2014-15 Lakers Season Thread (21-61) KAT

[BIG LEEMELONE]

How bout that W last night? Would that be considered laker relevant?

Randle's jumper and defense look to be coming along nicely. Still a step slow to help at times but impressed by 3 blocks out there

Price and davis look like good value players. Boozer even had a solid two way game. Kobe breaking the offense by launching threes seemed to wake this team up. Jazz sat favors and hayward for most of the comeback while playing novak at the 4/5 so it's not without pause but the lakers were missing 4 rotation players themselves and after looking like **** for most of the preseason there were some positives to take away from last night's win

 

[senorroboto2k5]

Byron said he was pleased with Randle's effort, so that's progress.

 

[e3lal]

Three things annoy me from that article:

1) All these outsiders overstate Dwight's importance. I personally preferred Bynum, and in my opinion, Bynum had greater potential (before we learned about his injuries). As the season progressed, I did not like Dwight because he showed no leadership nor accountability.

2) Saying we don't attract talent. Yes, I think our ability has gone down, but Lebron was always going home, and Melo was staying put.

3) Kobe isn't responsible for uber-poor coaching.

 

[mjsaver]

Is this a LAKER thread or KOBE HATER thread? Can't be real life right now

Ok so it's not just me

Dude ain't a laker fan , he's a Los Angeles CP fan

He'll be pushing for a name change and a relocation soon , they don't deserve a fan of such magnitude or his flawless master plan.

 

[essential1]

Another lie in that story... . Paul George....

Kobe is his favorite player of all-time. He said so himself. Any kid, who grew up loving a player, dreams about playing with them as adults.

He also was not going to get to the Lakers as a RFA.

Rookies (except Greg Monroe who hates Detroit so much he wants to risk money. Much respect) turns down their rookie extension.

Had he been off his rookie extension, he'd be here.



Then there is this

Paul George @Yg_Trece · 3h 3 hours ago
Now how crazy does that Kobe story sound to you ? #MediaReachingAgain

 

[essential1]

Fourth thing

Before two-time MVP Steve Nash agreed to join the Los Angeles Lakers, he wanted to make sure the team's five-time champion was on board.

That meant a phone call with Kobe Bryant.

"For me, it was important to speak to him and make sure he was completely on board, and that he could kind of visualize this as being a good fit, and being excited about it. So I spoke to him," Nash told Max Kellerman and Mychal Thompson on 710 ESPN. "Kobe, he was great. He was excited, and explained to me how he thought it would help, and why he thought it would be great, and I think a lot of the reasons he had were ones I could already envision before speaking to him."

 

[CP1708]

Fourth thing

Before two-time MVP Steve Nash agreed to join the Los Angeles Lakers, he wanted to make sure the team's five-time champion was on board.

That meant a phone call with Kobe Bryant.

"For me, it was important to speak to him and make sure he was completely on board, and that he could kind of visualize this as being a good fit, and being excited about it. So I spoke to him," Nash told Max Kellerman and Mychal Thompson on 710 ESPN. "Kobe, he was great. He was excited, and explained to me how he thought it would help, and why he thought it would be great, and I think a lot of the reasons he had were ones I could already envision before speaking to him."

Oh hey

Some of it jives with other stories we've read/heard, some of it does not. (Like the Kobe/Nash who calls who stuff)

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

There was a part in the article that tried to imply kobe is the reason the lakers couldn't get a meeting with lebron and didn't sign bosh. As far as I know lebron didn't meet with any team outside of miami/cleveland and bosh turned down houston to sign a mega deal with the heat, both players motives were clear.

This article is nothing but the same bull **** that dragged this thread down last season

 

[essential1]

Fourth thing

Before two-time MVP Steve Nash agreed to join the Los Angeles Lakers, he wanted to make sure the team's five-time champion was on board.

That meant a phone call with Kobe Bryant.

"For me, it was important to speak to him and make sure he was completely on board, and that he could kind of visualize this as being a good fit, and being excited about it. So I spoke to him," Nash told Max Kellerman and Mychal Thompson on 710 ESPN. "Kobe, he was great. He was excited, and explained to me how he thought it would help, and why he thought it would be great, and I think a lot of the reasons he had were ones I could already envision before speaking to him."

Oh hey

Some of it jives with other stories we've read/heard, some of it does not. (Like the Kobe/Nash who calls who stuff)

I don't blame you for posting it.

It's funny when thing by thing basically is just hilariously wrong or ignores so much.

 

[kookcle]

Too many unnamed 'sauces' on the quotes for me.

And Damn you Kobe for your trade veto and you hiring D'anotoni instead of Phil.

We couldve had CP3, Dwight and Phil but you F****** it up

 

[CP1708]

Fourth thing

Before two-time MVP Steve Nash agreed to join the Los Angeles Lakers, he wanted to make sure the team's five-time champion was on board.

That meant a phone call with Kobe Bryant.

"For me, it was important to speak to him and make sure he was completely on board, and that he could kind of visualize this as being a good fit, and being excited about it. So I spoke to him," Nash told Max Kellerman and Mychal Thompson on 710 ESPN. "Kobe, he was great. He was excited, and explained to me how he thought it would help, and why he thought it would be great, and I think a lot of the reasons he had were ones I could already envision before speaking to him."

Oh hey

Some of it jives with other stories we've read/heard, some of it does not. (Like the Kobe/Nash who calls who stuff)

I don't blame you for posting it.

It's funny when thing by thing basically is just hilariously wrong or ignores so much.

Exactly, thank you.

If anyone would love this, it would be Ska. (just kidding Ska, don't kill me)

But we've all gone rounds in here over the years about FA's coming here to play with Kobe, they've never matched up a year with cap space, and a key free agent. To then use his age 36-37 years as examples is stupid, but the overall theme of waiting 2 more years goes along with what I am thinking they are going to do. Wait for him to ride off into the sunset, and then bring in the "next big thing".

Hopefully, with a solid young core ready made, sort of in the mold the Cavs just pulled off. 2-3 young greats, cap space to burn, 1-2 FA pieces, couple vets, and mix. Least, I hope it goes that well.

 

[senorroboto2k5]

Here's another new Kobe article along the same lines, but more entertaining and less serious. There's nothing that important in it, but maybe it'll take your minds off the other one

“I know my career will get to it at some time [where Kobe Bryant's career] is today, where Kevin Garnett is today, where a lot of the songs you listen to today, a lot of the guys in the locker room have no idea what you’re talking about. It’s coming.” —LeBron James

Kobe Bryant is facing his NBA mortality. In his own words, “Soon, but not yet.” It’s a testament to the ferocity with which he’s attacked his career that even though logic and a basic understanding of human biology tell us that, yes, definitely yes, Kobe is near the end of his NBA career, just writing it out like this carries a faint hint of danger. It’s a bit like an aging dictator not showing up for his breakfast one morning; who dares go into his bedroom to check on him?

Because Kobe has proved people wrong before: by jumping from Lower Merion High School to the NBA; by blending his game with Shaq’s; by winning titles after Shaq left; by salvaging his public image; by hero-balling out to such an extent that his copious bricks actually transformed themselves into a rare species of unselfishness.

So, if you come out and say that Kobe is close to being done, you do so after considering the possibility that his indomitable, coiled Mamba fury, buoyed by harvested ligaments and European blood-spinning technology, can find a way to turn you into Dewey Defeats Truman in miniature. I mean, would anyone be all that surprised if Kobe took his revenge for being ranked the 40th-best player in the NBA by averaging 40 points (on 40 shots per game; Lakers go 4-7?

But 36 years old and over 45,000 minutes (13th on the all-time list above Moses Malone, the first player to jump from high school to the pros, and less than 200 minutes behind Robert Parish) equals gray-whiskered dog years for all but the rarest of the rare pro ballers. And, in the wake of one of the most devastating injuries in sports, it is fair to consider this the twilight of the Bryant Age. I feel confident in saying that. I think.

What’s strange is how sad I am about this. Sad, because I have always been a fervent Kobe hater.

There’s a difference between sports hate and real hate. Real hate is an awful, destructive emotion, fueled by ignorance, which twists the minds of those afflicted into red-tinged fantasies of violence, signified by apoplectic outbursts of profane fury. Sports hate is exactly the same, with the key difference that sports hate is largely what makes sports (and therefore life) so enjoyable. I loved hating Kobe Bryant.

One stereotype I’ve found to be true in my not-all-that-worldly travels is that of Canadians being a polite people. So, I do think it’s notable that when two-time MVP Steve Nash was asked to describe Kobe Bryant, he thoughtfully replied “Mother … ******* … *******.” It’s also notable that Kobe loves that assessment.

That the experience of interacting with Kobe is so much like the subjective perception of Kobe the basketball personality is somehow comforting. Truth still exists in this world, and there is balance in the universe.

Just in these past few seasons, Kobe has opened up. He’s done a fashion shoot; shot a Tom Cruise–in-Magnolia-style commercial that fully embraced the personal qualities Nash noted; been the subject of two documentaries (the second of which debuts next month); and joined social media. Via his social media accounts, he’s tweeted the definitive picture of Dwight Howard’s year in L.A.; ostentatiously unfollowed Dwight when he fled to Houston; wrote a startlingly raw Facebook post about his Achilles injury; decried the Steve Blake trade (Steve Blake!); and compared the 2013-14 Lakers season to feces.

He gave an interview recently, over lunch with Arianna Huffington, in the New York Times, which is basically famous person mad libs. They talked about their highly successful people habits. Kobe described how he cold-emailed Arianna in order to pick her brain. He talked about watching Discovery Channel and studying the body mechanics of cheetahs, how they use their tails as counterweights, conjuring images of Eddie Vedder zoning out to a documentary about honeybees in Singles.

Since that interview dropped, I’ve spent an embarrassing amount of time laughing while imagining Kobe cold-calling the president of Discovery Channel and saying things like, “What can you tell me about the way a cheetah’s hips are structured?” or “Inspiration surrounds us. I understand that blue whales have the largest penises on earth.”

In that same interview, Kobe talked about how, when he was younger, he would order his more veteran teammates around. But, he insists, he’s since become more empathetic. “As I got older, I started understanding it’s not just about the game. People carry emotions with them. They have lives off the court. That helped me communicate better,” Kobe told the Times.

So, how does the new empathetic Kobe — the great communicator — use that understanding of his teammates’ off-court lives to better lead and inspire them? In the case of Nick Young, it’s …

• Answering the question “Iggy Azalea or Swaggy P” by laughing dismissively then acidly analyzing their respective professional arcs with, “She’s been more successful in her career thus far.”

• Trash-talked him during a scrimmage with, “Don’t play with me, Nick. You’re not strong enough.”

• Put Young out of commission for eight weeks, after Swaggy tore his medial radial collateral ligament trying to guard Bryant. Kobe’s reaction: “Well he’s got to move his feet on defense. That’s the lesson to be learned. If you reach, you’re going to get hurt.” In other words — you reach; I injure. Mother ******* *******.

With rookie Julius Randle, Kobe has taken on a mentorship role. When asked what it means for Randle to be a Laker, with Kobe, Byron Scott, and Nash there to guide him, Kobe said, “It means he can’t **** it up. Seriously. You **** this up, you’re a really big idiot. You know what I mean? ESPN are idiots, but you’re a really big idiot if you manage to **** this up.”



How can you not love this Kobe?

So, as penance for my many years of blind Kobe hatred, and with a new, appreciative perspective on the crazy man he is, I feel I should push back on the signature criticism of Kobe’s career: that he “stole from Jordan.” Having been an avowed Bryant hater, I readily admit to trotting that little rhetorical chestnut out in casual conversation over the years, or letting it pass unchallenged. “Kobe copied Mike” is kind of like “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.” It’s the perfect, inarguable punctuation mark to button up any Lakers gripe and/or Kobe slander. After all, the truth of it was plain to see.

But you only have to scratch the “Kobe steals from MJ” charge to reveal the sports hate–addled, pretzel structure of the logic underneath. Playing basketball is not intrinsically an act of narrative. Basketball, despite the drama, is not, you know, literature or something. Kobe can’t plagiarize from Mike. What Kobe has done is mold his play after the greatest player ever, and, not incidentally, one who played Kobe’s position. That just makes sense to do, from a caring-about-one’s-craft standpoint.

The haters — again, of who I have been one — aren’t “mad” that Bryant copied MJ; they’re mad that he did it so effectively, that he got so very close. The criticism is also perhaps the single dumbest contemporaneous critique of a great player ever. All the other ones — LeBron not being clutch, or Wilt not being a winner — may be ridiculous, but they at least pretend to pertain to the winning and losing of basketball games. Clearly, saying that Kobe is following in the footsteps of Jordan cannot be considered, from a strictly basketball sense, as something detrimental. It’s pure haterade.

The letter at the top of this piece shows how Kobe was never going to get a fair shot at being a beloved national sports figure. The goal posts were always going to be set up just out of reach. If he goes to the NBA from high school, he’s a bad role model. If he successfully jumps from high school to the NBA to become one of the greatest players of all time, well, he never surpassed Jordan. Over his career, he’s been, in some ways, the most popular villain in the NBA. But time passes. The 11-year-old kid who wrote that letter to the editor is now a writer for the New York Times. I’ve gone from being a hater to a profound appreciator.

And Kobe is still our Mother ******* *******. For just a bit longer, anyway.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/nba-windows-kobe-bryants-last-stand/

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

Byron said he was pleased with Randle's effort, so that's progress.

Randle seems to have a strong mind and thick skin as he takes byron's criticism as a chance to prove his worth and not be a punk. Lucky for us fans he's not a whiner or petty because that kind of coaching could ruin a weaker guy

 

[mjsaver]

Posing articles with multiple lies and inaccuracies but somehow thinks it's relevant and even funny but you calling me a lost soul

Your head so far up your own *** you could give yourself a colonoscopy , how does a man get on such a high horse ? Elevator, escalator, ladder ???

There was a part in the article that tried to imply kobe is the reason the lakers couldn't get a meeting with lebron and didn't sign bosh. As far as I know lebron didn't meet with any team outside of miami/cleveland and bosh turned down houston to sign a mega deal with the heat, both players motives were clear.

This article is nothing but the same bull **** that dragged this thread down last season

Exactly same old BS trying to slide in as legitimate info but it's getting exposed for what it is.....trash

 

[essential1]

Two final things....

LeBron only had a face-to-face meeting with the Heat & Cavs. There were multiple teams trying to get meetings with him who did not.



Then Bosh ignored LA for the "carcass of the Heat." Fine. But ignores 1. The Lakers never offered him a contract 2. He turned down the Rockets with Dwight Howard, James Harden & Chandler Parsons for the "carcass of the Heat."

Now if he turned down the Lakers because of Kobe... Then why did he turn down the Rockets?

 

[CP1708]

Posing articles with multiple lies and inaccuracies but somehow thinks it's relevant and even funny but you calling me a lost soul

Your head so far up your own *** you could give yourself a colonoscopy , how does a man get on such a high horse ? Elevator, escalator, ladder ???

There was a part in the article that tried to imply kobe is the reason the lakers couldn't get a meeting with lebron and didn't sign bosh. As far as I know lebron didn't meet with any team outside of miami/cleveland and bosh turned down houston to sign a mega deal with the heat, both players motives were clear.

This article is nothing but the same bull **** that dragged this thread down last season

Exactly same old BS trying to slide in as legitimate info but it's getting exposed for what it is.....trash

Only, it's on other Laker boards, it's in the NBA thread, it's being dissected pretty much by everyone.

But not here. You can only handle stories/articles that paint a pretty picture, with rainbows and butterflies, heaven forbid someone post something that let's everyone make their own calls on things.


You're the one with your head buried. Not me. The fact you didn't even grasp me saying that the author was a known hater, and that a lot of it was fluff, and "sources" etc, yet you think you exposed something.

You ******* cry all summer about your feelings and ****, then rant about this when most of what we've said was the same thing, Abbott was stupid for this. But you get all defensive immediately cuz someone talked about your idol without undying praise and you have to set them straight.

 

[krazyrodzilla]

Isn't there a KOBE HATER thread floating around somewhere? Why don't you guys just post it there and not in there Lakers thread

 

[grandtheftbike]

Damn CP, why did you write that article for ESPN?

 

[CP1708]

Damn CP, why did you write that article for ESPN?

Well, ya know, I had time on my hands, so I figured......

"Twitter"

 

[pmatic]

Okay, finally had some time to read the article in full.

There were some valid points, and some lies to exaggerate a point the article was trying to picture by a bias writer. That about sums it up

And I would say the new, restrictive CBA and management blunders are more to blame for the current state of the Lakers than Kobe, Kobe's ego and Kobe's contract.

 

[CP1708]

Okay, finally had some time to read the article in full.

There were some valid points, and some lies to exaggerate a point the article was trying to picture by a bias writer. That about sums it up.

Oh hey

Should be noted, Henry Abbott is a known Kobe hater, so take with a grain of salt, but still some good stuff in there, and also plenty of fluff and "sources".

Almost the exact comment by a guy that Saver credits as being fair, yet he all over me for posting it.

Imagine that.

 

[essential1]

I'm not even sure that using Kobe's contract even goes to proving anything the writer wants it too.

Does Kobe's contract hurt? Yes but prevents them from a big 4, instead of a big 3. A big 3 was still possible.

But fine, Kobe's contract hurt them in some way. As did the 15% of the cap that went to old 23 game, I hurt my back picking up luggage Steve Nash.

There's a few sentence in an article somewhere around the time of the extension that Dr. Buss also told Jeanie & Jim to take care of Kobe. Was either Pincus, Ding or an ESPN LA person who said it.

Definitely was a parting gift for 18 years of success, being a franchise guy. 5 titles. Etc. etc. It was too much. But doesn't signal, hey no one will play with Kobe so let's give him $23.5 then $25mil. If it were the case, should have just given him 2 year - $62mil that he could have gotten.


They chased the 2 guys they saw as franchise guys. One took the money, one took the young team that was HIS HOMETOWN. But refused to commit big deals to guys they didn't think were franchise players, and did not make you a contender, is that wrong, and prove that no one wants to play with Kobe?

 

[denni5themenace]

you know what makes this thread unbearable? it isn't the rooting for the team to tank or vice versa. its not even the constant bickering between the two sides.

its the incessant negative attitude about whatever this team, coach, or front office does.

i'll admit, there isn't TOO many things to be positive about, but goddamn, some of you spin whatever you can find into something negative.

 

[mjsaver]

Okay, finally had some time to read the article in full.

There were some valid points, and some lies to exaggerate a point the article was trying to picture by a bias writer. That about sums it up.

Oh hey

Should be noted, Henry Abbott is a known Kobe hater, so take with a grain of salt, but still some good stuff in there, and also plenty of fluff and "sources".

Almost the exact comment by a guy that Saver credits as being fair, yet he all over me for posting it.

Imagine that.

Here's the thing tho, Pmatic didn't post that trash and I doubt he'd post something so full of holes, lies , and obvious bias.....it simply lacks credibility
He also acknowledged the blatant LIES in the article while you failed to do so, but yeah keep grasping for straws like your comment was the same.

Just because you had a cheap disclaimer at the end doesn't release you from the responsibility of posting something so weak, you planting the seed to sour the thread just like last year. How does it feel to pioneer the movement that makes fans not wanna enter their own team thread ?

And please don't act like I'm the only person who doesn't like the article, I may be the most vocal but others have called it crap as well.

Including Essential who's pointing out discrepancies by the minute but you don't care, the damage was already done your mission already accomplished.

 

[had pants]

This is coming from the same outlet that listed Kobe at #40. How I interpret article: