Woah what?!? The NBA is a business, teams owe the players exactly what is on the contract. No team should commit roster suicide by "owing" someone to be overpaid. Congrats to Miami, what they do has NOTHING to do with the Lakers situation. The Lakers look out for themselves and no one else. You are wrong about missing 'ships too. The Lakers had already lost in the 04 finals, the Kobe/Shaq relationship was damaged beyond repair for whatever reason you want to say. I was over, done, nada. Sorry, wrong again. Lakers had a choice, Kobe or Shaq...'there was no chance to keep both. It wasnt coincidence that the day after Shaq left town Kobe resigned. Kobe was seriously contemplating going to the Clippers among others. It was one or the other. Now you are trying to change the argument (again). Management is irrelevant to what had already happened. Dont cry over split milk. They had to make a decision at that point. Again, I never said Kobe wasnt an asshole. IMO Kobe and Shaq are both assholes. Oh, so if you ever get accused of rape and you have disposable income you wouldnt try your damndest to beat the charges...give me a fuckin break. Once again, no actual evidence that shows his guilt. NOTHING. You want him to be a rapist to justify your hate towards him. He cheated on his wife.
You misunderstand my point. Contracts are capped--30% of the salary cap at the time the deal was signed. Shaq was making around $15MM when he was at his peak, and he was worth probably double that. Ergo, when his value drops to $5-7MM a year and he's making $20MM, it evens out. I disagree with your assertion. BTW, it was Kobe that caused the rift, not Shaq. Like it or not, Shaq was the reason for the rings. Kobe may have been the better player, but his talents were more easily replaced that were Shaquille O'Neal's. Kobe needed to show more respect for Shaq, but he wanted the glory for himself. Of course, Kobe is all about him, and he paid the price. He'll never be another Jordan. I'm not changing the argument. I'm adding a third character. Someone in management needed to sit Kobe down and talk to him. They didn't, and the franchise paid the price. First, I wouldn't cheat on my wife. Second, if I'm ever accused of a rape I didn't commit, I let the evidence speak for itself. If I'm innocent, there wouldn't be any evidence. The girl not only had Kobe's man-juice in her, but she also had vaginal abrasions and had been roughed up a bit, items consistent with struggle during sex, aka rape. Kobe's not coming to this party innocent. I'm sure he's had lots of women outside of marriage. Why was this one different? Why wasn't he more careful? It's his arrogance that makes him think he can get away with anything, and in this case it wasn't arrogant at all. He did get away with it. He paid the girl off because if it came to a court case, he was going to Canon City. As for justifying my hate for him, the manner in which he carries himself on the court and that ridiculous Italian rap with Tyra Banks is all the justification I need.
Yeah and she also had a bunch of sex with different partners and 90% of the league cheats on anyone. Lol now you've just lost it.
Mike Brown does not equal Phil Jackson. You can have a better coached less talented team (say 2004 Argentina Olympic mens team) that beats a more talented team with less coaching and less of a system in place. Clearly a team with AI, Redd, Wade, rookie Lebron, Marion, Okafor, Odom, Boozer, and Tim Duncan has more talent than a team with Ginobili, Nocioni and guys who wouldn't be 8th men on NBA teams. Shaq was a big baby, but I mean he was pissed because Kobe was a ballhog, taking bad shots, in the 2004 Finals trying to get the Finals MVP. Coming right off that, on top of their previous disputes, Shaq basically felt it would only be worth it for him to be on a team with Kobe Bryant if they overpaid him. He didn't demand 33 mill per year in Miami. And the Lakers would have had good title shots.
Shaq overreacted, and Kobe did have a bad Finals series that year. However in 03-04 his stats leveled off in general due to various issues.
He probably did, but that was his point. He didn't really want to be with the Lakers which is why he demanded such a large number. He didn't want to play with Kobe after he was a ballhog taking bad shots during the Finals, which Shaq wanted to win.
Was she married? As for cheating, just because others do it doesn't make it right. Obviously, you never saw that video. Prepare to be horrified: [video=youtube;MpzJgLzzX38]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpzJgLzzX38[/video]
Once again...there is a difference between a cheating asshole and rapist. Man, seriously, please reread my bigger post. Im obviously not trying to build up Kobe here. Im infatuated with everything Lakers, not Kobe. My opinion on this is not BS.
And in my opinion, they're one in the same: They're both encapsulated in the wonder that is Kobe Bryant. I'm not saying that your opinion is BS, I'm saying that our opinions are different on this issue.
Shaq wouldn't have won us anything. Letting Shaq go cost us another two or three rings? Please... Saying keeping Shaq over Kobe is just ridiculous. You have a young Kobe, entering his prime and ready to explode, and and an old Shaq who doesn't even condition himself properly in the offseason. We would be worse off with Shaq because of his age. Look at him now. Kobe won the MVP last year and Shaq has been reduced to nothing more than an "above average" starter with the Suns. Resigning Shaq would not guarantee us a championship, because his contract would leave us with very little wiggle room under the cap to sign anyone else, and Kobe would just bolt to the Clippers or somewhere else. There would be no Kobe, no Wade, nobody. Just Shaq. Which leaves us basically with Shaq and a bunch of scrubs (you wouldn't even have a Caron Butler or Lamar Odom). How do you think he'd feel then? He probably would stir up even more shit and come into the season fat and over shape, sit out with some type of mysterious "injury" for a couple of months, disrupt the locker room, and then ask for a trade. Yeah, good luck getting back good pieces for an aging Shaq. This is also not mentioning you'd be spending big bucks every single year on a player who doesn't even dedicate himself in the offseason, and probably wouldn't even play with any effort. Not to mention you just let a future MVP, one of the best players in the league walk away for absolutely nothing. And this has nothing to do with Kobe. Oh yeah, and Shaq's Mr. Perfect right? He's 6 years older than Kobe, and certainly doesn't show any more maturity. Kobe came into the league as a teenager, and instead of being a "team leader," he'd isolate himself from Kobe and slap him around during summer practices. Yep, great leader. Tell me how a team leader habitually goes into camp every year fat and out of shape, and a team leader would take "company time" to heal an injury. Yeah, if I was Kobe I'd be pissed off too. How does my team captain, MY supposed team captain, show so little effort and basically does not even give a damn about working out and keeping his body in shape? As a professional athlete, the very least you can do is show up to training camp, your job, in shape. And Kobe wasn't mainly responsible for Shaq's divorce, the event occurred four years ago. So yeah, I'm guess Shaq's wife, four years later, all of a sudden thinks up of an event four years back and decides to get a divorce right? Yep makes sense to me.
As probably one of the most notorious Kobe "haters" on the internet, I have grown to appreciate the man's game and don't find his attitude offensive. I was there when he posted 65 on the Blazers: [video=youtube;YTKHM31XECk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTKHM31XECk[/video] and I just left the stadium in amazement at that feat he did. I still hate the Lakers with a passion, but Kobe...not so much. So if he came to the Blazers, start him at SF and lets pile some rings.
Okay, then I guess Wade is better than Kobe, if the Heat won a championship and the Lakers would have been unable to. At least you're big enough to admit it. Well, that was quite a rant. However, you missed my point. It didn't have to be either/or. Kobe could have kept his mouth shut and continued to play with Shaq. So Shaq wanted more of the spotlight? Let him have it. Winning is the important thing. Kobe chose his own ego over winning. Sure it does. Kobe forced a trade that took the Lakers from 56-26 and a Finals appearance (and without injuries, a likely championship) to a 34-48 punchline. It has nothing to do with Shaq's maturity. So what if he's high maintenance? Michael Jordan put up with Dennis Rodman to earn a ring. Winning is the important thing, not who gets the spotlight. Kobe wants it to be all about him, and he has fewer rings because of it. It was in reference to why Shaq did that stupid rap about "how does my ass taste". Kobe was the one who ratted out that he paid a woman off not to tell his wife about their affair. As an aside, I'd like to thank all the Laker fans for continuing this thread. There are few non-Blazer basketball-related subjects I enjoy more than ripping on that little slice of Japanese beef.
Yeah I know, thats what Ive been saying the entire time. Anything bad about Kobe you want to believe no matter what the facts are surrounding it.
Actually, I really do believe he raped that girl. And I believe his conduct and the strategies pursued by his legal team afterward proved it.
Yes, as you have already stated, because Kobe was able to afford the best legal team and afford to pull out all the stops to make sure he didnt go to jail then he must be guilty...awesome logic Hey everybody! Just roll over if you ever get accused of a crime you didnt commit!
Or actually commit the crime and then give the girl a choice: take a pile of money or have your life ruined.
