Re: LeBron - "My Teammates Are My Family." <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MrBigShot_23 @ Jun 4 2007, 01:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Well if it dosent show up on the basketball court...then I dont think it really matters. I mean of course the guy is going to be nice in front of the camera, and off the court. But im saying, he dosent play like a team player on the court.</div>It did show up on the basketball court, until injuries made the Lakers so bad that they couldnt get past Memphis and Portland without Kobe scoring 60. When guys were healthy, Kobe was passing and the Lakers were winning. When guys started going down with injuries, Kobe had to take over on offense. Would you rather he kept passing and the Lakers missed the playoffs?BTW, I also find it interesting that the article took something nice and heartwarming like Lebron calling his teammates family and spun it to criticize Kobe.
Re: LeBron - "My Teammates Are My Family." <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BluffCityBlue @ Jun 4 2007, 01:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>No, they wouldnt have. I think the Lakers couldve beaten Golden St., Houston and Denver. Im not sure LeBron could get through a Phoenix Suns team either. Its hard to compare cause there might be 2 or 3 teams in the Western Conference that are better than both Cleveland and Detriot...we just dont really know.</div>Maybe Denver, but Houston would have easily beaten LA and Golden State would have decimated them the way they were playing going into the playoffs.
Re: LeBron - "My Teammates Are My Family." <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kobebryant_24OWNEDME @ Jun 4 2007, 05:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Maybe Denver, but Houston would have easily beaten LA and Golden State would have decimated them the way they were playing going into the playoffs.</div>The Lakers always play well against Golden State. They've beaten them 8 times in a row. The way Kwame played in Games 3 and 4 would have been the way he played the entire series against the Warriors weak frontcourt. They'd have no answer for Odom, and Kobe always seems to play well against them.
Re: LeBron - "My Teammates Are My Family." I agree, the Lakers matching up with the Warriors is a lot like the Warriors matching up with Dallas. The Warrior kicked Dallas's ass because the Warriors guards didn't have to work very hard on Defense which allowed them to consintrate on hitting threes on offense. thats why the Warriors struggled as the Utah series went on, they had to play defense on Williams. if they played the Lakers they would have to play defense on Kobe or risk giving up 100 points a game to him, which would limit Golden States ability to break and hit threes and they'd be toast.
Re: LeBron - "My Teammates Are My Family." <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Combs @ Jun 4 2007, 04:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Lebron is so fake..it's kind of funny how people just eat up the oh hey look I'm being politically correct shiz.</div> LeBron isn't fake. All the Cleveland media people I've heard on the radio in the last month all say the same thing, the guys great in the lockerroom and just jokes around with everyone...etc...etc...and that he doesn't have that 'I'm the star' attitude.
Re: LeBron - "My Teammates Are My Family." <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Combs @ Jun 4 2007, 02:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Lebron is so fake..it's kind of funny how people just eat up the oh hey look I'm being politically correct shiz.I'd rather have a guy that speaks his mind. And that article is BS anyway. You think Kobe's teammates don't love him the same way? Guess what...they do. They just ain't winning and getting all emotional with the press.</div>I agree with mr combs.
Re: LeBron - "My Teammates Are My Family." I can understand your guys opinions on Kobe and his teammates, but saying LeBron is fake is pretty ridiculous.
Re: LeBron - "My Teammates Are My Family." I agree as to lebron being fake. I've heard accounts that back in high school a kid asked for his autograph and he said "I'll give you an autograph for your snickers bar", the kid handed him the snickers bar and Lebron threw it on the ground and stepped on it. There was also the hood news interview he avoided. There are dozens of stories of him being an elitist prick, but we won't really ever know the veracity of most of them.
Re: LeBron - "My Teammates Are My Family." I guess we're back where we were last off-season. People questioning how much of a team leader and team-mate Kobe is.We hear this every year. LeBron's teammates, although they do not show alot of potential, go out every night and give it there all. Does Smush Parker do that? Didn't Vladamir Radmanovic get injured skiing, which was against team policy? The Lakers squad doesn't seem to have the same tight chemistry, and loyalty for each other that the Cavs squad has. Why? Becuase the team in general isn't a bunch of hard working guys. Sure you can put a bit of the blame on Kobe for not bringing the squad together, but at the end of the day all that matters is how much they want it.Also, about the Boobie comments. Boobie is a young talented player, although he didn't put up great stats off the bench he still has potential to be a good role player in the NBA. Sure LeBron may have a great relationship with Gibson but seriousely what about Bynum? Kobe, from what I have seen, has a good relationship with Bynum and believes that he can become something. Sure Gibson's not a 7 footer, and Bynum's stats are a bit better. However, what I'm trying to get at is the fact that although Gibson's numbers arent attractive....he's a rookie who has improved through the year. BTW, loving your squad doesn't make you a great leader.Isiah Thomas's advice to LeBron was something along hte lines of: "at the end of the day you can either choose between being liked by your teammates or being a great leader."All the great NBA leaders weren't loved by their squads. Just look at Jordan and his relationship with Pippen now.
Re: LeBron - "My Teammates Are My Family." <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kobebryant_24OWNEDME @ Jun 5 2007, 11:45 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I agree as to lebron being fake. I've heard accounts that back in high school a kid asked for his autograph and he said "I'll give you an autograph for your snickers bar", the kid handed him the snickers bar and Lebron threw it on the ground and stepped on it. There was also the hood news interview he avoided. There are dozens of stories of him being an elitist prick, but we won't really ever know the veracity of most of them.</div>LOL, so because he did something in high school that wasn't very nice, it proves that he's fake today? You've gotta be kidding. So sorry that a 16/17 or however old kid he was could do something so horrible as to throw someone's Snickers bar on the ground. Man, kids never do stupid things like that. That's just dumb dude. I remember in high school I actually spent an entire lunch period convincing this kid that I was being raped by a coach on my baseball team, just so I could come back the next day and call him an idiot for actually believing it. LeBron is not fake, he is a genuinely nice person. As he was walking up to the podium after game 6, he started yelling, "Make way for the superstar, get out of the superstar's way". Don't get confused, he wasn't talking about himself. He was pushing Dan Gibson up to the front as he was saying that. LeBron is a class act, he truly loves his teammates.
Re: LeBron - "My Teammates Are My Family." Yeah, don't use things LeBron did in high school against him now. There is so much peer pressure in high school. People are immature at that age, but they mature and grow up. LeBron is not a fake, he's a genuine person who really does love his teammates and trusts them. He's matured a lot as a player now and has an instinct as to when he needs to take over games, or when he needs to give the ball off to his teammates. LeBron just seems like a great overall guy.
Re: LeBron - "My Teammates Are My Family." <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BluffCityBlue @ Jun 4 2007, 04:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>No, they wouldnt have. I think the Lakers couldve beaten Golden St., Houston and Denver. Im not sure LeBron could get through a Phoenix Suns team either. Its hard to compare cause there might be 2 or 3 teams in the Western Conference that are better than both Cleveland and Detriot...we just dont really know.</div>Honestly, I doubt the Lakers could beat ANY playoff team in the West.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GArenas @ Jun 5 2007, 11:45 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I guess we're back where we were last off-season. People questioning how much of a team leader and team-mate Kobe is.We hear this every year. LeBron's teammates, although they do not show alot of potential, go out every night and give it there all. Does Smush Parker do that? Didn't Vladamir Radmanovic get injured skiing, which was against team policy? The Lakers squad doesn't seem to have the same tight chemistry, and loyalty for each other that the Cavs squad has. Why? Becuase the team in general isn't a bunch of hard working guys. Sure you can put a bit of the blame on Kobe for not bringing the squad together, but at the end of the day all that matters is how much they want it.Also, about the Boobie comments. Boobie is a young talented player, although he didn't put up great stats off the bench he still has potential to be a good role player in the NBA. Sure LeBron may have a great relationship with Gibson but seriousely what about Bynum? Kobe, from what I have seen, has a good relationship with Bynum and believes that he can become something. Sure Gibson's not a 7 footer, and Bynum's stats are a bit better. However, what I'm trying to get at is the fact that although Gibson's numbers arent attractive....he's a rookie who has improved through the year. BTW, loving your squad doesn't make you a great leader.Isiah Thomas's advice to LeBron was something along hte lines of: "at the end of the day you can either choose between being liked by your teammates or being a great leader."All the great NBA leaders weren't loved by their squads. Just look at Jordan and his relationship with Pippen now.</div>If Kobe thinks so much of Bynum and his other teammates, why does he wanna be traded? People don't change. Kobe has a particularly narcissistic personality. There are players that wanna win and there are players that wanna look good. One's in the Finals. The other's watching the Finals. The Lakers don't have good chemistry because they don't really have a leader. They have a SCORING leader, but not an actual leader. One that you'll follow to the grave. As much as most people want to believe it, I don't think Kobe has grown up. If you've watched Kobe interviews and the short little comments he makes to the media over the years (not just press conferences), you'd know what kind of person he is. And he is and always has been self-absorbed. And there's just no changing that. He is certainly a phenomenal player and exciting to watch. But I wouldn't want him to be the leader of my team, which is why it worked so well when he played second fiddle to Shaq. At the time, Kobe didn't need to lead or gain respect. He just needed to go out and play. Shaq would do the rest. Kobe is extremely talented but his decision-making on and off the court are usually questionable. If I were a role player on a team, I'd like it if the team's leader would trust me. That's something Kobe hasn't done. The Lakers were on a role at the beginning of the season. But a few slumps from his teammates and Kobe suddenly lost faith in them and went back to the old gunning selfish Kobe. Players have bad night. But you have to continue to have faith in them. Look at LeBron in the ECF against the Pistons. After Marshall missed the potential game-winning three, did LeBron stop passing him the ball? No! Like a true leader, LeBron encouraged him to shoot.
