Kobe would have never been benched in the 4th quarter of an elimination game.

[AaronY]

He may pout and whine about it but it would happen if he had a coach who had some self-confidence..at 37 if he's having another 6-24 and since he'll probably be playing even worse defense than he did this year?..not only could it happen it def. would if they had a semi-competent backup and a functional coach..

[Spur|n|Austin]

Go buy some cheesy blue carpeting, white statues, and gold curtain rods, Asif..

Oh, and your wife is dead.

[Leetonidas]

Yeah, he woulda just quit on his team and threw the game, or shot them out of it.

[Poolboy5623]

I don't think I've ever seen pop put that kind of faith/confidence in tiago..it was nice to see and with the way the spurs were playing d, I wasn't too worried. Defense travels well. To think the spurs should have won all 3 games at oracle, they can win anywhere.

[SpursBills]

Considering the lakers have lost by an average of 26.2 points in elimination games that Kobe has played in in the last 10 years, maybe he should have been benched in the 4th quarter.

[SpurYank]

Of course not. Kobe calls the shots. Besides, his coaches are all candy-asses.

[Strategic]

Kobe who?

[dbreiden83080]

That's because unless Phil Jackson is coaching Kobe is the coach of the team..

[BWS-1994]

Who was eliminated again?

[Horry Hipcheck]

Kobe's the only player in history that benched himself in an elimination game without ever leaving the court.

+ 10,000 points

[Drachen]

You forgot to finish the sentence

Kobe would have never been benched in the 4th quarter of an elimination game... and that is why the Lakers fail.

[buttsR4rebounding]

That really says it all...Duncan focuses on what's best for the team and doesn't question Pop's decisions. Kobe believes the team is just a conduit to showcase his self-proclaimed greatness and the team's success is merely a byproduct of his personal acheivements.

[SenorSpur]

...and Kobe, being the selfish prick that he is, would've never dialed back his game to accommodate a younger, more talented teammate (a la David Robinson, Dywane Wade). And you wonder why the Fakers team chemistry is so ed? Look at the great, big, pink elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about.

[therealtruth]

He just needed some rest. It was a long series.