Kobe's on Fire- 11 Straight 35 pt games

Indeed he is one of the greatest.....

 

Those 2 games with Shaq out of the lineup make the Lakers a whooping 4-10 without him. Yea Kobe is really taking over.

 

Hate is a strong word, but I do not care for him much and here is why:

When one is drafted by a team one does not want to play for, one should just suck it up or go play in Europe. One should not attempt to use that leverage to force a trade to a better team.

If I were the Hornets, I would've told him to go and fuck himself and enjoy scenic Italy - just like Kobe threatened he would do. You sure as hell don't give him away in a trade to the Lakers for Vlade. (I am one of the people who thinks Vlade has always been underappreciated in the NBA, by the way. I like big men who can pass - but he ain't no Kobe.)

I do not care much for John Elway for the same reason. If he wanted to play somewhere other than Baltimore, he should've gone to play baseball. I would've respected him for that much more than for what he eventually did.

Just my opinion though....

 

kobe hit 41 last night, thats 9 straight games. tied mj's record. now, only wilts 14 game streak is left.

 

but the Hornets knew going in they were drafting Kobe purely as trade bait for a big man - they had no intention of keeping him here and besides 12 other teams passed on Kobe in that draft so its not like people were fighting over him. plus even if he had stayed - in 3 or 4 years Shinn would have traded him away instead of paying him.

 

exactly. they only drafted kobe b/c the agreed to trade for vlade. they needed a center after zo left, so they got divac, used him till his contract expired, and didnt sign him. same with geiger.

 

Ah, a Hornet Fan. Well, that may explain why 7 or 8 people hate him, but what about all the others?


Okay, just kidding, I'm a Hornets fan, actually, tho not at the time of the trade. They wouldn't have drafted Kobe anyways. And if he hadn't said those things (about wanting to play in a big city) another team would likely have grabbed him. Tho keep in mind, High School sensations were rare in that day. Not like today when people are drafted on potential alone....

 

Yeah Nut, I used to be quite the Hornet fan. Quite the basketball (NBA) fan actually. But that's not what this is about. I'm also a VERY big fan of the way sports leagues - all of them - operate through the use of a draft system to help shitty teams get better. Players that try to get around that just piss me off.

Look, Nut asked for an opinion - I gave one. About Kobe. Not about the stupidity of the Charlotte franchise - which is what I believe the comments Lj and Wossa have made are directed to. I know the history of the draft/trade. I know Charlotte was desparate for a big man. I also know that Jerry West thought Kobe was going to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. He wasn't alone. But all of the interest in Kobe was from teams that had the luxury of waiting for him to develop - i.e. teams that could not get him where they were drafting at the bottom of that draft. They were also the only teams Kobe said he was willing to play for. At that time, Charlotte was not one of those teams. If y'all want to talk about whether or not Charlotte SHOULD have drafted him to make a deal for a big man, we can do that too. But what Charlotte may or may not have gotten in return - and grading that deal with the benefit of hindsight - is not the issue to me. See below.

I also know this:
Kobe said "I won't play for you if you draft me". Charlotte wasn't the only team he said this to either. Nut is right that he scared off several suitors with his threats ("..another team would've grabbed him.."). The Hornets just happened to be the ones who took him in an attempt to land (trade for) a player from a team he WOULD play for.

As I said before, I don't like players who do that. Whether or not Charlotte was stupid or smart to (a) draft him and then (b) make the trade are other issues. Maybe they could've gotten better than Vlade through drafting someone else or trading for someone else with Kobe as bait. Maybe not. But it doesn't change the fact that Kobe wanted to dictate where HE WANTED TO PLAY. I'd be mad about that even if I were a fan of the Kalamazoo Kangaroos. Sorry if I did not make that clear to everyone before.

It's about the draft. No one is above it as far as I am concerned. So I don't respect individuals who try and circumvent it so they can play where THEY want to. Everyone wants to play for the good teams. Tough shit if you get drafted by the Clippers (or Bengals).

 

i tend to agree with your sentiments, but it's not like any player is above looking out for himself.

nobody's going after Shaq for leaving Orlando for LA $$.

 

only 17 points in the 3rd. he's gonna have to catch donkey fire to pull this one out.