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This'll go over like a fart in church.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...8Wk0QD9CH6D3O0The United States had been losing games like this for years.
With the 2008 Olympic gold medal on the line, the heavily favored Americans were in jeopardy of another international embarrassment. Spain had outplayed them for much of the fourth quarter, slicing the U.S. lead to five points with 3 1/2 minutes left.
They needed to respond, and with their choice of NBA superstars, the Americans kicked the ball out to Kobe Bryant.
He nailed a 3-pointer as he was fouled, pressing his finger to his lips after his follow-through as if to tell the rowdy Spanish fans behind the basket — and maybe all those U.S. basketball critics — that it was time to quiet down.
Bryant's four-point play helped the Americans hold on, ending their eight-year gold-medal drought.
All it took was finally getting the world's best player in uniform, someone so good he deserves to be considered among the candidates for The Associated Press' Athlete of the Decade.
"One thing that's been obvious throughout his career is that he's been a fierce compe or and many people in basketball would say he's the closest thing that we've seen to Michael Jordan's compe iveness," USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said. "And he's a winner."
That Bryant and his teammates would want the ball in his hands in such a huge spot wasn't a surprise: That's exactly where many NBA experts say it should be.
In NBA.com's recent survey of general managers, 89.7 percent of the respondents picked Bryant as the player they would want taking a shot with the game on the line, up from 88.9 percent last year. Try finding any other situation in sports, other than perhaps picking Tiger Woods to take the do-or-die putt or Mariano Rivera to close out a World Series game, where so many would come down on the same side of the debate.
"I really have no fear of those situations," Bryant said. "I enjoy those moments, they're fun. I look forward to those situations."
Bryant had plenty before he was even 25. He'd already ac ulated Hall of Fame credentials during the Lakers' run of three straight championships from 2000-02, scoring 29.4 points per game during their 15-1 playoff stampede in '01 that was as dominant as any postseason in sports history.
Plenty of greats who never won a le would have happily settled for that. Not Bryant.
He posted some of his best statistical years after Los Angeles traded Shaquille O'Neal in 2004, averaging 35.4 points in 2005-06 — highlighted by his 81-point night that ranks No. 2 on the NBA's single-game list — and 31.6 the next season.
But he was seething, so angry that the Lakers couldn't put together a team that could even get out of the first round of the playoffs that he said he wanted to be traded in 2007.
"I've had my long years, countless sleepless nights, just hoping and praying that we'd be able to get a team here where I could have some bullets in the gun to kind of go to war with, and I just wanted the opportunity to try to get back to winning the championships," Bryant said. "And to their credit, they put together a great team that meshed very, very well."
The Lakers won another le in June and began this season as the favorites to repeat, which means everything to Bryant. Reaching the top has never been enough for him. He needs to stay there.
"It is about longevity," Bryant said. "I don't want to be a player that had a hot two or three years there, or four or five years. I wanted to be able to sustain that over the course of a career."
He's done it with a ruthless focus, scoring 2,300 more points than any player from 2000-01 through the start of this season while shaking off everything from a feud with O'Neal to a sexual assault accusation against him in Colorado — a case that collapsed once the accuser decided not to testify and a civil suit was settled for an undisclosed amount in March 2005.
Nor did those issues permanently damage his worldwide popularity, which may be unmatched among active athletes. Bryant's jersey is the NBA's top seller in the United States, Europe and China. Even he was a bit embarrassed by the thunderous "Kobe! Kobe!" chants as the Americans marched during the opening ceremony in Beijing.
"Even LeBron (James) and Dwyane (Wade) and Carmelo (Anthony), those guys were going, 'What are we, potted plants?'" U.S. assistant coach Mike D'Antoni said. "But it was unbelievable the response that he had, it really was."
His compe ive fire and fearless clutch play have earned Bryant comparisons to Jordan, which he shies away from. But it speaks to his greatness that of all the players who have been bestowed the "next Jordan" le, Bryant is the only one it's really stuck with for much time.
During a preseason ESPN telecast of a Lakers game, Jeff Van Gundy noted that if Jordan is the best player ever, and Bryant is the best since Jordan, then Bryant could go down in the top handful of all-time greats if he wins a couple of more les. Charles Barkley said they've had the same discussion on TNT.
"He's like in the top 10 to 15 right now," Barkley said. "If Kobe wins a couple more championships, he'll be close, in the top five or 10."
Only 31 and surrounded by perhaps his strongest supporting cast yet, there's still plenty of time for Bryant to finish carving out his place in NBA history.
His place in the last 10 years is secure.
"His desire and will to win is just greater than anybody's I've ever seen personally," teammate Derek Fisher said. "And so you look at what he's accomplished in terms of the championships and what he's done individually, I think it'd be hard to argue that there's been a better individual within the last 10 years."
Bryant was on top when the decade started, and he still is when it ends.
Not even Jordan could say that.
Congrats to Kobe. I like the fact that the article starts with the 2008 Olympics which was a defnining moment for Kobe & USA basketball. It was about redemption for him, and the USA teams that failed in 04' & 06' under Duncan/Iverson and then Wade/Bron/Melo.
Discuss.
This'll go over like a fart in church.
Who will give her the trophy? Katelyn Faber?
Kobe athlete of the decade?
What ?
Why not?Kobe athlete of the decade?
What ?
Considering he had a rape case this decade - pretty remarkable.
Tiger needs to become his best friend to get his image rebuilt. That and focus on winning Majors and the Ryder Cup.
In all fairness to Kobe he had one offense of adultery. Tiger has.. wait, what's the last count as of this writing? But yeah, Kobe went to and back so Tiger really needs Mamba.
Only one offense? Please. Who told you - the tooth fairy?
Kobe too had hoes coming out the woodwork when he got blasted. Difference between Kobe and Tiger is that Kobe was facing criminal charges - so unless anyone could claim he too assaulted them - it wouldn't fit.
Tiger's problem is its just him being unfaithful (a common thing) and he brought money into it when the reports of him paying his wife to stay.
Makes sense.
I'm tempted to argue the point simply because of the idiotic OP, but whatevs...
Wade was the best player on the 2008 Olympic team, fact.
Kobe wasn't the best on the team.
lastly,
Duncan and Shaq have a better resume than Bryant does for the decade.
Shaq has 4 rings in the 2000's
These are Shaq's accolades of the 2000's
1 MVP
3 Finals MVP's
Made All-Star team 9 out of the 10 years this decade
1x Scoring champ
7 time NBA All-First team
3x NBA All-Star game MVP
Kobe Bryant accolades of 2000's
1 MVP
1 Finals MVP
All-Star team every year this decade
2x Scoring champ
7 Time All-NBA first team
3x All-Star Game MVP
Looking at that resume, Shaq > Kobe.
Shaq led a three-peat dynasty, while kobe only has 1 finals mvp.
I won't even mention Tim Duncan!
Article full of , flavor of the moment. Bryant's agent is trying real hard, but full of fail
Wade best on team? Please. I'll let a Kobe hater like Simmons sum it up:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/st...ine&id=3575385Third, for most of the Games, Team USA had an alpha dog issue. Was this Kobe's team or LeBron's? Fast-forward to 8:13 left: Fernández's three cuts the lead to two; the crowd is going bonkers. Spain's bench reacts like a euphoric 15-seed during a March Madness upset, and the U.S. calls timeout. All along, my biggest fear had been a tight game and multiple USA guys saying, "I got it!" Instead, everyone deferred to Kobe, who made some monster plays to clinch it. Know that in the history of the NBA we have never had the best-player-alive argument resolved so organically. Incredible. Kobe, you have the Lord of the Flies conch. Use it wisely.
As for your comparison between Shaq/Kobe - only thing Shaq has and edge on is Finals MVP - and everyone knows LA doesn't get out of the West any year without Kobe's clutch plays against Port, SA, and Sac.
As for Duncan - the argument can easily be made. But he only has 3 rings this decade and what hurts him more is he's not much of a story.
Tiger with some bad timing...
Suh should get it.
Finals MVP is a joke...they need to change it to Playoffs MVP.
Told ya's so.
tee, hee.
Agreed.
Actually, that's why he was named Athlete of the Decade
Only on one team in a decade was Kobe considered to be the man - he is a great player but this is sublime = Shaq or Duncan, Duncan or Shaq the truth starts and ends with those two for the last 10 years.
Who's Kobe?
Shaq calls bull
Brett Favre is so angered that HE was not selected as the AP's Athlete of the Decade that he has decided to immediately retire, out of pure spite.
you know what
this poll says ATHLETE of the decade, not nba player of the decade
so you have Duncan and Shaq, both above Kobe
then you have the NFL..... Tom Brady is above Kobe, who else in the nfl?
lol. i wonder how much bryant's agent bribed the writer
You didn't watch the olympics then
Wade was the best player on that 2008 Beijing team.
In fact, in an NBA poll, Wade was the Olympic MVP. you don't know .
How about YAHOO ANSWERS from 1 year ago, with people like you and me discussing this?
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...4143133AADh7Y0
or how about the tons of articles on it?
And lastly, you might have noticed while watching Team USA men’s basketball that the best and most exciting basketball player on the planet is still… Dwyane Wade?
Don’t Call it a Comeback
Let’s forget that Dwyane Wade was the leading scorer on Team USA, a team with stars like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant. Let’s even ignore the fact that D-Wade took over games offensively and defensively and was doing it coming off the bench. What we can’t ignore is the fact that the 2006 NBA finals MVP Dwyane Wade is back on top of the basketball world stage. But should we really be surprised or even impressed? Have we already forgotten what this man has done? Take a quick glance at Dwyane Wade’s resume and you will quickly discover remember that D-Wade, aka Flash, is already one of the most clutch and dominant basketball players we have ever seen.
Wade is the same baller who saddled up the Marquette Golden Eagles on his back and led them to the Final Four in 2003. (Quick, name another player that was on that team!)
It’s not the Comeback Kid, it's Dwyane Wade, the same guy who almost single-handedly led the Miami Heat back from a 0-2 deficit against the Dallas Mavericks to win their first NBA championship. The man straight up averaged 34.7 points per game in the NBA finals. That’s not only bananas, it’s—well, for a lack of a better adjective—Jordanesque. Wade’s performance was ranked by NBA.com as the greatest finals performance of all time.
http://sports.bodog.com/articles/tea...ack-39407.html
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or the Polls around the websites that declared Wade the best olympic player?
Last edited by MiamiHeat; 12-11-2009 at 03:47 PM.
Shaq hasn't been an 'athlete' since 2002.
LMAO.
When the going got tough who led Team USA to the W? Who took the toughest defensive matchup nightly? Who was the one Coach K said inspired the team? Who was the player every other star came back talking about his work ethic?
Game. Set. Match.
I like Wade but you really should STFU about this one.
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