Agent Zero on the Gasol deal
It's tough to find an athlete blog more entertaining than the one Gilbert Arenas maintains at NBA.com. Fair to say the guy is a unique personality, and it definitely comes through in his writing. He's a lot more candid than most pros, which also means he's generally more fun. Today, he weighs in on the Gasol deal:
"The Lakers stole Pau Gasol. They hi-jacked him. That should be a crime. You don’t give away Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown and a rookie. I don’t care what’s out there, you can get more than that. You gave away a $100 bill and you got back two nickels and a dime. Now the Lakers are a top four team, maybe even higher in the Western Conference. You have Bynum and the five and Pau at the four? That means you have two scorers who are 7-foot plus at the four and the five, which reminds me of David Robinson and Tim Duncan. Then you have Lamar Odom, who’s a 7-footer at the three and he gets to play free and do all the stuff he’s capable of doing, and then they have Mr. 81 at the two. You can put anybody at the one. Who cares who’s the one. I mean, they have their championship, veteran one in Derek Fisher, but that’s just a huge plus. You don’t even need him.
It seems like a pretty stupid move by Chris Wallace. No offense, I don’t know him personally, but you don’t give away Pau Gasol for what they got back. I mean, Chicago wanted Pau Gasol. They would have given something back in return. I mean, something. Ladies and gentlemen, they have Darko and Kwame at the four and the five. That’s all I’m going to say.
Shaq is back in the West and Kobe’s got Gasol - the two teams that hate each other with the two players that hate each other. Wow, how the NBA works."
There's a lot more good stuff in his post, from an evaluation of the Shaq trade to a discussion on what makes an All Star to his health to some very personal notes about body hygiene. An injured Gilbert is a verbose Gilbert. Dude's got some time to kill. Definitely worth a read.
BK
I hate to agree with this, but if/when bynum comes back, the lakers are going to have too few rotation spots for the star talent they have. as much as i like ariza, you could have included him or maybe vlad the impaler. instead we sign a retired player to make the salaries work.
Posted by: DS | February 11, 2008 at 11:43 AM
I wished people would stopping beating the dead horse, that was Kobe and Shaq or Shaq and Kobe. They don't hate each other and each player has moved on and why people continue to remark about their once off again, on again relationship is sad, just so that they can have a convo, a story to tell. Yo, that ISH is beyond tired.
BTW, I think Arenas is a gamer, however Agent ZERO needs to focus on the Wizards..They have lost 7 games in a row and counting.....Everyone Hating on the Lakers and their acquisition, we AINT steal SHIZNIT!
Posted by: lakersrydeordie | February 11, 2008 at 11:44 AM
but.. why werent all these same people up in arms when garnett went to boston??? where are these people that only come up to complain when the lakers are involved.
Posted by: DS | February 11, 2008 at 11:44 AM
Mr. 81. lol.
lakersrydeordie, he's not worried about his team. They almost beat the Suns last night without him or Caron.
Personal hygiene? Is it TMI? I don't like Arenas. I prefer the reluctant superstar like Kobe. haha.
Posted by: mel | February 11, 2008 at 11:54 AM
Mel, I feel you but there is not ALMOST category for WINs versus LOSSES you feel me???
Gilbert has always been a chat box, he needs to get through his REHAB then he can holla!! lol
Posted by: lakersrydeordie | February 11, 2008 at 12:00 PM
What is up with people always hating on the Lakers? As far as Agent Zero he needs to get a life and stop commenting on Kobe all the time. The man has an infautuation with Kobe. He's always putting Kobe in his mouth, let the men breathe before you get choked to death with Kobe's d*ck in your mouth Gilbert.
The man is infactuated omg.
And what is really up with all these haters. Everybody keeps forgetting that the lakers included the rights to Marc Gasol in the deal. Marc is about to be the league MVP in the spanist league. The last time I checked it was the Spanish team th almost won the european tournament. The thing I know is that Spanish players are pretty good players.
It also annoys me that Gilbert calls out three people he doesn't even know and fellow NBA players. Why does he have to attack Kwame like that.? What disrespect for Memphis GM? I mean all of us don't even know the full story behing them making that trade. Memphis is not making money and it makes sense they would dump some salary. The last time I checked, Pau is making significant money especially in the coming years.
I just can't stand all the hate. And its like this because nobody wants to see Kobe and Phil succeed. Theres been so many deals this season, and the one that people want to hate on is the lakers. What about Boston already having three superstars on their team? People need to stop the hate.
And FU GIlbert Arenas. Fix your bump knee and get a life.
Posted by: wow | February 11, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Well, people would have a case about the ex-Celtics in the KG deal and the Lakers/West connection in the Pau deal.
But in the Lakers case, I think that it's more of a case of dealing with who you feel comfortable with, since we know that West had nothing to do with it. lol.
Basically, nobody wants to see Kobe get anything. Who gives a spit.
Posted by: mel | February 11, 2008 at 12:09 PM
This is an especially interesting post considering Kwame and Gil played together for a couple years.
Posted by: Xodus | February 11, 2008 at 12:09 PM
U know what WOW, that's REAL Talk and then some..And to further piggyback on your commentary, the reason for all the hate is because KOBE (er, the Lakers) scare the LIVING do-do out of everyone.They know whenever he is on the court, he, ALONE is a BENJAMIN waiting to happen, and now he has madd help on top of it. WOW, the haters are SHOOK..They are scared senseless so they whine and complain and try to start up and drum up drama but we not having it no more. The Lakers locker room is no longer a sound bite for the NBA and the league (knock on wood!! LOL
Posted by: lakersrydeordie | February 11, 2008 at 12:10 PM
I think he's just being colorful. I don't think he means any offense or anything.
Either way, we all know it's highway robbery. No need to hate (jealous people), it's all good.
We're the Lakers afterall. Luck/skill has always been in our side. We're just getting back to the way we're supposed to be :-)
Posted by: Faith | February 11, 2008 at 12:12 PM
Xodus, true..And its been duly noted Arenas and Kwamester had beef his final year in DC..Again, he is not talking about that but would rather drum up some old B.S. about Kobe and Shaq, he obviously didn't get the memo and that story is played the HELL OUT!
Posted by: lakersrydeordie | February 11, 2008 at 12:12 PM
lakersrydeordie,
Howdy bro. Your top 10 list is one of the worst I've ever seen. So many glaring errors I don't know where to begin....uh.....ok......placing T-Mac above...well.....everyone on the list 3-10, include Lebron, is just plain folly. I can name 15 players that are unquestionable better than T-Mac. No Steven Nash. No Chris Paul. May I ask what in God's name Redd is doing on a top 10 of anything list?
Perhaps that wasn't a top 10 players in the league, but some other top 10 list. I hope so.
DOOOOO BEEEE DOOOOO BEEEEE DOOOOOO
Posted by: Stranger in the Night | February 11, 2008 at 12:13 PM
why don't Agent Zero just retire now and become a member of the TNT staff. or become some sort of analyst... he's not going to be the same after this latest injury/recovery
and in less graphic terms, yeah i kinda agree with wow
re: Agent Zero talking about penny and kobe not "thanking" shaq... pretty ridiculous sentiment if you consider the ugly truth behind those shaq departures. ...
Posted by: CBuck | February 11, 2008 at 12:14 PM
Stranger in the Night, that's just IT. It's my LIST ya feel me, BTW, LakersRydeOrdie is not a BRO..I am very much female, okay??
I didn't post my list for opinion sakes..Its just my list and was a hard one to arrive at considering I truly only LIKE my Lakers..But if you feel however you feel, then so be it, Cuz at the end of the day, you know what, its still my LIST...
Posted by: lakersrydeordie | February 11, 2008 at 12:20 PM
Its amazing how much the lakers are getting hated on and they havnt even won sh*t yet.
Posted by: wow | February 11, 2008 at 12:22 PM
Faith you are probably right about ARENAS so I am done BITCHIN' bout him....
Posted by: lakersrydeordie | February 11, 2008 at 12:23 PM
Kobe is hands down the MVP of this league!
He is by far the best player in the game and has been since Jordan retired!
When he gets his next championship, it will be sweeter than all the rest b/c he will have done it by completely starting over. Sometimes you have to go back to the beginning to learn!
Posted by: MJCMAN32 | February 11, 2008 at 12:25 PM
WOW, exactly, we haven't WON nothing and all the hate, go figure, but thing is they all SCARED we WILL!!
Posted by: lakersrydeordie | February 11, 2008 at 12:26 PM
Faith -
We're the Lakers afterall. Luck/skill has always been in our side. We're just getting back to the way we're supposed to be :-)
Love your attitude! Great point!
Posted by: MJCMAN32 | February 11, 2008 at 12:28 PM
When the sun sets on Kobe's career (please god don't let me witness that day lol)...will he be considered the most underrated superstar?
The amount of talk, press, and media, not to mention tickets this guy gets and still no MVP?
I'll quote Kobe on this one..."it is what it is" haha.
Posted by: Faith | February 11, 2008 at 12:30 PM
lakersrydeordie,
Howdy gal. You're right, it is your list and you're entitled to your opinion.
Word up and keep it real, but T-Mac is garbage.
DOOO BEEEE DOOOO BEEEE DOOOOO
Posted by: Stranger in the Night | February 11, 2008 at 12:32 PM
i understand Gilbert Arenas is funny and different and the media love his sound bites. but ive never seen any athlete more in love with himself and get such a free pass from the media.
i mean from makin bets wit fans on taking game winning shots. and i think he said somethin to the extent of "im the only point guard in the history of the NBA to get 2 of my teammates to avg 20 points per game" he was seriously taking credit for Jamison and Butler.
i get it..hes truthfull and everyone thinks hes funny. but theres a lot of arrogance there and im sorry AK/BK you and ur brethren just eat it up. there was no need for those shots at jose calderon he put in his blog.
what happened to working hard and having humility. siiigh i hate that this guy got to me today. it just bothered me
Posted by: prince | February 11, 2008 at 12:34 PM
Popovich is just jealous and worried that the Lakers will be two athletic and talented for the Spurs to cover upfront. Spurs will have to use Udoka and Bowen in the same line up against the Lakers or Lamar will roam free for lots of offensive rebounds and put backs. He made the same argument that Arenas basically makes here.
I don't think Gilbert though made his rant out anger, but instead just wants to play and win. I think Zero should opt out of the Wiz and go play for the Cavs. LBJ and Zero would make a sick duo. You could build a franchise around those two. Both are good at shooting and penetrating. Both can dish the rock, and you can't effectively double both or Varejao and Z will get open dunks and put backs.
Posted by: richard | February 11, 2008 at 12:38 PM
Unfortunately, I don't think KOBE will truly ever be appreciated for his game.Too many HATERs..People speak of greatness, wanting to be the best, but does anyone really appreciate it when it's right before them??? I recall tha Kobe has already acknowledged that his legacy will be based upon his championships..But it seems other stars, maybe notsomuch..I guess that just comes with the greatness he has managed to always exude...In any event, I have enjoyed the ride thus far with Bean and I am looking forward to the future.
Posted by: lakersrydeordie | February 11, 2008 at 12:39 PM
I think the reason why people are so flabbergasted by this trade is due to what they think about Kwame's ability as a player. But that had nothing to do with why Memphis pulled the trigger. He was just a ledger entry. Money coming off the books.
Posted by: lakers_sth | February 11, 2008 at 12:40 PM
Yeah Tmac maybe GARBAGE but he's my garbage and its all good..Thx for the love!
Posted by: lakersrydeordie | February 11, 2008 at 12:41 PM
BIGGAMEJAMES,
“Nice to see the dimwits out in full force tonight…And to the idiot who thinks Bynum is the key to winning championships: you're an fool. Bynum played great basketball for a quarter of one season; Gasol is an all-star (with a nice short/midrange jumper and great passing skills) who's only 27 years old, with a bunch more great seasons ahead of him. The Lakers will be amazing when Bynum returns but I think they could go far, if not all the way, without him provided Gasol stays healthy.”
Gasol is a “one-time” all star who will be a great #3 option offensively on the Lakers but is not a franchise or superstar player, as was proven in Memphis. Andrew Bynum, on the other hand, at 20 is already the 2nd most valuable player on the Lakers. a beast on offense and a force on defense, a budding superstar, and the next great Lakers center.
Get some manners and an intelligent take before you post. Otherwise, everybody will think that you’re a dimwit or idiot. LOL.
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | February 11, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Just because one team gave up an All-Star and the other gave up expiring contracts, draftees, and low budget players doesn't make the trade a steal. Geesh.
Judge the trade 5 years down the road. As some regular poster said a few days ago.
I always like reading Gilbert. He's got his biases, but he is honest about what he sees and goofy as well. His discussion of NBA life is cool. His honesty about his injury is interesting to read. His comments about Deng and Gordon passing on 10M a year being foolish was way interesting.
Camby's blog is pretty cool too.
Posted by: Benjamin | February 11, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Agent Zero's great.
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | February 11, 2008 at 12:52 PM
Prince
If Kobe was the one making all the comments Gilbert does, imagine what they would be saying about him. AK and Bk criticize Kobe for been outspoken but its ok for half a star like Gilbert to make all these silly comments about his fellow Nba players and he gets so much love. Everybody knows Kwame is not a good player, but for his own Nba brothers to call him out is not cool at all. This is the third time someone will call Kwame out badly and it includes MJ, The Suns in their stupid book when they had all that sh*t to say about the lakers and were stupid enough to publish it. And now we have Gilbert that hasnt played bball in over three months taking his shots
Kobe played with Kwame, and did any of urs ever hear Kobe even call him out remotely. If anything he embraced Kwame and respected Kwame as a man.Situation like the way Kobe handled Kwame shows me that Kobe has grown. And Kobe has no hate for Shaq, but im sure he would not mind beating his behind in the playoffs with the way Shaq went out of his way to embrass Kobe and had the whole hip hop community against Kobe when they broke up
I find it ridiculous that AK and Bk would promote a brat like Gilbert on this blog and actually tell us to even check his blog out. Ak and Bk yall most be losing ur mind. We will never turn our back on Kobe like that, we sure know LATIMES has been turned their back on Kobe.
Posted by: wow | February 11, 2008 at 12:53 PM
THE POST-KWAME ERA,
One nice thing about the post-Kwame (or Post Pau) era is that it’s as easy to view the stats since Kwame left as it was to predict Mike T’s post-game response to Kwame’s performance. All you have to do is look at the stats for February since Kwame’s last game was on January 31st.
As a team, the Lakers are 5-1 in the six games with only the blown Atlanta game blemishing their record. The stats for Lamar are really impressive as our #3 (#4 when Drew returns) option: 14/11/5 with a 67% shooting percentage from the field and 50% from beyond the arc. Pressure is a wild card factor, especially in basketball. It’s obvious that Lamar does not handle the pressure well and that having a superstar player in Bynum and star player in Gasol as the team’s second and third scoring options will free him to just do his thing.
Pau meanwhile is averaging 20/9/3, slightly up from his career stats, with a 57% shooting percentage while Kobe is averaging 27/5/6 with a 50% shooting percentage from the field. It will be interesting to see how the Lakers scoring splits up once Andrew returns and is back to full strength. Kobe 25, Drew 20, Pau 17, Lamar 15, Fish 12?
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | February 11, 2008 at 12:53 PM
Wait... all that Arenas has said in this blog is just what all analysts have said, put in more coloreful terms - that the Lakers got away with daylight robbery, and are now ridiculously good. He made no mention of Kobe besides "mr 81" and that he and Shaq hate each other (not exactly true). How is that Laker or Kobe-hating?
Posted by: Vonislav Waferdenko | February 11, 2008 at 01:01 PM
Arena's has a serious man-crush on Kobe and the Lakers.
He’ll get over it.
---------------------
To touch on the subject of Kobe and he being underrated:
The Issue with Kobe Bryant and being a HUGE focal point of the NBA is not entirely fair to him because his image is manufactured by the media as well as his endorsement deals. Kobe came into the league his was immediately injected into that “good guy role” by those manufacturers at that time.
Then Denver happened.
The people that were making money off his name ran away from him.
The media outlets that were selling his face on their covers were mad at him for ruining, not his name, but his marketable image.
The sportswriters didn’t like him because he was aloof and possibly stand offish towards them.
HOWEVER, those media writers could not ignore the fact that Kobe Bryant is the most talented player in the NBA. If not THE most talented player that has ever been in the NBA (he and Jordan can share the #1).
So these media writers continue to speak negatively about Kobe even though he accomplishes what he has accomplished as a player, individually, and as a team mate of the Lakers.
Kobe is not responsible for making his teammates better. His teammates are responsible for making THEMSELVES better.
He has been scorned for not passing the ball. I have seen many games where Kobe passed the ball that resulted in a missed shot or a fumbled pass, leading to a TO.
Little math for you all, if I pass the ball 25 times a game every game for 82 games, but only 1 or 2 shots are scored from those passes, what’s my assist average?
Kobe has been hated because of his tremendous talent and his confident, almost cocky approach to his ability to play in the NBA. And for odd reason this is seen as a horrible trait by those who write about him.
I hope KOBE NEVER WNS THE LEAGUE MVP. So that he can be the example as to how flawed the current MVP voting system is.
Let him be the martyr.
(this question can be debated ad nauseam)
Posted by: steven v. | February 11, 2008 at 01:05 PM
Being voted an all star is just a popularity contest.
Gasol is a great pick up b/c of how he fits in. Winning on any level is all about chemistry along with talent.
The past 2 years, we have lost in the playoffs because of mental toughness. Now that Kwame, Cook and Smush are gone(guys who fold like a wet taco), we are more prepared to succeed!
Posted by: MJCMAN32 | February 11, 2008 at 01:06 PM
its not really a think about "turning their back" like wow said. IM a kobe fan but i realize a lot of people overreact when kobe gets criticized i used to be that way and i admit it. ive grown up from that. nobody is perfect, far from it actually.
my problem is that arenas is continuously self-promoting. talking about every single one of his individual achievements. i mean last year in the playoffs when his team was losing without him, he came to the arena to promote his video game, and thats it. he constantly gives negative opinions bout other people. constantly talks about how great he is. and the media as always just eats it up. and i love AK/BK but that includes you guys too. i just want to understand why he gets a free pass. is it cuz hes funny? mean he stole that comedy bit bout the sharks coming on land. and when he got called out for stealin it..he said that the comedian owes him for getting him some publicity. and the media grabs their sides and laugh and laugh
Posted by: prince | February 11, 2008 at 01:09 PM
AgentZero and all the other GMs in the league are right about Memphis "They's was robbed".
I love this one:
"Shaq is back in the West and Kobe’s got Gasol - the two teams that hate each other with the two players that hate each other. Wow, how the NBA works."
This is gonna be an exciting 1/3 season and Playoff run to say the least. Houston 9-1 in their last 10 games is still on the outside looking in?
Lakers vs Phoenix
then
Lakers vs Celtics
I think David Stern just wet his pants.
Posted by: Bynumite | February 11, 2008 at 01:09 PM
Bynumite,
"Even with Smush, Shammond, Evans and a morbid crew, Kobe willed the team to a Playoff berth. Let's not even talk Playoffs, I think they closed out the year playing .500 ball. .500 ball in the West as opposed to being the LAST TEAM in the NBA despite playing in the lEAST..."
Again, you need to check last year's game logs. The Lakers absolutely did not close out playing .500 ball. They went 5-9 in March and 4-6 in April. The April schedule was also fairly soft and Kobe had way more key players back by then, as opposed to the nobodies Wade has been running with for a while.
Which isn't to take away from how much Kobe did for the team, mind you. He played terrific and they obviously wouldn't have won nearly as many games without him. He often willed them to victory. But at the same time, that will isn't what ultimately got the Lakers into playoffs. It was the fact that they started strong (when everybody was healthy) and that certain teams behind them (Clips, Hornets) either didn't get it together or get healthy enough to take advantage of that slide. Most teams don't finish up 9-15 over two months and make the playoffs, especially in a strong conference.
Which takes me back to what I was originally saying with Kobe and Wade. Unless you're gonna put a large share of the blame for a bad March and April on Kobe not being able to do more with less (and again, I don't think that would be fair), I don't think you can turn around and do that with Wade. Especially when you really look at who's been getting a lot of PT during these losses.
AK
AK
Posted by: Andrew Kamenetzky | February 11, 2008 at 01:13 PM
(wow)
i certainly dont agree with your statement about AK/BK "promoting" arenas' blog or what not.. i dont have any problem with that at all. hes actually very entertaining as an athlete.
my question is why does he get a free pass to be so arrogant and ego-maniacal?
Posted by: prince | February 11, 2008 at 01:13 PM
wow -
EVERYTHING Kobe does is a catch 22.
The guy can't win. I think that is why I appreciate him. Even through ALL of the blatantly obvious hate, he still works his tail off.
Posted by: MJCMAN32 | February 11, 2008 at 01:15 PM
Vonislav Waferdenko (you have the best name ever, btw),
Gilbert strongly implied that Kobe was ungrateful:
Just like Dwyane Wade said, Shaquille helped his career. In turn, all he can do is be grateful. What’s funny is after Shaq left a team in the past, no other players said what Dwyane Wade said. He really said it, “He’s done a lot for me, I’m going to miss the big fella. Thank you, big fella.” That’s all the respect Shaq could ever want. You know, a player like him once in a while just wants somebody to say, “Thank you” once in a while. The other two stars, Penny (my man) and Bryant never said that.
He also joked about Raja's clothesline of Kobe:
Now Raja Bell has that big fella behind him so he might break out the clothesline once again, haha.
The implication isn't really all that terrible. The Kobe-Shaq rivalry thing is real even if Kobe and Shaq put it behind them and wasn't that bad either. I too joked about Raja's clothesline of Kobe so I certainly can't hold it against Gilbert if he does the same thing.
So, maybe you missed a tiny bit, but I agree with you. Gilbert's not really saying anything very bad about Kobe here.
And in all fairness, Kobe did diss Gilbert's shot selection when Gil scored 60 which someone with Kobe's shot selection really can't do without being a hypocrite. Kobe makes what would be bad shots for everyone else too. Gil mentioned it and said you can't say anything about it since it's Kobe, but that he thought Kobe's comments were maybe a little sour grapes and unfair.
I do have some vague memory of Gil saying something sort of not nice about Kobe, but I don't know if I really read it or if the lakersblog warped my memory.
Posted by: Benjamin | February 11, 2008 at 01:23 PM
Agent Zero:
"You don’t give away Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown and a rookie."
I'd throw this in to chime into his comments:
"You don't give away Caron Butler and Chutky Atkins for Kwame Brown and NOTHING"
Seriously, he ought to know when to shut his mouth. He lights us up for 60 one night and now thinks he's God?
Posted by: Tim-4-Show | February 11, 2008 at 01:31 PM
ya kobe dissed Arenas' shot selection thing. and it was on sportscenter and ESPN all day for like a week.
But Arenas consistently takes shots at people, consistently talks about his own greatness and achievements. and the media just adopted these "gilbert is great for the nba hes so quircky" talking points. a la the white house
thats wat bothers me.
Posted by: prince | February 11, 2008 at 01:32 PM
Wow,
"If Kobe was the one making all the comments Gilbert does, imagine what they would be saying about him. AK and Bk criticize Kobe for been outspoken but its ok for half a star like Gilbert to make all these silly comments about his fellow Nba players and he gets so much love.
BK and I haven't criticized Kobe for simply being "outspoken." If anything, for the most part, I think Kobe's the polar opposite of outspoken. When I think of "candid," Kobe's not usually the guy who pops into my head. He's overly guarded 95% of the time.
We have criticized him, however, when it comes to trashing his OWN teammates, franchise, GM, owner, etc. It's a very big distinction that you're missing. There's a huge difference between doing that and calling out a guy on another team. While I don't know if I'd recommend doing calling out an opponent (you never know when it could come back to bite you in the ass), it's not even close to the same thing as saying bad stuff about those within your organization. Throw in the obvious tone differences between Gilbert's blog (humor) and Kobe's radio tour and the situations aren't even remotely comparable.
I find it ridiculous that AK and Bk would promote a brat like Gilbert on this blog and actually tell us to even check his blog out. Ak and Bk yall most be losing ur mind. We will never turn our back on Kobe like that, we sure know LATIMES has been turned their back on Kobe."
"Turning our backs on Kobe?" That's a little dramatic, don't you think? But I promise, if he ever does a humorous blog, we'll link fans to it.
AK
Posted by: Andrew Kamenetzky | February 11, 2008 at 01:34 PM
AK -
Last year, Wade had Shaq. You know the guy Kobe can't win a championship without. The guy Phoenix brought in to win a championship.
Also, last years Heat roster consisted of:
Jason Williams - NBA champion
Antoinne Walker - NBA champion
James Posey - NBA champion
Udonis Haslem - NBA Champion
Gary Payton - NBA champion
Alonzo Mourning - NBA champion
Jason Kapono - NBA champion
Eddie Jones - seasoned veteran
Who did Kobe have in his fave 5? A variation of the following:
Kwame Brown
Smush Parker
Luke Walton
Lamar Odom
etc. etc.
Its not even close! Wade is OVERRATED and his championship was a gift fro David Stern for being the anti- Kobe! Not to mention Stern's overall disdain for Cuban...
You put Shaq with any all star and they have had a legitimate shot to win the championship every year.(Up until this year!)
Posted by: MJCMAN32 | February 11, 2008 at 01:36 PM
ok AK...its obvious (wow) was saying crazy things. another kobe fan that overreacts to kobe criticism. but why dont you answer me?
why does Arenas get the free pass to be so arrogant and at times pretty selfish with his play as well as self promotion?
im not talking kobe here..im talking arenas
Posted by: prince | February 11, 2008 at 01:39 PM
wow-
" AK and Bk criticize Kobe for been outspoken but its ok for half a star like Gilbert to make all these silly comments about his fellow Nba players and he gets so much love...
....I find it ridiculous that AK and Bk would promote a brat like Gilbert on this blog and actually tell us to even check his blog out. Ak and Bk yall most be losing ur mind. We will never turn our back on Kobe like that, we sure know LATIMES has been turned their back on Kobe."
Personally, I think he's entertaining and I appreciate the candor. That said, he does need to make sure his persona doesn't overtake his game, so to speak- i.e. that his quirks and desire to express himself doesn't become a quest to always stay in the spotlight. Sort of jumping the shark, so to speak. But I get if you don't like him. But seriously, dude, you need to take off the Kobe goggles for a second. First of all, I don't criticize Kobe for being "outspoken." I criticized him this summer for HOW he was outspoken, and the way he handled it. Even Kobe has said he didn't do a very good job dealing with his frustrations.
More than that, NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT KOBE. We can say nice things about other players on this site, and it's not a slam on 24. I've said it before, I'll say it again, I think he's the best player in the league. I think he's playing MVP ball this year, and have praised his team first evolution on the court going back almost two years now. That doesn't mean there won't be times I'll be critical, though. But being critical (not that it's applicable in this particular situation) doesn't changet the basic context of how I see and evaluate Kobe's game.
Finding Gilbert Arenas' blog entertaining really doesn't impact that in any way. I think you're being totally oversensitive.
Prince-
Gilbert gets away with it in part because a) he generally stays away from talking about himself and how good he is, b) has been conscious of praising his teammates in his absence, c) doesn't usually make it personal, and sticks to on-court evaluations of other guys, and d) (and this is important) will in the same post as he says negative things about other players talk about very personal grooming habits about his nether regions. Meaning the dude has a well established rep going back to college as being quirky, eccentric, goofy, etc. Sort of a "Gilbert being Gilbert" issue. All that, plus people find a pro athlete being that willing and open to talking about himself to be refreshing in this day and age.
BK
Posted by: Brian Kamenetzky | February 11, 2008 at 01:40 PM
and for the record AK. im not one of these guys that thinks the sun rises and sets with kobe. but there are obvious biases in the way reporters and the rest of the media talk about different guys. its eerily the same way politics are discussed on all those cable news shows. at the end of the nite they all use the same adjectives and lines to describe a situation or an individual.
Posted by: prince | February 11, 2008 at 01:43 PM
BK are you for real ?
"he generally stays away from talking about himself and how good he is"
id have to respectfully disagree my friend.on numerous occasions he makes a point to talk about his stats and his fantasy numbers. im looking for that quote he had last year about he made butler and jamison 20 point scorers
i know a lot of people have "kobe goggles" (nice line btw)
but im seriously trying to be objective. if you dont think Arenas talks about himself and how good he is you might need to check the script on ur eyewear as well.
Posted by: prince | February 11, 2008 at 01:51 PM
AK, BK,
What do you think about LBJ pouting yesterday? Don't have an ulterior motive here - I do think LBJ is an awesome player - but at what point does the stuff he gets away with start to rankle you?
1. At the qualifying games last year, he talked about what a change it would be to get back to his own squad - explicitly implying that he was not looking forward to it.
2. Has been vociferously asking for either Bibby or JKidd
3. Publicly berated Gooden in the middle of a game
4. Makes a very visible demonstration of petulance by refusing to join the team huddle.
How long does he get a free pass? In my opinion, he's just as guilty of trashing his own teammates
Posted by: hariyahu | February 11, 2008 at 02:08 PM
Anybody paying attention to Detroit's bench?
They have :
Stuckey, Affalo, Hayes, JMax and Amir Johnson.
WITH
Hunter, Murray, Herrmann, Brezec on their THIRD UNIT!!!
About the only thing they have going against them is Flip Saunders ha ha!
Posted by: hariyahu | February 11, 2008 at 02:12 PM