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If they don't they're idiots and know nothing about basketball.
Do people agree with this?
If they don't they're idiots and know nothing about basketball.
I mean just look how much better Gasol is now than when he was in Memphis. Bynum and Ariza would be nowhere near where they are today w/o Kobe. And Smush ing Parker played decent when he was a Laker, now he's not playing with Kobe, and he's out of the League. I still cant believe Smush was ever in the league
Yes Kobe makes his teammates better, did anyone say otherwise or is this a pointless thread?
We've been having some pretty ty threads since last week.
Anyone agree?
yes
yea he makes them better because if he doesn't, he'll throw them under the bus or demands to trade them, do you agree?
Some teammates, yes. Others, no. The answer is both.
The last couple seasons, in particular, he's been better at actively helping teammates with gameplans and strategies and plays, even during games. He hasn't always been that way though. On the court, when Kobe gets doubled and triple-teamed, it gives teammates more opportunities to score and make plays. But, there are also times where he forces shots against those doubles and triples anyway. Even this past season, there were stretches not only in games but for stretches of games where he'd play selfishly because he felt it was the best way for the Lakers to win games. That doesn't help teammates develop.
As far as non-game leadership, that's also a mixed bag. His work ethic, crass personality, and stubborn determination can work both ways. For teammates that are headstrong and can take criticism and a butt-kicking every now and then, I think Kobe would make them better. Guys like Jordan Farmar and Luke Walton are probably better players than they were when they first joined the Lakers in large part to that aspect of Kobe's personality. Not that they're great players, but they're better players than they were before.
Teammates that don't like to be pushed by other teammates and get intimidated easily and don't like the way Kobe might push them, they probably shut him off and Kobe doesn't help make them better players. Guys like Brian Cook or Kwame Brown were probably not mentally or emotionally tough enough to accept Kobe's pushing and criticism. I think the jury is still out on guys like Bynum and Vujacic. Bynum is better, but I don't think I attribute it to Kobe as much as just his own personal development and maybe Kareem. Sasha seems like he's able to take Kobe's personality but he still sucks and probably has gotten worse especially this past season.
The answer is both yes and no.
No. Kobe, unlike say, Magic or Jordan does not make teammates better. But, where Kobe thrives is having better teammates around him. This year's edition of Gasol made Kobe better. Last year's edition of Gasol made Kobe worse. This year's edition of Odom made Kobe better. Smush Parker destroyed Kobe's will to win, to carry on. Kobe does not influence, but, is easily influenced.
If Darth Kobe doesn't get the ball, his teammates can expect a force choke in the near future.
im not trying to make ty threads, i was only trying to start discussion
insecure Laker fans.
Players that can't handle Kobe's way of leadership are the ones who get shipped out or are at the end of the bench. Kobe is a good leader for a veteran/talented group like the Lakers have right now. He's not a great leader but he's a pretty good one.
That sounds like Iran, one more dictator in the world, "Don't protest, say anything or I'll cut you head off."
Kobe pre-Gasol, no.
Kobe presently yes. I guess Gasol must have taught him something about carrying a team.
That's stupid. Gasol has 0 playoff wins as the best player on his team.
sure
but his personality, verbal abuse, verbal beratement, trash talk is bad for the long term psychological make-up of a team. phil jackson was the biggest reason they won that ring
Phil Jackson makes his players better should've been the le of this thread instead
Before Gasol, Kobe made Luke Walton look like a starter in this league and made Smush Parker look like a rotation player.
Your point is lost, because that still means that Kobe does not make those teammates better. There are teammates he cannot and does not make better. Brian Cook was with the Lakers for four full seasons and he started games his third and fourth years with the Lakers. He wasn't at the end of the bench and it took the Lakers four years to ship him out.
Luke Walton never looked like a starter in this league. And Smush Parker was horrible with the Lakers.
Having decent stats or starting games doesn't mean a player is better because of another player.
What does Duncan, Garnett, James, Nowitzki, Howard and Yao have in common?They make their teammates better by getting too much attention from the other teams
But, at last in these Finals Walton was able to put a series together where he did not harm us. That had never happened before. In these Finals Walton's impacted with brevity & clarity. Ipso facto, he made Kobe better. Kobe did not have to wring his hands, roll his eyes, and watch Walton's every move--to the point of almost jinxing the poor thing.
Smush Parker was hopeless. That SOB drove me near to tears many times. He was not a professional basketball player and had no business being anywhere near the Lakers. I'll never understand that commitment to him. It was almost surreal.
Then that hump Riley thought he'd make an ass out of the Lakers by taking Parker into Florida and having him amount to something...Ha!
IMO "making teammates better" is an extremely vague term. If you're a PG that the other team feels the need to guard with a SG or SF, that alone is making a teammate better IMO.
lol insecure laker fan
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