i only list stats, because they are the only things that override all of ya'lls ridiculous opinions... and Penny got hurt, Kobe is still awesome, and Wade was rookie of the year without shaq... the one thing you are forgetting about this great "team" player is that he has had a feud with all of his superstar guards... Is it always the guards fault? I think not he IS the best and most dominat player ever, but to simply say Kobe is a hog is just not just... There is no one on that team that he can reliably go to for help. and as for the other guy, Kobe shot 38%, not 30%... and if you going to tell me it is all the same thing, then how about you give me 8% of your pay checks each month... Try scoring on Tayshawn Prince... It isn't as easy as it looks! You fail to mention that in the Conference Finals against San Antonio, he shot 42% and averaged 6.5 assists and in the Conference Semifinals, he shot 46% and averaged 6.0 assists Shaq had such an easy ride throughout his career, because the only dominant big men (Ewing, Hakeem) were both at the end of their lines... All he had to contest with was Duncan, and everything else was a huge mismatch, because the game was transcending... he is and will be the last dominant, "true center" Kobe on the other hand, has Lebron, T-Mac, Pierce, Hamilton, Wade, Carter, etc... to contend with
:lol: Lebron must be pissed that they stripped him of the NBA rookie of the year award and gave it to Wade:rofl: Kobe is awesome but he ain't no Shaq... I'd take the pre-rape kobe over the new kobe.. I'd also take the current Lebron and D Wade over the current Kobe...
you're right... Lebron did win it... but D-Wade got out of the 1st round his rookie year, b/c he beat the Hornets... and you guys all don't get it... I am not here to argue that kobe is the greatest thing since sliced bread... this all started with me defending him when people said he was just a ball-hog... and that is NOT true... and if Wade was as good as Kobe, why aren't the heat winning titles every year? lord knows the heat's supporting cast is much better than the lakers one used to be... Lebron is better though.. I agree there
:rofl: :rofl: The post-rape KOBE would not pass vs. the Pistons in 04.. He had a bad shoulder and was jacking up horrible shots. Shaq was pulling his end of the deal in the finals.... HMM... I hope you're right about the supporting cast thing. Horry, Fisher, Fox, Grant, Harper, Rice and Co.. all played well for the Lakers in 00 01 and 02 title years.. I'm not arguing with you. I liked the pre-rape Kobe.. He helped the Lakers win 3 titles. He's been a head case since he raped (allegedly)that white chick in CO... Shaq fared much better last year vs. the Pistons. Lost in game 7 by a few points... Shaq led the Magic to the Finals in his second year in the league, The Lakers 4 times and hopefully can help Miami see the finals this season.. Kobe has won 0 playoff series w/o the big fella.. Kobe needs Shaq alot more than Shaq needs Kobe
I think Kobe just needs 1 more piece... but time will tell... and the whole piston thing is overrated, b/c Malone couldn't play, and payton was literally shooting 10% from the arc, so kobe was naturally left open sometimes... And you want some interesting stuff about Kobe? go read the police transcript of his interview with the cops when the whole rape stuff 1st came up... it'll give you perspective about the character of a lot of NBA ballers, and it isn't a good thing :nope: and i'll take Haslem, Wade, Williams, Walker, Posey, Damon Jones (last year), Eddie Jones (last year) over those old laker guys... I, for one, think Stan Van Gundy should be their coach, and that they shouldn't have gotten white chocolate and Toine', but i'm not the coach
Can you believe that NO big NBA stars want to play in LA for the Lakers alongside Kobe? Dude is mental... Good luck with Lamar Odem... Everyone wants to play with Shaq, even the older not as dominate Shaq... He makes his teammates better.. History proves it.. Kobe didn't make too many friends when he tried to rat out Shaq and others to the cops about their alleged affairs while on the road... TRASH Phil Jackson wanted Kobe off the team in 04 when the rape investigation was going on. Shaq talked Phil into letting Kobe stay on the active roster that season... Just to find out later in the season Kobe was running his mouth to the cops... WHAT A TEAMMATE!
he didn't rat out anyone in the transcript i read... the one released by the cops... all this ratting out shaq stuff was just media b/s according to phil's book... and come on, man, the lakers had only 1 summer with kobe as the big-time guy... there was no big-name FA who was going to go to LA last summer... Expect to see a possible KG sighting in the near future though
Well if you want to talk stats.....Kobe did shoot 38% in the finals that year including 17% from 3 , BUT Shaq shot 63% while averaging more points than kobe....and averaging less turnovers per game....and that was against the front line of Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace i mean kobe could have at least averaged more than 2.8 rebounds per game
The Laker will not win anything with Kobe. Once they decided to keep Kobe and build their franchise around him, the Laker decided that post-season success was not important.
i'll save that message for next year around this time... b/c i think it will be pretty funny to some then
