The Credits: "The Devil Inside"

Unfortunately that’s the measure of true success

it is a fact that Kobe is unsuccessful…

at trying to be something he’s not

To high school girls…

probably just some brain cells catching fire…..don’t worry im ok

And also, awesome, awesome credits.

even given him a chance or have ever read his article. He is no Bill Simmons but it has the same tone to it. He is actually pointing out something that I have talked shit about all season and that is that he should make more use of Bynum and Gasol instead of “chucking” up shots.

If you look at the article in terms of writing quality, it is very good. I think what happens with most of us who love Kobe, we find it hard to accept someone talking about him in a negative way. Personally, I think he is a very good writer and the article pointed out some interesting points. I liked the following comments he made about Kobe:

He was also the guy practicing jumpers until everything hurt. He was also the one hurt the most by Phil Jackson’s seeming indifference and supposed preference for Shaq’s talents once The Guy Who Coached Michael came to Los Angeles. Ticked off, he just skulked back to the gym for another thousand made jumpers; developing a mettle so strong he’s still dropping 40 on back-to-back nights 15 years into the longest 15 years we’ve ever seen an NBA player endure, with one arm. Can’t even tie his shoes, people. Still drops 40.

This is such an awesome comment.

and reading the piece, I can see what you’re saying.

The Drive is what allows them to succeed and to fail.

the way he was trying to say it is what gets me. his articles are very hard to follow and i often dont see his point. but he definitely has a hardon for MJ and constantly tries to take kobe down a notch whenever he can. its very obvious. whether subconsciously or not. it definitely resonates and bothers many readers who are quick to let him know in the comments. everything he writes about has to be brought back to some comparison with his 90’s bulls and it gets old.

He makes some baseless accusations.

You heard me. This is why, and not because of a glaring lack of depth, that the Lakers fell in 2003 and 2004. They could have taken the Spurs and Pistons in those years. This is why things didn’t work out last May, against Dallas (Los Angeles couldn’t grab one game? Come on) in the playoffs.

If he is going to say the above, then he should also have the presence of mind to say he is the reason they were successful in 2009 &2010, shit even during the 2006&07 seasons. Kobe willed that team to the playoffs with a core that cant even make it anywhere in the NBA. Why put all those loses on Kobe and the victories on others. The double standard is alarming.

Why the fuck is Lebron crowned to win anything. Another baseless assumption

And once LeBron wins it — and he will win it, someday — his lighter touch will be the reason why.

There are more but i am too upset to even articulate my points.

Quite frankly, KD caught me off guard with some of the things he mentioned in the article and they were a few fine points but clearly when a writer has written a myriad of inane contemptuous articles against a figure over some of the same things he mentioned in this article, it’s bound to dismissed lightly. Even in this article, he was able to squeeze a few of his jabs towards both players.

is that there always seems to be a double standard regarding Kobe and Lebron whenever mentioned by the same writer anywhere. In this case, it’s completely pro-Lebron.

Dwyer spends the first two paragraphs digging at flaws with Kobe, and then takes jabs and digs at him throughout the piece, before begrudgingly admitting that Kobe’s obsession makes him successful. And then he excuses Lebron’s failures, twice.

He first says that Lebron had a terrible team in Cleveland-Which isn’t true. You can’t win 66 games in the NBA with a terrible team and one good player, and the simple idea that you can is ridiculous.

He later says that Lebron’s going to win a ring some day, and I saw that lower down the line you think there’s a base for that assumption. All that said, people have been excusing Lebron for years: He’s has had two 60 win teams, and been to the finals twice in his career, with deep playoff runs EVERY year since ‘07. Lebron hasn’t proven, at all, that he’s going to win a championship. He definitely has a chance, I’m not gonna sit here and say that the Heat aren’t incredibly good, and I doubt many people will. But it’s unreal that after years of him coming up short, which he has at some point or another in 4 of his 5 deep playoff runs since ‘07, people are still willing to speak as if he’s sure to do it sooner or later.

As an aside to the above: Dwyer mentions ‘09 as a Lebron failure. That’s crap. Lebron didn’t have a marvelous playoff series against Orlando, by his standards, but he played well enough, and this is the only playoffs Lebron’s ever had where I legitimately felt as if he didn’t let his team down. I don’t mean to imply that all the blame is at Lebron’s feet for all of his other playoff losses, but in every other series that he’s lost since ‘07, he’s been seriously below his par.

But here’s the big thing: His first excusal of Lebron is something he directly contradicts in regards to Kobe later on. Obviously, since Lebron’s team was so bad that it could only win 66 games and then follow that up with 60 wins in the regular season, he couldn’t win. It was all on his team. But Kobe’s failures last year, when he was the only Laker who seriously seemed interested and competitive, are at his feet, and the reason he’s unsuccessful. Ditto with ’04 and ’03.

Dwyer dismisses Kobe’s accomplishments, (Giving claim to the 3 championships that Shaq won as Shaq’s. I’m sure you can read it differently, but this is a played out argument, and there’s no real reason to bring up Shaq unless you’re making an excuse for why Bryant has been more successful than Lebron) then dismisses Lebron’s failures. He makes jabs at Bryant throughout, with one “jab” at Lebron paired with a ton of praise for both. He says, outright, that Kobe’s going to fail if he plays Lebron’s Heat, and that Lebron will, but only if he plays Bryant’s way. This is pretty heavily implying that Bryant’s way of playing is less successful, and I don’t think I’m reading too far into it. That’d be all fine and good, except for the part that it has produced more success for Bryant than for Lebron.

I’m just sick of this double standard with these two, in favor of Kobe or Lebron.

I mean, when I read it, I took it simply as “LeBron takes it less seriously than Kobe.” That’s all. Nothing about that implies “not serious enough.” I think LeBron loves the game of basketball, like he loves his kids, or his favorite foods. Kobe, on the other hand, loves basketball like he loves to breathe. I think it’s pretty easy to argue that one could be a bit less serious about basketball than Kobe, and still easily be serious enough.

And more to the point, I think LeBron is serious enough. He has the dedication that one needs to be successful, in the championship sense. Whether it’ll happen (and I do hope it happens, once Kobe retires, heh heh), that’s still to be decided. Honestly, I don’t think his problems are predominantly on the basketball court. His most glaring issue from my perspective is that he’s surrounded himself with an entourage that makes him feel good about himself but has left him almost wholly ignorant of good PR. I still don’t think he understands what he did wrong in The Decision. He recognizes that he did something wrong (or at least, that many folks think he did something wrong), but not what about it that was wrong.

you’ve got more lofty reasons to dislike Lebron than most of us here lol

because he can get easier ones

LOL

So true. I’ve never such revisionist history than what is supposedly Jordan’s legacy. He was the best player of the 90’s but never had any competition, individually or team wise, unlike Kobe or Magic or Bird or Kareem or LeBron. He failed more than he succeeded as does every player.

Instead of all that BS about numbers and being objective and understanding the way the game should be played. Some of the criticism is well deserved. Does he shoot his team out of games sometimes? yes. Does he try to play hero ball sometimes? yes. But i know he also never gives up. I know that on the second night of back to back when nobody has it and is content losing the game, he is not. I know that he plays through a myriad of injuries, i know i wouldn’t be getting out of bed with some of the things he plays with. Above the numbers, if i had to chose someone to go to battle with it will be Kobe. All day every day.

if this is the tagline of the podcast for the day:

It’s also a landmark in the evolution of how we think about crunch time in the NBA. Is it about being the guy, or is it about making the best basketball play?

Then why did Chris Paul throw up a floater with time expiring while being guarded by a much larger player and draining all of the clock as opposed to running the offense and making the right basketball play. it wasn’t a bad shot and hell it almost went in, but no one did a referendum on CP3’s abilities in crunch time because he missed a shot he’s proven himself to be able to make

(which I don’t think is hate, but w/e).

Still, I’m having fun

Imo thats where the Lebron isnt as motivated as Kobe feeling comes from. From year 1 to year 9 we’ve always seen the same thing from Lebron, Runaway freight train to the basket. Kobe on the other hand has put in the extra work to add more to his game, consistently reinventing himself and u see it on the court. Take away Lebrons athleticism and what does he have? What kind of true skills does he have to fall back on? That imo is why he’ll never be better than Kobe..chucker n all lol

People who hate Kobe now…

…have always hated Kobe. They felt justified after Colorado and Shaq. Those same people felt justified in saying that Kobe was responsible for the Lakers not winning in ‘04 (or any time since) and for Phil Jackson leaving, and for global warming, and for everything that is wrong with the world. People who hate Kobe now have always hated Kobe. It has nothing to do with the internet. I have never liked Michael Jordan (I’m old enough to have seen him play) and I never will. I don’t deny that he was a great player, just not one I liked; I feel the same way about LeBron James. Even if one of them wins the Nobel Peace Price, my feelings aren’t going to change. People who hate Kobe now have always hated Kobe.

by SoCalGal on Oct 30, 2009 5:44 PM PDT