LakersGround is a complete and utter goldmine right now.
It's taking every ounce of my energy to keep myself from bursting out laughing while I read Lakers fans' comments on the Abbott piece. Their overtly religious worship of Kobe, and subsequent cries of "blasphemy" when ESPN criticises him, is just too much to bear.
I especially love how Kirbystan has spun it as "Abbott just hating on Kirby again," as if his cancerous ways weren't already known to anyone with a functioning brain before this article was written
fiendishoc
Starting Rotation
Joined: 23 Jun 2005
Posts: 384
Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2014 7:37 pm Post subject:
cheesysapien wrote:
ExPatLkrFan wrote:
24 wrote: I read the article from beginning to end, and what I saw was a ton of real, well thought out, factual analysis around a core of, "I'm going to stick it to Kobe", which ultimately takes a piece that could have been hard hitting if uncomfortable for Laker fans and turns it into an easy pinata. Haters will love it, and fans will have easy justification to dismiss it.
Specifically, talking about how Bryant flew in but inexplicably still missed Melo's pitch (omitting that it was because they moved it up at the last minute, at Melo's request), pretending Shaq was the whipping boy and Kobe the one of the two of them that didn't want to share with the other, conveniently forgetting the part about the CBA changes that make coming to LA less lucrative than before, acting like nothing specific (hint, Kobe's injured knee) happened in 2010-2011, leaving out the veto and the aftermath, acting as if Dwight really wanted to play in the pressure of LA (all evidence afterward to the contrary), these are all red flags of a guy turning a good piece into a hit piece. Not to mention acting like Sessions signing elsewhere didn't have anything to do with LA going and getting Nash.
LA got old in 2011. Kobe's knees were so shot he couldn't practice, PJ had only stayed out of loyalty to the team and was battling prostate cancer, and Pau apparently got a little satisfied and reverted in the playoffs to pre Laker Pau. So LA did the Laker thing. They pulled a miracle trade that would net them the next star to build around while still having Kobe and Bynum, and the ability to use Bynum to go after Howard. And even in the shambles of the post veto landscape, where they had to jettison an inconsolable Odom and deal with a fully regressed Pau while also having their coach depart (of his own will BTW), they still turned around in a single year and went and got Howard, along with Nash (the expensive and risky alternative to CP3). That blew up, for a lot of reasons, starting with a freak, apparently career ending injury to Nash, who had been extremely potent and durable for the last few years. And culminating with Dwight being Dwight. And make no mistake, he wanted no part of pressure and expectation, Kobe or no Kobe, and as has been demonstrated, wasn't exactly up to it. Oh, and Kobe blew his Achilles out.
Yeah, no star wants to come play in LA right now. They had to go through an absolute year losing Dwight and having no ability to replace him with anything, and struggling through the worst injury season I've ever seen. And no one knew or knows how much Kobe truly has left. LA has essentially rebooted their rebuild, having to reboot around the Dwight and Nash failure while not having the assets they cost. Last year's only value was the 7th pick in the draft. Everything else was a disaster. So the team, which had planned on cap room with a healthy Kobe and a scrappy team that had at least made some waves, has a question mark Kobe, a couple of promising rooks, and some cap room. Even Pau turned dopwn money to go play with a contender, and he certainly doesn't mind playing with Kobe.
Yeah, it's going to take a little while, and the team is going to have to develop their picks, make some judicious if not earthshattering transactions (starting with the Lin trade and buying the Clarkson pick), pick up some guys they can turn around or develop (like Davis), and keep rolling some cap room forward, using it only on pieces that will get them to the top, or placeholders until they improve enough to be a destination again. Or maybe they will hit the big piece in a trade. Who knows. But they will build smartly and deliberately, and seek the stars necessary to be a contender. That probably doesn't happen around Kobe. So be it. Some of that is on him and his style and age and what have you. Some of it is just on bad luck, timing, business, and the way of the world.
I'm going to enjoy Kobe, root for Randle and the youngsters to pan out, cheer the team on, and hope for good fortune and skill from Mitch.
QFT
Well said 24
Something like this needs to be heard from ESPN's ombudsman.
http://espn.go.com/blog/ombudsman
Not going to happen, I know.Back to top
Following Kobe and the Lakers meltdown this season is gonna be a real joy to watch. Should be great filler until the playoffs begin
I really don't wish bad luck on anyone, but it's hard not to enjoy this with Kobe acting like such a got in the twilight of his career.
Jeremy Lin about to be the #1 villain in tinseltown.Following Kobe and the Lakers meltdown this season is gonna be a real joy to watch. Should be great filler until the playoffs begin
I really don't wish bad luck on anyone, but it's hard not to enjoy this with Kobe acting like such a got in the twilight of his career.
This ish is getting serious.
I think he'll play the role of harmless Asian yes man, and Randle is gonna be the one to take the shaft on a day to day basis. Kobe gonna be all up in his head convincing him that basketball is no place for a soft young guy like him, leading to another 12 million or so per year on the next multi-year contract for Kobe.
Everybody piling onto the TOSB now.
In a blog post on ESPN.com, author Royce Webb argues that not only is the reaction to Kobe’s ranking unfounded, that ESPN actually “overrated Kobe tremendously, out of ‘respect.'”
“‘Respect’ is one of the most useless concepts in the NBA when it comes to player evaluation. If we had treated Kobe like any other player, we would’ve said he was no longer a top-25 player, or even close to that. Let’s be blunt: Kobe Bean Bryant was one of the very worst players in the NBA last season — a $30 million disaster. He was closer to the 425th-best player than the 25th-best player.”
Looking back at Kobe’s horrible season last year, it’s hard to argue with their claim.
“He played six games, in which he was mostly just terrible, with negative win shares — that’s right, he was taking wins off the floor. The Lakers had a winning record before he arrived and immediately hit the skids. The team played worse with him on the floor, and on top of that, he insulted his teammates.”
Even USA Today agrees that until “Kobe Bryant [can] prove he can stay healthy for a full season,” #NBA Rank’s assessment is not necessarily wrong.
Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/1549720/esp...5B0mP1irxOC.99
Last edited by Dex; 10-21-2014 at 10:10 AM.
Everybody piling onto the TOSB now.
In a blog post on ESPN.com, author Royce Webb argues that not only is the reaction to Kobe’s ranking unfounded, that ESPN actually “overrated Kobe tremendously, out of ‘respect.'”
“‘Respect’ is one of the most useless concepts in the NBA when it comes to player evaluation. If we had treated Kobe like any other player, we would’ve said he was no longer a top-25 player, or even close to that. Let’s be blunt: Kobe Bean Bryant was one of the very worst players in the NBA last season —a $30 million disaster. He was closer to the 425th-best player than the 25th-best player.”
Looking back at Kobe’s horrible season last year, it’s hard to argue with their claim.
“He played six games, in which he was mostly just terrible, with negative win shares — that’s right, he was taking wins off the floor. The Lakers had a winning record before he arrived and immediately hit the skids. The team played worse with him on the floor, and on top of that, he insulted his teammates.”
Even USA Today agrees that until “Kobe Bryant [can] prove he can stay healthy for a full season,” #NBA Rank’s assessment is not necessarily wrong.
Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/1549720/esp...5B0mP1irxOC.99
Original blog by Webb
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/pos...-overrate-kobe
Nice to see the media hype finally collapse from under Kobe. The media hype was all that was holding up Kobe's career. Not a bad offseason for Spurs fans. Won the championship, broke up the Heat, and saw Kobe's legacy scuttled.
Most overrated player in the history of American sports.
Well he has to contend with HIV/ son Johnson and "No Statue" Kareem...he's got his work cut out for him.
Came shortly after the "ESPN is stupid" remark by Kobe after 40.
A rebuttal to Henry Abbott's hit job.
http://www.silverscreenandroll.com/2...-espn-downfall
From that:
They took a step in the right direction this summer, landing Ed Davis on a budget deal, re-signing Nick Young -- who had a very efficient season last year -- to a four-year contract, drafting Julius Randle, trading for the expiring contract of Jeremy Lin and having Bryant back in the fold.
Don't make fun of Kobe
Frankly, the only thing about the Abbott piece that's somewhat unfair, is the fact he ran Dwight outta LA... Dwight is a loser, and in that sense, Kirby did right for the franchise, IMO.
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