Kobe, can you stop it with the finals comparisons?

[JSD]

BTW, why is everyone so obsessed with Kobe?  He lost, why not be graceful winners, and move on without overanalyzing everything he says?

He has a track record of downplaying the significants of losing the NBA finals.

As a Laker player losing to the Celtics, this loss should cause loss of sleep and depression. He should be apologizing to Laker fans world wide. 

I guarantee you that if Pierce was in Kobe's position, he would be saying the same thing.  As an American, I would be offended if Kobe started saying that the NBA finals were more important to him than representing his country.

We'll agree to disagree on that.

Pierce would have recognized the significance and historical magnitude of the latest NBA finals or at least acknowledged it.

[crownsy]

BTW, why is everyone so obsessed with Kobe?  He lost, why not be graceful winners, and move on without overanalyzing everything he says?

He has a track record of downplaying the significants of losing the NBA finals.

As a Laker player losing to the Celtics, this loss should cause loss of sleep and depression. He should be apologizing to Laker fans world wide. 

I guarantee you that if Pierce was in Kobe's position, he would be saying the same thing.  As an American, I would be offended if Kobe started saying that the NBA finals were more important to him than representing his country.

We'll agree to disagree on that.

Pierce would have recognized the significance and historical magnitude of the latest NBA finals and at least acknowledged it.

so pretty much your problem is that kobe isn't emotinaly shattered after the finals and slurping the celtics at every oppourtnity then.

while it would be nice to see that happen, not sure its something i hate kobe bryant for nto doing.

[crownsy]

again, ill ask the question the people who start these threads won't anwser, you also hate lebron, wade, kidd, and bosh right? all of whom have made similar statements about the importance of the olympics right?

No I don't hate anyone.

Kobe is a Laker who was about to be appointed the next Jordan but couldn't get it done and because he failed he is downplaying it.

If he won the title I'm sure we'd get a response such as:

"It’s really not comparable. Winning the NBA title means a lot to me because it adds another chapter of success to this great Laker franchise and brought happiness to the LA community.

The Gold medal means a lot from a different standpoint. We are representing the entire nation, I take a lot of pride in that and anything less than a gold Medal will be a huge disappointment"

you dont hate anyone, yet you admit this is only improtant to you because its kobe? that, to me, would be hating one person, or at least, unfairly singleing them out.

If your going to bash a guy, at least be consistant, this is the EXACT same USA basketball company line that lebron, wade, bosh, kidd, and im sure others have already given in interviews. its only important to you because you think it makes kobe look bad.

Again, im no kobe fan, but to diss the guy because he's giving out the company line while representing his country? how childish can you get?

Childish? Please... I'm an NBA historian and I feel like my intelligence is being insulted.

I did not diss him but want him to be "straight up". Whats wrong with the standard response I came up with? You know the media is going to run with anything else. His PR guy knows this too...

thats not a defense, why should he NOT be allowed give the standered anwser that every other Team USA member is giving? because you say so? and why aren't they the focus of the same kind of wrath? shouldn't lebron be talking about how much it hurt to lose the ECF? or wade abotu not living up to expectations with the heat? or Kidd witht he dallas trade? you want it to be diffrent for kobe, because you don't like him.

this argument can be turned around so easily, why won't lebron's PR guy tell him to go off the map and talk about how much the nba finals mean to him? wade's? bosh's? kidd?

you don't like kobe, a postion we see eye to eye on, and want him held to the fire for ridculous reasons, something we do not see eye to eye on.

and yes, i do find pigeon holing one person out of a team of 15 for thier comments because you dislike them a childish act.

Again, i hate kobe, and find him a dislikeable, arragont athlete, but the amount of "kobe is a loser/unpatrotic because he doesn't acknoledge us beating him in the finals when he's asked questions about team USA!" attutide speaks of insecruity, somethign i thought we would have left behind in game 6. guess not.

I don't require Kobe to stroke the celtics and the NBA at every turn. He is a represntitive of team USAm, as are the 14 other teamates giving the "this is the most important thing ive ever done!" company line, and i find the attemtps (what is this, 6 threads now?) to say kobe is some sort of arrogant punk while the others are just represnting thier country laughable to the extreme.

[Chris]

again, ill ask the question the people who start these threads won't anwser, you also hate lebron, wade, kidd, and bosh right? all of whom have made similar statements about the importance of the olympics right?

No I don't hate anyone.

Kobe is a Laker who was about to be appointed the next Jordan but couldn't get it done and because he failed he is downplaying it.

If he won the title I'm sure we'd get a response such as:

"It’s really not comparable. Winning the NBA title means a lot to me because it adds another chapter of success to this great Laker franchise and brought happiness to the LA community.

The Gold medal means a lot from a different standpoint. We are representing the entire nation, I take a lot of pride in that and anything less than a gold Medal will be a huge disappointment"

you dont hate anyone, yet you admit this is only improtant to you because its kobe? that, to me, would be hating one person, or at least, unfairly singleing them out.

If your going to bash a guy, at least be consistant, this is the EXACT same USA basketball company line that lebron, wade, bosh, kidd, and im sure others have already given in interviews. its only important to you because you think it makes kobe look bad.

Again, im no kobe fan, but to diss the guy because he's giving out the company line while representing his country? how childish can you get?

Childish? Please... I'm an NBA historian and I feel like my intelligence is being insulted.

I did not diss him but want him to be "straight up". Whats wrong with the standard response I came up with? You know the media is going to run with anything else. His PR guy knows this too...

There is nothing wrong with your response, but there also is nothing wrong with Kobe's response.  He said almost the same thing as you said. 

I understand that he was not the most gracious loser right after the finals, but I just don't think this is anywhere near that.  In fact, I think he gave an answer that is exactly what his PR guy would like.

BTW, why is everyone so obsessed with Kobe?  He lost, why not be graceful winners, and move on without overanalyzing everything he says?

He has a track record of downplaying the significants of losing the NBA finals.

As a Laker player losing to the Celtics, this loss should cause loss of sleep and depression. He should be apologizing to Laker fans world wide. 

I guarantee you that if Pierce was in Kobe's position, he would be saying the same thing.  As an American, I would be offended if Kobe started saying that the NBA finals were more important to him than representing his country.

We'll agree to disagree on that.

Pierce would have recognized the significance and historical magnitude of the latest NBA finals or at least acknowledged it.

Well for one thing, we don't know if Kobe did, we only have part of his quote that was picked by the reporter to go along with their story about the Olympics.  But either way, I just don't think there was any need to talk about how great the finals were.

[JSD]

BTW, why is everyone so obsessed with Kobe?  He lost, why not be graceful winners, and move on without overanalyzing everything he says?

He has a track record of downplaying the significants of losing the NBA finals.

As a Laker player losing to the Celtics, this loss should cause loss of sleep and depression. He should be apologizing to Laker fans world wide. 

I guarantee you that if Pierce was in Kobe's position, he would be saying the same thing.  As an American, I would be offended if Kobe started saying that the NBA finals were more important to him than representing his country.

We'll agree to disagree on that.

Pierce would have recognized the significance and historical magnitude of the latest NBA finals and at least acknowledged it.

so pretty much your problem is that kobe isn't emotinaly shattered after the finals and slurping the celtics at every oppourtnity then.

while it would be nice to see that happen, not sure its something i hate kobe bryant for nto doing.

Ok my point of this thread is not to hate on Kobe.

It's to try and figure out why he is downplaying his recent loss. You say it's the company line.

I think it is more self serving then that.

[Chris]

Anyways, this just seems petty to me.  Even if Kobe is wrong here (which I don't think he is), who cares?  Move on.  The guy is a selfish jerk, we know that, and have plenty of evidence on it...we don't need to stretch things like this to prove it.

It smacks of insecurity of about our team, to have to focus on other teams like that...and I just don't get it.  The Celtics are the NBA champions.  Let's celebrate with class.

[RebusRankin]

Kobe only has memories of playing in 4 Finals, He's blocked out all memories of 2008.

[crownsy]

BTW, why is everyone so obsessed with Kobe?  He lost, why not be graceful winners, and move on without overanalyzing everything he says?

He has a track record of downplaying the significants of losing the NBA finals.

As a Laker player losing to the Celtics, this loss should cause loss of sleep and depression. He should be apologizing to Laker fans world wide. 

I guarantee you that if Pierce was in Kobe's position, he would be saying the same thing.  As an American, I would be offended if Kobe started saying that the NBA finals were more important to him than representing his country.

We'll agree to disagree on that.

Pierce would have recognized the significance and historical magnitude of the latest NBA finals and at least acknowledged it.

so pretty much your problem is that kobe isn't emotinaly shattered after the finals and slurping the celtics at every oppourtnity then.

while it would be nice to see that happen, not sure its something i hate kobe bryant for nto doing.

Ok my point of this thread is not to hate on Kobe.

It's to try and figure out why he is downplaying his recent loss. You say it's the company line.

I think it is more self serving then that.

your inventing the fact that he's downplayign the recent loss to justify your argument. he was asked a question about TEAM USA, and its realtion to NBA finals games not the boston celtics. why would he bring them up?

why can't he just anser team USA questions? should he preface every answer with

Well, even though im still shattered we lost the finals, and see paul pierce in my nightmares, somehow I need to help team USA win:

ridiculous.

[nickagneta]

I have to say I'm surprised that Kobe is getting so much grief over these comments. The spectacle that is not only the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games but the entire Olympic Games themselves must be a very humbling experience. Being only one amongst thousands of the world's greatest athletes is not something our superstars are used to.

The pageantry and fanfare that is associated with it dwarfs that of an NBA Finals. Heck, the  pageantry and fanfare that is associated with the Superbowl dwarfs that of an NBA Finals and the pageantry of the Superbowl is in turn dwarfed by that of the Olympics. We are talking an internationally grand scheme here.

Put into that context, and the fact that he is not just representing the Lakers and playing for Laker and Kobe fans but that he is representing his country and playing for all Americans, why is it so hard to take Kobe at his word? Why is it so hard to believe that a multimillionaire basketball player, that is in no way obligated to play in these games, has pride in the fact that he is representing his country and that he feels it is a completely different feeling than he gets by representing the Los Angeles Lakers?

I just don't understand. I admire Kobe's ability to put the loss of the Finals behind him. It's done, over. It's time to move on. Just because he's not brooding in his home, conspiring of ways to exact revenge against the Celtics doesn't mean that the loss didn't hurt. But he's not showing it and he's moving on. Next year is another year.

Maybe it's time we as Celtic fans move on as well and start leaving guys like Paul Pierce and Kobe Bryant alone. Let Pierce have his vacation and let's be amazed by the athleticism on display in Beijing.

[iowa plowboy]

The trash Kobe threads are rivaled only by the trade threads involving Scalabrine.

[Chris]

The trash Kobe threads are rivaled only by the trade threads involving Scalabrine.

At least the trades involving Scalabrine (OK, not many of them, but a couple), have SOME basis in reality.

[biggs]

BTW, why is everyone so obsessed with Kobe?  He lost, why not be graceful winners, and move on without overanalyzing everything he says?

He has a track record of downplaying the significants of losing the NBA finals.

As a Laker player losing to the Celtics, this loss should cause loss of sleep and depression. He should be apologizing to Laker fans world wide. 

I guarantee you that if Pierce was in Kobe's position, he would be saying the same thing.  As an American, I would be offended if Kobe started saying that the NBA finals were more important to him than representing his country.

We'll agree to disagree on that.

Pierce would have recognized the significance and historical magnitude of the latest NBA finals and at least acknowledged it.

so pretty much your problem is that kobe isn't emotinaly shattered after the finals and slurping the celtics at every oppourtnity then.

while it would be nice to see that happen, not sure its something i hate kobe bryant for nto doing.

Ok my point of this thread is not to hate on Kobe.

It's to try and figure out why he is downplaying his recent loss. You say it's the company line.

I think it is more self serving then that.

Jsaad I started a thread like this a couple weeks ago and this is the third I have seen since.  Bottom line most Celtic Bloggers won't agree that Kobe is extremely insecure and needs to make it sound like whatever he's doing is more important.  
http://www.celticsblog.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=64&topic=21495.0

After all of the comments I have heard it just makes me think he is trying to market himself internationally so he can take the money and run next summer without totally tarnishing his precious image in the states.

And if you don't pick up on his self advertising and insecure jargon you must be a blind patriot.

I can win with class, but I'm not so proud of my country that I will ignore Kobe's immature arrogance and insecurity.  

Besides there wouldn't be a need for this thread if he hadn't gone on and on about it.  If there's anything you patriotic, Celtics fans have to admit it's that he won't shut up about this and that at least is annoying.  

"What would you say"? ummmm... something along the lines of how proud you are to play for your country and not "this is bigger than the nba".  Please Kobe the original Dream Team would send you home crying and trying to explain to your wife how winning at scrabble is more important than winning an Olympic gold. (that's if he's aloud to sleep in the same bed as her)  

Kobe is insecure and he will say anything to make him sound more important than everyone else.  Bottom line.

Someone called Jsaad childish, I would say Kobe and his comments are.

[ACF]

Here's to celebrating
in a classy way (Good point, Chris):

[Chris]

Besides there wouldn't be a need for this thread if he hadn't gone on and on about it.  If there's anything you patriotic, Celtics fans have to admit it's that he won't shut up about this and that at least is annoying. 

He won't shut up, or the media won't stop asking the questions/writing about it?

It's not that I don't think he is arogant, I just don't give a rat's left buttocks.  I will care about him again when the C's play the Lakers next year, until then, I couldn't care less what he says.

[crownsy]

BTW, why is everyone so obsessed with Kobe?  He lost, why not be graceful winners, and move on without overanalyzing everything he says?

He has a track record of downplaying the significants of losing the NBA finals.

As a Laker player losing to the Celtics, this loss should cause loss of sleep and depression. He should be apologizing to Laker fans world wide. 

I guarantee you that if Pierce was in Kobe's position, he would be saying the same thing.  As an American, I would be offended if Kobe started saying that the NBA finals were more important to him than representing his country.

We'll agree to disagree on that.

Pierce would have recognized the significance and historical magnitude of the latest NBA finals and at least acknowledged it.

so pretty much your problem is that kobe isn't emotinaly shattered after the finals and slurping the celtics at every oppourtnity then.

while it would be nice to see that happen, not sure its something i hate kobe bryant for nto doing.

Ok my point of this thread is not to hate on Kobe.

It's to try and figure out why he is downplaying his recent loss. You say it's the company line.

I think it is more self serving then that.

Jsaad I started a thread like this a couple weeks ago and this is the third I have seen since.  Bottom line most Celtic Bloggers won't agree that Kobe is extremely insecure and needs to make it sound like whatever he's doing is more important.  
http://www.celticsblog.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=64&topic=21495.0

After all of the comments I have heard it just makes me think he is trying to market himself internationally so he can take the money and run next summer without totally tarnishing his precious image in the states.

And if you don't pick up on his self advertising and insecure jargon you must be a blind patriot.

I can win with class, but I'm not so proud of my country that I will ignore Kobe's immature arrogance and insecurity.  

Besides there wouldn't be a need for this thread if he hadn't gone on and on about it.  If there's anything you patriotic, Celtics fans have to admit it's that he won't shut up about this and that at least is annoying.  

"What would you say"? ummmm... something along the lines of how proud you are to play for your country and not "this is bigger than the nba".  Please Kobe the original Dream Team would send you home crying and trying to explain to your wife how winning at scrabble is more important than winning an Olympic gold. (that's if he's aloud to sleep in the same bed as her)  

Kobe is insecure and he will say anything to make him sound more important than everyone else.  Bottom line.

Someone called Jsaad childish, I would say Kobe and his comments are.

despite your belifs most of us dislike kobe as much or more than you, i know i do, but it would be alot easier for us to jump aboard your bash party if any of you would:

a) anser the question as to why its ok for the other 14 guys to give the same awnseres to questions, but kobe is diffrent.

b) had a valid point, at least once. so far the only common theme is "well, sure this looks legit but YOU KNOW kobe ment it another way! or at leas tI KNOW!!!"

these threads are petty, and make me sad that a 17th abnner isn't enough, we have to bash a guy for not bowing down to us in a completly unrealated event.

liek chris said, its classless. also as chris said, he's being asked questions and awnsering them. whats the problem? every one of these "HATE KOBE AS MUCH AS I DO!!!!!" threads center around him being asked a question, and awnsering it. I've yet to see one where this mythical unsolicited arrogance (with regardes to the celtics) has been in play.