I am taw-wy
Fans of the "Howard Stern Show" will recognize the immortal words of Crackhead Bob relaying an apology. Whether Kobe Bryant was inspired by the classic contrition from the shock jock's regular guest isn't certain, but in any event, Bryant revealed yesterday that he dropped by Mitch Kupchak's office a couple weeks ago to apologize for some recent outbursts. The behavior in question included radio tour rants, floating the idea of replacing Kupchak with Jerry West and his amateur video cameo, but it appears that "The Kobe Video" was the true impetus for Kobe's words, which Bryant insisted be delivered in person. So does that mean Bryant no longer desires a change of address? Hard to say. Bryant neither repeated his trade request nor confirmed he was back on board, stating that he's concentrating on his upcoming Team USA games, his workouts and the kids.
On another note, my dad is a retired ophthalmologist/eye surgeon, so he knows a fair amount about retinoblastoma, the cancer affecting Derek Fisher's young daughter. According to him, the top city for specialists and treatment for this disease is New York, with Boston high on the list. He also said that although he figures somewhere like UCLA is a viable option, he's not positive L.A. is considered a top area. And he definitely thinks Salt Lake City wasn't the ideal place to be treated.
My point for mentioning all this is to hopefully reassure any blogosphere members engaging in "read between the lines" speculation when it comes to Fish's eventual destination, or whether he could have treated his child in Utah but wanted to switch teams, etc. Seriously, please stop. For starters, Derek Fisher is not the kind of person who'd milk his daughter's condition as a way of getting himself on a squad he'd "rather" play with. That strikes me as way beyond out of character. Frankly, the situation he left wasn't all that bad. And if Fisher ends up on the Knicks, I'm willing to bet the farm it has absolutely nothing to do with "not wanting to play alongside Kobe" and everything to do with New York being the ideal place to treat her. This is a life decision, with basketball a distant second. Fisher's not about to put his daughter in what he considers the third best place for treatment so he can play for his first-choice team. Just focus your energy on positive thoughts toward Tatum Fisher and don't waste it trying to figure out how his decision is a reflection on the Lakers.
-AK
http://www.miamiherald.com/594/story/161812.html
Blake, 27, and Milwaukee's Mo Williams, 24, remain the Heat's top free agent targets at point guard. The Heat has the midlevel exception (nearly $6 million a year). But Williams, coming off a career season, could earn significantly more by staying in Milwaukee, which reportedly is offering $40 million through five years.
Williams' agent, Mark Bartelstein, said Thursday the Heat is still in contention for Williams but declined to suggest its chances to land him.
''It's just a process,'' Bartelstein said.
Blake, who finished the season as the starter in Denver, seeks the entire midlevel exception. But the Heat, Lakers and Nuggets are hesitant to offer $6 million a year.
All three teams are lining up other options. Clippers free agent guard Jason Hart listed the Heat among the inquiring teams. Chucky Atkins and Derek Fisher are candidates who could be signed for fewer guaranteed years and less than the midlevel exception.
Damon Stoudamire and the Heat would have mutual interest if he were bought out of the final two seasons and $8 million of his contract in Memphis. The Grizzlies drafted Mike Conley Jr., who joins a crowded point guard crop that also includes second-year player Kyle Lowry.
Stoudamire averaged 14 points and 6.4 assists in 12 seasons, but 7.5 points and 4.8 assists last season, his first after knee surgery in 2006.
''His knee is about 95 percent right now and he's working every day,'' said agent Aaron Goodwin. ``Obviously, in this situation, he'd like to know what opportunity he'll have in Memphis.''
Posted by: J-Cool | July 06, 2007 at 05:24 PM
AK/BK at last!!!!
I see you are trying to clean up the blog:
I see KLBeast & Gunner24 are now officially on the AK/BK watch
I bet you guys are annoyed you cannot spew all your hate!!
I see that KLbeast is so desperate to hate on Kobe, he has changed his name to KLBeast1 to try and defeat your blocks.
Same goes for gunner24 who is now gunner5, should we call him Gunnerx.
These guys just saddest people on the planet.
AK/BK can I suggest you just block their ip address or email accunt and you will not have to deal with these idiots anymore.
Funny how Steven tried the same stupid thing of changing his name.
Maybe the blog will return to a debating forum for Laker fans as it was originally intended!!!
Aaarrrhhhh!!
Angry_Laker
Posted by: Angry_Laker | July 06, 2007 at 05:26 PM
Hey guys,
I was watching the espn vid on espn.com, and ric bucher said kobe apologized to bynum before apologizing to mitch.
Posted by: HanSoulfood | July 06, 2007 at 05:27 PM
Jorema,
Are you sure thats not the "Kobe fan" manifesto????
Posted by: The Lake-Show (former known as I miss van exel and eddie jones) | July 06, 2007 at 05:30 PM
Jorema,
By the way, have you been drinking already? Whats with the bloody hatred???
What happened to everyone, this blog was happier earlier today.
Posted by: The Lake-Show (former known as I miss van exel and eddie jones) | July 06, 2007 at 05:31 PM
Lightbulb Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Ron Artest for Brian Cook, Kwame Brown, Jordan Farmar
How about this...we trade Filler... Brian Cook, Expiring Contract...Kwame Brown, & Young PG Jordan Farmar..Kings could make move to trade bibby after this trade...Plus we take a big contract from them, since they will be in rebuilding mode...Also we dont sign Crish mihm or maybe?? and use the mle on point guard or something to fit the team better...
Los Angeles Lakers Incoming Players: Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Ron Artest
Sacramento Kings Incoming Players: Brian Cook, Kwame Brown, Jordan Farmar
Trade machine Link:
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=3~25~981~1998~3002&teams=13~13~23~23~23
New Line Up:
MLE?/Crittenton/Sasha
Kobe/Evans
Artest/Luke/Radmanovic
Odom/Turiaf
Bynum/Shareef Abdur-Rahim/Mihm?
Miguel
Posted by: Miguel | July 06, 2007 at 05:37 PM
Taliq
What i meant was that if Kobe didnt decide to gripe in the media, but instead asked for a trade behind closed doors then maybe the management would have kept their bargaining chip and wouldnt have looked so desperate all throughout the league. so weather kobe stayed or left, we wouldnt have maybe came away with a decent squad unlike the shaq trade. i understand that this is a business, but i dont think its too much to ask for a little professionalism. dont come out rallying the troops in labeling me as a mamba hater. i appreciate him as a basketball player and everything hes given the purple and gold, but what he did was wrong.
Jorema
"If the losers wants that team, go ahead, transfer your affects to the Clippers.
Truly Lakers fans want to win right now.
Pseudo Lakers fans want the team to do bad, so they can enjoy Kobe problems."
True Laker fans stay loyal to their team even if that team that you have on the floor is garbage. Save your clipper rantings for the other bandwagoneers who called for a 55 win season last year and arent here anymore.
GO LAKES!
Posted by: sixonezero | July 06, 2007 at 05:39 PM
Taliq,
The Timberwolves don't want Amare. The deal they were trying to work out was for
Amare to go to Atlanta and Atlanta to send them Marvin Williams, the #3 an #11
picks in the draft, and expiring contracts.
McHale made it clear: the only thing he wanted to get back in any trade for KG
was young cheap talented players, expiring contracts, and draft picks. That's
it. He doesn't want Amare because Amare makes too much and for too many
years.
The big hangup with the Lakers was Lamar Odom - he still has two years left on his
contract and it's too big a contract.
I guess McHale wants to have lots of cap space next summer when there are a
bunch of high quality free agents.
Posted by: Long time Laker fan | July 06, 2007 at 05:46 PM
Lee,
"Can you name the one good decision that Mich Kupchak has done?"
- Trading a second round pick for Maurice Evans
- Drafting Andrew Bynum instead of Sean May
- Drafting Ronny Turiaf in the second round
- Drafting Luke Walton in the second round
Not much more than that, and they are overweighed by bad decisions, but if he
manages to get KG this summer, then all will be forgiven.
Posted by: Long time Laker fan | July 06, 2007 at 05:55 PM
Lee,
So tell us, oh wise one, who would YOU have drafted in the 40th and 48th place in
the draft instead of Gasol and Yue?
Bear in mind that Kupchak has been pretty good at picking talent in the
second round (Walton, Turiaf).
Posted by: Long time Laker fan | July 06, 2007 at 05:57 PM
Why force Kobe to play for Lakers if he doesn't want anymore.
No point keeping him - if the heart is no longer here.
TRADE KOBE!
Thats the best move our team can make.
Posted by: Tarugo | July 06, 2007 at 05:58 PM
KlBeast:
"Kobe never apologized to Shaq"
Watch this youtube video and you'll see otherwise:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBpI8dCJfUk&mode=related&search=
Kobe didn't have to say that. Nobody put a gun to his head and said "apologize or I'll kill you." Why do you think Shaq buried the hatchet and greeted Kobe warmly during a Lakers-Heat game in 2006? Because Kobe finally manned up and apologized... but I forgot, you're so perfect, you never do any wrong, so you couldn't possibly understand what it means to do something wrong and try to make amends for it.
Oh, and the video contains a bunch of other anti-Kobe nonsense that I'm sure you'll enjoy... but that's the whole point. Nothing Kobe says or does will satisfy those who hate him. If he came to your house and apologized in person, you'd probably still call him "kobiatch". People hated him for the feud he had with Shaq, and when he apologized, they hated him even more... enough to create a video montage calling him a crybaby.
Kobe should not apologize to those who have hated him his whole career and have called him every curse word in the English language, because they will continue hating him no matter what.
For people like the Kobe-haters, hate runs through their veins. If they stop hating, they'll have no reason to participate in this forum, so they must use every event and opportunity -- no matter how contradictory it is -- to continue hating. If Kobe died trying to save someone's life, they'd say, "Oh, look at Kobe trying to be the hero and hog the glory again." If he gave away all his money to charity, they'd say, "Oh, look at Kobe, the wannabe saint. He makes me sick." Hating people has almost become a national pastime -- and I'll bet you'd make the all-star team in that sport.
I've never defended the stupid things Kobe has done over the years... but I realize that he's only human. When will you?
Posted by: hal9000 | July 06, 2007 at 06:00 PM
TREATMENT CENTERS FOR RETINOBLASTOMA…
You can count me as one of the bloggers who would be thrilled to have Derek Fisher return to the Lakers, provided we can limit the deal to three years. While Derek has rightly focused his attention on his daughter’s health care, there are many reasons why a move back to LA would be beneficial for the family, provided that his daughter can receive the best medical care and treatment living in Los Angeles. Moving is always traumatic for families, especially children. To be able to return to a place you know and an organization you know can ease the struggle. The Lakers should leave an empty roster space open for Fisher so he knows he is welcome.
Out of curiosity, I googled “retinoblastoma treatment Los Angeles” and clicked on a link to Retinoblastoma International, which is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization founded in Los Angeles and chartered as a corporation under the laws of the State of California that is focused on infant retinal cancer, retinoblastoma with chapters world-wide. The organization was actually started by the Director of Oncology at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The list of treatment centers in the USA for retinoblastoma includes The Retinoblastoma Center at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles as well as similar treatment centers in Boston, Miami, Memphis, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco – all of which incidentally also have an NBA team. Toronto was also on the list as the only treatment center in Canada. I would be interested to learn what AK and BK’s father knew or thought about Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
It will be interesting to see what happens. I would expect that most of these treatment centers are highly thought of as this is such a specialized form of cancer. The fact that Derek has not already selected a treatment center says that there is more than one city that could provide the leading edge treatment that Derek needs. I sure hope somehow it turns out that he can join the Lakers again. He would be the perfect solution to the Smush Parker problem. But if he decides another city is a better option, he will still have my love and respect.
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | July 06, 2007 at 06:02 PM
Free Agency: Billups, Nocioni Staying Put
http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_22629.shtml
Pincus: The Wolves, Garnett and Cap Space
http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_22620.shtml
Posted by: J-Cool | July 06, 2007 at 06:08 PM
Bloggers
I Think We Should Get Anderson Varejao Since He Is Young Full Of Energy And A Perfect Player For The Triangle Offense Like Dennis Rodman What Do You Think? Would Varejao Fit With The Lakers?
Posted by: J-Cool | July 06, 2007 at 06:14 PM
!gunner!5
"Nope, he(KG) sought kobe to tell the F U! on coming to LA!"
Dude, you are friggin hilarious. I seriously cracked up when I read that... that WAS a joke, right?
Posted by: hal9000 | July 06, 2007 at 06:27 PM
lol...... so Kobe focusing on the World Championships is "selfish"? Hmm, why do I suspect if he had focused on the Lakers instead of Team USA, that would have also been deemed selfish?
Seriously, is there anyone else in the world who could headline donating $10 million to feed starving children, and have people respond.... "wow, all that dude thinks about is himself."
Posted by: McGarnagle | July 06, 2007 at 06:33 PM
jorema- your another one of those "been watchin' since '99" people. your comments reveal alot about what you know about laker history and the sport for that matter. it's not about just winning one championship now, it's about putting a team together that can win multiple championships in a decade and maintaining consitency through the era's. it's not that we hate kobe, for god's sake, he just places himself in a position that compromises his integrity, and we just call him out on it. you will twist and turn words to make yourself believe your right. and i think you got your definition of fascism wrong. fascism is based on the interest of the individual. we seek the interest of the state(the laker organization). so if you want to label someone a fascist, label yourself.
Posted by: willie | July 06, 2007 at 06:37 PM
This might be a digression of the lead article but since we are in the summer doldrums I feel a good article is worth reading. Here we go.
I have pondered for sometime to determine if the Lakers present situation is a natural occurrence - teams have to go through peaks and valleys - or is a self-inflicted scratch which has metasized over the years into something potentially fatal.
The Lakers had a very good team in 2000 to 2004; winning three championships in a row (almost a dynasty). Since then, as you all know, the team has been struggling. The team has not met the expectation of fans throughout the basketball world.
Let us make some educated guess as what could be the probable causes.
I can think of three ways that a team could build its assets (players) from, and in so doing I will postulate some theories.
1. A team builds from the annual drafts. The two overrriding determinants that influence a team's choice are where the team is drafting (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc pick)
and the perceived potential of a player. The second determinant is vey difficult in this present age because the prospective picks are very young and inexperience.
Teams do not have enough data to go by. Unlike earlier years where potential draftees played in college for three or four years, scouts and managers have enough body of data to make a decision. This is not so today. And also the experience that some of the draftees have in college is very different from that at the professional level.
What, therefore we have seen is, teams would make their pick and their fans would strongly feel disappointed and rightly so. It is becoming apparent and self evident that the Lakers and majority of the teams would benefit if the picks they make are determined by the fans. I would suggest a convention of season ticket holders and at large representative of the fans meeting before the draft and sharing their opinion with the front office. The fans collectively know more, much more than the front office as far as the Lakers are concerned. The gist of my theory here is the Lakers have not exploited the drafts for the past years to improve the team. The coaches have also not developed the players that have been selected. The question that comes to my mind is this: Are the or have the coaches being happy with the picks? If not, then what is the purpose of the team manager or the VP for Basketball Operations making the picks.
2. The second way a team brings in assets is through trades. Here, a team has total control and enough data to make a decision. Any trade that does not meet a team's objective should be considered a serious error. It is now sad to hear managers of the front office making a trade to clear "cap space or acquire expiring contract". If the front office is spending significant amount of time in this area, then I think teams should hire MBAs and professional financial experts to run that niche of their teams. Here, the Lakers have done themselves some disservice but not as bad as say the New York Knicks. What teams, and the Lakers, the team I like should do is to have the coach and the front office staff in charge of basketball operations work collaboratively to propose a trade. If the coach does not agree 100% with the operators the trade should not be made. It is waste of resources to trade for a player who would not play because a coach does not like it. The Lakers have not made any significant trades recently because the operators have not been bold or imaginative. They have been satisfied with the team as they would say "we would make trades that make the team better." About 2 decades ago, the Lakers made some trades that later on resulted in the draft rights to Magic Johnson and James Worthy. That was visionary. It is a missing ingredient now in the front office.
3. The third way is outright acquisition through free agency. The Lakers have been very inactive. A siginficant one they made last year has not lived to expectation. It is too early to say if Vlad is a success. With his contract I had expected him to come and play as a starter. The question I have is this: did he play the role envisioned for him? Did the coaching staff in agree with the acquisition? A team should not fail to meet his objective here. This kind of marriage is made in heaven where team and player both consent. If it does not work, somebody has to take responsibility and pay for it. The front office cannot trade such an acquisition for an expiring contract and take credit for the latter action. This is what I see has been going on.
The front office is to run a team to win championships or put a product worthy of its cost for entertainment. Any other outcome is not good. Perhaps there should be another category of success being measured by the front office that could take in the highest amount of expiring contracts.
Professional teams play to win. Win. Get into the playoffs. Win championships. All at the same time developing young players to takeover from those retiring.
Is this the mission of the front office of the Lakers.
Posted by: DearDaddy | July 06, 2007 at 07:01 PM
Thanks Troy,
For a unknown reasons these things were not shouted at SHAQ by these KOBE haters. I don't know why.
SHAQ O'NEILL:
* called Dr. Buss "that old man"
* called Laker management "cowards"
* called Tim Duncan "light and weak"
* publically mocked and insulted asians, made fun of Yao Ming
* called Brad Miller "nothing but a good high school player"
* calls the entire city of Los Angeles "Fake"
* offended many women, including model Cindy Crawford, tennis star Venus Williams and singer-actress Aaliyah, whom he publically claimed to have slept with, this while his now wife was pregnant with one of his many illigitimate children.
* publically, during an actual game!, demanded that his former boss, Dr. Jerry Buss, pay him or trade him.
Kobe haters, why don't you share your judgmental sentiments with a more deserving ex-Laker?
Posted by: dice8up | July 06, 2007 at 07:02 PM
If USA can't bring the GOLD in 08 olympics, everybody will blame, YOU KNOW WHO? KOBE BRYANT of course.
When USA placed third in the FIBA championship last year, who did they blame?
These Kobe haters can't just accept true greatness!
Because they know nothing about basketball.
Posted by: dice8up | July 06, 2007 at 07:08 PM
I think the whole Kobe stuff has gotten Buynum's attention. Jim Buss cannot protect you if you fail to play hard and improve your game. We are in a new era of hard workmanship patterned after Kobe. May be the Lakers should hold on and see the results of Bynum's work outs we might be in for a surprise. Kwame though must go. He has not shown the kind of work ethics needed to improve his game. To fulfil his potential as a number one pick, he has to put a lot into his game and to have Kareem and not work with him speaks volume. Kwame Gone. Lamar has heart and I wamnt him to be a laker but his game is similar to Kobe. Its either he dominates a Kobe dominates. Teams do not have the option of choosing your poison. We need to trade Lamar for a good low post player. Package Lamar and Kwame for Garnett and our recent draft picks. Minnesota will get less for Garnett as time goes. No team will want to get Garnett when he is going to opt out of his contract in a year. We now need to trade away Byran cook. Lets give Sasha one more try. I learnt he works very hard in practice and on his own. If the Lakers are going to get JO, they should only look at Lamar plus other fillers and perhaps our draft pick......Let Indiana find other takers and let the fans kill them for the poor job they have been doing. How can they turn down Lamar?
Posted by: PAB | July 06, 2007 at 07:16 PM
Is This The One Lee?
http://www.hoopshype.com/general_managers/mitch_kupchak.htm
Posted by: J-Cool | July 06, 2007 at 07:18 PM
After the most recent interview with Jim Hill (finally, a respectable sports personality), I know for certain Kobe will be back with the Lakers and will play his heart out for this team, as he always had.
I was so happy to see him work with the kids at his camp. Those 450 kids definetly have a great role model to learn from this summer. I guess that's why their parents sent them to spend time with Kobe.
God bless, Kobe. Continued health, and thank you for being a role model for millions of children all around the world.
Posted by: troy | July 06, 2007 at 07:34 PM
Every teams are getting better except for the Lakers... where's mitch? make a deal man... im now starting to get convince that kobe is right, this lakers organization is a mess they're not doing something for improvement, they've just wanted kobe for money, because fans in LA has so much love for kobe and because of the way he plays, the way he entertain the fans with his style on court. Where are you mitch??? Im getting impatient with you as well.
Posted by: lil_jeff_pinoy | July 06, 2007 at 07:41 PM
Rockets: Udonis Haslem for Rafer Alston?
http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_22632.shtml
Posted by: J-Cool | July 06, 2007 at 07:47 PM
We Should Get Rafer Alston Or Luther Head Since They Got 5 Point Guards Why We Get One Of Their Point Guards Since We Need One?
Posted by: J-Cool | July 06, 2007 at 07:50 PM
Jim Hill interview, done today:
http://www.cbs2.com/video/?id=43124@kcbs.dayport.com
AK, fan of tweety bird or what?
Posted by: lakofan | July 06, 2007 at 08:02 PM
Billups re-signs with Detroit !
Posted by: lalakerlover | July 06, 2007 at 08:09 PM
Artest to the Lakers a possibility?
http://getgarnett.com/blog/?p=490
Posted by: J-Cool | July 06, 2007 at 08:44 PM
lil_jeff_pinoy,
Be patient. The Lakers main target this summer is Kevin Garnett. Kevin McHale went on vacation
for a week, and the Lakers can't try to re-open trade talks for Garnett until McHale gets back. Any
other deals the Lakers make this summer (re-signing Mihm, signing other free agents, other trades,
signing our second round picks, etc.) will change if the Lakers get Garnett. I doubt you'll see any
other action taken by the Lakers FO until they at least try to make another offer for KG.
Every major player that has been signed so far (Rashard Lewis, Nocioni, Billups, etc.) are
being paid more than the Lakers could possibly offer. They got Luke re-signed, they didn't wait on
that because they didn't want even listening to other offers and getting tempted. Things will get
rolling once they either get Garnett or find out for certain that they can't get him.
Posted by: Long time Laker fan | July 06, 2007 at 09:41 PM
Is this the guy the Lakers drafted..........Yue Sun or Sun Yue.......
Nine assists in tonight's summer league game:
http://www.nba.com/summerleague2007/games/boxscore.jsp?gameId=1520700003
Posted by: wausroamer | July 06, 2007 at 09:41 PM
you people are truly idiots. this is not about ability it's about integrity. stop regurgitating lame sports talk radio nonsense. formulate your own ORIGINAL ideas. here's what you do:
1. stop listening to sports talk radio.
2. read a book on the fundamentals of basketball.
3. stop listening to sports talk radio.
dice8up- shaq should have kept his big mouth shut too, but this is about now not the past. if you want to blame anyone for the FIBA championship debacle, blame the NBA for all the lame rule changes that have taken all the physical play away from defenders. they need to get with the rest of the world and not isolate themselves.
troy- i have a question for you...how do kobes nuts taste. that's all called PR son!!!!
Posted by: willie | July 06, 2007 at 09:50 PM
Lakofan,
Welcome back, you had long vacation and a new IT replaced you, tha's JCool. haha!
Anyway, thanks for your Jim Hill interview, no kobenews is good newsm, I like the news that followed that Bear hanging on high pole.
Well, whatever Kobe started, the fans should continue auditing this F/O. One fhing sure it is no longer what it used to be during the time of Jerry West, Bill Sharman and Chick Hearns when they get a great degree of respect from Laker fans now the ratio is 4 : 1 thumbs down. Those Kobe rants are mere symptoms of impending problems, the apology cured the character flaws but the intrinsic problems are still there and the seeds of distrust have been planted. If nothing happens in the short run, it will come back in form of a wrath this time coming from the fans themselves.
Posted by: Edwin Gueco | July 06, 2007 at 09:57 PM
Troy,
First off, theres no such thing as an Illegitimate children. If you made a poor decision in life, would you call your child your illegitmate son???
Secondly,
Child out of wedlock=children not born in marriage
Lastly, you're saying Shaq is an asshole for marrying the mother of his many chilrden?????
ARE YOU KIDDING??
Posted by: The Lake-Show (former known as I miss van exel and eddie jones) | July 06, 2007 at 10:00 PM
So what happens in 2 years if the Lakers can't get out of the Western Conference? Another meltdown? Another round of "Trade Me - Don't Trade Me - Trade Me?"
I'm sick of this whole dang circus, Kobe. Take some notes from the NBA Champion Spurs: Play the game and, for goodness sake, STFU!!!!!
Posted by: utzworld - The Banner-Holder | July 06, 2007 at 10:22 PM
yes kobe's a great role model for how to cheat on your wife and be dumb enough to get accused of rape. great role model there. lol!!!!
Posted by: east coast fan | July 06, 2007 at 10:23 PM
j-cool
nobody cares about your getgarnett site
Posted by: zen | July 06, 2007 at 10:31 PM
Here is the result of our second round draft pick, Sun Lue got 9 assists but Team China lost to Memphis. How come Bynum and Gasol are not listed in the Lakers?
http://www.nba.com/summerleague2007/games/20070706/MEMCHN/recap.html
(not yet discovered by JCool. lol!)
Posted by: Edwin Gueco | July 06, 2007 at 10:40 PM
I don't understand why the lakers did not pick up Kareem Rush. He instead went to the Pacers. Will any moves be made? Is Mitch gonna say it is hard to make moves again? Of course moves are hard to make. That is your job. And as hard as you say it is why are other teams making moves to get better? Teams are making small and very significant moves. Mitch is just useless because I know what he is going to do. Nothing. Pretty much same roster as last season. Hopefully the impossible will happen and we get you know who.
Posted by: Tha Kobe Show | July 06, 2007 at 10:56 PM
Kobe's lying. He read Flea's (aka "Another Prophet in the Great Line of Laker Prophets, A TRUE Laker Fan) recent post. I think it made a difference.
Looking at Kobe's body language. He IS terribly conflicted. This guy is a Laker. He's arguably the Greatest Laker, but he does not want to be like arguably the second greatest Laker of all-time, Elgin Baylor.
(Sure, we all know that Magic Johnson is the Greatest Laker of all time [right now], but there are a lot of second place players biting at his heals--Kareem, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlein, Kobe, Shaq, George Mikan, James Worthy, Gail Goodritch... We have so many greats, many of whom did not play with us at their height--Karl Malone, Gary Payton, Bob McAdoo...)
Anyhow, Kobe's one of the top five greats without question.
He wants to be appreciated as such because he deserves to be.
He is learning the hard way that it is a team game. He (AND NO ONE, NOT EVEN WILT CHAMBERLEIN AT HIS HEIGHT) can win the Title on his own.
It must be scary for a person so focused on winning the top prize... on being the best--- to realize he is not fully in control of his destiny.
What else is he going to do but lash out? He feels powerless.
The fricker needs to get on his knees and pray to God. If his destiny is what he believes it will be, God will make it right. PERIOD!
Better to humble himself before God than scream at Mitch Kupcheck and belittle the talent of future Laker Andrew Bynum.
It's a hard path. We all love Kobe (at least all of us who are Lakers). I mean, if I met Kobe tomorrow, I would welcome him like a brother. It must be hard to be known so well by others who you don't know. It would be a weird, vulnerable feeling, especially for a person so spiritually built for competition. However, Kobe, is a man whom I respect, understand... and realize is who he is. That may sound weird, but Kobe is a unique being and he is a Laker, and I thank him for that.
Anyhow, Kobe, my fellow Laker, you're right. Things suck (on the surface). Have faith. Have faith. God will not let you down if you are destined for something greater.
Do you're best. Encourage those around you to do your best. Demand the respect you deserve. And have faith. Have faith that God will provide that which you deserve.
Strive to be that which you deserve.
Be the best.
Because that is what you are.
And the "best" is not established by man. Not at all. It is established by something higher.
Be that.
Be a Laker.
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon Kavulic | July 06, 2007 at 11:07 PM
Kobe one of the celebrities invited to premiere of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie
The U.S. premiere of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is scheduled to take place this Sunday, July 8th at Grauman's Chinese Theatre and Warner Bros. has sent us a list of scheduled attendees who are slated to start arriving at 3:30 pm (PST):
Who from the film: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Imelda Staunton, director David Yates, producers David Heyman and David Barron, and screenwriter Michael Goldenberg.
Celebrity guests will include: Camilla Belle, Peter Berg, Valerie Bertinelli, Andrea Bowen, Kobe Bryant, Miley Cyrus, Hector Elizando, Joely Fisher, Jeff Foxworthy, Duff Goldman, Seth Green, Greg Grunberg, Neil Patrick Harris, Rachel Harris, Melissa Joan Hart, Angus T. Jones, Rex Lee, Masi Oka, Missy Peregrym, Tara Reid, AnnaSophia Robb, Antonia Sabato, Jr., Ashley Tisdale, Shawn Wayans and more to come.
When: Sunday, July 8th, 2007, celebrity arrivals at 3:30 pm
Where: Grauman's Chinese Theatre, 6925 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood.
Don't forget that HPANA will in attendance at the premiere on Sunday and the press junket and wand/hand/foot ceremony on Monday and will be bringing you all the news. Stay tuned.
http://www.hpana.com/news.20075.html
Posted by: jorema | July 06, 2007 at 11:23 PM
Bucher spieling again; said he spoke to sources with Kobe today, said that Kobe was playing nice because "he has a soft spot for the campers and didn't want to take a hard line" at the camp. He said he was told "don't confuse remorse with 'retraction'" and he went to say that Kobe is absolutely clear that barring a major trade for a Garnett, he will not play for the Lakers next year.....
Posted by: 10milliondollarzen | July 06, 2007 at 11:23 PM
DearDaddy,
There are a few things you're overlooking in your article on how teams improve.
Drafting
- even when players mostly went to college 3 or 4 years, it isn't always easy to choose
the best player at a particular position. Remember, Portland once chose Sam Bowie ahead
of Michael Jordan
- where you draft makes a huge huge difference. The Lakers haven't had a draft pick higher
than #10 since 1982. When you have winning seasons most of the time, it's hard to improve
through the draft unless you get a player or two that slips through the cracks. The closest
Mitch has come to that recently are Luke Walton and Ronny Turiaf, both chosen in the second
round.
- The Lakers could possibly have traded to get a high draft choice this year, except they have
Kobe and are trying to build around him.
- The fans picking the draft choice is impractical. First, each team only has 5 minutes to make
their selection - how are you going to poll the fans about the remaining players and make the
pick in 5 minutes? Second, it could be fixed, with drastic consequences. Let's say Lakers had
the 2nd draft pick this year - you'd think the fans would select Kevin Durant, right? But what
if the team with the third pick manages to flood the Lakers fans balloting to have them vote for
Mike Conley instead? Then the Lakers would get gypped out of Durant. Furthermore, the
players that slip through the cracks are usually less known to the fans than the managers.
Do you think the fans would have known about Tony Parker or Leandro Barbosa? They
probably would have gotten Josh Howard, since he was ACC player of the year, but I don't
think fans selecting the draft choices is a good idea in general.
- To demonstrate, why don't you, a fan, tell us who you would have picked with the Lakers
draft choices this year that would have been better than the players they chose. Then two
or three years from now, we'll see who was smarter, you or Mitch.
- Basically, given the level of draft choices that the Lakers have had over the last few years,
I'd say Mitch has done fairly well. Sure, he missed on Leandro Barbosa and Josh Howard in
2003, but so did 20 or so other managers (Jerry West passed on them TWICE!).
Trades:
- Clearing cap space is a product of the CBA. In the old days, teams could just offer however
much they wanted to whatever player they wanted. Now if you want to offer a big contract
to a free agent and you don't have enough cap space, sometimes you have to trade away
some players for nothing to make room. Jerry West had to make trades that cleared cap
space in order to make an offer to Shaquille O'Neal. It's just business at this point.
- The trades that got the #1 draft picks to get Magic Johnson and James Worthy came in a
different time. There were less teams in the leauge (23 when Worthy was picked, 22 when
Magic was picked), and in each case the Lakers got a bit lucky in trading a player to one of
the worse teams in the league who ended up having the worst record. With no CBA, imbalanced
trades were easier to pull off in those days. There is one recent example of a trade like that -
Phoenix traded Joe Johnson to Atlanta for some players and two future first round picks - next
year, if Atlanta gets the first pick, it will go to Phoenix. But for the most part, bad teams now
protect their draft picks a bit more.
- I'd say Mitch has only done 1 good trade in the last 3 years - he traded a second round draft
pick for Maurice Evans.
Free agency:
- this is where the Lakers have failed the most during the last 3 years, partly due
to the CBA and partly due to some bad or unlucky choices. Twice they've given a guy named
Vlade the full mid-level exception, and if they had both played up to their potential that would be
fine, but both got injured and barely contributed anything. Other than those two, the Lakers have
brought in nobody of consequence. If they'd have had any cap room, maybe they could have
gotten someone better, but since they didn't, they couldn't.
In short, your article seems to be evaluating the Lakers management without considering the effects
of the collective bargaining agreement. Yes, the Lakers have made some mistakes over the last
three years, bt it hasn't been all bad, and there has been progress from the first year post-Shaq.
It's unrealistic to assume that any team can compete for championships every year. Just to
remind you, after the Showtime era teams (Magic, Worthy Jabbar, Scott, those guys) won their
last title in 1988, it took 12 years before Jerry West was able to rebuild the team back to
championship level. Detroit took 14 years between the Bad Boys era and the modern group.
I hardly think it's fair to criticize Mitch Kupchak for not getting it done in 3 years.
You are correct in breaking down the ways to improve the team into three areas. Now let me give
you my evaluations of the Lakers in those three areas over the last 3 years:
Drafting: B+
In the past 3 years, the Lakers have chosen 3 good players in Jordan Farmar, Ronny Turiaf, and
Andrew Bynum. Those were all good choices for the positions they were chosen in, and barring
major injuries, I think they will all be productive in the NBA for a long time. They also picked Sasha
Vujacic, who's still good enough to be in the league, but barely. If he improves a bit next year, you
may see them give Sasha an extension, otherwise he probably won't be in the league much longer.
This year they drafted Crittendon, but we won't know if he's a good choice or not until he actually
plays. If Andrew Bynum turns out to be as great as they're hoping, this grade would go up to an
A-. If Farmar or Crittendon turns out to be a good starting PG, maybe an A. If none of those work
out, it would slide down to a B.
Trades: D+
The Shaq trade wasn't completely terrible in and of itself. If Buss insists you trade away Shaq,
then getting back Lamar Odom and Caron Butler is at least some value. The problem with the trade
was Brian Grant. His 15 million for almost no contribution to the team has been like an anchor around
their neck for 3 years. Take that 15 mil off the books and the Lakers would have had cap space
and might have had better luck with free agents.
To top that off, they traded Caron Butler for Kwame Brown. It was a gamble that didn't pay off.
If Kwame had shown steady improvement and was even an above average center, it might have
been worth it for the Lakers, but he hasn't really improved at all, while Caron Butler became an
All-Star in the East. Kwame has given the Lakers some decent defense at the center position,
or this deal would look even worse.
The one ray of light was trading a second round pick to Detroit for Maurice Evans, who
contributed a lot to the team last year.
Free Agents: D- / Inc
They've had bad luck and made bad choices with free agents. This score could improve if Vlad
Radmanovic would come back healthy next year and play up to the level he's being paid for. I
think they're being very cautious this year because they don't want to offer another full mid level
and have another Vlad on their hands.
Looking Forward:
Note that this year the Brian Grant contract went away. They also have some tradeable assets
and some players that showed promise last year that might be fairly effective in their roles this
year. If they're able to trade some combination of Bynum, Brown, and Odom for Kevin Garnett,
then the value of those previous trades and draft picks will go up. Or, if those players stay on
the team and play like they did at the start of last season through the whole year this season, then
the values will improve through growth from within.
Everything is a risk. Trading Bynum is a risk. Keeping Bynum is a risk. Trading Kobe is a risk.
Keeping Kobe is a risk (but less of a risk). Getting Jermaine O'Neal is a risk. Giving up a bunch of
players to get Kevin Garnett is a risk. We'll see what risks the Lakers choose this summer, and
what rewards they get next season.
Posted by: Long time Laker fan | July 06, 2007 at 11:25 PM
Yue Sun, China v. Memphis
9 Assists
26 minutes
Unclear whether he made the rest of his team better.
Posted by: Jaga | July 06, 2007 at 11:35 PM
angry_laker
"I bet you guys are annoyed you cannot spew all your hate!! "
You're a day late and a dollar short. We're changing our names to defeat this so-called Firefox club trying to block out our comments.
So, get your facts straight!
By the way, How's Kobe butt boy doing these days?
Posted by: gunner24 | July 06, 2007 at 11:44 PM
Zen
j-cool
nobody cares about your getgarnett site
How Many Times Do I Have To Say It It Also Got Laker Information It Not Just About Garnett All The Time If You Go To It You Stop Disrespecting Me And Check It Out Because They Are Laker Fans Like You And Me Also Stop Disrespecting That Website And Calm Down About It And Have Fun And Quit Talking About It Because I Going To Keep Doing It Whether You Like It Or Not Got That?
Posted by: J-Cool | July 07, 2007 at 01:50 AM
EAST COAST FAN,
"yes kobe's a great role model for how to cheat on your wife and be dumb enough to get accused of rape. great role model there. lol!!!!"
PRICELESS!!!
Posted by: gunner#1#$ | July 07, 2007 at 03:58 AM
Things may calm down a bit between Kobe and the Laker management, still the Laker FO has to do better in regards to deals.
As Kobe said, It's no secret that the Lakers need a major improvement. People keep preaching patience, but that's not an excuse of doing nothing again.
Posted by: gdchild | July 07, 2007 at 05:14 AM
Gino
You said the lakers offer for Ron Artest was the best on the table but you put no other offers up to support your decision.
Aren't you reading what other teams can do?
You seem out of touch.
NY might offer David Lee. That's far better than an expiring Kwame Brown contract for next summer. Whuppie!!!
Other teams are offering players too like Houstona and Miami.
I think we compete with them better perhaps.
I don't think the Maloofs want to help us and I think they'd love to get a player for RON RON.
Think about it, if Washington got a player for KWAME Brown when they wanted to toss him in the trash, thanks Jim Buss/Kupchak and Phil Jack then SAC-TOWN feels even better about their chances.
Posted by: LakerBake | July 07, 2007 at 05:15 AM