***2021-2022 NBA Season Thread***

[Enforcer_FFX]

Wow, what a way to go out, Kobe!

[Major Harris]

Let me get this right...The 72-10 Bulls are overrated because some dude named R Brown fell into 9.8 minutes a game [/quote ]

No. If they are overrated it is because the league wasn't nearly as good then.

In fact...94 Rockets over 2016 Warriors in 6.

Now you're just trolling.

[CrypticVillain]

Of course I fell asleep watching the game last night. And I'm still tired.

[Sticksboi05]

The best part of last night wasn't the 60, it was that he said IDGAF, I'm going out like I came in, guns a blazing. One of the all-time greats. I've come to realize my dislike for Kobe wasn't really Kobe it's just that Lakers fans are insufferable. Last night, I think I finally separated those two.

[Going Commando]

Kobe's retirement means the end of an era. He was polarizing during his career, but I think his legacy is going to be positive and NBA fans will be comparing the future great players against him in ten years. He did the league a lot of good as the spiritual successor to Jordan. Similar to LeBron in that way.

KG, Vince Carter, and Pierce seem likely to retire this summer too. I can't imagine Duncan and Dirk will play much longer. Steve Nash, Ray Allen, and Tracy McGrady already gone. It makes me sad to see all of them go, but it's pretty awesome and special that all of them played at such a high level for such a long time. All of them bound for the Hall. The '96, '97, and '98 draft classes saved the league and kept it strong until LeBron's generation of great players showed up and came into its own.

Edited April 14, 2016 by stevemcqueen1

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Kobe's retirement means the end of an era. He was polarizing during his career, but I think his legacy is going to be positive and NBA fans will be comparing the future great players against him in ten years. He did the league a lot of good as the spiritual successor to Jordan. Similar to LeBron in that way.

KG, Vince Carter, and Pierce seem likely to retire this summer too. I can't imagine Duncan and Dirk will play much longer. Steve Nash, Ray Allen, and Tracy McGrady already gone. It makes me sad to see all of them go, but it's pretty awesome and special that all of them played at such a high level for such a long time. All of them bound for the Hall. The '96, '97, and '98 draft classes saved the league and kept it strong until LeBron's generation of great players showed up and came into its own.

 

Last night was one of those things that happens in sports where you see the old path and the new path clearly diverge.

 

On one channel was the example of what everyone wants today: a super-efficient shooter/distributor. On the other channel was what every team in the league wanted 10 years ago - a volume shooter who "takes over games."

 

It would probably be fun to see a game where Curry took 50 shots, but it's almost impossible to imagine a game where Curry took 50 shots.

[CrypticVillain]

For real, I don't even mess with Kobe like that. Then I thought about it, and realized that this man has been balling since I was 7. For twenty years of my life, I got to experience the good, bad, and ugly of Kobe Bryant. Because of that, I gotta show him some love. He's been a bigger part of my sports life than I realized.

[Sticksboi05]

For real, I don't even mess with Kobe like that. Then I thought about it, and realized that this man has been balling since I was 7. For twenty years of my life, I got to experience the good, bad, and ugly of Kobe Bryant. Because of that, I gotta show him some love. He's been a bigger part of my sports life than I realized.

 

Yeah, whatever that he took 50 shots, let the man have his night. Besides it's not like volume scoring isn't his forte. That was vintage Bryant.

[CrypticVillain]

Did people seriously think in his last game that he wasn't going to shoot that thang? I thought he was going to go for 81 again. lol

[Going Commando]

Going back to that 96-98 span of draft classes, I count nine HoFers in them. And of them, Iverson and McGrady were the only ones who didn't play at a high level 10+ years into their careers. That is an incredible run of gun luck and longevity.

I don't see the LeBron/Wade/Melo/CP3/Dwight/Bosh/DWill generation sustaining their level of play for anywhere near as long. Guys started playing too many minutes when they were too young and you've seen massive dropoffs as each of them hit 30. Meanwhile Kobe delivered one of his finest season at 34.

I feel like those 96-98 draft classes haven't been recognized for how good and unique they were because they came about during the end of the Jordan era. But when you consider what a wasteland of busts, disappointments who didn't live up to their potential, and promising guys who had their careers wrecked by injuries that happened in the years immediately before 96 and after 98, you see that generation of players truly saved the NBA from irrelevancy. Has there been a post-merger three year span that's put nine HoFers in the league?

--------------------------

It's a travesty that Kobe finished his career on such horrible Lakers teams. For such a dignified and competitive player, he deserved better.

Now obviously his contract was a big part of his team's problems. He needed to take a paycut like Dirk and Duncan did for his team to be more competitive. But I'm also not convinced that this Lakers leadership could have used the money well and kept sufficient talent around him.

Edited April 14, 2016 by stevemcqueen1

[Destino]

I didn't realize Curry is also the scoring champ this season. First player ever to reach the 90-50-40 mark and win a scoring title in the same season.

They'd better win a title and lock this year up as one of the greatest. Would be a shame if they didn't.

[Bozo the kKklown]

I didn't realize Curry is also the scoring champ this season. First player ever to reach the 90-50-40 mark and win a scoring title in the same season.

They'd better win a title and lock this year up as one of the greatest. Would be a shame if they didn't.

50/45/90 are his splits on shooting

 

401 three pointers. No one else in history has over 300 in a season.

 

30 ppg, 7 apg, 5 rpg

 

73 wins

 

Its the greatest regular season ever, imo.

Going back to that 96-98 span of draft classes, I count nine HoFers in them. And of them, Iverson and McGrady were the only ones who didn't play at a high level 10+ years into their careers. That is an incredible run of gun luck and longevity.

I don't see the LeBron/Wade/Melo/CP3/Dwight/Bosh/DWill generation sustaining their level of play for anywhere near as long.

not tryna be that guy, but its year 13 for the Lebron/Wade/Melo/CP3/Bosh crew.

Thats 10+ years.

Dwill and Dwight fell off. Dwight cuz the NBA changed and Dwill was done years ago.

1996-1998 is who saved the NBA, imo. Dont forget KG as well.

It's a travesty that Kobe finished his career on such horrible Lakers teams. For such a dignified and competitive player, he deserved better.

Now obviously his contract was a big part of his team's problems. He needed to take a paycut like Dirk and Duncan did for his team to be more competitive. But I'm also not convinced that this Lakers leadership could have used the money well and kept sufficient talent around him.

ive said this for years. The Lakers should have done better.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

1984 Draft - Hakeem, Jordan, Barkley, Stockton

1985 Draft - Ewing, Malone, Dumars, Mullin

1986 Draft - Cocaine, Booze, More Cocaine, and Rodman

1987 Draft - Robinson, Pippen, Miller

 

 

The '86 Draft is well discussed thanks to Bias and Washburn. But the '88 draft was a league killer too. Manning had a decent career, but he was going to be an all-timer before his injury. Smits was an interesting player. Mitch Richmond made the Hall of Fame, and I'm not sure he ever played in the second round of the playoffs. Did he?

 

Actually, from '86 to '93, the draft is just full of guys who never reached their potential. The star of stars in that group is Shaq who is basically the walking example of "Can you imagine if he ever gave a damn?"

[Bozo the kKklown]

also, Kobe was the last player from the 1996 draft class still playing. That 1996 class is probably the best ever. (dont care)

1984 Draft - Hakeem, Jordan, Barkley, Stockton

1985 Draft - Ewing, Malone, Dumars, Mullin

1986 Draft - Cocaine, Booze, More Cocaine, and Rodman

1987 Draft - Robinson, Pippen, Miller

 

 

The '86 Draft is well discussed thanks to Bias and Washburn. But the '88 draft was a league killer too. Manning had a decent career, but he was going to be an all-timer before his injury. Smits was an interesting player. Mitch Richmond made the Hall of Fame, and I'm not sure he ever played in the second round of the playoffs. Did he?

 

Actually, from '86 to '93, the draft is just full of guys who never reached their potential. The star of stars in that group is Shaq who is basically the walking example of "Can you imagine if he ever gave a damn?"

yup, ive always said this.

That period was a low water mark for the league. If you go from 86-91, there are not that many HOFers in those years as 96-98.

[Warhead36]

Way to go out Kobe. Much props.

[PeterMP]

But I'm also not convinced that this Lakers leadership could have used the money well and kept sufficient talent around him.

 

My understanding of the situation was always that they couldn't find people that wanted to play with Kobe.

[ixcuincle]

Warriors cavs.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

The '96 draft is just loaded with superstars....that no one would ever want to play with. That's just a who's who of sociopaths.

 

And then there's Ray Allen and Steve Nash, just chilling, shooting jumpers.

[justice98]

I wonder how the Kobe game play out if the Jazz weren't eliminated 15 minutes prior to tip-off. They step out there dejected, there's nothing to play for so they sit Gobert and Favors, not coincidentally, Kobe's scoring at will in and around the paint, Trey Lyles is out there for 40 minutes.

Maybe Kobe goes for a still nice ending of maybe 40, but probably not 60.

My understanding of the situation was always that they couldn't find people that wanted to play with Kobe.

Kobe's hands are all over this debacle of a season.

[Going Commando]

1999-2002 was also a pretty bad run. Some really good players, but the only HoFers to come out of that group were Yao (not on the merit of his NBA career), Tony Parker & Manu, and maybe Pau Gasol (a fringey candidate).

Those classes are the reason it was so important that Kobe's generation played at such a high level for so long.

[Bozo the kKklown]

My understanding of the situation was always that they couldn't find people that wanted to play with Kobe.

The Buss family were the biggest barrier.

Only Dwight Howard didnt want to play with Kobe, and we see Dwight Howard wasnt worth it.

[justice98]

The Buss family were the biggest barrier.

Only Dwight Howard didnt want to play with Kobe, and we see Dwight Howard wasnt worth it.

As an old Oriole GM said when they couldn't get free agents, "we're playing with confederate money".

The Lakers had money to burn, if you were an alpha free agent, you werent going to go play second fiddle to Kobe, who at that stage of his career you knew you were better than. Kobe refused to step aside, either at contract time or on the floor, and they paid for it. Kobe absolutely shares in this.

Edited April 14, 2016 by justice98

[The Evil Genius]

You see that with the Spurs. Duncan could have forced the Spurs to eat up cap room. Instead, he took a massive paycut last year. Kobe's getting what? $25 mil for his farewell season? So 5x what Duncan is making?

[Bozo the kKklown]

As an old Oriole GM said when they couldn't get free agents, "we're playing with confederate money".

The Lakers had money to burn, if you were an alpha free agent, you werent going to go play second fiddle to Kobe, who at that stage of his career you knew you were better than. Kobe refused to step aside, either at contract time or on the floor, and they paid for it. Kobe absolutely shares in this.

The Lakers had a free agency pitch for Lamarcus Aldridge. The entire pitch was around being in Hollywood. Nothing about the direction of the franchise. They messed it up so much that they Aldridge gave them a second pitch.

Kobe's contract was bad, but it wasnt a barrier and Kobe just didnt mess with Dwight. (rightly)

Jim Buss is just a bad owner and a lot of people around the league have said that.

You see that with the Spurs. Duncan could have forced the Spurs to eat up cap room. Instead, he took a massive paycut last year. Kobe's getting what? $25 mil for his farewell season? So 5x what Duncan is making?

taht is awesome.

So did Dirk and the Mavericks are a 7th seed waiting to be swept.

Never begrudge someone for getting their money. Especially since they were making a bunch of money off Kobe.

[Momma There Goes That Man]

30 ppg, 7 apg, 5 rpg

Its the greatest regular season ever, imo.

He's the only player ever to go 30-7-5 and average 5 3s a game too. That's incredible