Fatty,

I've watched 95% of every lakers game since 1981. Thanks for playing kid. Kobe has not been making anyone better lately....big difference from Jordan, Magic, and even LBJ.

Off topic certainly, but not without fanfair lol. For those that can't read this tiny tiny fonts, you can use Safari and set it up so that it doesn't use a font size smaller than like 12. At least you can do that in the mac, I'm not sure in the pc.

As for the KG to LA sweepstakes. Big Ticket! Big Ticket! (to replace yesterday's incorrect, big money, big money chant).

I feel like we're in Miracle on 34th street (the old black and white movie, or the new they're technically the same), where a select few of us are wearing buttons saying, "I believe." Well, I believe!

Kwame has his second surgery after all :
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2917681

AK/BK,

Any news on draft workouts? Bynum a couple of years ago was a big surprise. Any candidates like that this year? With all the KG/Kobe/trade hoopla going on, I'll be amazed if have had the time to workout this years picks.

Breaking News

Bobcats Want To Help The Lakers Get Garnett!!!

Bobcats Is The Third Team!!!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/basketball/nba/specials/draft/2007/06/26/bobcats.draft.ap/index.html

Bickerstaff also indicated they would be interested in getting in on any multiple-team trades involving superstars Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Kevin Garnett of Minnesota. While both players are unlikely to end up in Charlotte, the Bobcats could be helpful in a deal because of their wealth of salary cap space.

"I think we're going to defer talking about those players. I will say we have no problems being facilitators," Bickerstaff said.

Ex,

bulls 91 roster:

Jordan
Pippen
Grant
King
Levingston
Perdue
hodges
hopson
williams
Cartwright
Armstrong
Paxson

As I said, MJ won in 91 with Pip and a bunch of role players

Garnett, Kobe have phone conversation

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/playerbreakingnews.asp?sport=NBA&id=354&line=83035&spln=1

bulls 91 roster:

Jordan
Pippen
Grant
King
Levingston
Perdue
hodges
hopson
williams
Cartwright
Armstrong
Paxson

That's a pretty solid squad. Scottie Pippin is a better number 2 than Lamar. Horace Grant in his prime was one of the best power forwards in the league. Paxon, Hodges and BJ Armstrong were all great shooters. Some of the othere cats were pretty strong too, like King and Cartwright.

Hariyahu - "Minny gets #8, Bynum, Sean May and Kwame for KG (to LA).
Charlotte would be trading #8 + May for LO...Would that work?"

The money works, but would you pull the string on it if you were McHale? And is LO coming off surgery worth May and an 8? I'm not sure a healthy LO is worth that.

Janice,
Horace Grant was not a role player. He was a borderline All-Star, a very solid player for his career. Hardly a role player. BJ Armstrong was a very solid point guard. Hodges one of the top shooters in the league. Paxson one of the top shooters in the league. Cartwright was probably the best defensive center in the league. Those are not "role players."

Yes, Kobe Bryant is a great role model, father, and husband.

Kobe Bryant has NO illigitimate children, a la Shaq O'Neil, is not nearly as promiscuous as Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberline, or probably 80% of the other NBA players, he attends church, is active in his children's schools, and is very charitable to local communities (do the research on that one).

As a young man, in his early 20's, he was tempted by court-proven scandoulous woman. He cheated on his beautiful wife, but he's not NEARLY, and I mean NEARLY alone in that endeavor. Reports I've researched have the percentage of men cheating on their wives anywhere between 22% to 78%. It's safe to bet that number goes up with celebrities and athletes.

Kobe's wife had a clear cut opportunity to divorce him and take 1/2 his assets. Her family had the opportunity to trash him pubically. His family had the opportunity to abandon him. However, all reports show that Kobe and his wife are deeply in love, had brought another beautiful daughter into the world (post Denver), and have reaffirmed their love and devotion together through family support and through their devotion to their religion. Some say Kobe bought her love. Uh, no. His wife could have divorced him and bought herself hundreds of diamond rings. But she stood by her man because she recognized a good man who made one mistake.

As far as the incident in CO itself, read this very carefully. No one but the two people who where involved truly know what happened. I cannot speculate because I wasn't there, and neither can anyone else. There is circumstantial evidence that make both Kobe's story and his accuser's story shaky (again, do the research). I do know that educated and professional people brought this case to a court of law. The legal system operated without flaw, and the only conclusive, court documented results were that fallacies in the accuser's case were so strong that the case was dismissed. As such, I have rationale to believe Kobe Bryant was innocent, because a strong case would have seen him convicted.

However, at the very least, you cannot pass judgment upon Kobe and ignore the fallacies in his accusers case. There is no justification to do this, and no viable argument to support such an act. To do this plainly, and without debate, shows clear and precise prejudice and bias against Kobe Bryant. There's no other way to approach it.

Since the Denver incident was unresolved, I don't see the legal or moral right anyone has to implicate either Kobe Bryant or his accuser, as per my aforementioned contentions.

What I see now is a man who has remained happily married (can you say that?), has two children that love him, whom has the love of both families, and attends church. As such, I stand by my statements that Kobe Bryant is a good father and husband.

As far as role model, Kobe doesn't drink and party like Shaq and other NBA players, he doesn't sexually harass women (remember Shaq had to apologize for a sexually charged, public statement he said about Serena Williams- oh, I guess that has that been conveniently forgotten), he doesn't do drugs like Lamar Odom, he doesn't beat up his women like Allan Iverson and Charles Barkley. He works hard, he prays, and he loves his family. He made one mistake, he paid the price. His wife and both sides of the families have forgiven him, so what right do I, or anyone else, have not to?

Kobe Bryant is a great husband, father, and role model. Millions of people agree to that, which is why he's admired and loved throughout the world, it's why his jersey is the number one seller.

Case made...case supported...case close.

Kobe Rules. Get over it.

JANICE

What you think about this stats!
The most wins Michael jordan did without Scottie Pippen in a season is 40 wins!
The most wins Scottie Pippen did without Jordan was 55 wins!
Scottie Pippen became a all-star when Phil Jackson first season with the bulls!
Michael Jordan average 25.1 shots for his playoff career!
Michael average 31 shot a game in his second season in the playoffs!
Did Michael really trust his teammates as the media hype him up to be look at this shots attempt difference between him and pippen during the playoffs that they won their six titles1

MICHAEL JORDAN
90-91 SHOT ATTEMPS 22.1 AVG 31.1 POINTS
91-92 SHOT ATTEMPS 26.4 AVG 34.5 POINTS
92-93 SHOT ATTEMPS 27.7 AVG 35.1 POINTS
95-96 SHOT ATTEMPS 22.6 AVG 30.7 POINTS
96-97 SHOT ATTEMPS 26.2 AVG 31.1 POINTS
97-98 SHOT ATTEMPS 25.0 AVG 32.4 POINTS
SCOTTIE PIPPEN
90-91 SHOT ATTEMPS 16.5 AVG 21.6 POINTS
91-92 SHOT ATTEMPS 14.7 AVG 19.5 POINTS
92-93 SHOT ATTEMPS 17.2 AVG 20.1 POINTS
95-96 SHOT ATTEMPS 15.9 AVG 16.9 POINTS
96-97 SHOT ATTEMPS 16.2 AVG 19.2 POINTS
97-98 SHOT ATTEMPS 14.0 AVG 16.8 POINTS
Now lets look at Kobe and Shaq 3 titles playoff stats!

Shaq
99-00 SHOT ATTEMPS 21.9 AVG 30.7
00-01 SHOT ATTEMPS 21.5 AVG 30.4
01-02 SHOT ATTEMPS 20.2 AVG 28.2
Kobe
99-00 SHOT ATTEMPS 17.9 AVG 21.1
00-01 SHOT ATTEMPS 22. 3 AVG 29.4
01-02 SHOT ATTEMPS 22.8 AVG 26.8
These show or prove that Jordan didn't trust Scottie! Shaq did trust Kobe! Thats how Michael was scoring so many points and thats why Scottie points was not as high as Jordan! And y all call Kobe the ballhog! Kobe and Shaq deny their game for each other Jordan was to big headed to do the same for Scottie! Kobe,Magic,Bird, and Scottie Pippen sacrifice scoring for titles Michael never did! Give Kobe some credit for that!

Wagoneer,

I have to question either your memory or your sanity. Grant was most definitely not one of the best power forwards in the game in 91. Stats in 91:

Grant: 13 pts, 8 rebs
Cartwright: 9.6, 6.2
Armstrong: 8.8 and 3.7 assists
Paxson: 8.7 ppg
King: 5.5 ppg, 1.8 rebs

Paxson, Armstrong, and Hodges could shoot, but not much else. As I said, all role players save for MJ and Pip.

And you are nuts if you think King and Cartwright were "strong". Actually, no you are just plain wrong.

Jermaine, what you are forgetting is that MJ had a license to shoot and KB doesn't. Why, you ask?

Well...

Kobe has shot worse than his own team in 9 of his 11 seasons, including this year.

Jordan, on the other hand, shot better than his own team every full season from 84-98.

Jordan only played 2 full seasons without Pip and joined a 27 win bulls team in 84, so your point is moot.

In 93-94, Pip inherited a championship team, with Jordan gone, but with Kerr and Kukoc added, and was ousted in the 2nd round. Next year, down to 47 wins. MJ returns, 72 wins and 3 more rings. Sorry bud, facts are facts.

You are confusing Scottie and Kobe's roles. Need I remind you that Shaq was the primary force behind all 3 lakers rings, as MJ was for all 6 of the bulls. So of course, Kobe deferred to shaq, like Pip did for MJ. You are putting Kobe in the MJ role, when Shaq was more similar to MJ in stats, contributions to the team, and overall impact.

Oh, and MJ won 6 rings as the driving force of the team playing the way he did. More than Magic. Your criticism means nothing.

KOBE APOLOGIST

“Do any of you people even play basketball? Like even at the park, 5 on 5?Are you kidding me? How is Kobe NOT the best?????? It's you losers who can't even score 6 points in a pickup game to 13 that are constanly ragging on Kobe. Think about it, go out to your local park, come back and tell me how many points you scored. I don't even care if you won, even though that's what matters. Just go and see if you can score 6 points before the game is over. Saying you're a "good passer" is the loser way of saying you can't play!!!”

Please enlighten us with yo b-ball resume?? Or are you projecting??

GUNNER24

“I CAN ONLY IMAGINE WHAT TYPE OF FATHER YOU [troy] MUST BE. "A RAPIST, ADULTERER, AND LIAR"

Dude, I think troy’s gone off the deep end now that his hero [kobe] has been thoroughly embarrassed and exposed for what kobe really is, a dumba$$ talented b-ball player who’ll step on anybody including his teammates, fans and now boss to get ahead.

JANICE

“As I said, MJ won in 91 with Pip and a bunch of role players”

What some bloggers don’t understand that truly great players, not wannabes like kob, are able to extract the optimum performance from their role players.

HOBBIT

“Detroit didn't have any all-stars. The best *this* iteration of the pistons have done is 2nd team NBA and that was last year or the year before when Ben was there.”

Whoa, det didn’t have all-stars?? Rip, Sheed, Billups, McDyess, Wallace, Webber…….these guys were at one time all-stars. My point is that at a certain point in time, individual accolades takes a back seat to winning. Kobe won too early and too easily and now we laker fans are paying the price for kobe’s early success on shaq back.

“You have an interesting point about how none of Kobe's team mates have talked about dying for him. Neither have any of Shaq's..”

I can’t argue one way or another, but my barometer is the guys that sacrificed to play with shaq. Grant and Shaw both played with shaq in Orlando, they came to play in LA. Fox was a starter with Boston and he came to play with shaq. Malone/Payton too. I can go on ad nauseum.

“Lamar has stuck up for Kobe. Luke has stuck up for Kobe. Shammond stuck up for Kobe. i.e. When everyone said, Kobe's not making his teammates better, his teammates said: He's doing his job. We're not doing ours. Lamar said, "When his son died, Kobe was the first to call". Lamar also talked about how Kobe was doing a lot of work with kids, but no one was paying any attention to that. Kobe didn't want to call attention to it.”

You make a good points, but my argument would be to you, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. It's never a good idea to bad mouth anybody in any profession. The cynical side in me tells me LO, Luke et al are being fakers. believe me, i openly complement my biggest enemy in the workplace cuz i know those types (kobe types) will come after you like mad if you cross them. that's my central argument on why guys with real stature turn down playing with kobe.

“I would make the argument that both the Cavaliers and the Warriors are currently more talented than the Lakers.”

I might have misspoken or mislead you. I can argue that Cavs and Worriors have similar talent in aggregate.

“Stephen Jackson may be a head case off the court, but on the court he plays ball. We don't really want to talk about Smush or Kwame do we? :)”

I can’t argue with you on Jackson, but I was impressed with the loyalty Jackson displayed publicly for Davis. And I don’t think Jackson was pretending either. Again, I appreciate the chat even though we don’t agree.

DAVID PETERSON

“Isn't playing with Kobe a bit like having what you think is mind blowing sex with a porn star, only to have her go out and tell everyone how undersized you are?”

LOL. I will neither confirm nor deny those allegations. I will give you a smile from ear to ear though.

Ex, Generic

I think the league takes steps to protect the game but money comes first.If the deemed it financially more viable to let high school players in... then thats what would happen.But as it is..high school players became widely thought of as an obvious disregard to the product and the result of negative publicity in regards to the players emotional preperation etc...it simply wasn't worth it.

The free agency is just a side affect of the amount of money on offer.The players also view it as business before anything else and they are right to in many ways considering the nature of the whole thing but that is unlikely to help the basketball.

Generic's example of the expansion teams is perfect, however its a much bigger beast than that ...it's an entire approach that incorporates every aspect of the business side of the NBA and the pure side of it.Even the Kobe vs honour argument falls under it.

We always hear the phrase 'Its a business 'but often dont stop to think about what this actually means beyond players knowing they can be traded etc

If you look around the NBA is just striving to survive and compete in a particular business climate.It's about profit...only these days 'a profit' is not enough you have to scientifically 'maximise' profit while attempting to exploit the new global market to the greatest extreme.

Pretty much what every company does or tries to do...it just happens to be a unique product and people are watching and discussing it and can trace the history so we can see it happening....its a bit different from when my favourite brand of deoderant stains my shirt becasue they are trying to create the same thing for less with their brand name as security.

So to the true basketball fans who want the best possible basketball....they are not going to get it or at least not at the expense of the vision that will attract the largest and broadest possible market,give stars huge endorsment contracts and playing contracts and consequently too much money and power to benefit the game,the hyping of individuals,the most possible franchises,the most palatable rules.

The temptation to swing the decisions around money is too much when you can see a small tweak that will result in higher profits (particularly if thats what you are actually employed to do) and in some cases, as you both say, things are out of the leagues control.For example of you are making all this money off Kobe Bryant how can you not pay him accordingly...people say its ridiculous how one man can be paid so much but he is worth every penny...hes probably still being exploited.So the ridiculousness lies not in one man being paid so much...but how can he be worth so much?...the answer comes back to the leagues previous decisions.

All these discussions from the new ball,to the suspensions,to the fighting,to the dress code,to free agency,to Kobe etc etc etc...all fall under the same subject as far as I am concerned.They are all just side affects of the leagues approach which is in turn a side effect of the environment they operate in,which is in turn a side affect of the world we now live in.I guess we all just have to take the good (basketball available to more people,lakers blog etc) with the bad (whatever the costs of basketball being available to more people are)

To David Peterson,

lol. Nice. Very Nice. While still grinning over your line .....
To make your line more appropriate it would be:

"Isn't playing with Kobe a bit like having what you think is mind blowing sex for *THREE* years, only to have her go out and tell everyone who saw the video
how undersized you are?"

You could look at it that way if you're biased about Kobe before you examine the situation. I think that we can all agree on the following regardless of whether
Kobe is a great leader/role model/teammate.

1. Kobe is extremely competitive.
2. The Lakers management have not built a quality team around him from a personnel perspective.

Do you believe that an extremely competitive person would not ask his potential employer about
the rebuilding process before signing with them? Especially when there are *great* offers on the
table from Chicago & The Clippers.?

If you believe that the answer to the above questions is no, then the Laker's mgmt has not fulfilled their end
of the bargain. How does he get out or is he just screwed? Should he not fight the rectal reaming
the Laker's management is giving him? When someone is screwing you over, don't you fight it?

Outside of saying ship Bynum's *ss outta here, what has he said about any of his teammates?
Specifically. One quote will do. A quote like: Luke sucks. Kwame couldn't catch a cold with those
broken mits. My daughter play defense better than Smush Parker. Something like that will suffice.

To KL,

Webber may have been an all-star 5 years ago. Wallace too, but that was 5 years ago.
BTW, I'm talking 1st team not second team.

I don't think that Kobe had success on Shaq's back. That's the fallacy. They had success together.
When Shaq couldn't play in the final five minutes who was on the court? When the Big Lazy was
to out of shape to run up & down the court who was there?

re: players who came to play with Shaq.
1. No one said he wasn't a great player.
2. At the time, Kobe had just come into the league. no one knew him.
3. The Lakers pay great $$$. Grant has been getting paid for how long by the Lakers, while he's out fishing?
4. The list of players who wanted to come to LA, but mgmt said, "no". Baron Davis, Boozer, Kidd, Artest, Garnett, J O'Neil.
I bet Derek Fisher would play with Kobe in a second. I don't know if he'd come if Phil weren't the coach or if the same
personnel is kept. Would you play ball on a team with Kwame Brown and Smush Parker?

Kiwi,
Sorry, I hadn't read your entire post before I responded. I basically agree with you; just want to emphasize that a lot of the league's policies are forced on them by the players/players unions, who are also motivated primarily by money (IMO).