at http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2009/11/game-notes-suns-at-lakers-2/

* Afterward, during a post-game interview, Kobe comes up with the best line of the night. When asked if there was enough ball to go around with Bynum back in the lineup he said: "It’s not an issue. I eat first, everybody knows that.’’

Consider the following hypothetical situation. Let’s say you are playing for your high school basketball team and have persuaded one of the team’s benchwarmers to stay afterward to play one-on-one. Let’s also stipulate that you are much, much better than this benchwarmer, who, for our purposes, we shall call Rob.

Now let’s say the two of you are playing a game to 100 points, with each basket worth one point, winner’s outs after a made shot, and you are having your way with poor Rob, backing him down and driving by him and pulling up for jumpers. Pretty soon you’ve built an almost embarrassing lead — say, 40 baskets to none. Now, in this situation, do you:

a) begin to feel bad for Rob, who is, after all, doing you a favor by staying late, and perhaps ease up a bit so he can at least score a few baskets?

b) continue playing hard but maybe start taking only outside jumpers, so that Rob might have a fighting chance, thus making it more competitive?

c) never let up for a second, hounding Rob on defense and punishing him on offense, because the only way to win is to do so absolutely and completely, and only the weak relent, even for a moment?

If you answered “c,” congratulations. You share a mind-set with Kobe Bryant, the most competitive life-form on the planet.

http://deadspin.com/5402465/book-excerpts-that-dont-suck-the-art-of-a-beautiful-game

“3. Kobe Bryant won a title his way — by establishing a Kobe and the Kobettes dynamic that actually worked — becoming one of the ten best NBA players ever and proving he could prevail without Shaq. If that wasn’t jarring enough, Shaq’s exit from Phoenix marked the fourth time he left a team on bad terms, making everyone re-evaluate the whole “Was Kobe really the bad guy in the Shaqobe Divorce?” saga that had been buried years ago. Maybe Kobe wasn’t as much to blame as we thought. Maybe Shaq was the problem. Maybe the hotel clerk lied about him. Maybe he took a ton of flak for no reason. Maybe he’s … (gulp) … a good guy and a family man who works his butt off and never seems satisfied and kills himself to get better every summer and maybe … (gulp) … was greater than we thought. Damn it all."

From Bill Simmons (yeah that Bill Simmons)

this is pretty cool.

http://www.nba.com/statistics/player/Efficiency.jsp?league=00&season=22009&conf=OVERALL&position=1&splitType=9&splitScope=GAME&qualified=Y&yearsExp=-1&splitDD=