I always wondered why an athlete would ever get married during their hayday. Derek Jeter should be the blueprint to follow for all professional athletes.
Yes I am, but if my wife made my life miserable or tried to "change me" I'd divorce with the quickness.
Well I just mentioned adultry as ONE reason Kobe is an ass and not the biggest reason I think he is. I have problems with how Kobe has treated the Lakers organization and the people within it, adultry is low on my list of my reason I think he is a prick....Shapecity is talking about things that he think Lebron MIGHT do...Im talking about what Kobe HAS done.
Naw, just in Shady we own 2 homes and 1 lot. The lot we're considering selling, but it doesn't hurt to hold onto. Our previous home, we leased out for the year. Our current home, we moved into in June, but the monthly payments for the loan is a bitch so we are looking to sell right now. Also got an apartment that we rent out in Avenue One by Jamboree and Dupont. And my brother lives in an apartment up in Cal Poly SLO. My brother and I think my dad spread out his money into too many different real estate investments, and now the market is bad so its just...tense. But overall in my life I've moved around alot. Pasadena --> Chino Hills (moved with my grandparents to Chino Hills, then went from their hosue to my dad's house) --> Las Vegas (5 different homes) --> Chino Hills (different home) --> San Clemente --> Irvine (2 different homes)
We're both talking about things LeBron MIGHT do. We just have varying opinions about the direction his career might take. As great as LeBron is he's only been to the Finals once and he was swept off the court. The Eastern conference was a joke the year they reached the Finals. The Cavs have gone out of their way to build around him and he hasn't delivered and chose to sign a short term deal to leave the door open to run to greener pastures (I don't blame him I'd hate to live in Cleveland.) LeBron is capable of leading a team through the regular season, but he gets too much attention for someone who hasn't won a ring yet.
Agreed, but I thought it was pretty damn amazing to even get there with his sorry team. IMO a 21/22 year old player leading his team to the Finals like he did was pretty amazing even with getting swept.....Kobe would have gotten swept too, no one player could have saved that team from the Spurs He sure as hell is handling it a lot better than when Kobe wanted more talent around him. Kobe was flipping out after he had already won 3 'ships. How about have some faith Kobe in an owner and GM who were making good decisions when you were in your diapers. Some quotes I quickly found.... From 2004 Phil Jacksons Book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kt9DBMMwCM I dont think so...he is the best player in the world arguably. It only a matter of time until he is getting some 'ships.
Agreed. He'l probably have 1 or 2 by the time he's done. One things for sure....he won't have more than Kobe.
When Kobe threatened to leave I was the first to say see ya later. I don't want a player on the Lakers who doesn't want to be here. He handled it all wrong and took it too far, but again being an asshole prompt the team to acquire Gasol and they won a title. Would that deal have gone down if Kobe hadn't bitched and moaned? We'll never know. Kobe was right about Drew for Kidd at the time. Bynum was still an out of shape scrub and hadn't taken his career serious. Being an asshole motived Drew to prove Kobe wrong and he's busted his ass during the offseason to develop into a franchise center. The team also won a title basically without Drew last season. I'm glad they decided to keep him, but I could see where Kobe was coming from. It was completely selfish on his part and short sighted, but that's all he seems to know and it's gotten him far in his career. If LeBron doesn't win it this year then what? His supporting cast is old, expensive and on the decline. Shaq will go to the highest bidder this summer and that won't be Cleveland. There's a strong chance LeBron leaves, but until we know where that is you can't see he'll have the team to win a title.
Giving Kobe way too much credit...Its not like Jerry Buss and Mitch forgot how to do their jobs. They had already been wanting Gasol for two years by that point. (Thats Phil's words, not mine) Kobe throwing a temper tantrum didnt help anything. Well Kobe was being Capt. Obvious there. Nobody claimed Bynum wasnt anything but a project. Kobe was a project too coming out of High School. Lets have Shaq say "Ship his ass out" after Kobe was launching airballs against the Jazz in the playoffs early in his career. Im gonna give Bynum credit for putting in the work. An ill show you attitude will only get you so far. You gotta wanna do it yourself. Kobe is no psychic...He had no idea off all the transactions the Lakers were gonna make between the time he was bitching and the Finals championship. If managment believe that Bynum would become what he has when not injured then he might have aided in winning a 'ship. Lakers aquiring monster talent beside Bynum doesnt make Bynum any worse. Kobe being selfish and shortsighted is what has made him not be even better. and no....wanting to take the shot with the game on the line isnt selfish, thats confidence. Sure he might leave but he hasnt givin out some bullshit ultimatum like Kobe did...He has every right to leave CLE if he wants. When he signs a short term contract with CLE the media is gonna sensationalize it no matter what Lebron does
Kobe flew to Spain and visted with Gasol hoping to recruit him. Buss flew out later. Mitch was a failure GM at the time. He had terrible drafts and made some mistakes resigning guys like Luke Walton to long term deals. The Lakers promised him they'd be contenders that was part of the reason he resigned right? He wanted to win titles not be a team stuck in mediocrity during his peak. Kobe wasn't a project when the Lakers drafted him. He was the best player coming out of high school and showed right away he was going to be a superstar in the league. He always had a work ethic and moxie. Bynum was a bewildered teenager posting pictures of himself on MySpace in his underwear, sneaking away from practice to eat Trix cereal under a desk and took showers with his socks on. He blew off Jabbar during workouts and read Harry Potter books. Kobe wasn't a psychic, but he knew the team only needed one more legit player to compete for a 'Chip. You don't think LeBron has influence over the decisions of the Cavs? He had to be convinced for the team that Jamison was a better fit than Amare. He holds the entire franchise, maybe even the city of Cleveland hostage with his threat of leaving. You should hear these fans call in saying LeBron is always we have, he's our hope because Cleveland has been rocked by the economic disaster we're facing. IF he leaves believe me there will be a lot of negative stories coming out.
Well he got Payton and Karl which was a gimmie 'ship until Malone got injured. Kobe was OWNED in the finals. Ive never seen anything better than what Prince did to Kobe. and please look at Mitch's draft record...he drafted NBA talent with late picks almost every time http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Los_Angeles_Lakers_first_and_second_round_draft_picks Luke Walton seemed like a good trade to me at the time. Didnt know he would have some type of injury ever since. He is a great facilitator of the triangle for a reasonable price at the time. A championship caliber role player. and they fulfilled their promise... well he better be the best player in HS if he is goin to the NBA when that was a newer thing to do in the NBA...Ive said it before, Ive never doubted Kobes talent and determination...just him being an asshole to the Lakers organization time and time again. In Kobe's mind he won those 'ships for himself, I think he has no loyalty to the Lakers besides the fact his personal legacy would take a hit if he changed teams...then the history books would have to acknowledge some BS going on between Kobe and management. Im not gonna hold what Bynum liked at 18 against him...he was 18. Ill give more credence to an 18 year old kid truly maturing than a 29-30 dude giving audio bits saying how he has matured (yeah, right after gasol shows up...uh huh) Gasol, Ariza, and Fisher count as one player? We'll see those negative stories when they actually come out....and see if its anything besides bitter fans
If you were in Kobe's spot would you hold it against Bynum? If you owned a business and you hired an 18 year old kid for sales who didn't work hard and goofed off and had a chance to replace him with an experienced sales men who got close deals what would you do? Who else would Kobe win those 'Chips for? This era of players are all out for themselves at some level. Aren't most people? Lakers were lucky the Jazz owner released Fisher and that LA has the best medical facilities for his daughter's eye cancer. Ariza came later on in Mitch's tenure that was a solid addition and so was Shannon. Mitch got owned in the Shaq trade by Riley. He bid against himself when he re-signed Luke Walton & Brian Cook. He wasted the MLE several times. Mitch has had some rough years .. his history as GM Kobe's loyal to the Lakers because they pay him the most money and offer him the most perks.
not at all... you are never gonna get equal value for a superstar...people forget about the on main player in that trade the Lakers got....Kobe....If Shaq isnt traded Kobe isnt a Laker Lamar odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant...and Kobe for Shaq might chew up the rest of your argument later....enjoying the Olympics with a beer
