141 replies to this topic

[rockets best fan]

Los Angeles Lakers Team Salary
Read more at http://www.hoopsworl...MCKcQJhgXUGz.99

[kevingan]

I was also watching, I was also in shock. I can't say I loved his game--too selfish too often, when he knew the right way to play--but his drive to win is undeniable, his work ethic second to none, and he is a great, gifted athlete.  So I'm very sad to see this happen.

 

In a way, though, I find it a heroic way to go out: he was carrying a mediocre team into the playoffs exactly as he'd promised, and performing at an unbelievable level; the game before  this one has to be on the list of anyone's greatest games ever.  Yes, it was too many minutes, but that's why he was heroic, and he fell in battle, as heroes always do in the end.  I actually think this season and the way it's ended for him makes him a genuine legend: before he was a great player, but now he's a tragic hero.

 

Of course, if anyone could come back and still do great work at the age of 36, it would be Kobe....in a way, though, for the reasons I've written, I'd almost prefer that this be the end.

 

In any case, good luck, Kobe: you made me a believer!

[phaketrash]

hmm, maybe no amnesty and maybe not out all season.

 

http://espn.go.com/l...chilles-surgery

 

That seems like good news. Sounds like we'd see him by all star break!

[rockets best fan]

hmm, maybe no amnesty and maybe not out all season.

 

http://espn.go.com/l...chilles-surgery

 

That seems like good news. Sounds like we'd see him by all star break!

problem for the lakers FO is will that be enough to convince d-12 to hang aroung

[phaketrash]

problem for the lakers FO is will that be enough to convince d-12 to hang aroung

 

That and $30M extra dollars More importantly, I think Dwight really enjoys being in LAL. Now he'd be the de factor center of attention...I don't think that is worse, not playing under Kobe's shadow and critiques for most of the season.

[rockets best fan]

That and $30M extra dollars More importantly, I think Dwight really enjoys being in LAL. Now he'd be the de factor center of attention...I don't think that is worse, not playing under Kobe's shadow and critiques for most of the season.

we have already gotten into the money issues and know it's not 30 mil, however that aside......whether kobe is able to come back as the same player or not he is still in the twilight years of his career. sure he has still been the mamba, but will he still be the mamba and for how long. nash clearly is only a shell of the player he once was and he is at odds with d-12. gasol's future is unset. d-12 and the coach are clearly at odds and the rest of the band of players are misfits at best......I agree he might like LA, but has a lot to weigh and the see saw appears to be leaning more and more the other way

[thenit]

It wouldn't surprise me if Pau and Howard becomse the Twin Towers and dominates down low and gets to the NBA finals and win it if Nash can come back.

[rockets best fan]

It wouldn't surprise me if Pau and Howard becomse the Twin Towers and dominates down low and gets to the NBA finals and win it if Nash can come back.

I disagree.....nash is not the same player he once was. in addition.....without kobe, the fact the lakers have no bench and the lack speed and quickness at the wing positions probably means even if they make the playoffs and that's a big IF, they will be toast in the first round against any top team in the west

[thenit]

I think they will do fine even without Nash, Pau looked good last night and D12 will love being THE MAN without being in kobe's shadow

[phaketrash]

we have already gotten into the money issues and know it's not 30 mil, however that aside......whether kobe is able to come back as the same player or not he is still in the twilight years of his career. sure he has still been the mamba, but will he still be the mamba and for how long. nash clearly is only a shell of the player he once was and he is at odds with d-12. gasol's future is unset. d-12 and the coach are clearly at odds and the rest of the band of players are misfits at best......I agree he might like LA, but has a lot to weigh and the see saw appears to be leaning more and more the other way

 

Oh I hope so. There are soooo many good reasons for Dwight to come to HTown. Do it Dwight, do it. I only wonder if we'd keep Asik or not...I mean, go for Dwight regardless, but that becomes interesting.

[rockets best fan]

I think they will do fine even without Nash, Pau looked good last night and D12 will love being THE MAN without being in kobe's shadow

but who's going to man the remaining positions?

[rockets best fan]

Oh I hope so. There are soooo many good reasons for Dwight to come to HTown. Do it Dwight, do it. I only wonder if we'd keep Asik or not...I mean, go for Dwight regardless, but that becomes interesting.

our chances of d-12 coming here just improved (IMO)

[thenit]

They just need steve blake to feed the towers. All this is based on gut feeling

[thenit]

there will be plenty of shots, so D12 and Pau will get in rhytm. It will be lethal.

[Red94]

New post: More thoughts on Kobe, Howard implications
By: rahat huq

When I first sat down to write this, at 6AM this morning, the shock from last night had still not worn off.  I moved onto other priorities and in the twelve hours since, have had some time to reflect and understand my emotions.

A reader mentioned that upon hearing the news, he really felt nothing.  He speculated that this was due to his age.  I think he was right on point.

I'm 28 years old.  I started watching the NBA in 1993 when I was 8.  Jordan was gone.  I didn't even really appreciate Hakeem.  When Jordan came back and finished out, I still really didn't think much of it.  I hadn't been invested as a spectator from the start of his career.



In my viewing life, the "ultra-greats"--those guys you could put in a top-10/top-15 of all-time discussion--who I've seen from start to finish were Shaq, Duncan, Garnett, and Kobe.  The former 3, while still effective, all faded into supporting roles towards their later years (or in Shaq's case into a complete caricature of himself on TNT.)  Duncan and Garnett obviously are still playing.  The greats regarding whom I was not invested (due to my age and not having seen them from the start) were the likes of Hakeem and Barkley.  They too faded but they too had going away tours.  You knew it was coming.

The Kobe news hits so hard because it represents the fall of the most iconic player of my childhood's generation, at his supreme peak, completely unwarned.  There was no tour; we didn't see it coming; it just happened.  In the midst of what might have been his greatest season ever.  It's just shock.  Almost like the assassination of a President.

You look back on Bryant's career with amazement.  Consider: his 'peers', essentially, were Vince Carter, Allen Iverson, and Tracy McGrady, the latter two of whom now reside in China, with the former being considered a 'surprise' for his contributions as a role-player.  Bryant, at 34, will likely again make the All-NBA team.

I watched every minute of that game live and he actually got injured two other times, earlier on.  After "the injury", it still didn't click.  You saw him limping back to the bench after those two free throws but you knew he'd just come right back in later on.  You saw it happen, something that, if it happened to anyone else, you'd immediately conceptualize the severity, but with Bryant, you just assumed it wasn't serious.  There is no comparison between an injury and death.  But a quote from Notorious B.I.G. regarding Tupac's death comes to mind:

Quote:

so when they were like he got shot i was like again? ya know what im saying hes always getting shot or shot at. he gonna pull through this one again make a few records about it and its gonna be over ya know what im saying? but when he died i was just like wow..

The irony of Bryant is that he's probably the most overrated player in basketball history, or, at the least, in modern history.  It's the arduousness of his supporters (in their 'count the rings' illogicalities) which actually takes away from a proper appreciation of what the man meant to this sport.  When he's talked about as the 'greatest ever' and protected of his flaws, it dampens the certitude of the stuff that put him amongst the greatest.  He wasn't the best.  But he was the most committed and dedicated to his craft, perhaps ever.  He was an artist who put supreme diligence to the honing of his skill.  He approached his trade in a manner not humanly possible.  For that we can only revere him.

This reads like an obituary but Kobe will be back.  I wish it weren't the case.  Just like I wish Jordan hadn't come back in Washington.  He'll work his tail off in rehab and probably crack 20 points per game once again, just on the strength of his fundamentals.  But I don't want that.  I don't want to tarnish the memory of my generation's icon.  I want to see him go out on top, and I think, the way he had been playing, were he to hang it up today, it would be, in a way, leaving ontop.

**

The focus now turns to the Lakers who will have to move on to life after Kobe.  Will Dwight Howard stick around?  They had to run their best player into the ground just to squeak into the 8th; that team will surely be even worse next year upon Bryant's return.

For Howard, it now becomes a clear choice: winning vs. money.  Houston now represents his most viable option to win a championship.  Will he take the 5th year with L.A. or will he bolt?  Things now become much more interesting.

[Jeby]

<br /><br />Nostradamus Says: Dwight leaves L.A., either for Houston or Dallas, Kobe takes his sweet time in coming back, the Lakers tank the heck out of next season, they draft the top pick the next year (that player and will be to Adam Silver what Patrick Ewing was to David Stern; conspiracy theories will abound) and begin a new dynasty a la the 1999 Spurs. <br />
You read it here first.

[phaketrash]

New post: More thoughts on Kobe, Howard implications
By: rahat huq

The irony of Bryant is that he's probably the most overrated player in basketball history, or, at the least, in modern history.  It's the arduousness of his supporters (in their 'count the rings' illogicalities) which actually takes away from a proper appreciation of what the man meant to this sport.  When he's talked about as the 'greatest ever' and protected of his flaws, it dampens the certitude of the stuff that put him amongst the greatest.  He wasn't the best.  But he was the most committed and dedicated to his craft, perhaps ever.  He was an artist who put supreme diligence to the honing of his skill.  He approached his trade in a manner not humanly possible.  For that we can only revere him.

 

Excellent paragraph in particular. I think this is very true in a lot of contexts.

[rockets best fan]

<br /><br />Nostradamus Says: Dwight leaves L.A., either for Houston or Dallas, Kobe takes his sweet time in coming back, the Lakers tank the heck out of next season, they draft the top pick the next year (that player and will be to Adam Silver what Patrick Ewing was to David Stern; conspiracy theories will abound) and begin a new dynasty a la the 1999 Spurs. <br />
You read it here first.

hey Jeby....errr...Nostradamus how about some lotto numbers for tonite?  funny thing is my magic 8 ball said the same thing  however this could very well come to pass

[Richards]

Who want the guy who jump ship twice?

[rockets best fan]

Who want the guy who jump ship twice?

THE ROCKETS