Sure would be nice for that basic question to get settled, wouldn't it? Can't wait for training camp.

I think we should discuss whether Kobe's time on Team USA will positively or negatively impact his game over the upcoming season.

Positives: Gets to play significant time with another quality coach and the best players in the NBA. Should lead Kobe to adapt his game in a more refined way.

Negatives: No time for his body to rest making him more succeptible to injury.

Which do you think will be the case?

GO LAKERS!

*************************************************************
ATTENTION KOBE FANS THIS ONE'S FOR YOU:
Peaking at 29, Kobe set to cut loose on big stage
http://cbs.sportsline.com/nba/story/10308060/rss

KOBE SPEAKS, SORT OFF....

KOBE TO LAKER FANS SIT TIGHT!!!

http://cbs2.com/local/local_story_232184318.html

PURPLE & GOLD BABY!!!

KOBE DOES NOT WANT TO BE A LAKER, HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL?

""Do you still want the Lakers to trade you?"

As we walked toward the team bus some 40 minutes after Team USA's practice ended Saturday, this was his response:

"I'm not going to answer that question. The Lakers know exactly where I stand, and they've known exactly where I stand since the beginning of the summer."

At the beginning of the summer Kobe went on his Radio Tour 2007 and on numerous occassions, to numerous people, expressed directly that "he wants to be traded". Since he's had more than enough time to think about it and his situation, and still says "they've known exactly where I stand since the beginning of summer" leads me to believe that he still wants out.

I also think it's obvious in the Lakers unwillingness to make bold and risky moves that would signal "building around Kobe" proves that they know he wants out and they feel that they shouldn't take on players/contracts that would hinder their rebuidling long term.

Lastly, if Kobe was committed to being in LA long term it would be in the best interest of his team and his chances of winning to publicly say so. Nothing, NOTHING, positive would come from him NOT clarifying his stance on where he wants to be if in fact he wanted to be here. What does he think, if he says he's staying that will take the pressure off the front office? I guess publicly saying "do something now" didn't have the effect he thought it would.

I think the Lakers are doing the right thing by not caving into Kobe's demands. I disagree with Sheridan when he asks the question "But if Bryant holds out, what choice would the Lakers have?" in regards to trading him. I think the Lakers hold all the leverage for the simple fact that Kobe can't take the hit to his image that a hold out would bring. Period. I agree he is ultra-competitive and stubborn, but I don't think he would be willing to sit out two years. What would the Lakers lose if he did? Games, playoff appearances maybe, but they'd gain even more in the fact that they wouldn't be the bad guy in this anymore.

In the end, the Lakers have to hold their ground in their stance of "not trading Kobe". If Kobe is that serious about leaving, and threatens/does sit out, then they can ask for more teams to deal him to than just his desired destinations or have him waive his trade clause completely.

I believe Kobe should never play another game in a Laker uniform again, and the longer he does the more lasting negative effect it's going to have on the franchise.

The Lake-Show:

"NBA MVP LIST
2006-07 - Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas
2005-06 - Steve Nash, Phoenix
2004-05 - Steve Nash, Phoenix
2003-04 - Kevin Garnett, Minnesota
2002-03 - Tim Duncan, San Antonio
2001-02 - Tim Duncan, San Antonio
2000-01 - Allen Iverson, Philadelphia
1999-00 - Shaquille O'Neal, Los Angeles Lakers
1998-99 - Karl Malone, Utah
1997-98 - Michael Jordan, Chicago

NO KOBE. I guess the people who vote for the MVP dont think Kobe is all that great either."

Wow.... I never knew that Kobe hasn't won an MVP award... tell us something we don't know.

Of those eight players, how many have won a championship? Only three. I think Dirk, A.I. and Nash would rather have one of Kobe's three rings than an MVP award.

And by the way, did you know that Jerry West and Elgin Baylor never won an MVP award? I guess they weren't all that great either.

Lone Star Laker Fan,
"

All time Laker team

Best chance to beat anyone, anywhere, anytime.
Balance, talent, defense, excitement.

Starting five:
Magic Johnson
Jerry West
Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Elgin Baylor
Rudy Larusso

Off the bench:
Shaq
Kobe
Bob McAdoo

WHAT! No Wilt! Come on Lone Star you're better than that.

The Lake-Show:

In regards to Shaq's three Finals MVPs:

You seem to forget that the Lakers played against the weak East in the finals, and none of those teams had a formidable frontcourt. Shaq only faced one quality center during those three Finals series... so passing the ball to him on every posession was a no-brainer.

The Lake-Show:

"points stats

12. Kobe Bryant 784 6,681 4,998 19,296 24.6
3. Allen Iverson 747 7,271 5,355 20,824 27.9
7. George Gervin 791 8,045 4,541 20,708 26. 2
19. Rick Barry 794 7,252 3,818 18,395 23.2
4. Elgin Baylor 846 8,693 5,763 23,149 27.4

Those guys are comparable. Is Kobe worthy of 50 greatest all time stats? Sure. But Allen Iverson has him beat in terms of scoring. George Gervin has the most scoring titles behind Jordan and I think Chamberlain. Elgin Baylor is a better scorer than all those guys except A.I."

If Elgin Baylor, George Gervin or A.I. had to share the ball with Shaq for 8 years, I don't think they'd be in the NBA's top 10 in scoring.

"While Kevin Durant might just well be the next Kobe Bryant!" said Staples24

So Durant's going to be a whinny little kobiatch who's legacy will be a great talent, but selfish as hell and drove away all stars on the Sonics team so that Durant himself can take all the credit for winning without so-and-so?

Sounds like a great career if you ask me.

Since when did winning have qualifiers? Kobe's a so-called "proven winner" as long as kobe wins without shaq. Only a kobe loyalist, hum Staples24, would make stupid statements like that and think that everything is fine. I guess the world is flat too? Aliens in Area 51? Elivis is still alive and eating fired banannas?

The LakeShow,

You wrote:

Hobbit Image and all Kobe lovers who think stats makes him the greatest,

points stats

12. Kobe Bryant 784 6,681 4,998 19,296 24.6
3. Allen Iverson 747 7,271 5,355 20,824 27.9
7. George Gervin 791 8,045 4,541 20,708 26. 2
19. Rick Barry 794 7,252 3,818 18,395 23.2
4. Elgin Baylor 846 8,693 5,763 23,149 27.4

Those guys are comparable. Is Kobe worthy of 50 greatest all time stats? Sure. But Allen Iverson has him beat in terms of scoring. George Gervin has the most scoring titles behind Jordan and I think Chamberlain. Elgin Baylor is a better scorer than all those guys except A.I.

Of course we'd never compare those guys to MJ though right? So again how does Kobe fit in this comparison???

1st. My handle is hobbitmage not "hobbit image".
2nd. I think you are confused. Perhaps I'm wrong. I don't think you've ever seen a post
from me where I indicated that Kobe was the greatest of all time. If you can find a post
where I said that please repost it. [ Just as Taoshum did on 8/21. A day that I will try to
remember for reasons already stated. ]
3rd. *I* actually don't think MJ was the greatest basketball player of all time. *I* will take Magic
Johnson hands down. My reasoning is simple:

1. He won as a rookie.
2. He won against great competition in their prime, not at the end.
3. [ and this is the most critical for *me* ] He could & DID play every position on the
court and dominated.
4. If memory serves, he melded with Kareem when Kareem was the man and
took over when Kareem wasn't.

Conversely,

1. Michael didn't win as a rookie.
2. *I* don't think that he faced *GREAT* competition in their prime. He faced them on the
tail end.
3. He only played shooting guard.
4. He was *ALWAYS* the man on his team. He never had to play in anyone's shadow.

If you ask me if Kobe is the greatest shooting guard of all time, I'd have to say no. He might
become it, but as of right now he's not.

If you ask me if Kobe is better than MJ, I'd have to say: "I can't say."

1. MJ had a *MUCH* better supporting cast than Kobe has had.
2. MJ has more trophies, but Kobe has more impressive accomplishments.
You might argue that trophies count for more. I would disagree. He
couldn't have gotten the trophies without his team. Based upon *stats*,
which are an *indication* of ability, I have to believe that Kobe would
have performed similarly to MJ. You might disagree, based upon character,
but *I* don't know the character of either first hand and I would guess that
you don't either.
3. The comments of Phil & Tex are very *INTERESTING*! These two are in the
BEST position to make the comparison. They have *NEVER* definatively said
that one is better than the other. Phil has said that he's asked more of Kobe
than he ever did of MJ. Obviously, Kobe has delievered to some degree.
Obviously, they have not won a championship without another all-star on the
team. It *seems* that in order to win, you need at least 2 all-stars or all-star
caliber talent. Kobe doesn't have that. Why the Lakers don't have a 2nd
all-star caliber talent has been debated ad nauseum and I don't want to get into
that because it serves no purpose.

I cannot tell you who the greatest shooting guard of all time is. Elgin Baylor, Dr. J, MJ
& Kobe have not played at the same time. The rules of the game have changed b/n
the older guards and the newer guards. My *HONEST* belief is that it's a wash.

As an example of old vs. new: Do you follow track and field? The times of the 100 yd/m
dash have decreased ~ 10% over the last 40 - 100 years. So. is Maurice Green a better
sprinter than Jessie Owens? If you look at the times, yes. If you compare joint movements
on film, you'll find that Jessie Owens is actually competitive with todays great sprinters.
That means that technology & training is responsible for the decrease in times not talent.

Another thing. You wrote: Man I dont know how some of you people can even say Shaq wasnt the unquestioned man on that team.

I believe the above statement by you, indicates that you think *I* or others don't think that Shaq
didn't have great games against those 3 teams. That would be false. Those 3 teams that
Shaq played against had *NO ONE* to match Shaq's size. He was 330#'s or so? I can't
remember anyone from any of those teams who actually cracked 285 let alone 300. This would
also be playing into the East was/is weak. Those 3 championships were sandwiched b/n 2
championships by the spurs who had David Robinson & Tim Duncan. There has been no one
in the east to match either of those Big Men until Shaq went to Miami. The first time Shaq met
a center who was as strong as he is, in the finals, he lost. Yes, there were some team chemistry
issues. However, the Detroit Pistons had Ben Wallace who's monststrously strong and had
Rasheed Wallace helping on the double team. I would argue that the Nets, Pacers & 76ers had
no one who was as strong as Big Ben. Those 3 could *NOT* keep Shaq out of the paint.

However, those stats that you posted don't actually include what Kobe was doing at the same
time. They don't talk about his clutch shooting at the end of the game when Shaq couldn't play
because he can't shoot free throws. They don't talk about his defensive abilities. They *BOTH*
demanded double teams which allowed the role players to shine. Which they did. I hope
you've found this information to be concise, accurate & comprehensive. If not, I'm sorry.

Have a nice day.

Does anyone know if the FIBA games with USA will be televised?

Andrew Z,
"What would the Lakers lose if he did?"

Although I don't want him to sit out, this roster without Kobe would be a lottery team two years in a row. Plus you'd have his expiring contract. Not a bad situation from a rebuilding standpoint!!

Hobbitmage,
"Of course we'd never compare those guys to MJ though right?
So again how does Kobe fit in this comparison???"

OUTFREAKIN STANDING!! HOBBIT YOU ARE INDEED A MAGE.
You sir are in the League of the greats: JJ, Tha_Show Generic_One
Mitchell and yes MIKE T. Thank you for making my day.

I know the Lakers are going to be better than last year. Even with the roster that they have now, I feel that they have improved. We should be fine as long as they stay healthy. Socks will be better, and D-Fishers addition will be such an upgrade on the PG spot. I keep preaching to my friends that the Lakers are good when healthy. They say DEFENSE wins games. True, but if you are not 100% healthy, you can't play 100% DEFENSE. Plus, most of the injuries last season were severe. The starting 5 last season played a total of 21 Games. Here is a fact: They were 26-13 when healthy. If they play together, they will eventually gel and play consistent basketball.
There are some X-Factors in the Lakers team who will erupt this year. Now, I am not looking at 26 pts a game from Lamar, but he will be doing what he does best 17- 20 pts a game, 11 rebounds a game, and 6 assist a game. Socks if starting will get 12-15ppg, 10rpg, 2 bpg (Reason for this improved numbers is experience and of course D-Fish who will get him the ball). D-Fish will solidify that PG spot. His experience in the triangle offense will carry this team to a better record, his playoff experience will bring this team past the first round.
kobe will be Kobe. Even with his public outburst about wanting to get traded, he understands that he will not get what he intially requested this summer, so in his own words "I don't have any reason not to be there" talking about training camp.

My take, and I have been saying this all along is that he was frustrated about Jim Buss who is "The Insider". I think Kobe feels that the Lakers will be in bad shape if Jerry Buss gives the rights to his son to take over the team. And so he vented out, made it public that he is not happy with the Lakers Front Office. Jerry announced that he will give the team to Jim Buss. Jim Buss was interviewed on the Radio and talked about his plans as a Lakers Owner once he takes over the team (oh by the way he sounded clueless). A week later Kobe Bryant went on the Radio and vented his frustrations about an insider who has blamed Kobe for Shaq's departure and requested to be traded and...we all know the story. I think it's no coincidence that these events happened simultaneously. It was all related to each other, and I think Kobe doesn't agree with the way things were going as far as the future of the franchise. So I agree with him. I'm not happy with the FO right now, and I will never be unless Mitch Kupcake leaves.
I know Magic Johnson is a busy man, but he should be involved more with the Lakers since he has a stake on the team.
Anyway, while I am blabbering away. My contribution to this blog today is to give this team a chance. This Roster is good, and will continue to improve. The additions of D-Fish and the maturity in the triangle offense will reflect our record at the end of the season. This is the reason why I am a member of the "55 WIN BANDWAGON". My prediction is 59-23, and Lakers will be the 4th seed out of the Western Conference.

GO LAKERS!!!!
Juno

Andrew Z,

"In the end, the Lakers have to hold their ground in their stance of "not trading Kobe". If Kobe is that serious about leaving, and threatens/does sit out, then they can ask for more teams to deal him to than just his desired destinations or have him waive his trade clause completely.

I believe Kobe should never play another game in a Laker uniform again, and the longer he does the more lasting negative effect it's going to have on the franchise."

So what happens when he shows up to training camp and goes through the motions? As in he doesn't want to be here, would rather go to chicago or new york but he realises the lakers don't feel like they owe him anything so they're not going to go out of their way to meet his demands. What then?

My point being your whole stance made sense up until you said you never want to see him in a laker uniform then? In which case why ask the team to hold unto him? What could you possibly hope to gain? Besides selling tickets, how does a disinterested kobe benefit the lakers? At worst it'd be the organization that triumphed in killing the competitive spirit of a great player, at best he makes amends with his teammates. At best maybe they miraculously make a great playoff run and kobe ends up staying, but that'd go against your belief that he doesn't deserve to be a laker.

If you're dead set agains Kobe being a laker, then the fair thing is to trade him for the best value the market is willing to offer. Advocating holding out so kobe's image suffers a hit and the lakers ending up with little or nothing in return does not benefit anyone.

Ex,

"Although I don't want him to sit out, this roster without Kobe would be a lottery team two years in a row. Plus you'd have his expiring contract. Not a bad situation from a rebuilding standpoint!!

See, lemonade out of lemons. I think it would be better for Kobe to walk for nothing in two years than taking back crappy contracts/players just to get something done.

Taliq,

I really believe the Lakers should trade Kobe sooner rather than later. It would be the best thing for all involved. The benefit the Lakers have if Kobe comes to camp and goes through the motions (and really, he wouldn't just go through the motions, he'd compete at a high level) is that his trade value stays high and maybe he relents on his desired destination list. Maybe other teams realize what they could get in Kobe and offer more to the Lakers. I just believe that the worst thing the Lakers could do now is what they did with the Shaq trade, and that's act from a position of desperation. If Kobe still wants to be traded and is making that known behind closed doors only he's doing the franchise a favor, helping them regain a bit of leverage in the deal.

In the end I think this can work out well for both parties involved, but there will have to be concessions on both sides for it to happen. I can't see why that is impossilble.

55 WIN BANDWAGON MEMBERS:
(1) Laker Tom (2) Marty (3) HUBBIT (4) Fearless Whack Job (5) Mamba24/10
(6) David Whang (7) BD (8) Dan Dan the Laker Fan (9) Long Time Laker Fan
(10) Roky (11) JoninJapan(In Canada) 12) JUNO (13) KEIFO,
(14) Alexinho17 (15) TALIQ (16) GENERIC_ONE (17) VIOLATER
(18) Twoody (19) SLO Gal (20) HobbitIMage (21) dice8up (22) Juno the Believer

Members at heart
(1) Bob
(2) Faith
(3) LakerLover
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WEARY-OF-BANDWAGON BANDWAGON MEMBERS
(1) Cbuck
(2) J. Walter WeatherMan
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Lake-Show,

Shaq was absolutely the man on that team. At the same time, you had to pick your poison on that team. Kobe helped Shaq as well. I don't think Shaq gets to the finals without Kobe at the time.

They were the perfect 1-2 punch that should have stayed together.

I didnt see the Jim Hill interview with Kobe. Can someone give me a recap of what was discussed? I heard it was from Las Vegas.

This one is even funnier:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CegBpOqOwcA&mode=related&search=

Taliq,

I forgot to mention in my other post that this is a bad time of year to make any trades for the simple fact that every team has high hopes for success and really no reason not to believe all the "what ifs" that could lead to success. They are much less likely to make a franchise altering trade like one for Kobe would be. What happens if Chicago isn't as successful as they thought they would be or start slow out of the gate? Would they be more likely to put together a stronger package for Kobe then? Maybe. There are always the teams that have the dissappointing starts and December 15th is the date when free agents that were signed can officially be traded so teams can re-evaluate then.

The difference between trading Kobe and trading Shaq is that the Lakers don't have to be desperate this time. That's a huge difference.

Zen,
"They were the perfect 1-2 punch that should have stayed together"

Has anyone seen Shaq's number in miami the past couple of years. One might argue that perharps we let go of Shaq a year or two early but the guy definately ain't no where as productive as he used to be. And this is inspite of the fact that he has a hard-a$$ like riley riding him behind the scenes. Given Phil's figure it out yourself approach to teaching, Shaq's shape would be even more out of shape.

Without a doubt SHAQ was THE MAN on our championship runs. And yes my man kobe did his fair share of heavy lifting, damn I remember when san antonio were drawing up plans to contain shaq and kobe average like 40 in that series, dunking on admiral and duncan several times along the way. You could see antonio just get depressed like omg we have to contend with ths lil monster too, how will we ever stand a chance?

So yea kobe was kewl too but without a doubt this was Shaq's team. But when you have a star-member on your team(ala kobe), being content to be out of shape, to sleep through the regular season and turn it on in the playoffs just makes it that much harder to have that starr pupil tow the line. Imagine if Jordan was lazy during the off season or regular season but could still bring his A game in the playoffs, don't you think that would have given Pippen more of a reason to think the throne belonged to him? For all the talk about Shaq's leadership skills, he failed at keeping Kobe content. While one might argue that it was a difficult task, it is one he failed at nonetheless. Kinda like when a student gets an F, that failure is shared in part by the teacher (leader).

Lastly whilst we're putting Shaq on blast, why does LA cry for him so much. He was just as eager to get out of town as Kobe is now. H*ll he didn't put up much of a fight, he asked to be traded and hopped on the next bus out of town. There was no this is my city, this is where i won championships, this is where i want to stay. There was no kobe should be the one to go, I'm the one the fans love, this is my team, who will lead them without me? Nah none of that. He skipped town, so stop crying over him y'all and focus on the dude that stayed before he skips town too.

Excerpt from Sekou Smith in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution (via Slamonline)
:
“What’s the difference between a good player and a great player?”. The story went a little something like this:

“They had a voluntary practice last night and there were only three guys there,” my buddy said. “I walked in and the two young rookies (Kevin Durant and Jeff Green) from Seattle were there. Guess who was on the other end of the floor?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “There are so many great players out there. I can’t imagine who else would have been working like that on an off day in Vegas. It had to be one of the young guys, maybe one of those Select Team cats whose trying to make an impression … man, I don’t know who it could have been.”

My friend, refusing to give up the punch line before he had to, wouldn’t budge. “Go ahead, guess,” he said. “You know who it was. You know.”

I knew right then that the guy he was talking about was none other than Kobe Bean Bryant. But before I could say another word he hit me with it. “You know it was Kobe,” he said, pounding home the point he makes to me every time we get on the subject. “That’s why he’s carrying the flag for the league right now. Love him or hate him. It’s his show.”

And he’s right. No matter how many shots I take at Kobe (I’ve actually relaxed on that in the past year or so), the NBA remains his playground. And the fact that he’s locked himself in the gym on a Sunday afternoon in Vegas when no one else (other than those promising young rookies from Seattle) saw the need is even more proof of what we all know to be true - the difference between good and great is the guy who is already there pushing himself to take his game to the ultimate level (and I know that doesn’t equate to championships in a team sport, as Kobe knows as well since his Lakers haven’t won a playoff series since Shaquille O’Neal left for Miami). But we’re talking about individual brilliance and how important it is to not only cultivate your game but that competitive fire that you hope burns inside of every gifted athlete.

Lone Star Laker fan,

*I* would take Wilt over Shaq every single time. He just seems lazy to me and that's the one thing
that I don't think a basketball player can afford to be. I don't know enough to argue if Wilt
could or could not play well with others.