1st off let me start by saying im a Die-Hard Los Angeles Lakers fan for life, win lose or draw. Im a huge Kobe Bryant fan and supporter, as well as a Huge Shaquille O'neal Fan and supporter, so there will be no question about where i stand on that. If anyone is offended and takes this post the wrong way, i apoligize in advance...This topic is my feelings on Kobe,the media and the Lakers. Please take the time and read and give your thoughts. Ok, i havent made a topic really about my take on all of this mess thats been going on lately, but here is just a small portion of what i think. Ok, i have a gripe with people being so quick to say nieve, rediculas statements such as : "Kobe Bryant's best days are behind him" "Kobe Bryant will never win another championship" "Los Angeles Lakers will never win another Title" "Kobe Bryant has a bad attitude, hes too cocky, hes selfish" "Kobe Bryant broke up the lakers" ^^^ And thats just from so-called "writers". Seem's these days the in-thing to do is to dump on kobe and assure people kobe bryant is the scum of the nba and he will never win or be a leader, blah blah. Seem's as if the same media that is putting lebron james on a pedastel so fast pretty soon the letters J O R D A N will be sewn on the back of his jersey, are the same media that are taking pot-shots at kobe and making him to be the scapegoat of everything thats wrong with the nba and for single handidly ruining the nba's most famous franchise. Now i am in no way discrediting LBJ in anyway, i respect that kid and his game to death and he is the truth, just simply making a point about the media. 3 yrs ago, heck 7-8 years ago Kobe was in the same shoes that lebron fills today, billed the next MJ, the air apparent. The media loved kobe, why? because thats what the media does, it creates overhyped stars and it rips them down when they get the chance. Dunno why the media try's to paint bryant as a "bad guy" and that every nba star hates em, dunno if im the only one who notices but EVERY game there is atleast 2 or 3 star players and or coaches that come up to kobe and hug him and speak a word to him, from KG to the least nba player. My, how times have changed in the past 3 seasons....Kobe went from getting MVP Chants against the knicks @ Madison Square Garden in 02-03 to getting booed everywhere he goes (partly because he daggers every nba team on the court, and mainly the OJ simpson syndrome as i call it). Ive actually heard people say these exact words "He cheated on his wife, so im gonna label him a rapist forever" ....exact words. *shake my head*. People never seize to amaze me with their in-ability to give credit where credit is due, instead use any little negative thing to justify their hate. They say time heals all wounds...I say Championships make people forget quickly.... kobe has plenty of time to get more championships.... and if anyone doubts kobes hunger for another ring... they better re-evaluate. As my man said above... Few if any have worked harder on improving their game and have played with the injuries as kobe has pretty much that last half of his career. Were talking about a guy who as a highschool kid, would get up before school started and go to the gym 5 in the morning and set up chairs on the court as defenders and such, working out his game. Dedicated to being the best, and killing himself everytime he failed, he kobe has failed alot...hes HUMAN. Kobe has added something new to his arsenal pretty much every offseason. A guy who learned to shoot a pretty good bank shot and left handed shots while re-habbing his right shooting shoulder. Were talking about the same guy who made arguably one of the greatest feats in basketball in the past dozen years and of all time putting up 9 straight 40+ point games, 13 straight 35+ point games with a knee injury that required surgery, all the same time shaquille was hurt with a bad toe leading the lakers back into a stronghold for the playoffs. Noone remembers that, noone remembers him having to have his knee drained on the plane after the rockets game after he played 50 minutes or so with that knee, leading them to a victory, willing them to the W. Not to mention last year coming from court to court and playing un-real basketball leading LA to a 5-0 record on those days. People are constantly downtalking this man and hoping he fails and falls flat on his face, why? because hes "too cocky"? "isnt from the streets"? Or is it because some writer on espn told you that you shouldnt like kobe cause he single handidly destroyed the LA dynasty and ran phil out and shaquille and everyone else, all by his little old self? HAH! Last time i checked, Shaq was selfish in wanting a huge contract extension in a preseason! Phil was selfish in saying "It's either me or Kobe". Kobe was selfish in stringing LA along while weighing his options in free agency. Bottom line is....EVERYONE added an EQUAL amount of poison that killed LA's dynasty...too many egos and Dr Buss didnt wanna pay shaquille, Shaquille didnt want to have a 50/50 partnership with kobe, he wanted to make sure everyone knew it was "his team". Buss made a tough decision, and even kupcake opened his mouth and didnt help the shaq situation. I miss seeing the daddy in purple and gold catching oops from kobe, but thats the cards us fans have been dealt...time to move on. Kobe Bryant is 26 yrs old.....hes already played 8 seasons in the NBA, he has 3 rings in which he was VERY MUCH instrumental in attaining. Everyone knows Shaq was the captain, but kobe's fingerprints are over them championships. To say kobe will never win another ring, considering he could play another 14 yrs in the nba if healthy....to say he doesnt have a shot, or that he wont is soooooo rediculas and is foolish talk in my opinion. Im sure people said the same thing about Jordan when he was 26 and his team had no rings and he was seen as a selfish ball hog who couldnt lead his team to a ring.... didnt he win one at 29 and the 5 more after that? Not comparing Kobe to MJ, just simply making a point. It was as foolish saying mike wouldnt as it is saying kobe wouldnt. I understand that people hate on everyone sometime or another, heck i hated jordan once(mainly because he couldnt be stopped). My whole gripe is people who base their opinions of kobe based on something someone else said or what they heard without knowing the facts, or without actully watching more then espn highlights. It just boggles my mind how some people base their opinions on a athlete, not by what he does on the court but what the media writes about them. On the Basketball court, it can be argued that Kobe Bryant is best player on earth and many in the NBA would agree, even shaquille was quoted once in saying Kobe was the best player in the world. Reguardless, things will only change with time...and even then they will always remain the same, somehow. All i know is the colors Purple & Gold dont run and dont fade.... we will be back, just like we were when wilt left, just like when magic retired and so on. People are so eager to kick LA and Kobe now that we are down for the first time in a long time...its ok, heap more fire on the coal, LA has 14 championship banners hanging in the staples center for a reason, and that reason is.... WE ARE WINNERS and sooner or later, ITS SAFE TO SAY we will be back at the top and Kobe will be a MVP, and i'll be serving up some crow for all of the doubters. Lakers 4 life. Like it or not, i know where i stand. Thanks for reading, DMK <>
Nice post. I agree with what you say. It's funny how people belive everything that the media say and act out how the media would like them to. I just wonder if Kobe didn't have an affair, would he be so hated? Would the media have made him out to be the man who destroyed the Lakers? When people say that Kobe doesn't have any desire etc... they forget things like his 3 over Richard Hamilton in game two of the finals last year. How many people can come back and single handedly win a game with allegations of rape and the possibility of losing their family hanging over their heads? Give us two more seasons and we will be back on top, the 06-07 season will be ours.
It seems this season is star-crossed in the worst way. But the problems remain... The head coach doesn't want to be one, and it's tough finding one that will fit. There are no defensive players on the inside and on the perimeter. There's not enough size in the frontcourt and not enough quality at the point. Next year might still be tough.
nice post man, very nice post. thats the reality, all the media wants are ratings. people forget that these sports analysts base are giving out their opinion and not an actual fact when it come to these kind of things. its sad to see people believing everything they hear and see on tv.
Real nice. But you do have to admit, Kobe is not going to get a championship for maybe, the next two years or so at the least. 10 years max. About the media, this Lakers situation was way overhyped. I didn't pay any attention to it, because it was the same thing week in and week out. Kobe is a great basketball player, you gotta give him that. He "raped" a girl (which I don't think is true, but that is a different story), and everyone hates him. People make mistakes, and I don't think America will ever forgive him for that.
I love how the media in general is so messed up. Barry Bonds calls them out and I hear a report on Sportscenter. BARRY BONDS BLAMES THE MEDIA with a big question mark....like they didn't do anything. I hate BSPN, the media, and writers. It is not like they write it cuz they actually think it is true, they write it because people want to read crape abotu Kobe and the Lakers when its not true.
