Congrats Kob!

Who's the @zz who didn't vote for Kobe?

Give Kobe an "A+" so the class average can be higher with all these flunkies surrounding him.

Way to go Kobe! :D

Good for him to make the All-NBA First Team. He deserves it - no doubt about that!

Wish the team wasn't as beat up this season but you can do nothing about it...

Looking forward to Ronny, Kobe, Sasha in international play this Summer too!

Will (Fan from Down Under)

BTW... Props to my man D Fish! Lots of well wishes to him and his family!

Oh...when will the girlfriend be done with finals so I can use the computer again?

No one knows...

I haven't had a good argument with Mike T in several weeks...how much more can a man take?

Go Lakers...

Wes

I have to admit I was suprised that Kobe made the 1st team. It is interesting that Kobe has focused himself so much that it is now pretty much taken for granted that he is the best bballer in the world, even by the haters and the media types. Now the only thing to argue about is whether or not he is a good teammate.

I do not expect Kobe to ever get MVP - there will always be some excuse - but now there is only the next ring to concentrate on. He is in the pantheon with the uber greats - that will have to do for now and in the future.

AK/BK

Any thing less than an A+++ for Kobe will be an injustice. We'll storm the blog and burn it down. lol

Just a gentle warning if you value your lives. haha

Kobe resume for 06/07 season.

1st team all defensive: The only award voted on by true experts that actually watch and study tape. Not just watch ESPN highlights

All NBA 1st team: 1 vote shy of unaminous. And that fool voted for D Wade.

Lead the League in scoring. With a good scoring percentage.

One of the top assist man for his position, even though his teamates continually threw up bricks.

Broke scoring records, 2nd only to Wilt.

Sold out every arena he played in, with local fans chanting MVP. These fans weren't their to see the Lakers. Even Lebron couldn't match that feat.

Arguably, the best player in the NBA. Most of peers recognized it. No MVP though because the unwritten rules say you must have allstars around you.You must make everyone better. Playing defense shouldn't be considered. Even though its an individual award? Who writes these rules?
Could it be be biased media types campaigning there guy?

Goes out of way to help even opposing teams players overcome injuries by offering encouragement.

Fatty, And i'm not even a Kobe lover, but knowing great basketball when I see it.

Troy,

You trade proposal makes alot of sense and I like it. In this league you need three guys that can score consistently and can create their own shots. Like I said if we can keep Lamar, KG, and Kobe that will be great and we will contend easily, however, if we cant get that deal done we should definitely go for your trade proposal.

A team with Mike Bibby, Rashad Lewis, Lamar, and Kobe is another high octance Suns team waiting to happen. I don't think the triangle is a fit for this team though because it will slow them down. They willl really need to let those guys run, and this team will be really expensive.

I will say Kobe gets an A- on my grade, but in the playoffs he got an A. Only reason he got an A- from me during the season was the fact that he took defensive breaks way too much. But if you pay attention to the Suns series, Kobe was killing the suns on D, and for the first time I saw some of his speed again on defense by stealing and disrupting alot of the suns fans. His post defense were lacking against the Suns though, because he got Amare on some switches, and he played bad when STAT posted him up. That series showed me that kobe can still play some real deal when he sets his mind on it.

Kobe=MVP

Did it occur to you that had Kobe won everyone would be questioning how a guy who played one decent playoff game out of 5 as his team loses in the first round can be MVP? ...you cant have your cake and eat it too!

The MVP is a regular season award and Dirk deserved it when you look at the precedents that have been set by past winners...as an award it seems to count for much more and receive more attention than it actually should...but the idea is it generates debate and allows us to explore the scope of players contributions to their teams.I think that there should be a second award for 'player of the season' or something of the like to recognise brilliant individual seasons even if a player isnt on an elite team.

The thing is that MVP awards count for so much when assessing a players career after the fact but the best player in the league seldom wins ....if you are the best defensive player or the best rookie you dont have to be from an elite team or even a good team so why should the best player go unrewarded...especially if they have single handedly carried a team to respectability (like Kobe last season)In many cases this may be a greater achievement than what an MVP can accomplish with a a better roster.

The idea of MVP in a really good team is also getting away from the teamwork idea...In 2005 the top two vote getters were Nash and Shaq was it really Nash not Stoudemire? Was it really Shaq not Wade?

Nash and Shaq were both new additions to their teams and credited with the teams resurgence but when you look closer each needed the other and brought different and vital skills to the team...it all depends where the credit falls which is basically impossible to know and appears to depend on 'fashion' amongst voters more than anything else.

One final comment on the MVP award...while it is often won by the 'best 'player on the team with the best record.It seems to be much easier to win if you change teams or you are an improved star player and harder to win if you are just a solid guy like Tim Duncan,Shaq etc...you either need to be the best player on the best team or be the 'most improved star' preferably both.

If the lakers get the best record in the league next season Kobe will win.I think even if they are top two or three in the west he would be a good bet to win.I dont believe in any media conspiracy against him...what are they going to do...try to keep him out of the spotlight?... come on!

BK

Do you think that after this season, with what happened with Dirk that the media might change the way they look at the MVP and really choose the best player in the NBA rather than a player with the best record. I still believe team success should be very important to it but one might look like making it to the playoffs is enough team success.

thebigchill: You want to bring Pargo back?? WHAAAYYYY???

JJ: Kareem getting the MVP was really the exception to the rule. That situation was brought up a lot on the sports talk shows this season and last season whenever people were talking about Kobe getting the MVP. Since that time, there's never been an MVP who was on a team with that low of a record (40-42 or 42-40 [I can't remember]).

I'm not really sure whether or not I agree with the current voting criteria, but I don't think there is anyone who doubted that Kobe is the best player in the NBA. I think there was a whole article last season (maybe by Bill Simmons) who was saying that there should be an MVP award for the best player and a MVPOACT (Most Valuable Player On A Contending Team) or something award for the guys like Dirk and Nash.

Jay Jay: Yeah, I agree with you. Same thing with the All-Star Game. They should have the placement set up like a regular basketball team instead of copping out and just grouping the small/power forwards together and point/shooting guards together.

Double standard?
Is Lebron selfish telling to the coach he will take over the game?
is Kobe selfish when he does it?

Duncan vs. Nash, LeBron vs. Vince: Superstars alone don't win NBA titles. But you'd better have one
From KIng Kauffman - salon.com

"Here's something that almost never happens: Tuesday night, Magic Johnson and I did the same thing.

I don't know what Magic Johnson does with his time most of the time, but I have a feeling it would be pretty cool for me if that happened more often.

Anyway, here's what he did that I did: He watched the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the New Jersey Nets 102-92 to take a 2-0 lead in their NBA playoff series, then he watched the Phoenix Suns beat the San Antonio Spurs 101-81 to even that series at 1-1, and he thought about Dirk Nowitzki.

I know, Magic. Me too. Nowitzki's been at the fishing hole for almost a week and I can't stop obsessing over the great tragic figure of the NBA.

Tragic in the dramaturgical sense, that is. Dirk's fine, as far as I know. He just has that fascinating, fatal -- in the context of basketball -- flaw. He cannot and will not and never will be a superstar who can carry a team to a championship, even though he has all the tools to do it. At least from that fuzzy chin down he does.

Johnson was in his customary playoff spot Tuesday as the fourth wheel on the best three-man weave in basketball, the TNT studio show with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley. They'd just showed a clip of Cleveland coach Mike Brown's postgame comments, in which he talked about LeBron James.

"With five minutes to go in the game, I ran a play for somebody else and he missed the shot, and [James] turned to me, he said he wanted the ball," Brown said.

"He wanted the ball because he was going to win it for us. I said, 'OK.' I went in the huddle and I called one play. One play. And that one play was going to LeBron every single time. I told our guys whether it was vs. man or vs. zone, he's getting the ball. And he made the necessary plays to get us over the hump. He was the man tonight."

Coming out of the clip, Johnson said, "LeBron was just tremendous. That's what we want from Dirk. You saw what coach said: Hey, LeBron came back to the huddle and said, 'I want the ball. I'm going to take this game over, and I'm going to will us to victory.' You saw Steve Nash say, 'Hey, this is an important part of the game, eight minutes to go to the half, we were struggling.' Steve Nash took that game into his own hands, dominated the play, and made them have a seven-point lead going into halftime."

Instead of going for KG or JO which is probably out of Lakers reach as of now how about going for Randolph or Gasol? Both are prolific scorers, both are 20-10 guys on any given night, which is what we need here, 2nd option to Kobe. This will be immediate upgrade at PF position, plus in triangle PF suppose to take and make a midrange open jumper and both of them have very reliable mid or small range jumper. Not to mention, 10 rebounds average per game will not hurt either. Of course Randolph coming with some baggage being one of the last pieces of the infamous Jailblazers, but I think Phil who has an experience dealing with Rodman will handle this plus surrounded with positive veterans like LO and Kobe he want be a problem.
With Gasol/Randolph at 4 Lakers can play LO as a point forward and all they need to do is get a defensive PG who can handle guys like Parker, Terry and etc which is not a big task bearing in mind MLE. Any thought?

LAL_Fan

LAL_Fan,

When did we get Rodman? I know you mean Radmanovic but I looked at it and was like, we got Dennis Rodman!?

Forgot to add, If this will not work out they still will have a significant value during the season for trade. Gasol wants out of Memphis and I think Portland don't mind to get Randolph from they young players as far as possible.

Jay El: Don't know if you saw my response to your post from last night in the other thread... here it is:

Yeah, I could see Utah going for Shard, and vice versa with AK and Seattle. Seattle could use a tenacious defender and Utah is souring on AK, so it would seem. The question is, how could we get involved? They could virtually be traded straight up for each other. I mean, I guess that LO could go to Utah, AK could go to Seattle, and Shard could come here, but that would just be mixing things up. I think that Seattle would be looking for a defender (AK) because they could just keep Shard instead of getting LO, whereas Utah would be looking for more of a scorer, ala LO or Shard.

Regardless, I think that we would need to shake the team up in a different way. A point guard and a center or power forward.

Jay El,

Phil was dealing with Dennis Rodman back in Chicago and he was pretty good in this.

I don't think anyone posted a recap of the Jim Buss 570 interview, so I stole this from ClubLakers:

- On Jerry West.

The Icon leaving has nothing to do with him (Jim Buss). If West is available, Lakers will entertain and consider bringing him back.

- Who's to blame?

Not only 1 person to blame. Mitch, Jim, Jerry, Phil are the decision makers. Maybe the coaches didn't coach a young team well, maybe Kobe should be more of a playmaker - different ways of approaching decision making. It takes a full year or 2 to see the full outcome about the decisions they've made. May 22nd time to make decisions this year.

- Any player on the table aside from Kobe?

Absolutely! Misconception to protect Bynum from being traded is false. But saying that he made a great move by drafting Bynum.

- Kobe to be more of a voice regarding a sense of urgency for this team?

No. Kobe just was in the heat of the moment when he made that statement. Kobe doesn't realize how much he's involved, but he is involved with some of the decision making.

- Will Kobe opt out?

Almost every player has an out on his contract to negotiate. Kobe's opt out has nothing to do with him leaving the team. Understands Kobe voicing his frustrations but believes Kobe is a Laker FOR LIFE.

- If Kobe was traded/Shaq to Miami:

Talks if Kobe would ask for a trade, they'd try to get the best player of each team, i.e. KG if he was traded to Minny. Talks about how Miami was fortunate that Wade became the player he is. But the Lakers took the great player the Heat currently had.

- Phil Jackson on ripping players:

Feels uncomfortable about Phil ripping players in the media, but believes in Phil and doesn't really "care for it." He has a meeting with Phil Jackson next week. Will talk to Phil about players like Kwame Brown and his injury, etc.

- Making trades:

Agrees with the fans that Lakers need to make a MAJOR change. Will try to go for a BIG NAME player. But winning is more important than just trying to get a big name player. Says Dallas is probably in a worse situation than the Lakers right now.

- Style of Laker's play:

Talks about GS. Says GS is playing good defense. Don Nelson is probably a different (better?) defensive coach than Phil.

- Phil's contract:

Phil is the right coach for this team. He has an open ended policy on his contract. Wants Phil to keep coaching because that means Phil believes in this team.

- Luke Walton re-signing:

Believes Luke will be back. Fully confident. But he also said that he believed Derek Fisher will be back a couple years ago when Fish was a FA, but that didn't happen. So nothing he can really say about it right now.

- Shaking the roster up?

No fear to shake up the roster. Kobe is the pillar of the team. Will do anything to go back to winning.

Adam Kiley,

I don't see how you think JO doesn't fit with this offense? He's a big man that is GREAT defensively, can score just as good as any big man in the league, can pass pretty well, and has a 15ft jumpshot!!!! If he's not the perfect fit for this offense than I don't know who is. I know a lot of people want KG (I wouldn't mind seeing KG in purple and gold), but to get him I know we'd have to give up LO, and to me that's unacceptable. If Mitch earns his salary we can have KB24, LO, and JO!!!! What team in the NBA could stop that trio? If Mitch could make that happen we'd still have the MLE to sign either a pg, or an athletic small forward.

generic_one

In order to accomplish this we'll need to trade Kwame which is big attraction to both teams looking to rebuild - 9M plus expiring contract plus someone else like Cook or VRad. This is only way to save LO and I think keeping LO our best option vs. Kwame. Healthy LO is constant headache because of mismatches he creates.

Gasol 13.7M either Kwame + Cook or Kwame + VRad should do it
Randolph 13.3 pretty the same.

Of course there are some negatives - Randolph signed through 2010/2011 season which is very long term. In case of Gasol it's one year shorter. And this is why I think Memphis or Portland will jump on this opportunity to dump salary now. Some risk involved with such a huge contracts, but hey it's time to take risk. We all agree, small 'safe' moves will not put this team over the hump.

Generic_one,
Of course, it is never safe to assume that what a coach/GM/owner/borther of owner's hot daughter says in public.

Lamar is not, and has never been, a "great" player. He is "good" player, borderline "very good", but not "great."

And at the time of the trade Wade was already better than Lamar.

So either he doesn't know what he is talking about, or he doesn't want to be publicly honest about the level of Lamar's play.

Kiwi,
What the Kobe-worshippers don't like acknowledging is that there is a difference between being the most skillful player, and being the most valuable player.

The difference between being the most skillful player and being the most valuable player is what teammates management gives you.

Generic_One,

I listened to the broadcast still had a mixed emotions on Jim Buss statement. In summary, he was saying: we are OK, managed the course well except from some changes in the team, on PJ's coaching style and in Kobe's perceptions. Since the playoffs ended and gauging from exit interviews of players, they are saying, "we are not OK".

Well, as I told Guy O, let's see what will happen after July 1st, then we can really say where we will be?

LAL_fan, I know who Rodman is, and Phil did a good job with him which makes some people believe that he could do well with guys like Ron Artest. I was just joking on how you wrote Rodman instead Radman.