we should stick to hockey

Let me start off by saying I'm not a fan of Kobe Bryant. I was a fan of Michael Jordan. And even though this has nothing to do with this article I will add my favorite player of all-time was Larry Bird.

81 points. If it would have been Michael Jordan who scored 81 points no one would have said anything bad about it. Why? Because Jordan was well-liked. Kobe is not so he gets criticized.

I know why I don't like Kobe. He's a Laker, and being a lifelong Celtics fan he's the enemy. I wonder why he is so hated. Is it because he's a Laker? Is it because he's got 3 rings? I don't think it's because of the rape charges, he was disliked before that. Maybe it's because Jerry Buss (the Lakers' owner) went with Kobe over Shaq. But again I don't think that's the reason either. Kobe has been hated for years. Look when the All-Star game was in his hometown of Philadephia he was loudly booed.

To me Kobe is a fierce competitor. He wants to win, and he plays defense every night. He has a killer instinct, and always seems to hit the big shot at end of close games. Is he a ball hog? Yes, I guess he is, but who on the Lakers helps him out on a consistent basis? The Lakers are a team that no one had in their pre-season predictions of even making the playoffs, and as of right now they would make it. He scored 81 points and took 46 shots doing it. There were many times when Jordan shot over 40 times, and Jordan had a far better team.

81 points. Another thing people aren't saying is the Lakers, after being down by 19 points, came back and WON. The game were Jordan scored 63 points against Boston in the playoffs his team lost. When Kobe scored 62 points against Dallas earlier this season he did it in 3 quarters. With his team ahead by 30 points he took himself out of the game and sat out the 4th quarter because it was a win. If he was so interested in scoring 80 points he would've played the rest of the game. In fact some of the media criticized him for NOT playing the rest of the game. Saying he had a change to score 80 and he owed it to the fans to go for it.

81 points. The second most in NBA history. No one has scored higher in over 40 years. If you seen the game or look at tape of the game he wasn't forcing shots. Toronto played horrible against him they hardly ever tried double teaming him even after he was routinely burning the man guarding him. Why can't the haters just sit back and enjoy something they may never see again? What Kobe did was amazing, dare I even say Jordanesque. So I tell the people who dislike him to just relax and take it for what it is. I'm not saying to become a fan of his or his team nothing drastic like that. But you can at least tip your hat towards him for having a tremendous game. Just picture the hoopla if it would've been Michael Jordan.

To me Kobe is a fierce competitor. He wants to win, and he plays defense every night. He has a killer instinct, and always seems to hit the big shot at end of close games. Is he a ball hog? Yes, I guess he is, but who on the Lakers helps him out on a consistent basis?

He has Chris Mihm and Lamar Odom to back him up. I'm not claiming that the Lakers are just as good a team without Kobe! Oh my goodness no! But they seem to sit back and let Kobe do all the work.

I am conflicted over the Kobe Bryant career. On one hand, he is a very talented player. I think that makes me dislike him even more. That he is capable of 81 points in 48 minutes is unthinkable, especially for a guy who didn't like him in the first place.

On the other hand, he's on a team that needs him. They will be at 12-69 if Kobe is injured for a season.

But here's another point to ponder: the Lakers didn't need Kobe before they traded Shaq... and who orchestrated that trade? Need I answer?

Lamar Odom is very important to the Lakers, but that night he made 1 of 7 shots. That's not very reassuring as back up.
If Odom goes cold and Kobe is HOT, you feed him the ball. It's a no-brainer. 60% field goal shooting.

Odom and Mihm together average 25 ppg. Webber and Iguodala of the 76ers avg 31 ppg. Lebron gets 32 ppg support from the
other top 2 scoreres on his team. Both Iverson and Lebron avg over 30 ppg. and take over 20 shots ppg.

Kobe doesn't have the role players.

If the Lakers were the mid 80's cast of Saturday Night Live, Kobe would be Eddie Murphy starring in 3-4 skits a night carrying the show. who's backing him up? Anthony Michael Hall?

---But here's another point to ponder: the Lakers didn't need Kobe before they traded Shaq... and who orchestrated that trade? Need I answer?---

Are you saying the Lakers wouldn't need Kobe if they had Shaq? They would most certainly need Kobe if they had Shaq. I mean if the Lakers wanted to win championships they would. If Shaq was with the Lakers right now without Kobe would their record be better? Not really since Shaq has been injured this year. A yearly event for him since he refuses to play at a lesser weight.

Shaq, even if he got in shape and played with some hunger for another ring, would still have needed Kobe. Do you really think Shaq could win a ring in Miami without Dwayne Wade? I still say Miami would've beat Detroit in the Eastern Conference Finals last year if Wade wouldn't have been hurt for game 7.

I was listening to sports radio and they mentioned a high school player, who is going to Duke, scored 52 points in a 83-79 loss. With his time down 71-58 with 1:24 left in the game he scored 21 points in the next 75 seconds before fouling out. I hope the media or fans didn't call him a ball hog I hope they enjoyed his outstanding attempt to win. I wish I was there to see it.

Let me start off by saying I'm not a fan of Kobe Bryant. I was a fan of Michael Jordan. And even though this has nothing to do with this article I will add my favorite player of all-time was Larry Bird.

My Favorite player is James Worthy, but in the top 5 is Magic Johnson! hehehehehehe 79 championship!

-I was listening to sports radio and they mentioned a high school player, who is going to Duke, scored 52 points in a 83-79 loss. With his time down 71-58 with 1:24 left in the game he scored 21 points in the next 75 seconds before fouling out. I hope the media or fans didn't call him a ball hog I hope they enjoyed his outstanding attempt to win. I wish I was there to see it.-

That's true, he's not a ball hog. He's trying to carry his team to a victory. Someone has to be the leader, and know that success hinges on him. Last week, Lebron James had the opportunity to win some close games. He drove to the basket with time ticking down and then passed the ball to the perimeter for a missed shot. The next night he missed a crucial free throw and the Cavs lost again. Lebron himself admitted in the new issue of ESPN that he doesn't have the "Killer Instinct" yet that he sees in Kobe.

My favorite players are of course Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Michael Cooper, Byron Scott, Worthy, Magic.

My favorite players are of course Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Michael Cooper, Byron Scott, Worthy, Magic.

That's the 5!  Best team of all time!

My favorite players are of course Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Michael Cooper, Byron Scott, Worthy, Magic.

That's the 5! Best team of all time!

And those were the guys we'd chant against in Phoenix: "BEAT LA! BEAT LA! BEAT LA!"
BTW, you forgot AC Green and his socks.

Lamar Odom is very important to the Lakers, but that night he made 1 of 7 shots. That's not very reassuring as back up. If Odom goes cold and Kobe is HOT, you feed him the ball. It's a no-brainer. 60% field goal shooting.

It's a balance between getting good play out of your go-to guys like Kobe or Odom or whoever, but you also have to get your backups to play hard and score, too. But the backups can rest easy, because they know Kobe will pull out a win for them and all they have to give is 35%.

If the Lakers were the mid 80's cast of Saturday Night Live, Kobe would be Eddie Murphy starring in 3-4 skits a night carrying the show. Who's backing him up? Anthony Michael Hall?

Best analogy I have heard in a long time. I hated Joe Piscopo too.
But don't forget Billy Crystal and Christopher Guest were also there. And Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Mary Gross...

Lebron himself admitted in the new issue of ESPN that he doesn't have the "Killer Instinct" yet that he sees in Kobe.

Can you imagine what Lebron will be when he does finally develop as a player and a leader? OMG, stand back and watch the magic happen.

And those were the guys we'd chant against in Phoenix: "BEAT LA! BEAT LA! BEAT LA!"

That was about all you could do, cause you were just their whipping boy!

(as were the hated Celtics).

cause you were just their whipping boy!

Oh yes, Phoenix was LA's bitch for many many years. The Connie Hawkins / Walter Davis / Tom Chambers years.

basketball fans are too addicted to statistics, he got this average points, he got this blah to blah ratio. No wonder people who are huge fans of these games never like football.. where there's only a few goals in a 90 minute game. ROFLMAO

Somebody resurrected this thread! Wow! Go figure, thank you Ikra.

No wonder people who are huge fans of these games never like football

Football is fun to watch, but it's nowhere nearly as fast-paced and uptempo as basketball. Smaller field, more points, more action! Good times.

I have really been enjoying the NCAA March Madness this year. Too bad my Longhorns got eliminated. I had them to go to the championship against UConn. Bad bracket.