Black Mamba is done

[ullmandds]

WOW! What a way to go out for kobe. When I heard I assumed both teams "fed" kobe the ball the whole game...NOT THE CASE!

Kobe had flashes of curry last night!!

Here you go haters!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQYz0I5dE_A

[Steve D]

First off, Kobe Bryant is an excellent (perhaps all-time great) player. He just had probably the greatest final game in the history of pro sports, when only considering the individual performance. It was a great way to go out, although personally, I prefer the way Peyton Manning and John Elway went out in their last games.

That being said, it does make one wonder, where was Kobe the rest of the season. The Lakers finished the season 17-65. Last season, they were 21-61. They year before that, 27-55 (each season worse that the previous) Where was Kobe? One could wonder if he was simply saving himself for the final bow; that he was mailing it in the entire season...that he didn't care. He should have been elevating his teammates' performances, so that they could all feed off each-other.

That leads me to the biggest problem I have with Bryant on the court; that he is not a Leader. He does not, and never has, made any of his teammates better. He was/is all about himself. Michael Jordan, as great as he was individually, made his teammates better. Scottie Pippen, Toni Kukoc, Dennis Rodman, et al...became better playing with MJ. The San Antonio Spurs.....they get players who sacrifice for the TEAM; they make each-other better; and as a result, they win Championships!

Kobe Bryant is also the #1 reason Shaquille O'Neal left the Lakers! Kobe drove him away. Kobe couldn't handle having any teammate who competed with him for individual supremacy. Kobe didn't care about the TEAM! If Kobe would have worked with Shaq, each of them feeding off each-other, there is no telling how many championships the Lakers would have won! Instead, Shaq left, and the Lakers declined into an absolute laughing-stock.

Anyway, Kobe Bryant is now done, and the Lakers can get on with building a team that truly deserves to wear the purple and gold!

Steve

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by Steve D

First off, Kobe Bryant is an excellent (perhaps all-time great) player. He just had probably the greatest final game in the history of pro sports, when only considering the individual performance. It was a great way to go out, although personally, I prefer the way Peyton Manning and John Elway went out in their last games.

That being said, it does make one wonder, where was Kobe the rest of the season. The Lakers finished the season 17-65. Last season, they were 21-61. They year before that, 27-55 (each season worse that the previous) Where was Kobe? One could wonder if he was simply saving himself for the final bow; that he was mailing it in the entire season...that he didn't care. He should have been elevating his teammates' performances, so that they could all feed off each-other.

That leads me to the biggest problem I have with Bryant on the court; that he is not a Leader. He does not, and never has, made any of his teammates better. He was/is all about himself. Michael Jordan, as great as he was individually, made his teammates better. Scottie Pippen, Toni Kukoc, Dennis Rodman, et al...became better playing with MJ. The San Antonio Spurs.....they get players who sacrifice for the TEAM; they make each-other better; and as a result, they win Championships!

Kobe Bryant is also the #1 reason Shaquille O'Neal left the Lakers! Kobe drove him away. Kobe couldn't handle having any teammate who competed with him for individual supremacy. Kobe didn't care about the TEAM! If Kobe would have worked with Shaq, each of them feeding off each-other, there is no telling how many championships the Lakers would have won! Instead, Shaq left, and the Lakers declined into an absolute laughing-stock.

Anyway, Kobe Bryant is now done, and the Lakers can get on with building a team that truly deserves to wear the purple and gold!

Steve

+1

[Peter_Spaeth]

I don't care much for his persona, as posted, but I don't buy the criticism of him as a basketball player. He won five championships. He was an intense competitor. on both ends of the floor. From what I saw, he looked to score first mainly because there were times when that made sense for the team because he was surrounded by mediocrity. Jordan was just as much in people's faces. He won six, Kobe won five, so what's the basis for saying Jordan was a great team player but Kobe wasn't?

[Steve D]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I don't care much for his persona, as posted, but I don't buy the criticism of him as a basketball player. He won five championships. He was an intense competitor. on both ends of the floor. From what I saw, he looked to score first mainly because there were times when that made sense for the team because he was surrounded by mediocrity. Jordan was just as much in people's faces. He won six, Kobe won five, so what's the basis for saying Jordan was a great team player but Kobe wasn't?

How many more Championships would the Lakers have won/been in contention for, had Kobe been a team player? Just two more, and he'd have more than Jordan does.

I remember seeing/reading reports on ESPN where other players (free agents) basically refused to go to the Lakers because they didn't want to play alongside Kobe. They knew he was a ball-hog and only cared about himself.

Kobe kept the team from being able to sign the top talent. He's a huge factor in his teammates being mediocre.

Steve

[Huck]

Why all the hoopla for Kobe's scoring 60 points in his last game? Granted, 60 points is impressive, until one scratches the surface a little. Kobe took 50 shots! 50! He made 22 of the 50 shots. 50 shots folks, making 22, which is .440%. He was 6 of 21 from 3 point land for .286% and 10-12 from the free throw line.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Steve D

How many more Championships would the Lakers have won/been in contention for, had Kobe been a team player? Just two more, and he'd have more than Jordan does.

I remember seeing/reading reports on ESPN where other players (free agents) basically refused to go to the Lakers because they didn't want to play alongside Kobe. They knew he was a ball-hog and only cared about himself.

Kobe kept the team from being able to sign the top talent. He's a huge factor in his teammates being mediocre.

Steve

12 all defensive team selections. Guys who only care about their scoring stats don't play defense that hard. He was an intense competitor. He understood that he needed to score. Maybe the fact that he was an asshole kept people off the team but not that he was a ball hog. If he wasn't about winning, why was he constantly in his teammates' faces?

PS to draw any conclusions from a final tribute-type game is silly.

[chaddurbin]

having lived in socal all my life and experienced it first hand steve d is right on in everything he said. on top of that he's also a walking hypocrite, trying to do a 180 on his narrative this last year.

my best memory of kobe is when the colorado rape stuff started happening he sold out his own teammate and told the police how he should've paid off the women like shaq did...d'angelo learned from the best!

[sbfinley]

I'll preface this by stating I've never been a Kobe or Laker fan.

Originally Posted by Steve D

First off, Kobe Bryant is an excellent (perhaps all-time great) player. Scratch perhaps. He just had probably the greatest final game in the history of pro sports, when only considering the individual performance. It was a great way to go out, although personally, I prefer the way Peyton Manning and John Elway went out in their last games.

That being said, it does make one wonder, where was Kobe the rest of the season. Old and Hobbled The Lakers finished the season 17-65. Hamstrung by line of bad contracts Last season, they were 21-61.Still Hamstrung They year before that, 27-55 Paying bad contracts (each season worse that the previous) Where was Kobe? Injured, Injured, then Old and Hobbled One could wonder if he was simply saving himself for the final bow; that he was mailing it in the entire season...that he didn't care. You do realize he shot 50 times just for giggles in his last game. He should have been elevating his teammates' performances, so that they could all feed off each-other.

That leads me to the biggest problem I have with Bryant on the court; that he is not a Leader. He was an assassin like Jordan, who well, was a dick too He does not, and never has, made any of his teammates better. He was/is all about himself. Michael Jordan, as great as he was individually, made his teammates better. He also tried to fight them all in practice, all of them, except Robert Parish who challenged him back and he stepped down Scottie Pippen, Toni Kukoc, Dennis Rodman, et al...became better playing with MJ. The San Antonio Spurs.....they get players who sacrifice for the TEAM; they make each-other better; and as a result, they win Championships! The Spurs are amazing to watch, I'll give you this one.

Kobe Bryant is also the #1 reason Shaquille O'Neal left the Lakers! Kobe drove him away. Kobe couldn't handle having any teammate who competed with him for individual supremacy. Same could be said of Shaq Kobe didn't care about the TEAM! If Kobe would have worked with Shaq, each of them feeding off each-other, there is no telling how many championships the Lakers would have won! Instead, Shaq left, and the Lakers declined into an absolute laughing-stock. You do realize they won two championships after Shaq left? Right? Two. After. Two.

Anyway, Kobe Bryant is now done, and the Lakers can get on with building a team that truly deserves to wear the purple and gold! The are currently hamstrung by a line of bad trades and draft picks that aren't looking solid. Unless something drastic happens they will struggle for the foreseeable future. Also you must not follow TMZ.

Steve

[mickeymao34]

Originally Posted by Steve D

First off, Kobe Bryant is an excellent (perhaps all-time great) player. He just had probably the greatest final game in the history of pro sports, when only considering the individual performance. It was a great way to go out, although personally, I prefer the way Peyton Manning and John Elway went out in their last games.

That being said, it does make one wonder, where was Kobe the rest of the season. The Lakers finished the season 17-65. Last season, they were 21-61. They year before that, 27-55 (each season worse that the previous) Where was Kobe? One could wonder if he was simply saving himself for the final bow; that he was mailing it in the entire season...that he didn't care. He should have been elevating his teammates' performances, so that they could all feed off each-other.

That leads me to the biggest problem I have with Bryant on the court; that he is not a Leader. He does not, and never has, made any of his teammates better. He was/is all about himself. Michael Jordan, as great as he was individually, made his teammates better. Scottie Pippen, Toni Kukoc, Dennis Rodman, et al...became better playing with MJ. The San Antonio Spurs.....they get players who sacrifice for the TEAM; they make each-other better; and as a result, they win Championships!

Kobe Bryant is also the #1 reason Shaquille O'Neal left the Lakers! Kobe drove him away. Kobe couldn't handle having any teammate who competed with him for individual supremacy. Kobe didn't care about the TEAM! If Kobe would have worked with Shaq, each of them feeding off each-other, there is no telling how many championships the Lakers would have won! Instead, Shaq left, and the Lakers declined into an absolute laughing-stock.

Anyway, Kobe Bryant is now done, and the Lakers can get on with building a team that truly deserves to wear the purple and gold!

Steve

Steve, Kobe was a big part of Shaq's departure but not the whole reason. Shaq was in contract year and a demanded a enormous figure and would not budge on it. Diesel even went public ridiculing Dr.Buss for not having contract finalized. Kobe was also a free agent that same summer. Put yourself in Dr.Buss's shoes do you sign a older player at MAX dollars and limit yourself to a younger FA? So to say Shaq left for the sole reason of Kobe beef is not 100% accurate. Shaq would have stayed if $$$ were on the table but to give him that kind of loot and also trying to sign Kobe at max dollars made that difficult.

[chaddurbin]

probably the first and hopefully be the last time someone compares kobe to ali.

[mickeymao34]

you totally interpreted this wrong. It is a fact that Ali was hated during his fighting days and became more of an iconic figure later in life. Leave your hate aside.

[Forever Young]

Originally Posted by mickeymao34

you totally interpreted this wrong. It is a fact that Ali was hated during his fighting days and became more of an iconic figure later in life. Leave your hate aside.

He interpreted it perfectly.

Ali was disliked for things he stood for. Kobe stands for nothing but himself. Kobe is disliked for justified reasons.
This "hater" stuff is crap. I would suggest you let go of being a fan boy of such men.

[Scott Garner]

Fan boy. I love it!

[dhernandez]

Originally Posted by Forever Young

He interpreted it perfectly.

Ali was disliked for things he stood for. Kobe stands for nothing but himself. Kobe is disliked for justified reasons.
This "hater" stuff is crap. I would suggest you let go of being a fan boy of such men.

Not taking sides but was just looking at your FB store page and you apparently know what it is to be a Fan Boy,, an Ali Fan Boy. And by the way he was hated by many for being arrogant and a Big mouth in the day aka The Mouth. His saint like status came years later (and helped by promotions via Upperdeck and $$$ generated) as stated by the previous poster.

[djson1]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

WOW! What a way to go out for kobe. When I heard I assumed both teams "fed" kobe the ball the whole game...NOT THE CASE!

Kobe had flashes of curry last night!!

Here you go haters!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQYz0I5dE_A

Agree! When I heard he scored 60 in his final game, I also thought maybe the other team was just laying down for his finale...but not at all. You can clearly see the opposing players guarding him and getting juked by the senior Kobe. Plus, the Jazz were still trying for that final 8th spot in the Western Conference so I don't think they would let it slip so easily.

Too many haters on here. Just let the guy retire and get the respect he deserves as a player. And for the record, it's not fair to accuse him as being a rapist with no solid evidence of what really happened. The whole story seemed fishy to me.