opnion.
Regardless of what happens, we all know all the best players out there will be aiming for 80+ too now that they've seen Kobe do it. It'll definitely be interesting.
just a side note: it was really a scary game for kobe, according to an espn article, it was 81 points in Kobe's 666th game. demon eh?
Kobe has not been a better shooter than McGrady, that's your opinion. He's on a tear right now, but their career averages are so similar, it's scary (go to the NBA.com player profile and compare both...almost identical numbers over their careers). Also, if you want to talk about shooting, McGrady has a much better range than Kobe does. Kobe takes it inside more than McGrady does at this point of his career, and not because McGrady doesn't like playing inside, but because he can't do it consistently at this point or he re-aggrevates his back; if you watched him in Orlando, he went inside a lot of times. You're saying the "facts" don't back up the claim that McGrady is the better team player...care to share those "facts" and hard stats with us? I think that's a subjective opinion, so I don't think you can put the word "fact" in front of your opinion. Consider this: as crazy as Kobe is playing this season (easily his best season in his career stats-wise), he's shooting a whopping 2% higher than a hobbled McGrady.
Both are great players. I wish T-Mac will not try to take part in this pointless scoring race until he win his first championship ring for Rockets. They have different goals. T-Mac is still fighting for his first ring while Kobe already have 3. Please note that for all those 3 rings Kobe won, the MVP titles were all given to Shaq. I think that more or less "hurt" Kobe. The crazy scoring plays Kobe demonstrated this season make me believe that he is chasing for his own/personal title instead of a team success this year. I honesty pity for Lakers and Jackson. Do you think there is any credit left to Jackson for winning after that 81-point play by Kobe? Player playing the way Kobe did means nothing but one word, selfish. BTW, I think part of the reasons why Kobe can score that much in Mavs and Raptors games was due to their "wear-out-kobe' tactics (just let him score but seal off other players), like Mavs did to T-Mac and Yao in last playoff games. It just doesn't work to Kobe this time. Or I simply don't understand why they didn't double-team Kobe after scoring 30 or 40+ in their games.
Let's be honest, Bryant may not be the best overall player in the league, but definitely is the best scorer. After all, he is playing SG position and his primary job is to shoot the ball, and don't overlook the fact that he made more than half of his shots, include 3's. If there is anyone come close to score that many points in the next decades, it will be Bryant or L. James. Neither TMac, nor AI has the stamina to take that many shot, and keep a high percentage. BTW, I'm a KB hater, believe the guy is guilty, should be put behind the bar.
I agree with that, that was an amazing scoring feat what he did, and I agree that no one likely has that type of stamina to be able to put up as many shots or score that much again...I just don't see it. Kobe has amazing stamina.
