Dear god, make it happen. I would be happy to donate to keep him playing on the Lakers.So, if Kobe comes out after this game and decides not to retire, I'm OK with it.
What better way to keep the Lakers in suckitude?
Dear god, make it happen. I would be happy to donate to keep him playing on the Lakers.So, if Kobe comes out after this game and decides not to retire, I'm OK with it.
In the sense that he played no D and took nearly every shot for his team it was, but still, pretty amazing by any standard.This was staged right?
Indeed. You can hate but its somewhat irrational. At his peak he was a beast. This is a fitting end to a hell of a career.In the sense that he played no D and took nearly every shot for his team it was, but still, pretty amazing by any standard.
Yep. Kobe never came out of the locker room when they retired Shaq's jersey. Shaq is the bigger man literally and figuratively.Well I never cared for him but that was incredible. Even if he did take a zillion shots. Nice to see Shaq there. That guy is all class.
Not me. Either you get the awesome or you don't. Your faint sadness is wasted on the clueless.I'm just faintly sad for all the people who couldn't enjoy that. "Sports hate" is one of the weakest refuges for the insecure and the pathetic.
I'm just faintly sad for all the people who couldn't enjoy that. "Sports hate" is one of the weakest refuges for the insecure and the pathetic.
Fuck that. No sadness for a franchise crushing rapist who just heaved 50 shots in his masturbatory finale?!Not me. Either you get the awesome or you don't. Your faint sadness is wasted on the clueless.
Franchise crushing? I hope someone comes along and crushes the Celtics franchise by delivering 5 championships over the next 20 years. I don't care how bad the last few years might be for that kind of return.Fuck that. No sadness for a franchise crushing rapist who just heaved 50 shots in his masturbatory finale?!
QFTFranchise crushing? I hope someone comes along and crushes the Celtics franchise by delivering 5 championships over the next 20 years. I don't care how bad the last few years might be for that kind of return.
And inefficiency only matters when you don't win the last game. You know this man.He set an NBA record for missed FG in a regulation game tonight. He already held the record for missed FG in an OT game.
Yup. Forget even the five-year no-complaints rule that Red Sox fans (and the insufferable Patriots fans) here conveniently ignore--any way you slice it, a five-ring run is worth a solid decade of bad, and they certainly won't be bad that long.Franchise crushing? I hope someone comes along and crushes the Celtics franchise by delivering 5 championships over the next 20 years. I don't care how bad the last few years might be for that kind of return.
Please. Tonight was emblematic of the last three years: Not very good, but he was going to give you a lot of it whether you wanted it or not. Kind of like having sex with him, I guess.And inefficiency only matters when you don't win the last game. You know this man.
Is it possible for people to just not want to root for rapists, no matter their team allegiance? Is that cool?I'm just faintly sad for all the people who couldn't enjoy that. "Sports hate" is one of the weakest refuges for the insecure and the pathetic.
I'm not a huge Kobe guy, but you might want to read about that case a bit more before convicting him in your mind.Is it possible for people to just not want to root for rapists, no matter their team allegiance? Is that cool?
You realize that's not an actual rule?Yup. Forget even the five-year no-complaints rule that Red Sox fans (and the insufferable Patriots fans) here conveniently ignore--any way you slice it, a five-ring run is worth a solid decade of bad, and they certainly won't be bad that long.
It was essentially an exhibition game and it was fun. I've always been a Kobe fan like I am a LeBron fan......I appreciate true greatness on the court. To me the most amazing part of this was a 39-year old who still has the ability to create 50 shots in one NBA game. The defense wasn't laying down and nobody was "giving" him 50 shots. Shot creation is a vastly underapprecisted part of the NBA game with a 24-second shot clock. It takes a special player to do this consistently.I'm unsure how to feel. The ending of the game was incredible, but Kobe took the most shots anybody has ever taken in 33 years.
I don't feeling like wading in on the pro or cons of Kobe right now, but seeing you denigrate "hate" on a message board that sees you go pretty bonkers over video games from time to time is perfect theater. Well played.I'm just faintly sad for all the people who couldn't enjoy that. "Sports hate" is one of the weakest refuges for the insecure and the pathetic.
At least this time it was warranted.ESPN: Kobe Goes Out with a Bang.
Nice.
I have read about this case at the time and afterwards. Be very careful what you read about it because the Kobe ballwashers, the Lakers PR team and Kobe's personal PR team have been massaging this for years.I'm not a huge Kobe guy, but you might want to read about that case a bit more before convicting him in your mind.
Great post. I don't begrudge those who dislike Kobe as a person - and there is a lot to dislike there - but you have to respect his talent and competitive drive. The latter may have cost his team wins when he tried to do too much or alienated/exiled teammates but it also helped win five championships. As DotB said, many of us sports fans would take that deal any time.What a perfectly emblematic game, Kobe's entire career crystallized in one night. If you're a Kobe fan, you can point to the 60 points, the barrage of late scoring, and the fact that they won. If you're a Kobe hater, you can point to the 50 shots, middling efficiency, and the fact that the game was meaningless. And because its Kobe, he somehow managed to overshadow the Golden State Warriors on a night when they won 73 games and Steph broke 400 3's.
How often does an athlete get to go out in a way that so perfectly encapsulates their whole career? This kinda shit is why I love sports.
I don't know about athletes but Dan Dierdorf suggesting that the Patriots should have taken a safety after a fumble near their goal line instead of trying to make a goal line stand (which they later did) during his final game for CBS is pretty damn close.What a perfectly emblematic game, Kobe's entire career crystallized in one night. If you're a Kobe fan, you can point to the 60 points, the barrage of late scoring, and the fact that they won. If you're a Kobe hater, you can point to the 50 shots, middling efficiency, and the fact that the game was meaningless. And because its Kobe, he somehow managed to overshadow the Golden State Warriors on a night when they won 73 games and Steph broke 400 3's.
How often does an athlete get to go out in a way that so perfectly encapsulates their whole career? This kinda shit is why I love sports.
For the uninitiated, what's the bottom line on this? Or is there an article or two you can direct us to that isn't ballwashed?I have read about this case at the time and afterwards. Be very careful what you read about it because the Kobe ballwashers, the Lakers PR team and Kobe's personal PR team have been massaging this for years.
Absolutely. Bryant's defense team was absolutely brutal towards the alleged victim in this case. And I was not trying to insinuate that this was a Jackie situation; merely that there is some doubt as to what actually occurred that afternoon.I have read about this case at the time and afterwards. Be very careful what you read about it because the Kobe ballwashers, the Lakers PR team and Kobe's personal PR team have been massaging this for years.
I have him 6th (Kareem, Shaq, Magic, West, Baylor, Kobe), but I'm always a peak value proponent over longevity--if you're more the latter, Shaq certainly vanishes from the argument, though he was certainly the more dominant player for an 8 year stretch with the Lakers. Baylor probably does as well, and depending on how you frame the argument even having Kobe at #1 is probably defensible.Bob Ryan tweeted that Kobe was #2 Laker all time, in front of Kareem, West, etc.My personal feeling was to put him behind Kareem, but maybe I should consider Kareem wasn't a Laker his entire career. Some of my first basketball memories was watching the Lakers/Celtics finals and thinking once Kareem got the ball and the right positioning, he was unstoppable. Any opinions on this?
Not worth it:Didn't want to poke the bear, eh?
Kareem did play 14 years for the Lakers so it's not like it was just a 5 year run.Bob Ryan tweeted that Kobe was #2 Laker all time, in front of Kareem, West, etc.My personal feeling was to put him behind Kareem, but maybe I should consider Kareem wasn't a Laker his entire career. Some of my first basketball memories was watching the Lakers/Celtics finals and thinking once Kareem got the ball and the right positioning, he was unstoppable. Any opinions on this?
I think that if the game had playoff implications, a very different Jazz team would have shown up.The one thing I will say is Utah was playing defense. This wasn't an all star game type of situation where they let him do whatever. They were fighting through picks, manning up, fouling him, etc. They legitimately just could not stop him down the stretch though. He made everything. I've hated Kobe my whole life, but as a sports fan, that's some fun shit to watch.
Call me shallow, but as a lifelong Laker hater I was absolutely delighted that Kobe stuck around. I only wish he would change his mind and rejoin the Lakers for one more year!Screw Kobe.
This guy hasn't been good for 4 years. For 4 years.
Forget, just for a moment all the shots he took. But for 4 years the Lakers have been precluded from getting a star that would take shots he may hypothetically take if wasn't injured.
What kind of warped world do we have where Lebron is pilloried for wanting to play with great players, and Kobe is a "legend" for holding his franchise hostage as his own private sports fantasy camp for 5 years?
Screw him and his sham of a last game.
Kobe, like some other notable athletes, convinced himself that whatever was best for himself was equal to whatever was best for the team. Kobe was a fantastic player so often times this worked out, but later in his career this became extremely apparent. The last summer with the story of Kobe trying to recruit Aldridge by basically saying that he would make a great second banana for Kobe, is incredible.I love guys that train hard, that are nasty, that want to shoot the ball. So at one time Kobe was to me a guy for young guys to emulate. "Believe in yourself, be nasty, get in the gym" At one time I thought he had the chance to be better than Jordan, he was a better shooter. But at that zenith he made one decision, like a series of forced shitty shots, after another that were all about him. Jordan is and was a lousy human being, but he made concessions to his ego. Jordan's fire was directed to winning games. Kobe's was always more about Kobe.
Screw him and his sham of a last game.
http://rollingstoneaus.com/culture/post/kobe-bryant-goodbye-to-the-nbas-all-time-asshole/3598
I dunno. Shaq and Kobe on the same TNT set could be kind of fun.I've already seen Kobe in an apple TV commercial and there are rumors of him joining the TNT crew, I enjoyed it better when he was on a 20 win Laker team. This dude has the charisma and camera presence of white toast.