He doesn't fear the Lakers. In fact, I bet he wants to face them in the first round. That type of "No Fear Attitude" is what separates the pretenders and contenders. Do you honestly think the Lakers feared any team in the league when they won their titles? How about the Spurs or Celtics during theirs? Yes it would suck to not make it past the first round, but it would suck even more if I knew this team fears anyone. We gotta want to face the best and I am so glad we finally have a player that wants to do the same.
GWALL Owns All, you've heard of going AWOL but that's nothing compared to Crash! He's crazy, eat you for lunch. Watch out Fakers.
As I have said before, I don't fear the L*kers as much as I fear Stern. I can stand losing a fair fight; I can't stand knowing the game was rigged.
Dude I know you don't fear the Lakers. You better not. Any self proclaimed Blazer fan better not! I get your point with Stern, but keep in mind that Kobe is becoming an NBA eye sore. I mean look at the fiasco with him using the word "F**GOT!" It's not like Kobe will be the face of the NBA until that thing blows over. 16 techs? I think the league doesn't have the Lakers as their darlings any longer. I think that torch has been moved to Thunder and Bulls.
Kobe could take a dump on the court and the NBA would still favor the Lakers. LA is still the biggest market in the West and Stern knows that a Heat/Lakers matchup or a Celtics/Lakers matchup is going to draw the biggest numbers. Until someone knocks the Lakers off and they begin their spiral back into oblivion (or until they get Dwight Howard), I think Stern will favor that team.
Yeah, from his time in Seattle, it was clear that Stern had strong manlove for Clayton Bennett, lead owner of OKC.
Let's be honest though, how much draw are the Oklahoma City Thunder going to have on a national or international level? I think very little. Durant is good, but he's not THAT good. I don't think Durant is going to pull people like a Shaq, Kobe, or LeBron. The NBA would be stuck with another Spurs/Nets scenario for the Finals and nobody would watch.
Thunder? The Thunder may be a "darling" in the sense that they are the next big patsy. There have to be good and entertaining teams that can put up a valiant "fight" before losing to the champion. There is no way they are an annoited team. No way.
Because I remember what the NBA was like before Stern, when a prick like Artest would have gotten his ass kicked for the shit he tries to start, and the game was called reasonably fairly. I've seriously questioned why I care, then I realize that rooting for this team is part of who I am.
Seattle was an object lesson to any city that denies funding for a new arena. Fuck with Stern and your franchise gets yanked.
If Bynum doesn't come back 100%, watch it happen. Actually, I could see the Clips end up with him. He and Griffin in the frontcourt with a shooter like Gordon? Damn. That way the Clips can have a glory stretch to fill Staples while the L*kers rebuild. Once the L*kers are good again, then the Clips fall apart.
