Stop the comparisons now. Kobe is Kobe but he is no JORDAN
- Thread starter trevor
- Start date
and the hate begins....
Kobe is Kobe but he's not Jordan...
We're not retarded everybody knows this
but who gives a fuck
this is Kobe's night not MJ's
His Airness has now become 'His Ballsack' and its tattooed over the entire basketball world...from people who don't even play basketball even...wtf
What Jordan did speaks for itself
We don't have to hear it a billion times over and over again.
Mike is Mike
Why don't all of you just get out your Jordan posters, lace up your J's, and get in Doc's time machine
We're not retarded everybody knows this
but who gives a fuck
this is Kobe's night not MJ's
His Airness has now become 'His Ballsack' and its tattooed over the entire basketball world...from people who don't even play basketball even...wtf
What Jordan did speaks for itself
We don't have to hear it a billion times over and over again.
Mike is Mike
Why don't all of you just get out your Jordan posters, lace up your J's, and get in Doc's time machine
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Kobe's curse: Forever stuck in Jordan's shadow
By JIM LITKE (AP) – 6 hours ago
This is the curse of being Kobe Bryant: Win or lose another championship, he will never escape Michael Jordan's shadow. Neither will anyone else.
It's worth remembering that when these playoffs began, some very smart people wondered out loud whether Bryant could climb out of Kevin Durant's.
The 31-year-old Bryant was coming off a string of nagging injuries and poor shooting performances at the end of the regular season. The 21-year-old Durant was the youngest scoring champion in league history and the game's fastest-rising star. Bryant quickly quieted that talk by putting Durant and the Thunder in his rearview mirror, then the Jazz and Suns. By the time the finals rolled around, he was once again being compared to opponents he can't ever beat.
We're not talking about the Celtics, but the notion that Bryant's body of work is somehow still incomplete, that he must keep winning titles to secure his spot among the handful of greatest players ever. Please. It's way past time to give the man his due.
Bryant won his first three NBA championships as Shaquille O'Neal's sidekick, or at least that's the way the story was framed. A fourth title last year with a supporting cast that included exactly one reliable sidekick, Pau Gasol, should have removed any doubts.
But Bryant could win a fifth title and still not be considered the greatest Laker ever as Magic Johnson finished his stay in LA with the same number. Bryant could win a sixth title, as many as Jordan won, and still suffer in comparison. Bryant will walk away from the game in a few years with numbers that make his argument persuasively, but he'll never gain the top spot.
Jordan put that out of reach by taking his Bulls to their first NBA championship in 1991 and never losing another playoff series. Of course, that assumes you don't count the beating Shaq and the Orlando Magic doled out in 1995 Eastern Conference semis, when Jordan was still getting his legs back after spending most of the season trying to play baseball.
Either way, it left the perception that when push came to shove, Jordan was unbeatable. What Bryant's detractors have missed over the last decade is that he's become the next best thing; namely, the guy you have to beat.
The list of players who have done just that includes a few of the big names of Bryant's generation — Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, Manu Ginobili, Chauncey Billups and plenty of lesser ones. Bryant has won the lion's share of those collisions and piled up just about every other significant accomplishment along the way — MVP awards in the finals, regular season and All-Star Game; scoring titles and a string of all-NBA and all-defensive team selections.
He just didn't win them all.
To some people, falling just short of that impossible standard seems like a fitting punishment. Bryant came into the NBA as a prodigy, polite and saying all the right things. But he so wanted to be like Mike that eventually the selfishness that is in the DNA of every great player began defining his behavior away from the court even more.
He undermined coach Phil Jackson the first time they were together and nudged Shaq into exile with an eye on taking over a team so lacking in options that he could call his own number every trip up the floor. And then, when Bryant figured out he could wind up wasting his absolute prime on a team so bad that even his best wasn't good enough to put it over the top, he threatened to walk out of Los Angeles, too.
All of those things made Bryant tough to root for, and an accusation of rape a few years ago made him more guarded than ever. But he's come back stronger than ever season after season, leaving a succession of would-be next Jordans in his wake.
He'll never be as lovable as Magic, though he likely will be every bit as accomplished when he steps away. He won't be as feared as Jordan was either, but he's the closest thing most of us will ever see to either. As legacies go, it doesn't get much better than that.
Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org
By JIM LITKE (AP) – 6 hours ago
This is the curse of being Kobe Bryant: Win or lose another championship, he will never escape Michael Jordan's shadow. Neither will anyone else.
It's worth remembering that when these playoffs began, some very smart people wondered out loud whether Bryant could climb out of Kevin Durant's.
The 31-year-old Bryant was coming off a string of nagging injuries and poor shooting performances at the end of the regular season. The 21-year-old Durant was the youngest scoring champion in league history and the game's fastest-rising star. Bryant quickly quieted that talk by putting Durant and the Thunder in his rearview mirror, then the Jazz and Suns. By the time the finals rolled around, he was once again being compared to opponents he can't ever beat.
We're not talking about the Celtics, but the notion that Bryant's body of work is somehow still incomplete, that he must keep winning titles to secure his spot among the handful of greatest players ever. Please. It's way past time to give the man his due.
Bryant won his first three NBA championships as Shaquille O'Neal's sidekick, or at least that's the way the story was framed. A fourth title last year with a supporting cast that included exactly one reliable sidekick, Pau Gasol, should have removed any doubts.
But Bryant could win a fifth title and still not be considered the greatest Laker ever as Magic Johnson finished his stay in LA with the same number. Bryant could win a sixth title, as many as Jordan won, and still suffer in comparison. Bryant will walk away from the game in a few years with numbers that make his argument persuasively, but he'll never gain the top spot.
Jordan put that out of reach by taking his Bulls to their first NBA championship in 1991 and never losing another playoff series. Of course, that assumes you don't count the beating Shaq and the Orlando Magic doled out in 1995 Eastern Conference semis, when Jordan was still getting his legs back after spending most of the season trying to play baseball.
Either way, it left the perception that when push came to shove, Jordan was unbeatable. What Bryant's detractors have missed over the last decade is that he's become the next best thing; namely, the guy you have to beat.
The list of players who have done just that includes a few of the big names of Bryant's generation — Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, Manu Ginobili, Chauncey Billups and plenty of lesser ones. Bryant has won the lion's share of those collisions and piled up just about every other significant accomplishment along the way — MVP awards in the finals, regular season and All-Star Game; scoring titles and a string of all-NBA and all-defensive team selections.
He just didn't win them all.
To some people, falling just short of that impossible standard seems like a fitting punishment. Bryant came into the NBA as a prodigy, polite and saying all the right things. But he so wanted to be like Mike that eventually the selfishness that is in the DNA of every great player began defining his behavior away from the court even more.
He undermined coach Phil Jackson the first time they were together and nudged Shaq into exile with an eye on taking over a team so lacking in options that he could call his own number every trip up the floor. And then, when Bryant figured out he could wind up wasting his absolute prime on a team so bad that even his best wasn't good enough to put it over the top, he threatened to walk out of Los Angeles, too.
All of those things made Bryant tough to root for, and an accusation of rape a few years ago made him more guarded than ever. But he's come back stronger than ever season after season, leaving a succession of would-be next Jordans in his wake.
He'll never be as lovable as Magic, though he likely will be every bit as accomplished when he steps away. He won't be as feared as Jordan was either, but he's the closest thing most of us will ever see to either. As legacies go, it doesn't get much better than that.
Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org
You sir are exactly right! They killed Boston on the offensive boards and that pretty much was the difference in the game.
It's crazy that the Lakers shot a God-awful 33% from the field and the Celts just couldn't take advantage of that. Gave them too many second and third chances. Lakers also shot miserably from the line, but got 20 more opportunities. REBOUNDS told the whole story; 53-40 overall, and 23-8 offensively.
wrong again you gay bitch. i'm so mensa wit mine it's crazy. square roots and theorums and postulates and all that shit you fruit basket ass nigga
Kobe at the Podium
Report: can you tell us what this one means to you?
Kobe: ONE MORE THEN SHAQ
I hate dude but that was classic
I wanted Kobe to get that fourth last year so that he could win without Shaq. Although I wanted Boston to win this series (i'm no Boston or L.A. fan), i'm glad that he will always at least be one up on Shaq.
by tha way, this is Free Agency 2010.. some of these top free agents are gonna end up playin on tha same team with one another... dependin on how it shakes down, this is most likely tha last time you'll see Kobe hoist up a trophy
you are an idiot for that!
you seriously think the Lakers are NOT going to try and get one of those big free agents....Bosh already said the Lakers are on his list for starters
think before you talk
you are an idiot for that!
you seriously think the Lakers are NOT going to try and get one of those big free agents....Bosh already said the Lakers are on his list for starters
think before you talk
for real?
what Chris Bosh you talkin bout? tha one who plays in tha NBA ain't even thinkin bout fuckin wit no Lakers or anybody else who has a centerpiece in place http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2010/06/15/20100615_bosh_free_agent.nba/
might wanna get them facts straight
for real?
http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2010/06/15/20100615_bosh_free_agent.nba/
might wanna get them facts straight
Maybe you should take your own advice dipshit:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5208043
Updated: May 22, 2010, 12:37 AM ET
Sources: Bosh gives Raptors wish list
CHICAGO -- Chris Bosh's agent has told the Toronto Raptors that he's narrowed his list of preferred teams to five, two sources told ESPN.com's Chad Ford at the NBA draft camp.
Bosh
Bosh
The list of five teams -- Toronto plus the Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and New York Knicks, sources said -- was given to Toronto management in case the Raptors want to construct a sign-and-trade deal (assuming Bosh doesn't re-sign with Toronto).
Bosh likes that option, sources told Ford, because he'd get one more year on his contract and could make more money.
"It has been narrowed down to a handful of teams, including us," Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo told the Toronto Star without providing more detail.
Sources said the Raptors prefer a sign-and-trade if Bosh is intent on leaving as well. They likely would want a big man to replace the 6-10, 230-pound Bosh in the lineup.
One source said Bosh's decision hinges on where LeBron James signs.
"If LeBron decides to go to either New York or Chicago, I think that's where you'll see Chris land," the source told Ford. "If LeBron stays in Cleveland, I think the process is more wide open."
Bosh, 26, is an unrestricted free agent. He averaged 24 points per game last season and has averaged 20.2 points per game for his career.
Like I said...think before you talk
Maybe you should take your own advice dipshit:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5208043
Updated: May 22, 2010, 12:37 AM ET
Sources: Bosh gives Raptors wish list
CHICAGO -- Chris Bosh's agent has told the Toronto Raptors that he's narrowed his list of preferred teams to five, two sources told ESPN.com's Chad Ford at the NBA draft camp.
Bosh
Bosh
The list of five teams -- Toronto plus the Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and New York Knicks, sources said -- was given to Toronto management in case the Raptors want to construct a sign-and-trade deal (assuming Bosh doesn't re-sign with Toronto).
Bosh likes that option, sources told Ford, because he'd get one more year on his contract and could make more money.
"It has been narrowed down to a handful of teams, including us," Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo told the Toronto Star without providing more detail.
Sources said the Raptors prefer a sign-and-trade if Bosh is intent on leaving as well. They likely would want a big man to replace the 6-10, 230-pound Bosh in the lineup.
One source said Bosh's decision hinges on where LeBron James signs.
"If LeBron decides to go to either New York or Chicago, I think that's where you'll see Chris land," the source told Ford. "If LeBron stays in Cleveland, I think the process is more wide open."
Bosh, 26, is an unrestricted free agent. He averaged 24 points per game last season and has averaged 20.2 points per game for his career.
Like I said...think before you talk
you're postin a month old comment from a reporter who had a "source".. I posted a comment straight from tha horses mouth, YESTERDAY
and you think you proved something?
aight then you win
you're postin a month old comment from a reporter who had a "source".. I posted a comment straight from tha horses mouth, YESTERDAY
and you think you proved something?
you're a fucking idiot
the proof is right there on a national website not some fucking blog....and as for the lil video....EVERY player feels that way..but don't think for a second he does not want to go to a CONTENDER.