Some recent talks about Kobe Bryant, the Force, the MVP award, JeBron Lames, Phil and the Coach Of The Year... Interesting.
(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
Josh Tucker at Respect Kobe
Much has been made of LeBron James’ clutch performances this year. And rightly so. His improvement in that area has been astounding, as he has proven, game after game, that he can handle the pressure. But amidst all the buzz about James, many have forgotten about Bryant.
They’ve forgotten that Bryant has already done what James is doing, time and time again. They’ve forgotten that he’s done it at a higher level, and on a bigger stage, than James has. And they’ve forgotten that he’s been doing it for the last decade.
Until now.
Now they realize that it wasn’t that Bryant had lost his edge, and it wasn’t that LeBron had surpassed him. It was simply that, by leading his team to more blowout wins than any other team in the league save Boston (both LA and Boston have won 29 games by 10 points or more), he hasn’t needed to do this very often this year.
For Bryant, any personal achievements are meaningless — winning is all that matters. But for everyone watching, this was a reminder: Kobe Bryant is still the most clutch player alive.
JTbatahk at Respect Kobe (comment #2)
Lebron supporters think of him as some good guy, saint-like character, and pin their hatred for Kobe purely for issues of character, whether they believe they are or not.
However, Bron-bron ain’t no saint whatsoever. Comments from people that have met him aside, he is no different from Kobe, possibly much worse. It is a very rare exception for the wealthy and celebrated to be free of arrogance. It is practically a given that they are. Yet Nike, and Bron fans, try to portray him as a humble, basketball loving individual that actually cares when his goal-in-life, in his own words, is "I want to be the first billionaire athelete."
His many actions since he entered the league completely support the premise that he is every bit as pompous and arrogant as any celebrity, and as much of a "poor teammate" as people portray Kobe to be:
- His celebrated, over-the-top pre-game hand powder routine
- Calling out his Cavs team while playing for Team USA (a topic you touched upon)
- Sitting away from the team huddle in a recent loss
- Last year, leaving the court for the locker room, WHILE the game was STILL BEING PLAYED, in the last seconds of a close loss. This was heavily critisized by Barkley, Miller, Magic, AND his Airness for the lack of class, but was quickly swept under the table by ESPN and other sport news outlets.
- Avoiding, and basically refusing, to shake the hands with the Pistons’ players in last year’s conference finals
These are just some rarely reported tidbits that go to show LeBron is JUST AS MUCH, if not MORE SO, an egotistical person than Kobe. Yet Kobe gets knocked for his drive to want to be the best, while LeBron is celebrated for it. And the media just plays right into it.
Hollinger is a prime example. Everyone should read his comments on his latest chat.
He states that LBJ is, by far and away, the best player in the league, and deserves the MVP this year.
A fan then suggested that this year’s Cavs were the Lakeshow of the previous 2 seasons, a great player with scrubs, which Hollinger agreed with. Someone then popped the question; if he had voted for Kobe in ‘06 (35-6-6, 62 in 3 and 81 pt season). He said he voted for LeBron, even in a year when Kobe dominated statistically. Last year, he voted for Dirk, and we all know where that lead.
David Neiman at Sports HubLA
If you’re going to make a case for LeBron James, focus on LeBron James and his virtues. Emphasize why he is the league’s most valuable player. Why bother trying to disparage Kobe (or Chris Paul, for that matter) when what both are doing is amazing in its own right? It’s totally unnecessary, and more than anything, detracts from any compelling argument instead of advancing it. In fact, aside from mentioning that Kobe and Chris Paul are viable MVP candidates, there really is no other reason to mention them at all.
Take into account that LeBron has no scoring help, that he’s leading the league in scoring, is shooting 49 percent from the field, and that he’s essentially defeated some of the best teams in the West this season by himself — nearly all of which are points made by Dwyer — and you’ve got yourself an argument that stands on its own.
Is it convincing? Is anything going to convince a die-hard Bryant supporter that his guy isn’t deserving? Probably not, though I would contend that a column emphasizing what LeBron has done — rather than what Kobe has not, or has not done as well — has a lot better chance of making a Kobe Bryant fan pause, if only for a moment.
In the end, the reality is that there is no objective way to decide the MVP, regardless of what statistics you use, unless the choice is obvious. It’s an inherently subjective award. Personally, I think Kobe is deserving at this point — not because of his statistics, skills, clutch shooting and so forth, but because to me, this season really represents a quantum leap for him as a player, teammate and leader.
But if LBJ or Chris Paul won it, would I be up in arms?
Not really. The Force is strong in both of them.
Mike Bresnahan at LA Times
The Lakers are legitimate contenders in the Western Conference, with Bryant contributing across the board. He is averaging 28.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.0 steals after Tuesday's game. He is shooting 46.4%, his best field-goal percentage since 2001-02.
Bryant's scoring is down from his combined average of 33.5 points a game the previous two seasons, but Lakers Coach Phil Jackson stated the platform for Bryant as MVP.
"He's playing a more rounded game than perhaps the end of the last two seasons, just measuring what the team needs and how to get it done including his teammates," Jackson said. "Defensively, his game has improved a lot. He could be defensive player of the year simply on the improvement between last year and this year on his defense."
Bryant wanted to leave the Lakers last summer, though Jackson said there had been a full commitment to the team since the season began.
"His teammates were worried about him obviously," he said. "They were concerned about being left behind or being ditched, if I can use that term. But he's been totally there."
The Lakers started out 9-8, but have turned it up since then. Bryant has had the league's highest-scoring individual effort this season with a 52-point outburst Sunday in the Lakers' 108-104 overtime victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
"His game has improved as he's gone through the season," Jackson said. "His involvement with his teammates -- you can see them playing off of him and [see] his appropriate movements through a ballgame, whether it's scoring or passing, whatever he needs to do to help win a game."
Mike Bresnahan at LA Times
In the same way that Kobe Bryant gets mentioned as one of the front-runners for league most valuable player, Jackson also faces the possibility of being recognized.
The Lakers (43-18) have overcome blase expectations to rise above the Western Conference, although Jackson didn't seem to want to address his chances of winning a coaching award.
"I think the best interview usually gets coach of the year," he said wryly. "Usually it's a team that's a surprise team. Favorites aren't usually given coach of the year."
What else?
"At one point in the '80s, it was an honor of doom, because the next two years, the guy was going to get fired from his job," Jackson said.
Jackson, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year, was coach of the year in 1995-96, when the Chicago Bulls with Michael Jordan set an NBA record by going 72-10 on the way to another championship.
Jackson's players, though biased, would support him winning a second time.
"How many championships has he coached? For him to only win it one time and have nine championships is kind of crazy," forward Lamar Odom said. "When did he get it, when he won 72 games? It might be tough this year, know what I'm saying? It's crazy."
Much has been made of LeBron James’ clutch performances this year. And rightly so. His improvement in that area has been astounding, as he has proven, game after game, that he can handle the pressure. But amidst all the buzz about James, many have forgotten about Bryant.
They’ve forgotten that Bryant has already done what James is doing, time and time again. They’ve forgotten that he’s done it at a higher level, and on a bigger stage, than James has. And they’ve forgotten that he’s been doing it for the last decade.
Until now.
Now they realize that it wasn’t that Bryant had lost his edge, and it wasn’t that LeBron had surpassed him. It was simply that, by leading his team to more blowout wins than any other team in the league save Boston (both LA and Boston have won 29 games by 10 points or more), he hasn’t needed to do this very often this year.
For Bryant, any personal achievements are meaningless — winning is all that matters. But for everyone watching, this was a reminder: Kobe Bryant is still the most clutch player alive.
JTbatahk at Respect Kobe (comment #2)
Lebron supporters think of him as some good guy, saint-like character, and pin their hatred for Kobe purely for issues of character, whether they believe they are or not.
However, Bron-bron ain’t no saint whatsoever. Comments from people that have met him aside, he is no different from Kobe, possibly much worse. It is a very rare exception for the wealthy and celebrated to be free of arrogance. It is practically a given that they are. Yet Nike, and Bron fans, try to portray him as a humble, basketball loving individual that actually cares when his goal-in-life, in his own words, is "I want to be the first billionaire athelete."
His many actions since he entered the league completely support the premise that he is every bit as pompous and arrogant as any celebrity, and as much of a "poor teammate" as people portray Kobe to be:
- His celebrated, over-the-top pre-game hand powder routine
- Calling out his Cavs team while playing for Team USA (a topic you touched upon)
- Sitting away from the team huddle in a recent loss
- Last year, leaving the court for the locker room, WHILE the game was STILL BEING PLAYED, in the last seconds of a close loss. This was heavily critisized by Barkley, Miller, Magic, AND his Airness for the lack of class, but was quickly swept under the table by ESPN and other sport news outlets.
- Avoiding, and basically refusing, to shake the hands with the Pistons’ players in last year’s conference finals
These are just some rarely reported tidbits that go to show LeBron is JUST AS MUCH, if not MORE SO, an egotistical person than Kobe. Yet Kobe gets knocked for his drive to want to be the best, while LeBron is celebrated for it. And the media just plays right into it.
Hollinger is a prime example. Everyone should read his comments on his latest chat.
He states that LBJ is, by far and away, the best player in the league, and deserves the MVP this year.
A fan then suggested that this year’s Cavs were the Lakeshow of the previous 2 seasons, a great player with scrubs, which Hollinger agreed with. Someone then popped the question; if he had voted for Kobe in ‘06 (35-6-6, 62 in 3 and 81 pt season). He said he voted for LeBron, even in a year when Kobe dominated statistically. Last year, he voted for Dirk, and we all know where that lead.
David Neiman at Sports HubLA
If you’re going to make a case for LeBron James, focus on LeBron James and his virtues. Emphasize why he is the league’s most valuable player. Why bother trying to disparage Kobe (or Chris Paul, for that matter) when what both are doing is amazing in its own right? It’s totally unnecessary, and more than anything, detracts from any compelling argument instead of advancing it. In fact, aside from mentioning that Kobe and Chris Paul are viable MVP candidates, there really is no other reason to mention them at all.
Take into account that LeBron has no scoring help, that he’s leading the league in scoring, is shooting 49 percent from the field, and that he’s essentially defeated some of the best teams in the West this season by himself — nearly all of which are points made by Dwyer — and you’ve got yourself an argument that stands on its own.
Is it convincing? Is anything going to convince a die-hard Bryant supporter that his guy isn’t deserving? Probably not, though I would contend that a column emphasizing what LeBron has done — rather than what Kobe has not, or has not done as well — has a lot better chance of making a Kobe Bryant fan pause, if only for a moment.
In the end, the reality is that there is no objective way to decide the MVP, regardless of what statistics you use, unless the choice is obvious. It’s an inherently subjective award. Personally, I think Kobe is deserving at this point — not because of his statistics, skills, clutch shooting and so forth, but because to me, this season really represents a quantum leap for him as a player, teammate and leader.
But if LBJ or Chris Paul won it, would I be up in arms?
Not really. The Force is strong in both of them.
Mike Bresnahan at LA Times
The Lakers are legitimate contenders in the Western Conference, with Bryant contributing across the board. He is averaging 28.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.0 steals after Tuesday's game. He is shooting 46.4%, his best field-goal percentage since 2001-02.
Bryant's scoring is down from his combined average of 33.5 points a game the previous two seasons, but Lakers Coach Phil Jackson stated the platform for Bryant as MVP.
"He's playing a more rounded game than perhaps the end of the last two seasons, just measuring what the team needs and how to get it done including his teammates," Jackson said. "Defensively, his game has improved a lot. He could be defensive player of the year simply on the improvement between last year and this year on his defense."
Bryant wanted to leave the Lakers last summer, though Jackson said there had been a full commitment to the team since the season began.
"His teammates were worried about him obviously," he said. "They were concerned about being left behind or being ditched, if I can use that term. But he's been totally there."
The Lakers started out 9-8, but have turned it up since then. Bryant has had the league's highest-scoring individual effort this season with a 52-point outburst Sunday in the Lakers' 108-104 overtime victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
"His game has improved as he's gone through the season," Jackson said. "His involvement with his teammates -- you can see them playing off of him and [see] his appropriate movements through a ballgame, whether it's scoring or passing, whatever he needs to do to help win a game."
Mike Bresnahan at LA Times
In the same way that Kobe Bryant gets mentioned as one of the front-runners for league most valuable player, Jackson also faces the possibility of being recognized.
The Lakers (43-18) have overcome blase expectations to rise above the Western Conference, although Jackson didn't seem to want to address his chances of winning a coaching award.
"I think the best interview usually gets coach of the year," he said wryly. "Usually it's a team that's a surprise team. Favorites aren't usually given coach of the year."
What else?
"At one point in the '80s, it was an honor of doom, because the next two years, the guy was going to get fired from his job," Jackson said.
Jackson, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year, was coach of the year in 1995-96, when the Chicago Bulls with Michael Jordan set an NBA record by going 72-10 on the way to another championship.
Jackson's players, though biased, would support him winning a second time.
"How many championships has he coached? For him to only win it one time and have nine championships is kind of crazy," forward Lamar Odom said. "When did he get it, when he won 72 games? It might be tough this year, know what I'm saying? It's crazy."
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