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KG = D

Another award goes into the NBA's official books.  This time it's Defensive Player of the Year and... big shock... the trophy will reside in Kevin Garnett's living room.  Both easy to see coming and well deserved.  Aside from the individual lockdown KG has always exhibited, he proved his worth on that side of the rock by demanding his new Celtics squad ape his prioritization from minute one.  Period.  Dudes like Ray Allen and Eddie House putting a heavy emphasis on their D?  Doesn't likely happen without Garnett's presence and instant cred.

Congrats are also in order to Kobe Bryant, who placed within the top 5 vote getters, trailing just Garnett, Marcus Camby, Shane Battier and Bruce Bowen. 

AK 

Comments

Congrats. to K.G. a class guy. The MVP is now
officially a lock with Kobe in 5th place for DPOY.

Good news for LAL - more bad news for Thugs. Camby is runner-up = de-Throned.

Good Morning, Laker Nation!

Congratulations to Kevin Garnett, that's the only trophy he's getting this year.

GO LAKERS!

*___________________________________*
*.LAKERS SWEEP DENVER BANDWAGON
*___________________________________*
(01) LAKER TOM - Owner
(02) FAIRWEATHER FATTY – Driver
(03) HAVA98 - Game 1 Win Director
(04) TWOODY – Taught Kobe the Crossover
(05 WHITEMAMBA24 – Game 2 win Director
(06) MAMBA24 –Riding ShotGun
(07) JUSTANOTHERMAMBAFAN - Game 3 Win director
(08) JAIMSYY – Game 4 Win director
(09) THE OUTLAW – Director of Lawlessness
(10) LAKERS LEGACY – Director of Laker Tradition
(11) MICHAEL H.- Sent MBenga Home from practice
(12) DAVID IN SPAIN - Convinced Pau Gasol to join Lakers
(13) TOAD – Director of removing Denver carcass
(14) JANAYA – Made Camello back pedal in fear
(15) KOBESBAD - Made Kobe raise his game
(16) JAIMEE SWEET - Will change last name to Sweep

I wnat to see KG in that KIA he won for DPOY!

Jon, I'm with ya, bro..........that's the only trophy he gets this year!

15 TO 15!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Marcus Camby was number two? He sure didn't look like it again Pau Gasol on Sunday.

GO LAKERS!

Who cares? I hate Boston!

Jon K,
"Marcus Camby was number two? He sure didn't look like it "

I disagree. I thought he was playing like crap!

Who cares -- I still hate the Celtics and anyone wearing their colors is dead to me. I'm just now beginning to recognize Larry Bird's contribution to the game. Don't get me started on Ainge.

Repost with another thought.

Speaking on the Kwame returns to LA.

Could Ira Newble been a stop gap measure since Memphis did not release Kwame from his contract?

Also, someone mentioned Kwame plays Shaq well, he also used to play both Duncan and KG solidly

*___________________________________*
*.LAKERS SWEEP DENVER BANDWAGON
*___________________________________*
(01) LAKER TOM - Owner
(02) FAIRWEATHER FATTY – Driver
(03) HAVA98 - Game 1 Win Director
(04) TWOODY – Taught Kobe the Crossover
(05 WHITEMAMBA24 – Game 2 win Director
(06) MAMBA24 –Riding ShotGun
(07) JUSTANOTHERMAMBAFAN - Game 3 Win director
(08) JAIMSYY – Game 4 Win director
(09) THE OUTLAW – Director of Lawlessness
(10) LAKERS LEGACY – Director of Laker Tradition
(11) MICHAEL H.- Sent MBenga Home from practice
(12) DAVID IN SPAIN - Convinced Pau Gasol to join Lakers
(13) TOAD – Director of removing Denver carcass
(14) JANAYA – Made Camello back pedal in fear
(15) KOBESBAD - Made Kobe raise his game
(16) JAMIE SWEET - Will change last name to Sweep
(17) JOHNNY P. – Director of Vacuums

Hey Guys,

Does KG not going to LA put a bad taste in your mouth?

exhelodrvr,

Exactly. I didn't mean that I thought he looked like number one, more like number 35.

GO LAKERS!

Charles,

Why stop there? Your point would have been nearly as relevant if you had brought up the Caron trade, the Shaq trade, or Magic and Byron's hamstrings ca. 1989.

I could bring up that time Phoenix... [this comment has been truncated because neither the writer nor any other decent person cares about or remembers anything that ever happened to the Suns].

Ex:
Sir you are an evil genius

AK,

An alternate headline might be, "When you think Tenacious D, you think KG."

Hey Guys,

Does KG not going to LA put a bad taste in your mouth?


NOPE, NEVER and Kapish, are you nuts asking such a stupid question?

First of all for anyone who believed that Herman Munster aka Kevin Mchale was going to trade KG to Lakers needs their feet put in a cement shoes and then tossed off Santa Monica peer in broad daylite!!

Larry "The Hick" Bird, Danny "The beedy eye" Whiner and Kevin "The Herman Munster" Mchale are all Red Aurbach devotees. No way in hell they will ever consider sending any players to Lakers..DON't YUO EVER FROGET, otherwise Luca 'The enforcer" Brazi wants to shake your hands in person.

Kapish!!

Charles

Yes, at first when Boston pulled off the trade for KG it made me sick. I felt like Mitch really blew it. Top tier superstar on the blocks and not coming to L.A.??? Needless to say Mitch & co. had other plans and it seems to be working in our favor. Bynum has a nice up-side ahead if can ever shake this injury, which might be more of the reason they are holding him back.... The future is worth the wait.

The D,

Posted by: The D | April 22, 2008 at 12:26 PM

Huh? (headed to lunch by await your reply) I just don't get it.

"Your point would have been nearly as relevant if you had brought up the Caron trade, the Shaq trade, or Magic and Byron's hamstrings ca. 1989."

The thread entitles KG's name. My question is in regards to KG not coming to LA. How is that irrelevant?

Besides does Mamba24 refer to KG being a classy guy become irrelevant. Fkillah and HmrHed claiming they don't care about Boston become irrelevant?

And when you post "[this comment has been truncated because neither the writer nor any other decent person cares about or remembers anything that ever happened to the Suns]." How ironic is that that you play guardian to irrevelant posts, and post your cry for decency of writers and people.

Looks like your reply to my blog-topic insignificance is refuted by unimportance?

Who cares -- I still hate the Celtics and anyone wearing their colors is dead to me. I'm just now beginning to recognize Larry Bird's contribution to the game. Don't get me started on Ainge.

Posted by: HmrHed | April 22, 2008 at 12:05 PM

There are Celtic haters and there are Celtic haters. I'm with you bro.

Many years ago while on Spring Break, met a girl by the pool who was wearing one magnificent bikini, and..... we hit it off, until she mentioned she was a Die Hard Celtics Fan.

I immediately turned my attention elsewhere.

Does KG not going to LA put a bad taste in your mouth?
Posted by: Charles


NOPE - NO WAY - NO HOW....Don't get me wrong, KG has done a lot in the past and also this year. That being said, I don't see the "eye of the tiger' in him. The winning mentality, the fire to be the 'best of the rest' in him like what we see in Kobe & company. He has passion, but I don't think it will translate into championship focus - not even this year for Boston. He has always tended to pass up the money-time shots, and kind of disappear when he was really needed. I also never thought he'd fit in well with the system or the Bean. I always thought LO was the guy we need here - he's got the skills and especially the intangibles that we need plus he plays well with Kobe (which I don't think KG would be able to do), and it looks like he's proving me right. I may be wrong, but that's my 2 cents....

GO LAKERS!

Congrats to KG and Kobe for 5th.

KG definitely deserved it.

It's getting worse ....
Do you remember what life in fandom was like before the blog (hereinafter referred to as BB)? Silly me. Maybe it was because I was limited in terms of 'Net access but when I chanced on the blog early last year, I simply assumed it had been there all along.
Oh what a glorious day in fandom that was! A drowning fan had been thrown a line preserver!
I happened to be re-visiting LA in 2001 during that glorious finals and so was able to celebrate with the fraternity of Lakers fans then ... Yes K Bros, the blog has been the next best thing, and the ride across peaks and valleys to the playoff plateau on the blog has been unspeakably delicious. Damn, is it Wednesday yet?!

Fairweather Fatty,

>>> Many years ago while on Spring Break, met a girl by the pool who was wearing one magnificent bikini, and..... we hit it off, until she mentioned she was a Die Hard Celtics Fan.

Sir, you are a credit to Laker fans everywhere. I urge Mamba24 to initiate a "Salute to Fairweather Fatty" band wagon post haste. I shall gladly serve as owner-operator-diver.

Dude, so glad you're back blogging with us.

(On another Lakers site, we were all fantasizing that this amazing Lakers season should be made into a movie, this was my ending submission. It may be truer than you think)

My Hollywood version of the movie will have Bynum play in the last game of the NBA Finals. The only time he had in the whole playoffs.

He will come in for one play at the end of the game, to cover for Pau, MBenga, Mihm, and Ronny, who have all fouled out.

The Lakers are up by one, Boston has the ball with twenty on the clock.

AB is noticeably limping. Kobe is now playing on one leg. His left leg broken by a cheap shot by Ray Allen, and yet Kobe screams to PJ, he can go on, “Don’t take me out coach.”

The ball is now passed into KG. The seasoned veteran, the MVP winner, backing the ball into the twenty year old kid. Everyone in Boston knows exactly what KG is going to do. Fake left, quickly turn right, lower his shoulder into Bynum and then fade back for his 15 foot signature shot.

On que, KG, starts his move. Bynum holds his ground as KG backs in. As anxious as Andrew is, he resists the fake to the left, he doesn’t budge as KG spins right, but KG the veteran lowers his shoulder into Bynum, and Andrew not wanting to foul gives way to Garnett and falls back, off balance.

At this point, KG smiles inside to himself as he watches the kid fall back into the key. He takes one step back in perfect rhythm, bends his knees slightly, cocks the ball back to shoot, just as he’s done thousands of times in practice, and watched thousands of this exact same shot go perfectly through the rim.

Kevin Garnett, sees the whole court now. He sees Lamar Odom running at him, he sees Kobe on Allen, watching helplessly. He hears Sasha yelling at him in Slovenian to miss. He sees and hears the crowd yelling and pulling for him to make it and bring the Celtics back to glory. He can see the papers, the reporters, the TV cameras, all idolizing Kevin Garnett as the great Celtic hero and warrior. Garnett is finally about to have his day.

What he doesn’t see is…..Trevor Ariza coming from behind leaping as high as he can, reaching as far as he can with his hand, and just touching and deflecting the ball out of bounds as the final horn sounds.

Boston fans can’t believe what they just saw. The ‘Big Three’ can not have lost. Except for a few wimpers of cries, stunned silence fills the Boston Arena allowing all to hear KG’s primal scream of “Nooooo!”

The Lakers win! The Lakers win!

Fatty - Nice to dream, eh!

Charles,

If you want to revisit pining for KG, check the archives.
This is not an episode of SuperFriends. This is the NBA. It's a business and teams compete for human resources.

On balance I see no reason to play "woulda coulda" given the excellent job Kupchak and the Buss family did this year. My focus, like that of the Lakers and its legions of fans, is on beating the snot out of playoff teams, starting with Denver.

Only loser teams regularly discuss personnel decisions in April.

Fairweather Fatty,

"we hit it off, until she mentioned she was a Die Hard Celtics Fan."

I'm raising the BS flag on that one. I'll bet that she found out that you were a Lakers fan first.

Charles

I tried to post an answer to you a while back but it didn't come up.

Bottom line, I appreciate what we have now infinitely more than I would have appreciated the team we would have had had we gotten KG.

Bad taste? NOPE - NO WAY - NO HOW! (to quote Justa)

Chris Paul placed seventh on the DPOY list? On, may I ask, what planet? I've watched him several times this year and his defense is atrocious. All he does is leak out for steals, leaving Tyson Chandler (who, inexplicably, is two spots behind him) to clean up the mess. AK/BK, what do you think of this?

The fact that Kobe finished 5th behind Battier and Bowen is a little off in my opinion. Kobe not only played defense as well as both Battier and Bowen who by the way do nothing else but take spot up threes, Kobe is also the Lakers best offensive weapon and player. I think more credit should be given to Kobe because of what he does on both ends of the floor. Battier and Bowen are good defenders, but it's all they're asked to do. A player who excels on both ends of the floor and does more for his team should be ranked higher in my opinion. While Kobe has had some bad games defensively, Battier and Bowen haven't exactly been lock down defenders all year long either. KG is the obvious choice because of the defensive intensity he brought to the Celtics, but he's also done his part offensively and in other ways as well. Kobe should've at least finished 3rd.

Repost with another thought.

Speaking on the Kwame returns to LA.

Could Ira Newble been a stop gap measure since Memphis did not release Kwame from his contract?

Also, someone mentioned Kwame plays Shaq well, he also used to play both Duncan and KG solidly


Posted by: TWoody | April 22, 2008 at 12:12 PM

I don't get it.
Why would Memphis release Kwame Brown? They got him for his expiring contract. So if they let him go they would have to liable only for what is left after he is signed by new team. Say Lakers resign Kwame to vet min then that pay would less money the Griz have for cap space.
No I think keep him sit him down and get full money relief and higher draft pick.That is what they are doing.

JLF

Charles

Yes, at first when Boston pulled off the trade for KG it made me sick. I felt like Mitch really blew it. Top tier superstar on the blocks and not coming to L.A.??? Needless to say Mitch & co. had other plans and it seems to be working in our favor. Bynum has a nice up-side ahead if can ever shake this injury, which might be more of the reason they are holding him back.... The future is worth the wait.

Posted by: lakerfaze | April 22, 2008 at 12:37 PM

No because the Lakers offered Bynum and Odom but were refused. Thank you McHale for being a hater. Things worked out better for us and I would hate to see Bynum and Odom as Celtic Wolves.

*___________________________________*
*.LAKERS SWEEP DENVER BANDWAGON
*___________________________________*
(01) LAKER TOM - Owner
(02) FAIRWEATHER FATTY – Driver
(03) HAVA98 - Game 1 Win Director
(04) TWOODY – Taught Kobe the Crossover
(05 WHITEMAMBA24 – Game 2 win Director
(06) MAMBA24 –Riding ShotGun
(07) JUSTANOTHERMAMBAFAN - Game 3 Win director
(08) JAIMSYY – Game 4 Win director
(09) THE OUTLAW – Director of Lawlessness
(10) LAKERS LEGACY – Director of Laker Tradition
(11) MICHAEL H.- Sent MBenga Home from practice
(12) DAVID IN SPAIN - Convinced Pau Gasol to join Lakers
(13) TOAD – Director of removing Denver carcass
(14) JANAYA – Made Camello back pedal in fear
(15) KOBESBAD - Made Kobe raise his game
(16) JAMIE SWEET - Defender of all things Waltonian
(17) JOHNNY P. – Director of Vacuums

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Andrew and Brian Kamenetzky are contributing writers to ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, and co-authored Fishing on the Edge, the autobiography of 2003 Bassmaster Classic champion Mike Iaconelli, bass fishing's bad boy. While both grew up in St. Louis without NBA basketball, Andrew became a die hard Lakers fanatic after moving to L.A. to attend USC. That he managed to find a job requiring him to obsess over his favorite team, the same activity that prompted him to waste time while working other jobs, is pretty incredible. As for Brian, his baptism into pro hoops fandom has been provided by the "All Lakers, All The Time" citizens of Los Angeles. Beats the hell out of covering the Bucks.

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