3 replies to this topic

[Red94]

New post: [video] Kobe, postgame after loss to Rockets

[Jeby]

I've never been a big fan of Kobe (understatement), but had come to respect his game more over the last couple years. But this season I got league pass, have been watching quite a few Laker games, and the respect has started to slide.

Defenders are afraid to breathe on Kobe unlike any other player in the league. This season I have seen a foul called for contact between Kobe's feet brushing into his defenders chest on a fadeaway. In last nights game, Harden was called for a foul in which Kobe pump-faked Harden into jumping straight up, then he pivoted forward and thrust his elbows into Harden's chest on the way down before shooting. The impact of calls like that isn't in the number of times Kobe goes to the line, it's in the amount of space he has to work with on the following possessions.
When LeBron rains down 28-foot three pointers like fire and brimstone or makes a one-man stampede to the rim, I see greatness.
When I watch Kobe standing at the line after missed fadeaways, I see a league protecting its investment in lucrative franchise and in a man who was prematurely anointed as the Next Jordan.

[Ostrow]

Kobe's career is at the end. You can't really compare current Kobe to old Kobe or LeBron.

[Jeby]

Current Kobe's scoring numbers and efficency are actually better than old Kobe's and similar to LeBron's. My point is that if his name was not Kobe Bryant and his jersey did not say "Large revenue strea"--excuse me--"Lakers" on the front, I don't think he'd have the space to score at this rate.