Some thoughts on Kobe

[Admin]

I am a big Kobe fan. Always have been, probably always will be. Always said he is better than T-Mac, probably will always think that.

Last night I saw a different side to Kobe than I have ever seen before. He looked like he was honestly enjoying himself. Sure they were beating up on the Hawks, but he was joking around with teammates and he was encouraging Josh Smith on a couple of plays that I remember. I think its possible that we might see an entirely new Kobe this year, someone who is just completely unstoppable. I dont think anyone would argue who saw the game last night that he could have scored 50 or more if he had wanted to, but he was setting up his teammates and doing the little things to help the team win.

[Lascar78]

I don't think anyone has ever questioned Kobe's ability to score. What is questionned is his ability to lead a team to wins. He looked good yesterday and against the nuggs, not so good against the Jazz though. We'll see in the long run. Regardless, it's evident that he enjoys playing with more freedom without having to defer to Shaq. He probably will only regret it once he gets bounced out of the first round.

[cyman3]

i like kobe. as equally as i like shaq and other guys like Tmac. but i agree with u, id take Kobe over Tmac (mainly for defensive purposes- seems like Kobe brings it more than Tmac on defense).

however, thats not to say i like kobe MORE than these other players.

this year, ive seen 2 sides of KOBE.

1)KOBE (vs SPURS)- at times he was so frustrated, he wanted to win so BADLY, he tries to just DOMINATE and take over instead of letting the game get to him. it seems like at times, he has this some sort of "distrust" in his teammates if they miss 1 shot or so.

2)The KOBE bryant that helped CHRIS MIHM put up career numbers in their first win.

ive seen kobe get frustrated (in the SPURS game) and i think there will be more nights like that (not a lot, but he'll get his share of frustrating games).

HOWEVER, i dont see him kicking the ball and gettin himself ejected left and right like TMAC did last year. but then again, TMACs team was REALLY REALLY bad last year. but kobe is too big of a competitor to do that. unless the team is down by 20 with 2 minutes left, u will see Kobe out there trying his hardest and playin the game as if it was his last game.

[Diesel]

Hate to break it to you....

Kobe is trying to be Jordan. He's just imitating what he has seen without understanding who Jordan really is. His Whole Life has been a failed imitation of Jordan.

Is Kobe better than TMAC? I don't know. I think right now, Kobe has a much better cast than Tmac had with the Magic... Let's see if the Lakers can win 42 games...

There's a lot of things Kobe wants but I think he lacks the mental makeup to get them. You have to read Phil's Book. He showcases a different Kobe. The selfish guy that I knew Kobe was. Phil has no reason to lie. The Whole Laker team was so shot up because of Kobe. His personality sabatoged there run for the rings.

[cyman3]

1)Kobe is trying to be Jordan

Yes that is true. hes wants to be JORDAN #2. but so does LEBRON JAMES. i mean, who doesnt want be MJ?

2)His Whole Life has been a failed imitation of Jordan.

C'MON diesel. has the guy even reached the HALF-POINT of his career? the guy has many years left to prove hes as close of an imitation of JORDAN as it gets in the NBA.

3)Is Kobe better than TMAC? offensively, they both bring it. w/ Shaq or w/o Shaq, kobe is not going to struggle puttin up numbers. its just that matter of "W"s when u lose Shaq. as far as individual numbers, it wont affect Kobe at all.

The difference b/t KOBE and TMAC is defense. i think kobe is a top perimeter defender in the league. i think TMAC is capable of being a top defender, but rather saves his energy for offense. but then again, it could be cuz he was on one of the least talented teams in the NBA last year.

4)Kobe has a much better cast than Tmac had with the Magic?

im going to argue w/ that one. that Magic team was horrible. out of their starting lineup- i think only GOODEN/HOWARD are capable of starting for other teams and even taht might be stretchin it a little (howard/gooden are only good enuf to start for SOME of the teams in the NBA).

i rather have ODOM + GRANT + BUTLER than GOODEN + HOWARD + LUE (who by the way should NOT be starting for any team in the NBA. only play as a backup player)

5)You have to read Phil's Book. He showcases a different Kobe.

i havent read it yet, but i plan to! ur right, Phil has no reason to lie. however, dont think this whole lakers franchised was demolished just cuz of KOBE.

Yes, KOBE is selfish (however to a degree- all great players are). But then again, SHAQ is a 13 year old kid. a selfish kid and a 13 year old will ALWAYS FIGHT and both are too stubborn to let it go.

im sure PHIL has his attacks on SHAQ as well as KOBE.

[BritishKnights]

Kobe has a stupid name, what kind of name is Kobe? that name sucks...and so does his attitude...he has a really rotten attitude...he does want to be Jordan i swear i think he even tries to talk like Michael Jordan...He wont ever be Michael Jordan though because his name is Kobe...and Michael is a much nicer name, a good Christian name...and Kobe is anti-christian...he broke one of the 10 commandments, maybe he isnt a rapist but he certainly is an adulterer...Kobe sucks at life, I wish shaq would do some Shaq-Fu on him

[Diesel]

At first I used to believe that both Shaq and Kobe were selfish, but now, I think it was really mostly Kobe who wasn't a team player....

Here's an excerpt from The Last Season.

Quote:

---

I nodded. The next subject was Shaquille. "Will Shaq's presence on this team color your decision to come back or not?" I asked him.

"Yes, it does," he said.

"There's no doubt about that," he said. "I've done that for eight years with him, but I'm tired of being a sidekick." His sentiment came as no surprise, obviously. In the last few years the entire city of Los Angeles has heard many times from many "sources" that Kobe was no longer willing to play a subservient role to Shaquille. But to hear it in the words of the only source that matters, to hear Kobe say "sidekick," really struck me. I told Kobe I hoped he would find happiness in basketball and in his life, and that his family would remain intact after everything that had transpired in the last year. The meeting was over.

I understand why the Lakers treat Kobe as their most valuable asset. The kid will be twenty-six in August. His ability to take over a game, to make an impossible play, is unmatched. Yet it needs to be remembered that Kobe is still an employee, and that he needs direction and guidance in a way that helps him mature into the kind of adult we hope he can be. Kobe is missing out by not finding a way to become part of a system that involves giving to something larger than himself. He could have been the heir apparent to [Michael Jordan] and maybe won as many championships. He may still win a championship or two, but the boyish hero image has been replaced by that of a callous gun for hire.

---

Quote:

---

OCTOBER 28

Los Angeles

After going 3-5 during the exhibition season we started serious preparations a few days ago for, at long last, tonight's opener at Staples against the Dallas Mavericks. While we put together probably only one decent half in eight games, this is a veteran group that will know how to perform when everything matters. This being the Lakers, the longest-running soap opera in professional sports, there has been plenty of intrigue off the court over the last seventy-two hours. The stars of the newest episode? Why, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, of course. Their most recent feud had taken place in early 2001. After a two-year hiatus, the duo have reunited -- wrong word, I suppose -- for a sequel. I heard the news while checking out video of the Mavericks, trying to devise a game plan to disrupt their highly explosive attack. There was a knock at the door. Kobe walked in, anxious to talk about another highly explosive attack.

"He popped off," Kobe said. I did not have to ask who "he" was.

"You're kidding me," I said. "What did he say?"

"Did you read the paper? It's in the paper," he said.

It was in the paper, all right, Shaq suggesting that for the Lakers to be successful this season, Kobe, who played in only two exhibition contests, needed to rely more on his teammates until he regained his full strength.

"Is this what you're talking about?" I asked Kobe.

"Yeah," he said.

"Kobe, what's wrong with this?" I said. "Shaq is right. This is exactly what we want you to do." ....

But the anger did not disappear. After practice, Kobe fired back at Shaquille, through the press, exactly as he promised he would in August. "I definitely don't need advice on how to play my game," he said. "I know how to play my guard spot. He can worry about the low post." The war was on.

"He doesn't need advice on how to play his position," Shaquille said, "but he needs advice on how to play team ball. If it's going to be my team, I'll voice my opinion. If he don't like it, he can opt out."

On and on it went, the two protagonists in top form. Why don't the two get along? I have my theories, one of which is that Shaquille is making the type of money -- about $25 million a year -- that Kobe will never earn due to the changes in the league's collective bargaining agreement. No matter how many MVP trophies Kobe might collect in the decade ahead, there is nothing he can do about this discrepancy. In fact, the word I got was that Kobe was the only player in the entire league who voted against the agreement because of the cap it put on salaries.

The newspapers, needless to say, have treated the Kobe-Shaq feud as if it were the second coming of Cain versus Abel. IT'S THE RETURN OF STAR WARS was the headline in the [Los Angeles] Times. The story was destined to last for days and days, every basketball reporter in the city, maybe the nation, on a scavenger hunt for the next insult or innuendo to filter through the grapevine. There was only so much the Lakers could do to try to tame the beast, and whatever we were going to do, we had to act fast. I placed a call to the therapist. "Get them apart," he recommended. "Tell them that what they're saying about each other is not doing anybody any good." He mentioned a psychological term for this damage-control strategy: suppression. I took Shaq aside, and Mitch found Kobe.

"We can't have this," I told Shaq. "This isn't right. We're on a mission, and we want nothing more in the press." Shaq was not in the mood to suppress anything. "Phil, I have a stepbrother," he explained, "and when I was young, I was the outcast. Everything I did was wrong and everything he did was okay even though he did stuff that I could never get away with. If I tried to do it, they would have beaten the heck out of me. It's the same situation with Kobe. He ends up getting an operation from some doctor, who knows where, and I end up getting an operation and I'm the one criticized for it. I end up looking like crap in this thing, and he can do whatever he wants. I'd like to pound the chump." I empathized with Shaq but I told him the team needed to put the feud behind it as soon as possible. He agreed to keep quiet. This was another example of the basic difference between him and Kobe. Ask Shaq to do something and he'll say: "No, I don't want to do that." But after a little pouting, he will do it. Ask Kobe, and he'll say, "okay," and then he will do whatever he wants. Against our instructions, Kobe did an interview with ESPN, vowing that if he were to leave the Lakers at the end of the season, it would be due to Shaq's "childlike selfishness and jealousy." So much for suppression.

---

Just a tidbit...