2012 Los Angeles Lakers Thread

[C47]

They really need to address the "hack a bad FT shooting center" bullshit in the offseason. Ruins the fuging game because a team is too bush league to play actual defense....

[carpanfan96]

14-26 FT for Howard. Wow....

[C47]

14-26 FT for Howard. Wow....

Sad that the NBA wants their fans to be subjected to this bullshit. It was bad when it happened to Shaq, and it's just as bad now....

[ZB1224]

Monster game by Dwight tonight though!

[Hawk]

By that logic, Kobe couldn't cut it in Charlotte and had to play the sidekick role to shaq to get his first 3 rings.

ya...well, seeing he was straight out of high school and probably never even knew Charlotte had a pro team...LA was a pretty good choice!!!

[h0llywood]

By that logic, Kobe couldn't cut it in Charlotte and had to play the sidekick role to shaq to get his first 3 rings.

How is that logic? Lebron played in Cleveland, Kobe never played for Charlotte.

[X-Clown]

How is that logic? Lebron played in Cleveland, Kobe never played for Charlotte.

He knew he couldn't be counted on to carry a small market team, and he and his agent said he would never play for the Hornets. At least LeBron stuck it out in Cleveland and made it to the NBA finals.

If you read the exchange between the posts, my point was that calling the Heat "Wade's team" and somehow cheapening LeBron's first career title (and likely many others) is a load of poo perpetuated by Kobe fans.

[h0llywood]

He knew he couldn't be counted on to carry a small market team

And where did you come up with this? Sources?

[Hawk]

it's not just Kobe fans that cheapen Lebought's career if that makes you sleep better at night!!!

[X-Clown]

And where did you come up with this? Sources?

I have a feeling this is going to turn into a semantics debate, but here you go:

http://select.nytime...berts.html?_r=0

Bryant foreshadowed his gall. In 1996, Bryant, a teenager exiting high school for the N.B.A., was not the first pick, but he exuded self-importance when he refused to play anywhere but Hollywood.

With the 13th selection, with a deal to trade Bryant to Los Angeles in pocket, Charlotte chose him. But there was a point where it looked as if the Lakers’ Vlade Divac would retire rather than take part in a trade that would send him to Charlotte for Bryant.

Couldn’t Bryant be a Hornet? Could he grow to love Southern sweet tea?

“That is an impossibility,” Bryant’s agent, Arn Tellem, said at the time. “There are no ifs. It would not happen. He is going to be a Laker, and that’s the only team he’s playing for.”

[h0llywood]

I have a feeling this is going to turn into a semantics debate, but here you go:

http://select.nytime...berts.html?_r=0

You stated that "he knew he couldn't be counted on to carry a small market team." The link you provided for the NY Times article showed nothing to prove your opinion. That statement is baseless.

[ZB1224]

Oh yeah Kobe just knew that he would be irrelevant if he went to a small market team. GTFO here LOL man haters gonna hate no matter what.

[Hawk]

he exuded self importance is one thing...in hindsight, he had a right to!

out of high school and if anyone expected him to carry a small market team is rediculous!

couple seasons later, any team in the league would have gladly let him carry their team...but when you got it good, you got it good and you stay put!

[X-Clown]

You stated that "he knew he couldn't be counted on to carry a small market team." The link you provided for the NY Times article showed nothing to prove your opinion. That statement is baseless.

I bolded the quote for you, his agent said he would only play for the Lakers. He cancelled predraft workouts for both the Hornets and the Kings. His agent told the Nets that he wouldn't play for them either, that he'd rather go play in Italy. We can talk semantics all day long about why.