Great post. Even without Kobe's involvement, this is one of those issues everyone should be aware of and working towards finding a solution.

Weird side-bit about LeBron though. Youth, ignorance and money do not a good combination make.

AK,

I think today's game with Phoenix is proving why Im still worried about them. Shaq seems to still have some gas left in the tank.

AK --

One of the things that Kobe has over LaBron with regard to endorsement dollars is perspective. Kobe was all over the place pre Colorado (Nike, McDonald’s etc.) but that whole episode may have changed his perception – for the better. After the sponsors pulled his adds, he hopefully had an opportunity to realize that there are more important things in the world than making your 150th million dollars. He lived without the sponsors and I believe he realized he doesn’t need them. Therefore, he is willing to take more moral and ethical stands. Just a guess.

Are you listening Tiger? MJ?

Laker Nation –

May I suggest a “Boycott TJ Simers, Until he Apologizes to Laker Fans” bandwagon, as oppose to a “Fire TJ Simers” bandwagon? Economic times are tough and I don’t want to see anyone lose a job.

Shaq does have gas! Lead foot!

as far as Lebron..well...if he doesn't want anything to do with Darfur..so be it..but to say he doesn't know enough to add his John Hancock then that a cop out from our young multi-millionair. Hmmm..could it be about the money he's making...he wouldn't want to bite the hand that feeds him I suppose

Spurs just look to old to me...
Suns played a good game but Shaq does not have enough energy for a full game you can mark my words that if the Suns want him to play 37 minutes a game they are in trouble

C'mon guys stop being LOS HATERS we just helped you out .

mark my words that if the Suns want him to play 37 minutes a game they are in trouble

shneurson

I'm with you on that, I feel they're gonna run him (SHAQ) down before the playoffs even start.

c'mon guys stop being LOS HATERS we just helped you out .
Posted by: Fire32 | March 09, 2008 at 03:15 PM

Ok..when you decide not to be so Los Trollish..then maybe we can strike an accord..lol

C'mon guys stop being LOS HATERS we just helped you out .

Posted by: Fire32 | March 09, 2008 at 03:15 PM

Fire32,

Hey, thanks for the assist today!!! Your Suns did a good job down the stretch to pull out a tough game. Have a great day.

Fire32,

Great win with an assist of millions of Laker fans around the world. lol.

Great game on NBC!

If the Phoenix Suns are going to play like this the rest of the season and the playoffs, they're to be taken serious.

Being a Laker fan, I would not like to see the Phoenix in the first round unless the Lakers are complete with their roster. As we all know, Gasol is a great player but I don't see him putting a body on Shaq for seven consecutive games and the same goes to Lamar Odom.

Other than that... Phil jackson would recognize the best matchup out there and would take full advantage of it.

Give the Suns credit although it was again a game determined by the refs as everyone even the commentators recognized.

so i was intrigued about garnett getting to 20,000 and i wanted to know what kobe has. hesat 21039 pts, and damn, i dont remember him being compared to the alltime greatswhen he passed the 20,000 pt total at newyork.

then i looked at plyoff totals and averages and in the 02-03 playoffs kobe avg.was 32.1 a game. shaq was 27.4 or soemthing. KOBE GOT ROBBED!!!! damn thats really sad

Fire32

Just an update. Gunner, Mike T. and KL are Laker fans. Their history on the blog are more in between rampant issues regarding the Laker Player(s) they fought for on their post's. You should probably remove them from the troll call. You may want to take a survey about Sonny Belfast, but he is here on a casual blogging tip. He most likely will not be considered a troll since his adjustment of his input.

Are you kidding me? LeBron James refuses to stand up for Darfur because of endorsement dollars? How much money does a person need?

Hundreds of thousands of innocent people are being killed AND THEY'RE AFRICAN!

When I last checked LeBron James is an African-American.

That just sickens me.

I mean, how does the guy sleep at night?

Oh yeah, on a bed on money.

Too bad he could do some small thing to possibly help stop institutionalized gang-rape of innocent women in Darfur, but choses not to.

I guess that's too much to ask.

NO MVP? NO PEACE!

GO LAKERS!

I saw the PSA on TV and it shocked me. Everyone has been avoiding the whole Darfur thing like it was the plague. I was so proud. The ad is so gritty and not glamorous or anything like that.

I instantly thought of Tiger when I saw it and how he avoids social commentary.

I then thought of Ali (and it is sort of apropos that he watched the Suns game in person). Ali never shied away from anything, even risking (and loosing) his career and freedom to express his convictions, whether you agree with his position or not.

Kobe just placed himself a cut above today's athletes.

--FearlessWhackJob

Yeah, I vaguely remember an anecdote about Michael Jordan, where someone asked him to back some politician
who was a Democrat and Michael replied, "Republicans buy
shoes, too."

I'm sure that's why LeBron won't speak out about Darfur or
anything else controversial. Kobe has always been polarizing,
but LeBron's biggest concern is that he wants to be the first
billionaire athlete, so I'm sure he'd never take any public stand
that might alienate some segment of the population, no matter
how small.

Nemaia,

“No Spur outside of Ginobili drove the lane trying to foul Shaq or Amare out. I think if it were Kobe, he would've kept on attacking the basket.”

Another excellent point. Again, my thoughts exactly. Wow, more blog-sync-think.

Your point about Kobe attacking the basket reminded me of an point I wanted to make regarding when it is OK for Kobe to take over the game offensively. Basically, I have no problem with Kobe taking over the game ANY time that he finds that he can attack the basket and get to the rim at will. When Kobe gets into those attack-the-basket zones, which are different from his jump-shooting zones, we either get points from the field or the line or an assist and the other team ends up in foul trouble and over the limit.

The game last Tuesday against the Kings was a perfect example where Kobe went into full attack-the-basket mode and scored 17 points while only taking 1 shot outside of the paint. Kobe totally demoralized the Kings with that run. And unlike taking a fade-away jumper, Kobe Bryant driving to the hoop ignites the offense, forcing double teams and rotations, and giving other Lakers players great lanes to receive passes for easy hoops.

The thing about taking it to the hoop every time is that most players cannot do it, whether we are talking about the playground or the NBA. The amount of energy needed to drive into traffic to attack the rim every time is huge compared to the energy needed to shoot a jumper. That is why you don’t see players go to the hoop continuously. They get tired and settle for jacking up a jumper, just like you and I do on the playground.

Well, that limitation does not apply to Kobe as we all know. He is the one player in the NBA who has the endurance and will to take it to the hoop every single time once he gets into his attack-the-basket mode. We saw it in the 62 against Dallas and the 81 against the Raptors. Kobe gets the ball in the backcourt and just takes off with a single goal, the basket at the other end of the court. That’s the Kobe that every opponent fears. Not the dude the shoots those stop-and-pop jumpers. Take it to the hoop, Kobe!

Tom

I understand a spur defeat equals a positive equation for the Laker nation but my sheer dislike and hate for Shaq and Mike An`iton had me rooting for the spurs its ok through we can pick up a game on San at. and the funs aint goin no place anyway, yee haw.

I understand a spur defeat equals a positive equation for the Laker nation but my sheer dislike and hate for Shaq and Mike An`iton had me rooting for the spurs its ok through we can pick up a game on San at. and the funs aint goin no place anyway, yee haw.

AK

This was a very informative thread for a very serious cause.......Darfur

I apologize for every negative thought I may have had about you

Keep up the good work!

Tiger Woods may not be political, but unlike a lot of athletes he is a philanthropist. Among celebrities, he ranked fifth in 2006 (Oprah was first). He gave 9.5 million dollars. Carmelo Anthony was first among basketball players givein 4.5 million dollars.

Kobe raising awareness of Darfur is fantastic. Maybe someone will ask him about Darfur in China. He could give a very interesting answer is he's so disposed.

I just watched the PSA. When was it filmed? Not recently, Kobe's hair is long. Why are we only seeing it now? I find the big chunk of diamond in his ear ironic.

Kobe can speak up because he has nothing to hold him back. In fact, his Q-factor is so low that this kind of thing actually helps him. Not saying that's why he did it, because we know Kobe's anything but fake even if the world tries to convince us otherwise.

Ive known about this Lebron story since it came out. Im African, and when this story came out that Lebron could not even sign a petition for this cause just made me distant myself from Lebron. I live in Cleveland and I know the love for Lebron in this city. The one argument Clevelanders would make against Kobe was that Kobe was selfish. In return I would try to point out that Lebron is just as selfish too. Maybe not on the bball court, but when it comes to money, Lebron is a huge capitalist. He only cares about money, and he will try to keep his image as clean as possible not cuz hes humble, rather, because a clean image means big dollars. And Lebron knows that, and that is why he stays away from anything that will harm his $$$$$$$$$$.

Im glad Kobe took a stance on this issue, I hope he can do more stance, because we need a bit time athlete that is not worried about $$$, and endorsement but can take stance in issues. I think if Colorado has not happened, Kobe would not be a better person. Colorado has made Kobe a better person, and it was a blessing in disguise. Kobe might still throw tantrums, but hes matured from that little over arrogant kid from Lower Marion.

Kobe has gone through the maturation journey and he continues to improve.

Reality Bites,

We're talking about hundreds of thousands of people being killed, raped and tortured simply because they're African.

Now, if it was 1942 and you knew what Hitler was doing, and you had an opportunity to speak against the Holocaust, maybe even do something small to alleviate the Holocaust, but chose not to so you could make more money in endorsements, would that be morally okay?

Would that be respectfully within a person's right to "choose the battles they fight"?

I guess a person has to choose whether or not they have any moral fiber or not.

Nothing is more clearly wrong (NOTHING) than genocide. It's the nadir of human action. If you can't see that, and are not emotionally affected when genocide is taking place and people with power are doing nothing to stop it, then you have some serious fricken problems.

As obviously LeBron James also has.

GO LAKERS!