Reporters continue an attempt to instigate a Kobe/Arenas feud

[Halu Sination]

this is just sad.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AgPmXVXjOjRolWxgWTb5WEe8vLYF?slug=ap-kobevsgilbert&prov=ap&type=lgns

Bryant, Arenas renew budding rivalry Saturday
 
By HOWARD FENDRICH, AP Sports Writer
February 2, 2007

WASHINGTON (AP) -- It sure sounded like an insult. A dismissive dig, at least. The sort of thing Gilbert Arenas loves to hear so he can store it away for extra motivation.

After Arenas scored a franchise-record 60 points to lead the Washington Wizards past the Los Angeles Lakers in December, Kobe Bryant sniffed, "He doesn't seem to have much of a conscience," and made reference to his counterpart "just chucking it up there."

Bryant also warned, "I'll be ready next time." Well, next time for two of the NBA's top four scorers comes Saturday night, when Arenas' Wizards host Bryant's Lakers.

Asked this week about his "conscience" comment, Bryant put his best spin on it, saying, "That was a compliment." Perhaps in a further effort to extend an apologetic hand, Bryant said of Arenas: "He's playing extremely, extremely good basketball."

Arenas never misses a chance to point out real or perceived slights, something that's getting tougher as he piles up Eastern Conference player of the week awards and heads to his third All-Star game -- as a first-time starter, no less.

He's willing to give Bryant the benefit of the doubt in this instance.

"Kobe and I have been friends since I came into this league, and I didn't take offense to it. At the end of the day, he's my idol. That's who I grew up watching and that's who I grew up trying to be like," Arenas said. "So as far as I'm concerned, the blood is still good between me and him."

Don't get Arenas wrong, though. It's not as if he's preparing to be a bit player Saturday.

"I didn't say I'm not going to be in attack mode. I'm going to be in attack mode -- you can believe that," he said. "It's just going to be a good game. He has a reputation that he's trying to uphold, and everyone is wondering, "What is Gil going to do?' And I'm going to do what I do: I'm going to attack him."

Arenas is second in the league with a 29.5-point scoring average, while Bryant ranks fourth at 28.8.

Both have their teams winning much more than a year ago. Washington is atop the Eastern Conference at 27-18, and Los Angeles entered Friday's game at Indiana with a 28-18 record, good for second place in the Pacific Division.

There are other players who could help determine the outcome Saturday, of course. Washington's Brendan Haywood against Los Angeles' Andrew Bynum in the paint, for example. Or Jarvis Hayes, who moves into the Wizards' starting lineup to replace Antawn Jamison, out at least three weeks with a knee injury.

The game also could mark the Washington debut of Darius Songaila, a much-needed big man who's missed the entire season after back surgery. At practice Friday, Songaila said a decision on his availability will be made after Saturday's shootaround.

But the focus certainly will be on the two biggest stars on the floor: Kobe vs. Gilbert.
 
Caron Butler, who played for the Lakers in 2004-05 and now is Arenas' teammate, has no doubt that Bryant is looking forward to this rematch.

"Kobe marks dates on his calendar and is secretly saying, 'That's my game right there,"' said Butler, who's headed to his first All-Star appearance. "I'm almost positive this game is marked on his calendar."

It sometimes seems that Arenas figures out a way to circle every date on the schedule.

Under the heading "Lakers and Kobe Up Next" on his NBA.com blog, Arenas says, "I'm going back to the Hibachi days," a reference to the hot grill he likens himself to when his game heats up.

"At the end of the day, hopefully we win," Arenas continues. "No matter what goes on during the game, we want that win and that's the most important part about it."

[Teddy Roosevelt]

It was against these same Lakers in December that Arenas went for a franchise record 60 points in Washington's 147-141 overtime victory. In the aftermath of the game, Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said that Arenas "doesn't seem to have much of a conscience," and made reference to his counterpart "just chucking it up there." Arenas, a huge Bryant fan, responded to Bryant's statements following the Wizards' loss to Toronto on Wednesday, indicating that there was no bad blood between the two. "Kobe and I have been friends since I came into this league, and I didn't take offense to it," Arenas said. "At the end of the day he's my idol. That's who I grew up watching, and that's who I grew up trying to be like. So as far as I'm concerned the blood is still good between me and him." However, when the game tips tonight don't expect Arenas to sit back and assume a humble posture. "I didn't say I'm not going to be in attack mode," Arenas said. "I'm going to be in attack mode, you can believe that. He has a reputation that he's trying to uphold and everyone is wondering, 'What is Gil going to do?' And I'm going to do what I do, I'm going to attack him."

http://www.washtimes.com/sports/20070202-115055-5558r.htm
Fuck the media.

[Halu Sination]

It was against these same Lakers in December that Arenas went for a franchise record 60 points in Washington's 147-141 overtime victory. In the aftermath of the game, Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said that Arenas "doesn't seem to have much of a conscience," and made reference to his counterpart "just chucking it up there." Arenas, a huge Bryant fan, responded to Bryant's statements following the Wizards' loss to Toronto on Wednesday, indicating that there was no bad blood between the two. "Kobe and I have been friends since I came into this league, and I didn't take offense to it," Arenas said. "At the end of the day he's my idol. That's who I grew up watching, and that's who I grew up trying to be like. So as far as I'm concerned the blood is still good between me and him." However, when the game tips tonight don't expect Arenas to sit back and assume a humble posture. "I didn't say I'm not going to be in attack mode," Arenas said. "I'm going to be in attack mode, you can believe that. He has a reputation that he's trying to uphold and everyone is wondering, 'What is Gil going to do?' And I'm going to do what I do, I'm going to attack him."

http://www.washtimes.com/sports/20070202-115055-5558r.htm
Fuck the media.

haha, agreed.

[GangstaBoogy]

This is going to be a great game. Go for 101 points K.B.!

[MIAMI4LIFE]

media is always trying to stir shit up, I'm sure Kobe and Arenas are cool

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

I didn't really realize it at first when I read it, but Kobe was 100% right with what he said about Arenas...It wasn't a diss, the media simply tried twisting it into one.

[GangstaBoogy]

no disrespect to Agent 0, but I had to do it.

["THE" MoSav]

Agent O is great, but Kobe is AMAZING

[Halu Sination]

I didn't really realize it at first when I read it, but Kobe was 100% right with what he said about Arenas...It wasn't a diss, the media simply tried twisting it into one.

yep, wut most people dont realize is that kobe was praising arenas wen he made that comment. kcal showed the entire segment of wut kobe said, and kobe wasnt bitter at all. he was discussing wut it was that made arenas so difficult to guard (it's hard to contest shots wen the man will take literally any kind of shot) and basically was very straight-forward with his choice of words, but sounded very optimistic about it. the media made it seem like he was a sore loser wen he said "ill be ready for him next time," but he actually said it like it was the challenge he was truly lookin forward to.

he even cleared the situation up on quite frankly with stephen a. smith because he knew people were trying to blow it out of proportion. unfortunately it didnt work.

[MIAMI4LIFE]

good game yesterday, Kobe came back from a bad shooting night in Boston and shot well, Gilbert got 37 but he struggled from the field and shot alot of 3's, no beef between these 2