Author Topic: Laker Sources: Kobe Bryant killing our chances to be successful again  (Read 15675 times)

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Re: Laker Sources: Kobe Bryant killing our chances to be successful again
« Reply #45 on: October 21, 2014, 01:10:28 AM »

Offline Beat LA

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Hearing Howard isn't thrilled by prospects of RR joining HR. Not that he's opposed but not crazy about it. Different attitudes & approaches
— Peter Vecsey (@PeterVecsey1) February 20, 2014

And why is this a bad thing?

Who is HR?

Re: Laker Sources: Kobe Bryant killing our chances to be successful again
« Reply #46 on: October 21, 2014, 01:12:47 AM »

Offline Fafnir

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Hearing Howard isn't thrilled by prospects of RR joining HR. Not that he's opposed but not crazy about it. Different attitudes & approaches
— Peter Vecsey (@PeterVecsey1) February 20, 2014

And why is this a bad thing?

Who is HR?
Houston Rockets.

Re: Laker Sources: Kobe Bryant killing our chances to be successful again
« Reply #47 on: October 21, 2014, 01:57:10 AM »

Offline 255 Rings

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This is ESPN's vendetta against Kobe after he called them idiots in their player rankings. Pretty weak comeback from Abbot IMO, but nonetheless I'm never sympathizing for Kobe. He deserves his downfall the way it's going because his entire career he's been a spoiled brat. To come in the league with a dominant center Shaquille O'Neal entering his prime and getting coached by Phil fresh of his second Bulls three-peat positioned him to reap the benefits early and skyrocket into stardom. He runs Shaq out of town because he wanted to be the man and sucks the following seasons until Jerry West gift-wraps LA Gasol for a bag of potatoes. Shortly after his 2010 Finals "win" against us he almost gets paired with CP3 but alas Stern shafted them (for once he wasn't coddling his dear high-revenue, major ratings LA Lakers), that doesn't work and they rob Orlando (LA's team farm) for Dwight and were overrated beyond ridiculousness to make the Finals and quote-unquote "win the title". They fail (and I enjoyed every bit) and he's now stuck with a disgraceful team. So many ways the Lakers could have finally won more championships than us and we'll be getting kicked by them for years and years, but thanks to Kobe's selfishness the Lakers have fallen to mediocrity. His contract is a testament of how ego-filled he's become. In his cocky little head he thinks he's elite when in fact he's washed up and at this point of his career if he wants a sixth ring he'll have to do what he has always been good at since he came in the NBA: Be a second fiddle, a sidekick. Who cares what happens in Lakerland? They're sure to be gifted a superstar soon through FA or a ridiculous lopsided trade while we have to work hard to get ours because players wanna be making cameos in rap music videos rather than to shovel snow.

Re: Laker Sources: Kobe Bryant killing our chances to be successful again
« Reply #48 on: October 21, 2014, 07:22:56 AM »

Offline Celtics4ever

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I dislike ESPN and Kobe.

Re: Laker Sources: Kobe Bryant killing our chances to be successful again
« Reply #49 on: October 21, 2014, 08:29:16 AM »

Offline Celtics18

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Ugh!

What an utter, unsubstantiated smear campaign.  I'm a Celtics fan, which makes me pre-conditioned to dislike Kobe Bryant, but this article almost makes me root for him.

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Re: Laker Sources: Kobe Bryant killing our chances to be successful again
« Reply #50 on: October 21, 2014, 08:34:48 AM »

Offline cman88

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you know what? ive gained respect for Kobe Bryant in this "new NBA"

with all these players who want to be "buddy buddy" and have a good time, Kobe is part of a last brand of oldschool players like Pierce, KG etc. who would HATE their opponent and play with a fire against them.

Rondo is very much the same way which is why I am a fan. Dwight howard is a clown if he doesnt like rondo or to play with him.

it is true though, Kobe is crippling that franchise with his contract. but what other choices do they have? dump kobe and go into complete mediocrety? this is something the lakers have NEVER known. THe celtics have which is why it was easier for ainge to trade pierce/kg and move onto a rebuild.

Re: Laker Sources: Kobe Bryant killing our chances to be successful again
« Reply #51 on: October 21, 2014, 08:38:23 AM »

Offline Moranis

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I obviously don't feel bad for him or the Lakers, they both knew what they were doing, but on the same token there is something to be said for loyalty in sports.  The Lakers probably should have called his bluff and not given him that much money, but some team would have because Kobe is worth far more than what he signed for (I mean imagine how much money a team would make in jersey sales alone).  I think they should have gone more in the 10-15 million range a year, maybe gone out 3 or 4 years instead of 2 years at 24 million per.  Would have been a lot better in the cap, Kobe would retire a Laker, and there would be a lot less strife.
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Re: Laker Sources: Kobe Bryant killing our chances to be successful again
« Reply #52 on: October 21, 2014, 08:59:16 AM »

Offline Fafnir

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I obviously don't feel bad for him or the Lakers, they both knew what they were doing, but on the same token there is something to be said for loyalty in sports.  The Lakers probably should have called his bluff and not given him that much money, but some team would have because Kobe is worth far more than what he signed for (I mean imagine how much money a team would make in jersey sales alone).  I think they should have gone more in the 10-15 million range a year, maybe gone out 3 or 4 years instead of 2 years at 24 million per.  Would have been a lot better in the cap, Kobe would retire a Laker, and there would be a lot less strife.
I don't think he sells nearly enough jersey's to justify 24 million dollars.

Its the TV deal and its ratings provisions that make Kobe a "money maker" in the Lakers eyes. Of course I think those ratings aren't as tied to Kobe as they seem to think, being a very bad lottery team is going to cost them a lot of money no matter what.

(though they'll still make the most in the NBA probably lol)

Re: Laker Sources: Kobe Bryant killing our chances to be successful again
« Reply #53 on: October 21, 2014, 09:27:55 AM »

Offline D.o.s.

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I obviously don't feel bad for him or the Lakers, they both knew what they were doing, but on the same token there is something to be said for loyalty in sports.  The Lakers probably should have called his bluff and not given him that much money, but some team would have because Kobe is worth far more than what he signed for (I mean imagine how much money a team would make in jersey sales alone).  I think they should have gone more in the 10-15 million range a year, maybe gone out 3 or 4 years instead of 2 years at 24 million per.  Would have been a lot better in the cap, Kobe would retire a Laker, and there would be a lot less strife.
I don't think he sells nearly enough jersey's to justify 24 million dollars.

Its the TV deal and its ratings provisions that make Kobe a "money maker" in the Lakers eyes. Of course I think those ratings aren't as tied to Kobe as they seem to think, being a very bad lottery team is going to cost them a lot of money no matter what.

(though they'll still make the most in the NBA probably lol)

If that's true, it's only because everyone who wants one has already picked one up.
At least a goldfish with a Lincoln Log on its back goin' across your floor to your sock drawer has a miraculous connotation to it.

Re: Laker Sources: Kobe Bryant killing our chances to be successful again
« Reply #54 on: October 21, 2014, 09:31:15 AM »

Offline wdleehi

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you know what? ive gained respect for Kobe Bryant in this "new NBA"

with all these players who want to be "buddy buddy" and have a good time, Kobe is part of a last brand of oldschool players like Pierce, KG etc. who would HATE their opponent and play with a fire against them.

Rondo is very much the same way which is why I am a fan. Dwight howard is a clown if he doesnt like rondo or to play with him.

it is true though, Kobe is crippling that franchise with his contract. but what other choices do they have? dump kobe and go into complete mediocrety? this is something the lakers have NEVER known. THe celtics have which is why it was easier for ainge to trade pierce/kg and move onto a rebuild.


Except Kobe hates his teammates as well.  We saw that Pierce, KG and the older guys who were successful for the most part, be a team.  Not Kobe and the spare parts. 

Re: Laker Sources: Kobe Bryant killing our chances to be successful again
« Reply #55 on: October 21, 2014, 12:00:22 PM »

Offline obnoxiousmime

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Let's just disregard all the character issues surrounding Kobe (which I believe wholeheartedly) for a minute and consider the simple fact that he is such a big star and so intertwined with the Lakers identity that it's impossible for a new star to come in and define himself.

Look at Gasol: while not a superelite player, he will still probably be a hall-of-famer after his career is done. However, his titles are not really seen as his own, they are just considered to be Kobe's 4th and 5th.

Remember when Kobe almost shot his way to a loss against the Celtics in game 7 of the 2010 Finals? They ended up winning in spite of him, but do Bynum and Gasol get much credit for that title? Does Ron Artest for making that huge 3? Nope, to most casual fans the contributions of all the others players are largely forgotten. In the shorthand version of history it will simply be the last title of Kobe's legendary career. At least Pippen got a LITTLE credit for those Bulls titles. Gasol? Just one of the better "other guys in yellow lucky enough to sniff Kobe's jock."

Dwight left because he knew no matter what he would get all of blame or none of the credit. If they won, it was "Kobe taught him how to be a champion." If they lost (which they did even though Howard was injured all year), it was because Howard wasn't serious enough and couldn't play with a real champion like Bryant. Imagine having to answer question after question about how great it is to play with a legend like Kobe when in reality you know he's a total jerk?

Anyway, the end of a great player's career is never pretty, especially when that player is the last to know it's over.

Re: Laker Sources: Kobe Bryant killing our chances to be successful again
« Reply #56 on: October 21, 2014, 12:52:54 PM »

Offline MBunge

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Remember when Kobe almost shot his way to a loss against the Celtics in game 7 of the 2010 Finals? They ended up winning in spite of him, but do Bynum and Gasol get much credit for that title? Does Ron Artest for making that huge 3? Nope, to most casual fans the contributions of all the others players are largely forgotten. In the shorthand version of history it will simply be the last title of Kobe's legendary career. At least Pippen got a LITTLE credit for those Bulls titles. Gasol? Just one of the better "other guys in yellow lucky enough to sniff Kobe's jock."


What makes the whole title argument a little silly for Kobe is that he CLEARLY was 2nd fiddle to Shaq for at least 2 of those championships and it was just as clear that it was Gasol/Bynum/Odom who made the last two LA championship teams special.  That's got to be one of the top 10 threesomes of bigs in NBA history and maybe top 5.  Some teams have had 2nd bigs as good as Gasol or Bynum but how many have ever had a third big as good as Odom?

Mike

Mike

Re: Laker Sources: Kobe Bryant killing our chances to be successful again
« Reply #57 on: October 21, 2014, 01:20:14 PM »

Offline Moranis

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I obviously don't feel bad for him or the Lakers, they both knew what they were doing, but on the same token there is something to be said for loyalty in sports.  The Lakers probably should have called his bluff and not given him that much money, but some team would have because Kobe is worth far more than what he signed for (I mean imagine how much money a team would make in jersey sales alone).  I think they should have gone more in the 10-15 million range a year, maybe gone out 3 or 4 years instead of 2 years at 24 million per.  Would have been a lot better in the cap, Kobe would retire a Laker, and there would be a lot less strife.
I don't think he sells nearly enough jersey's to justify 24 million dollars.

Its the TV deal and its ratings provisions that make Kobe a "money maker" in the Lakers eyes. Of course I think those ratings aren't as tied to Kobe as they seem to think, being a very bad lottery team is going to cost them a lot of money no matter what.

(though they'll still make the most in the NBA probably lol)

If that's true, it's only because everyone who wants one has already picked one up.
Yep.  Imagine how many Kobe Sixers jerseys would be sold if Kobe had ended up there (which is entirely reasonable given he grew up there and they had the cap room to give him basically whatever he wanted).
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Re: Laker Sources: Kobe Bryant killing our chances to be successful again
« Reply #58 on: October 21, 2014, 08:57:51 PM »

Offline Fan from VT

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Disclaimer: I dislike Bryant and genuinely think he is significantly overrated.

But,

This does bring up some of the peculiarities of the NBA salary system. He is overpaid now, and "crippling" his team, sure, but he's been a max player for years, and those max salaries have really crippled his earning relative to his value.

If he retires after the 2015-16 season, I have him as earning 16.4 million dollars per year. And this is a guy who, after his rookie season, was an all-star in year 2 and 3rd team all-nba in year 3, and he was still 1st team all-nba in '12-'13 (season 17). So, if someone asked you: "Do you want an SG who will be on some sort of all-star or all-nba team for 16 seasons, but you have to pay him 16.4 million every year, but for 20 years," would you take that? I probably would. Shoot, if you had 3 of those guys that would be 3 all-nba guys for 48 million per year for 16 years (but paid for 20); you'd still have some capspace! It's not all his fault that he was vastly vastly underpaid at first and now overpaid; league rules prevented him from getting fair value early in his career.

Re: Laker Sources: Kobe Bryant killing our chances to be successful again
« Reply #59 on: October 21, 2014, 09:44:42 PM »

Offline mgent

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Funny sequence by the announcers in this Rockets/Heat game.

First announcer asks how much longer until Lakers start bringing in some help.  Second guy says "well, I read an article today about how Kobe is keeping guys away."  First announcer responds, "What?!?  I don't believe that!!!"  Third announcer chimes in: "I didn't know Kobe even needs help!"
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