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


RonArtest15

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Eh, that ship has probably sailed and even if it hasn't, what obligation does he have to become a quote-unquote NBA legend. He's already a high school legend, college legend, multiple gold medal winner, many time all-star, and gazillionaire. What obligation does he have to become a Moses Malone vagabond trying to find a team that he can win with?

That's nice for Syracuse fans and fans of where ever the **** he went to H.S., but outside of them, who cares? The NBA is the highest level of the sport. Is it really so difficult to understand why somebody should have ambitions to compete and win at the highest level of a competitive sport?

 

As far as not being a vagabond, well, he ****ed up forcing the trade to NY in the first place. He shouldn't have done that, that was another have his cake and eat it too moment. New York was just as crappy and dysfunctional then as it is now. Staying in NY isn't going to make anyone but Knicks fans think better of him. His only chance at really proving himself and joining Wade and LeBron (who were truly his peers on draft day) in the pantheon of all timers is to win a ring as one of the main guys. He pissed that chance away by staying in NY.

Not really.

And here I thought you were a man of taste.

 

I just don't like the idea of signaling out individuals and putting my hand in their pocket. I'll talk tax policy and ecnomic inequality all day long. But I'm not going to say, "Hey! You! You need to agree to earn this much!"

I don't care what he earns. What I and any basketball fan should want to see is great players maximize their talent and actually achieve something notable rather than waste away playing awful basketball on awful teams.

And once again, leaving NY doesn't necessarily mean sacrificing piles of money. LeBron changed teams this summer.

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That's an individual players' choice. Not everyone has the same goals.

 

I really don't like the idea of throwing out moral judgments on players for their personal business decisions.

Yes, not everyone has the same goals. And some goals are worthier than others. Of course I can judge when a great player or performer or artist sells out and starts producing **** work. Who has time to waste on **** art/performance/play? Unless it's for camp purposes or irony, which I understand and support.

And we almost always do it to players (and generally a certain type of player at that).

Please, like Melo hadn't already earned a reputation for selfishness and greed and a lack of competitiveness long before he signed this deal. This just reinforced it.

 

Where is the Hot Sports Take that Nick Saban has an obligation to himself and the game of football to go back to the NFL and prove that he can win a Super Bowl? Why did we never demand that Dan Marino leave Miami and play of peanuts on a team he can win a ring with?

 

(By the way, we will also kill you if you do this - see Karl Malone).

Yeah this is all a nice attempt at obfuscation by throwing in apples to oranges comparisons (and do I detect a halting attempt to throw out the race card?).

You aren't lawyering this. You're really just attempting to justify greed as a worthy ambition. It's not as complicated or morally relativistic as you're claiming. There's not really much grey area, particularly not in a competitive sport that produces zero sum outcomes. **** art is **** art. **** basketball is **** basketball. Melo has consigned himself to playing **** basketball for ****ty basketball teams because he valued money and his perks more. He loses respect for that, as he should. His production and reputation for his craft deserve whatever ridicule they get.

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The thing that's funny to me is guys like Kobe ******** about his teammates, but not realizing that their cap (and roster personnel) is SEVERELY hampered due to the money tied up "elsewhere."

Yeah these are the only people I kind of feel sorry for. The teammates who have to put up with the bull**** of the Kobes and Melos of the world.

It must suck when your leader is awful and powerful and you're stuck with him and you're getting embarrassed out on the court every night.

Kobe might as well be a glorified Harlem Globe-trotter at this point. Shaw was keeping him away from practices? If that scrimmage was a judge, then it's smart because he's doing more harm than good. The Lakers are paying him merely to trot out there and put butts in the seats, playing awful basketball, but getting the occasional vintage oohs and ahhs from the crowd. And Kobe is essentially going along with it because he wants to retire a Laker and he wants to make a ton of money before the end. Good for him and good for Lakers management. They deserve each other. And a team full of Nick Youngs.

Seriously though, that video didn't surprise me in the slightest. Of course he's like that. That's leadership to him. And that's why his teams have never been worth a damn whenever they weren't loaded with overwhelming talent. When people claim that Kobe doesn't make his teammates better, let this be an exhibit. A window into life on Kobe Bryant's team.

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Yeah these are the only people I kind of feel sorry for. The teammates who have to put up with the bull**** of the Kobes and Melos of the world.

It must suck when your leader is awful and powerful and you're stuck with him and you're getting embarrassed out on the court every night.

Kobe might as well be a glorified Harlem Globe-trotter at this point. Shaw was keeping him away from practices? If that scrimmage was a judge, then it's smart because he's doing more harm than good. The Lakers are paying him merely to trot out there and put butts in the seats, playing awful basketball, but getting the occasional vintage oohs and ahhs from the crowd. And Kobe is essentially going along with it because he wants to retire a Laker and he wants to make a ton of money before the end. Good for him and good for Lakers management. They deserve each other. And a team full of Nick Youngs.

Seriously though, that video didn't surprise me in the slightest. Of course he's like that. That's leadership to him. And that's why his teams have never been worth a damn whenever they weren't loaded with overwhelming talent. When people claim that Kobe doesn't make his teammates better, let this be an exhibit. A window into life on Kobe Bryant's team.

 

I agree 100%.

 

That type of "leadership," if you want to even call it that, CAN work in certain situations.  What Kobe was doing, I believe, will end up having an adverse affect on his squad. 

This is why I was a little bit surprised that no one said or did anything to Kobe.  I've seen it happen numerous times in HS and in college where someone is called out for whatever the reason, and words are had/punches are thrown.  Doesn't matter if it comes from a captain or one of the last guys on the bench.  When the frustration level is high, it doesn't take much to set someone off.  Especially if you think you're giving it your all. 

 

Kobe's legendary.  His work-ethic second to none.  ****, we've even discussed him possibly being a sociopath LOLOL.  However, I think he's an awful fit for this team because from the looks of thing, people are in fear of him for whatever the reason.  There is no one on that roster who will match his intensity or will to win.  They will probably to their own levels, but it will never....ever, be on Kobe's.  This is going to be a never-ending cycle and you can only imagine what is said when the cameras aren't rolling.  Kobe needs to step back and recognize who he's playing with. 

 

Speaks volumes that Nick Young was the only guy in that video to even try to have a rebuttle.  Team is a gigantic mess, but it's easy to see that Kobe is a big part of that. 

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The thing that's funny to me is guys like Kobe ******** about his teammates, but not realizing that their cap (and roster personnel) is SEVERELY hampered due to the money tied up "elsewhere."

bump that, the Lakers had money to sign a big time free agent this summer.

They didnt. Its the front office's fault. Kobe get blamed but its not him.

and lulz at a guy with 5 NBA titles, 2 NBA Finals MVP not being a good leader. I looooove it.

The organizations love to blame the players themselves for not putting together good rosters.

And media and fans just fall along with it with no thought.

Edited by JoeWolf990
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LOL @ you automatically assuming that just because he has that clout that he's a good leader.  Get outta here w/ that.  Show me the list of guys willing to play alongside of Kobe.  I'll wait....

 

****, wasn't there an ESPN article detailing this a few months back?  It's not just made up, bruh. 

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Kobe wanted to be Jordan so bad. He became a caricature of Jordan. A cartoonish version of the Jordan character. If that makes sense. That's how I see it. So phoney and just weird really. And I'm not hating on dude at all. It's not like LeBron or anything. I got no beef or issues with dude. Just is what it is. How it looks to me.

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Kobe wanted to be Jordan so bad. He became a caricature of Jordan. A cartoonish version of the Jordan character. If that makes sense. That's how I see it. So phoney and just weird really. And I'm not hating on dude at all. It's not like LeBron or anything. I got no beef or issues with dude. Just is what it is. How it looks to me.

Agree 110%

That video from yesterday looked like an SNL skit. It's a joke now and its sad.

I feel for his teammates. Even Boozer deserves better

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Kobe is the 2nd best shooting guard of all time.

He has stopped "trying" to be Jordan pretty much since the early 2000s.

And he has made an all time great career out of it.

I dont think Kobe is phony at all. He been more real and truthful than Jordan was in his career. Its just that we have cameras everywhere now, so its easier to point out stuff where Jordan giving Steve Kerr a black eye is just a hero story.

LOL @ you automatically assuming that just because he has that clout that he's a good leader.

it works with every other player who has won multiple titles.

It only changes for Kobe because you all don't like him. Its cool.

Get outta here w/ that.  Show me the list of guys willing to play alongside of Kobe.  I'll wait....

a lot of players have said they'd love too. A lot didnt because of the front office mess. Not Kobe.

Only that clown Dwight Howard didnt.

 

****, wasn't there an ESPN article detailing this a few months back?  It's not just made up, bruh.

that hit piece that everyone soundly panned?

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/kobe-bryant-chases-only-a-brighter-future-with-the-lakers-094358365.html

Imma trust Woj over that clown at ESPN that no one had ever heard of until he said Kobe Bryant.

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Kobe is the 2nd best shooting guard of all time.

He has stopped "trying" to be Jordan pretty much since the early 2000s.

And he has made an all time great career out of it.

I dont think Kobe is phony at all. He been more real and truthful than Jordan was in his career. Its just that we have cameras everywhere now, so its easier to point out stuff where Jordan giving Steve Kerr a black eye is just a hero story.

 

 

 

100 percent agree.   

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It has nothing to do with not liking Kobe. I love him...but he's a dick head. And when you are in a situation where your team is awful, you really don't need to be a Dick head

realize it was practice and someone caught in on camera phone.

How often do we see any footage of an NBA practice?

trust me, all of this has to do with people disliking Kobe Bryant since the 1990s.

Edited by JoeWolf990
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trust me, all of this has to do with people disliking Kobe Bryant since the 1990s.

I promise you, I swear to you, on the health of John Wall and Bradley Beal's knees, I have absolutely no hate for Kobe and never have for as much I can recall. To me, on this, the current state of Kobe and the Lakers, what is just is.

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In all seriousness, I thought the Kobe practice video was hilarious and I'm glad that it came to light. Tell me if it wasn't EXACTLY how you would imagine his scrimmages go? And Nick Young saying nobody in the world could guard him? That was my Christmas present.

I wouldn't want to be on his team if I had the option of being anywhere else. But, damned if the stuff he said wasn't priceless. The Lakers are the most hilariously dysfunctional team in the NBA right now.

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