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"Well, LeBron took the Cavs to the Finals all by himself..."

And lost. Got swept actually. Yet, people point out LeBron's "unselfishness" as the driver behind that team's success. They got to the Finals the same way Allen Iverson's team got to the Finals - behind the otherworldly play of an all-time great. Yet, Iverson never gets the credit that LeBron gets. People still lump Iverson into the "me-first" only category despite performing better than LeBron did in the Finals. But only LeBron gets the pass.

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Very few point to Lebron's unselfishness as the driver behind that team's success; in fact, most uneducated fans of the game criticize his passivity as the reason Cleveland never made it over the top. Lebron gets a pass among more serious fans because he has a demonstrated history of making the right basketball play no matter how much scrutiny that will bring him in the press the next morning. It's why his efficiency and advanced stats blow away gunners like Bryant and Iverson. Kobe's history is exactly the opposite. Neither Iverson in Philly nor Lebron the first time in Cleveland had the roster to beat a WC champion no matter what they did. I don't blame Iverson's style of play for that, but I can't act like Iverson, who had more turnovers, fewer assists, and was more than 6 points worse in TS%, is in Lebron James's league even if he did manage the same points per game. Bryant is closer, but you run into the same issue where Lebron has him beaten or tied by every statistical measure of basketball ability.

What I watched of the Warriors game, Kobe forced a bunch of bad shots early... he can't really get good looks against Thompson or Barnes. In the long run I don't blame him for that given who his team mates are, although the rest of the Lakers starters were shooting well early so that might have been a good opportunity to feed them.

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Kobe has terrible teammates again this year. But somehow he gets all the blame. Last night, he led the team in scoring and rebounds. AS A 36-YEARS OLD RECOVERING FROM A SHATTERED KNEECAP. This while the rest of the Laker guards went 2 for 17 from the field.

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He gets all the blame because he gets all the credit when they win (even when he shouldn't see: all 5 NBA titles).

He gets a share of the blame because he's the highest paid player in the game with a $48.5 million dollar contract despite not being anywhere near the best player. He has a gigantic contract that's a complete albatross for the team.

If he hadn't been a complete ass and terrible teammate he would still have Dwight Howard in LA instead of Robert Sacre. And that could have kept Pau Gasol because they would be a championship contender instead of possibly the worst team in basketball.

The dude is still a great player, and will likely go down as top 10 all time. But if he'd taken a reasonable contract and been a team player there's little doubt they'd be in championship contention this year. But this is great for him. He can chase all the points records that he covets.

I don't get the contract thing. It was offered to him, he didn't demand it. Why all the fuss about Kobe's contract and not Nash's. Nash's contribution to contract value ratio is the worst in the NBA. How has he not retired yet? Why does he get a pass?

Who said Nash gets a pass? Nash's contract is horrible. That said, Nash doesn't get the final say in anything the Lakers do the way Bryant does. Also, we're talking about Bryant here, not the Lakers. I've made fun of the Lakers plenty over the last couple years for their wildly overpaid backcourt.

I'd be willing to bet Kobe had some input in his contract and that it didn't magically appear in his lap.

Once you become the guy for a team you get a lot of input in your contracts.

I agree with CasualObserver's sentiments with the exception of Kobe being the only reason Dwight didn't stay. Dwight had a lot to do with that himself. Houston will never win a title with him on the roster.

Regardless of your feelings for Dwight Howard there's no doubt they would have been a bigger player for guys like Kevin Love and Pau Gasol had he stayed. At the very least they could have gotten a good third wheel such as Trevor Ariza, Chandler Parsons, etc that aren't necessarily superstars but can be major contributors on championship teams.

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I don't get the contract thing. It was offered to him, he didn't demand it. Why all the fuss about Kobe's contract and not Nash's

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Kobe purports himself as the ultimate winner, a guy who cares more about winning than anything else other than breathing. He's also one of the smartest basketball players ever, and you know he understands the salary cap.

I'm not saying he should have turned it down, but don't act like you're gunning for another championship if you make almost as much as the two best NBA players combined.

Kobe shot 14/37 last night. Lol.

expect Kobe to come down with some kind of season-ending injury soon.

he's not going to play 50 games much less 82 on a terrible team. One that might only win 30 or so games

Because he's old or because you think he's a quitter?

Some interesting notes from last night from ESPN:

Kobe Bryant has long been compared to Michael Jordan, but has he turned into the Wizards version of MJ? Through 5 games, Bryant has a player efficiency rating of 19.9 ... the exact same number Jordan posted in his 2 seasons in Washington. Bryant is second in the league in scoring average, but ranks 74th in PER.

Kobe Bryant had 39 points and 9 rebounds tonight. He's just one of 5 players in the last 30 seasons to hit those benchmarks in their age 36 season or older.

Just how rare is Bryant's line from yesterday? Pretty unusual. He had 37 attempts and just 1 assist... that's only the 3rd time a player has put up at least 37 attempts with 1 assist or fewer since 1990, and Bryant has done it twice. The only other is Michael Jordan, who put up 64 points on 49 attempts in 1993.


I think this will be how this season transpires: they start losing then he starts trying to do everything himself -- even if his shooting % is terrible. Even the most staunch Laker fan can't defend that shooting percentage with that many shots and only one assist. If he can't win, he's going to try to score as much as possible knowing he has less than two years to go.

At the risk of sounding like a Kobe fanboy, what is he supposed to do? That team is terrible and going nowhere. Even washed up Kobe is better than anyone else on the Lakers.

Of course, don't think I'm missing the delicious irony of a guy who always got undeserved credit for being "clutch" and a "winner" clutching and winning his way to a 21-61 record.

Given the situation, I don't really blame him for how he is playing/is going to play, but he bears a large share of the responsibility for that situation. Again, it comes down to how much control he has over the franchise, the image he has tried to create, and the fact that he's too smart to claim ignorance that his actions adversely impact his stated goals.

@bomani_jones: and i get it. kobe's teammates aren't good. but most of them could score 39 on 37 shots. so don't give me that one.

@PhilJackson11: @bomani_jones you don't get it. Most players can't GET 10 shotslet alone 30+ shots. It takes a special athlete to get a good shot inNBA.

Kobe deserves the blame for many reasons.

(1) he's selfish and his all around game just isn't up to par with other players. He's just a volume shooter who will get a lot of points by taking a lot of shots.

(2) He signed the 24 Million per year contract. I won't blame him for signing it (if he wants to make a lot go ahead), but it's ridiculous if he now acts like the Lakers should be contenders or is puzzled why they aren't. You can't have a contender when a 36 year old player is making 24 million. That contract prevented other free agents from wanting to sign with LA because they were smart enough to realize it was basically impossible to build a contender.

(3) And I think this is the biggest reason: No one wants to play with Kobe. No star free agents want to play with him, and that's a huge reason why LA is stuck with who they have this year. He's a jerk and only wants to win his way. Those aren't good characteristics to have if you are wanting to attract other stars to come play with you. There have been multiple articles written about this this year. Some of them probably exaggerate, but there is a lot of truth in them.

(1) Kobe does shoot a lot but saying his game isn't up to par with other players just isn't correct, even at 36...yes, he's taken a lot of shots, but he's hit a lot as well. A 45.3 career FG% isn't awful, especially when you consider the attention he has received on defense for nearly two decades.

(2) Agree with you 100%

(3) There is some truth to that but then again as of yesterday, Kevin Love sounds ready to join up next summer. Carmelo also said that didn't play a role last summer. Many of us view Kobe as a brash hothead but practically everyone in the league respects what he has done and his work ethic is arguably the best in the history of the game. He's nowhere near the most talented player to roll through the NBA but he has squeezed every drop out of what he was given because of his relentless off-the-court training and fiery will. Are there some players who might be afraid to come play with him because of all that? Certainly.

In tonights game versus the Grizzlies, Kobe broke the NBA record for most missed shots in a career.

Shot 10/28 tonight against the Pelicans.

Kobe goes off on teammates

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"You mother ****ers are soft like Charmin in this mother ****er. God damn, is this the type of s**t that's going on in these practices? Now I see why we've lost 20 ****ing games. We're soft like Charmin. We're soft like s**t."

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My favorite part is his comment on practice. Indirectly ripping his coach.

He should buy the extra skrong Charmin.

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Kobe goes off on teammates

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"You mother ****ers are soft like Charmin in this mother ****er. God damn, is this the type of s**t that's going on in these practices? Now I see why we've lost 20 ****ing games. We're soft like Charmin. We're soft like s**t."

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My favorite part is his comment on practice. Indirectly ripping his coach.

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The news there isn't that he's a dick. It's how the team is managing to get any flow at all without him at practice.

Another triple double.

Congrats, Kobe!

Kobe done for the season again.

Not like this...

If this is the end of Kobe, then I want him in the booth calling games.

Can't stand Koby

I'm going to take an "I told you so" on this one. Called it back in November. That's what superstars do when they are stuck on a bad team

$23 million this year for 35 games.

For the Lakers fans, you are 4th in the lottery, with a 11.9% chance of winning, and 37.8% chance of getting in the top 3. You just don't want two teams to jump you in lottery.

I guess the "whose career was better...Kobe or Lebron" debates are already over?

That was fast.

Anything is better than having lost that pick to Phoenix by finishing out of the bottom five.

Also, LeBron's career isn't over and Kobe's looks pretty damn good even if his is? Inferring that LeBron's overall career is better AT THIS POINT IN TIME is like saying Tiger is better than Jack. If the world blows up today, Kobe's career is considerably better.