Lakers: Kobe already going off on teammates

[DJR210]

How do you watch a Lakers game tbh? Any tips from Laker fans to make the game more enjoyable?

I tried to watch the other day, but couldn't really stand watching Kobe get the ball on the perimeter, size up the D, and launch a three while everyone else stood around..

[djohn2oo8]

[djohn2oo8]

[Clipper Nation]

Kobe defended Pau publicly many times.

Gasol got to be the recipient of Bryant's latest blast of criticism:

"Just a bad read on Pau's part," Bryant said.
...
"Pau's got to be more assertive," Bryant said. "He's the guy they're leaving [open]. When he's catching the ball, he's looking to pass. He's got to be aggressive. He's got to shoot the ball or drive the ball to the basket. He will be next game."

Kobe taking his teammates to task is nothing new: he famously ripped Andrew Bynum, pressuring Lakers management to get him out of town or bring help to the Los Angeles roster while struggling in the hinterland in the post-Shaquille O'Neal era. He's also criticized Gasol before, and indirectly criticized all of his teammates midway through the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs while praising World Peace.

But Kobe doing that on the brink of elimination — against a team that the Lakers have faltered against twice in the clutch, blowing late leads in Game 2 and Game 4 — while struggling from the field (a woeful 37-for-96 in this series) is also clever legerdemain on his part. Why blame Kobe, always candid with the media if not always precisely honest, when he's designing a convenient narrative that doesn't require blaming him?

The Shaq beef was started by O'Neal who eventually ran himself out by cussing out Dr. Buss while demanding an extension.

Nope, it was started by Kirby in his rookie year:

"Bryant kept his teammates at a distance, answering non-basketball questions with one- or two-word responses. O'Neal was wary of Bryant, as a rookie, boasting that he would lead the Lakers in scoring and be the best player in the league."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaq%E2%80%93Kobe_feud

[Indazone]

Makes you wonder how Michael Jordan handled his team.

[Clipper Nation]

Makes you wonder how Michael Jordan handled his team.

Deplorably, for most of his career at least. Read "The Jordan Rules" by Sam Smith... plenty of stories about how much of a bag DK was.

[FkLA]

I'm not defending Kobe. I already said he's a horrible person and a hasbeen who's chucking for scoring records.

What I'm doing is criticizing the premise of this thread, as if there isn't a billion legitimate things to criticize Kobe about. The original post with the original quote is being used to criticize Kobe, and I was just saying I didn't even find the quote as something negative about Kobe. Get more context about the quote, and I actually think it's probably something positive to talk about Kobe. Trying to get his teammate to play more aggressive. Is that really a bad thing, even if it's coming from Kobe?

Thing is with Kobe haters, they'll use anything to try to bash or discredit him. Should Kobe had sulked at the end of the bench and not talked to anyone, someone would have started a thread about how horrible a leader Kobe was for pouting and ignoring his teammates and not talking to them. If Kobe had said something explicitly positive to Lin like, "don't worry, we will get better. Just keep pushing," someone would have started a thread about how delusional Kobe was. That's what I'm saying. But what was Kobe supposed to say to Lin after Lin had 1 assist, 2 turnovers and the starters other than Kobe shot 32% from the field and they get blown out? "Hey, Jeremy, great job. Keep playing exactly how you're playing. We're awesome." I guess no Kobe hater would have criticized that either right?

As bad as Kobe fanbois are, thing is Kobe haters are just as bad, if not worse. There aren't even Kobe fans defending him anymore. They all shut up. They realize he's washed up. There's nothing to defend. He's a salary cap nightmare and he's old and he should have retired already. He hurts his team more than he helps them.

Kobe deserves to eat again for billion other legitimate things. Is this quote really one of them? Reputation, hate, whatever... that's all I'm saying.

He's not wrong in saying that Lin needs to be more involved. It's just ridiculous that it's coming from him, when he had such a high usage rate and FGAs.

If he would've said something along the lines of 'The team needs more from you. I'll start off by letting you handle the rock more.' ...which is how any normal/good teammate would probably approach the situation none of his 'haters' would be saying anything. Instead from what I read, he simply told Lin it was an urban legend that he wanted to control the ball--as if that wasn't what he had just done in the game. He expects people to eat up blatant lies and unfortunately most teammates/media don't dare question him.

I know it's posted on this site somewhere but I can't find it, so can anybody please provide the link to this article? Thanks in advance.

http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/stor...akers-downfall

[Agloco]

You still banned up there TDMVP?

it still hurts

lol.....why were you banned?

[baseline bum]

His HOF coach basically did in 2011 what did that have to do with Kobe? Kobe defended Pau publicly many times.
The Shaq beef was started by O'Neal who eventually ran himself out by cussing out Dr. Buss while demanding an extension.
We all know that Kobe probably forced the Lakers hand, but O'neal made it easy by disrespecting his employer. Shaq also left Orlando, miami and PHX on bad terms with co-stars but no one brings that up ...is Shaq a cancer too? If you say that then yes, I agree both are cancers.

(also Dwight doesnt have a great track record either and his former team-mates had issues including Jameer Nelson)

I don't think Shaq's a cancer, as most of his teammates seem to love him.

[Cry Havoc]

His HOF coach basically did in 2011 what did that have to do with Kobe? Kobe defended Pau publicly many times.
The Shaq beef was started by O'Neal who eventually ran himself out by cussing out Dr. Buss while demanding an extension.
We all know that Kobe probably forced the Lakers hand, but O'neal made it easy by disrespecting his employer. Shaq also left Orlando, miami and PHX on bad terms with co-stars but no one brings that up ...is Shaq a cancer too? If you say that then yes, I agree both are cancers.

(also Dwight doesnt have a great track record either and his former team-mates had issues including Jameer Nelson)

I don't know if I'd call Shaq a cancer as much as a disruptor. He didn't destroy locker rooms, but he definitely put heat (pun not intended) to coaches. For what it's worth, Shaq's at ude never won him any prizes and he was lazy on D for most of his career, but Shaq never tried to cut a teammate off at the knees to the media. For how private of a person Kobe claims to be, he certainly never had any qualms about headhunting his teammates to reporters.

He's not wrong in saying that Lin needs to be more involved. It's just ridiculous that it's coming from him, when he had such a high usage rate and FGAs.

If he would've said something along the lines of 'The team needs more from you. I'll start off by letting you handle the rock more.' ...which is how any normal/good teammate would probably approach the situation none of his 'haters' would be saying anything. Instead from what I read, he simply told Lin it was an urban legend that he wanted to control the ball--as if that wasn't what he had just done in the game. He expects people to eat up blatant lies and unfortunately most teammates/media don't dare question him.

ing SPOT on.



This is Lin getting pissed at Hill for not setting a screen. I mean, call me crazy, but that looks like a point who's attempting to run his offense. But nah. The Lakers are 0-2. Gotta be someone's fault other than Kobe. Just like every other season the Lakers have been in his career.

[unforeseen]

lol.....why were you banned?

He was/is butthurt that Parker continues to be the starting lineup while his caveman love-interest, Patty, rides the bench.