Interesting Kobe article.............

[teecee]

"On the Mark: The Kobe Rules"     Mark Kriegel / FOXSports.com

 
 
 "Three years ago, after trading the greatest center since Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak defended his remaining superstar. "The accusation that Kobe broke up this team is not true," said Kupchak.

With that in mind, I now find myself waiting for Kupchak to dispel any suggestion that Kobe is campaigning for his exile.
After all, the general manager labors under a construct that might be called The Kobe Rules. To be a Laker is to know that Kobe gets what Kobe wants. The state of the franchise is in large measure a result of his desire for a team to call his very own.

The Kobe Rules
It's another off-season, and Kobe is complaining again. Now he wants a new GM, even though the current one has been all-too-willing to concede to every one of Bryant's demands. What should the Lakers do? Tell us your thoughts.
 
 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More coverage

Mark Kriegel's blog

Report: Kobe wants West back?

 

Some recent history: In 2004, following a 5-game loss to the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals, the Lakers traded Shaquille O'Neal. With that series in evidence, it seemed an odd choice. O'Neal had averaged 26.6 points on 63 percent shooting and almost 11 rebounds a game. Kobe Bryant, by contrast, played poorly through most of the series, scoring 22.6 a game on just 38 percent shooting. His success rate from behind the three-point line — where he tried his chances with regularity — was just 17 percent.

What's more, the Lakers' decision flew in the face of conventional wisdom, which regards the great big man as basketball's most rare and important commodity. Of course, by then the Lakers had dispatched with most forms of wisdom, conventional or otherwise. Kobe Bryant was sick and tired, in the words of his then and again coach, of being "a sidekick" to O'Neal. Hence, owner Jerry Buss, who loved Kobe more than he loved Shaq, exiled the big man. O'Neal went on to win a championship in Miami while the Lakers were left to perfect their skills at damage control, such as the aforementioned disclaimer Kupchak issued to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Now Kupchak — for whom Kobe's wishes are commands — faces banishment with but a year left on his contract. The other day Bryant informed the Los Angeles Times, yet again, of his displeasure with the way things have gone — or not gone, actually — this off-season. Kobe, like George Steinbrenner (who remains something of a bratty kid even as a septuagenarian) wants to win. He wants to win now. He wants to play for a guy who really wants to win. And like Steinbrenner, he has trouble moving on. Wouldn't you know it — Kobe is just crazy about former Lakers GM Jerry West.

"I trust him completely," says Bryant, who doesn't want "people believing me to be bashing anybody. Mitch is a great guy."

 
Shaq did his part in the 2004 finals. And then Kobe got him traded. (Jeff Haynes / Getty Images)

Great guy? In this town, that's a benediction for the walking dead.

Of course, as Kobe likes to say, he has no real power. "All I can do is offer my thoughts," he tells the Times.

Besides, there are greater concerns out here than Mitch Kupchak. Residents of Los Angeles are experiencing a kind of mass sympathy pain, as Bryant is up against his biological clock. At 28, he has already played 9,000 more minutes than a comparably aged Michael Jordan. Though this comparison neglects the several seasons Jordan spent in college, the point is well taken. Kobe is judged in relation to Jordan.

The old Jordan Rules pale in relation to the Kobe Rules. Phil Jackson, who coached them both, once wrote that he'd never seen anybody receive more "allowances" from management than Bryant, who even whined about the aircraft the Lakers helped provide him with during hearings for the rape case that was eventually dropped.

Bryant is the most talented player in the game, and often the most exciting. But unlike Jordan, he's not the best, nor does he seem to make his teammates much better. This past season was a terrible disappointment for the Lakers. They had their injuries, sure, most notably the one to Lamar Odom's shoulder. But they are not bereft of talent, and with a playoff spot on the line, they managed to lose 8 of their last 12 games. That wouldn't happen with a Jordan team. Jordan could be calculating and cruel, but he commanded the respect and awe of his teammates in Chicago.

The reverence for Kobe is more prevalent among the Buss family than it is in the locker room. Kobe gets what Kobe wants — even if he can't admit to wanting it.

So here he is with a team of his very own, and not much that can be done with it. Bryant makes almost $18 million a year. Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown — both coming off surgery — will take down more than $20 mil combined next season.

That's not to say there's no hope. After all, Jackson — who once vowed to leave unless Kupchak traded Kobe — was convinced, at the rate of $10 million per annum, to return to the Laker fold. So maybe Jerry West would come back, too, ace out his former protégé, and make everything better.

Already, I can see Kobe's plan manifest itself. With West in place, Bryant could suggest that he really misses his old pal Shaquille.

Eventually, there'd be a big press conference to "welcome home" the big guy.

Jerry West would deny that Kobe had anything to do with it."


Shit like this is why peeps think Kobe is a bitch.  Mitch backs him, and then Kobe sells him out in the media.   The article IS right about one thing.........Kobe is the most talented and most exciting player in the league, but he isn't the best, and doesn't make anyone else better.

And i forgot how great Oneal played in their last series together, and how horrible Kobe was.  Too bad Kobe and Shaq couldn't have put theri massive egos aside and won a couple of more chips.........i used to actually like the Lake show back then. 

[Bay Area Jat]

"Some recent history: In 2004, following a 5-game loss to the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals, the Lakers traded Shaquille O'Neal. With that series in evidence, it seemed an odd choice. O'Neal had averaged 26.6 points on 63 percent shooting and almost 11 rebounds a game. Kobe Bryant, by contrast, played poorly through most of the series, scoring 22.6 a game on just 38 percent shooting. His success rate from behind the three-point line — where he tried his chances with regularity — was just 17 percent."

[7even]

laker-fans would never admit that. to them it's always kobe is misunderstood, quoted wrong, wrongly accused of rape and all that.

[Citizen-Y]

laker-fans would never admit that. to them it's always kobe is misunderstood, quoted wrong, wrongly accused of rape and all that.

Oh I love your wacky and in your face posts.

[Don Jacob]

Some recent history: In 2004, following a 5-game loss to the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals, the Lakers traded Shaquille O'Neal. With that series in evidence, it seemed an odd choice. O'Neal had averaged 26.6 points on 63 percent shooting and almost 11 rebounds a game. Kobe Bryant, by contrast, played poorly through most of the series, scoring 22.6 a game on just 38 percent shooting. His success rate from behind the three-point line — where he tried his chances with regularity — was just 17 percent.


 
Shaq did his part in the 2004 finals. And then Kobe got him traded. (Jeff Haynes / Getty Images)

oh NIK, was it you that said shaq lost the finals for us? did you read that in some laker book, because i'm not the only one defending the fact that shaq did more than pull his weight.

[GangstaBoogy]

The Lakers were in no condition to play the Pistons in the 04 Finals. Too many internal issues, too many injuries, too man new players who didn't understand the triangle. The blame shouldn't all go to Shaq but it shouldn't all go to Kobe either.

[Don Jacob]

The Lakers were in no condition to play the Pistons in the 04 Finals. Too many internal issues, too many injuries, too man new players who didn't understand the triangle. The blame shouldn't all go to Shaq but it shouldn't all go to Kobe either.

no one is saying that. i was the one infact who said it was only kobe and shaq pulling any weight in that series , we got exploited everywhere else. NIK was the one shifting blame to one player

[GangstaBoogy]

The Lakers were in no condition to play the Pistons in the 04 Finals. Too many internal issues, too many injuries, too man new players who didn't understand the triangle. The blame shouldn't all go to Shaq but it shouldn't all go to Kobe either.

no one is saying that. i was the one infact who said it was only kobe and shaq pulling any weight in that series , we got exploited everywhere else. NIK was the one shifting blame to one player

NIK is a moron who doesn't deserve to be on the internet. Why even respond to him?

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

The Lakers were in no condition to play the Pistons in the 04 Finals. Too many internal issues, too many injuries, too man new players who didn't understand the triangle. The blame shouldn't all go to Shaq but it shouldn't all go to Kobe either.

no one is saying that. i was the one infact who said it was only kobe and shaq pulling any weight in that series , we got exploited everywhere else. NIK was the one shifting blame to one player

NIK is a moron who doesn't deserve to be on the internet. Why even respond to him?

Someone is upset that they've been called out on being  a Laker fan casual basketball fan who likes Kobe.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

"On the Mark: The Kobe Rules"     Mark Kriegel / FOXSports.com

 
 
 "Three years ago, after trading the greatest center since Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak defended his remaining superstar. "The accusation that Kobe broke up this team is not true," said Kupchak.

With that in mind, I now find myself waiting for Kupchak to dispel any suggestion that Kobe is campaigning for his exile.
After all, the general manager labors under a construct that might be called The Kobe Rules. To be a Laker is to know that Kobe gets what Kobe wants. The state of the franchise is in large measure a result of his desire for a team to call his very own.

The Kobe Rules
It's another off-season, and Kobe is complaining again. Now he wants a new GM, even though the current one has been all-too-willing to concede to every one of Bryant's demands. What should the Lakers do? Tell us your thoughts.
 
 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More coverage

Mark Kriegel's blog

Report: Kobe wants West back?

 

Some recent history: In 2004, following a 5-game loss to the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals, the Lakers traded Shaquille O'Neal. With that series in evidence, it seemed an odd choice. O'Neal had averaged 26.6 points on 63 percent shooting and almost 11 rebounds a game. Kobe Bryant, by contrast, played poorly through most of the series, scoring 22.6 a game on just 38 percent shooting. His success rate from behind the three-point line — where he tried his chances with regularity — was just 17 percent.

What's more, the Lakers' decision flew in the face of conventional wisdom, which regards the great big man as basketball's most rare and important commodity. Of course, by then the Lakers had dispatched with most forms of wisdom, conventional or otherwise. Kobe Bryant was sick and tired, in the words of his then and again coach, of being "a sidekick" to O'Neal. Hence, owner Jerry Buss, who loved Kobe more than he loved Shaq, exiled the big man. O'Neal went on to win a championship in Miami while the Lakers were left to perfect their skills at damage control, such as the aforementioned disclaimer Kupchak issued to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Now Kupchak — for whom Kobe's wishes are commands — faces banishment with but a year left on his contract. The other day Bryant informed the Los Angeles Times, yet again, of his displeasure with the way things have gone — or not gone, actually — this off-season. Kobe, like George Steinbrenner (who remains something of a bratty kid even as a septuagenarian) wants to win. He wants to win now. He wants to play for a guy who really wants to win. And like Steinbrenner, he has trouble moving on. Wouldn't you know it — Kobe is just crazy about former Lakers GM Jerry West.

"I trust him completely," says Bryant, who doesn't want "people believing me to be bashing anybody. Mitch is a great guy."

 
Shaq did his part in the 2004 finals. And then Kobe got him traded. (Jeff Haynes / Getty Images)

Great guy? In this town, that's a benediction for the walking dead.

Of course, as Kobe likes to say, he has no real power. "All I can do is offer my thoughts," he tells the Times.

Besides, there are greater concerns out here than Mitch Kupchak. Residents of Los Angeles are experiencing a kind of mass sympathy pain, as Bryant is up against his biological clock. At 28, he has already played 9,000 more minutes than a comparably aged Michael Jordan. Though this comparison neglects the several seasons Jordan spent in college, the point is well taken. Kobe is judged in relation to Jordan.

The old Jordan Rules pale in relation to the Kobe Rules. Phil Jackson, who coached them both, once wrote that he'd never seen anybody receive more "allowances" from management than Bryant, who even whined about the aircraft the Lakers helped provide him with during hearings for the rape case that was eventually dropped.

Bryant is the most talented player in the game, and often the most exciting. But unlike Jordan, he's not the best, nor does he seem to make his teammates much better. This past season was a terrible disappointment for the Lakers. They had their injuries, sure, most notably the one to Lamar Odom's shoulder. But they are not bereft of talent, and with a playoff spot on the line, they managed to lose 8 of their last 12 games. That wouldn't happen with a Jordan team. Jordan could be calculating and cruel, but he commanded the respect and awe of his teammates in Chicago.

The reverence for Kobe is more prevalent among the Buss family than it is in the locker room. Kobe gets what Kobe wants — even if he can't admit to wanting it.

So here he is with a team of his very own, and not much that can be done with it. Bryant makes almost $18 million a year. Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown — both coming off surgery — will take down more than $20 mil combined next season.

That's not to say there's no hope. After all, Jackson — who once vowed to leave unless Kupchak traded Kobe — was convinced, at the rate of $10 million per annum, to return to the Laker fold. So maybe Jerry West would come back, too, ace out his former protégé, and make everything better.

Already, I can see Kobe's plan manifest itself. With West in place, Bryant could suggest that he really misses his old pal Shaquille.

Eventually, there'd be a big press conference to "welcome home" the big guy.

Jerry West would deny that Kobe had anything to do with it."


Shit like this is why peeps think Kobe is a bitch.  Mitch backs him, and then Kobe sells him out in the media.   The article IS right about one thing.........Kobe is the most talented and most exciting player in the league, but he isn't the best, and doesn't make anyone else better.

And i forgot how great Oneal played in their last series together, and how horrible Kobe was.  Too bad Kobe and Shaq couldn't have put theri massive egos aside and won a couple of more chips.........i used to actually like the Lake show back then. 

LMFAO! Then you wonder why people say your opinions are media-influenced...This guy clearly hates Kobe. Am I wrong on that? He's saying Kobe gets what he wants? ahahahahahaha. Kobe wanted Boozer, Kobe wanted Kidd, Kobe wanted Baron Davis, Kobe wanted Butler to stay, Kobe wanted etc. etc. etc...This is the most pathetic and inaccurate article I have read in quite some time. Kobe was clearly on an uprise while Shaq was on a decline from 2002 on. The fact that he fails to acknowledge this shows how one sided this article is...Jordan made his teammates better and Kobe didn't? Jordan woulda' never lost like Kobe did? ahahahaha....Someone please remind this board of Jordan's teams prior to Pippen's arrival. This guy also said Kobe isn't the best player in the league ...And to top it all off, Kobe NEVER said anything about disliking Mitch either. In fact, he backs up Mitch. Leave it to tecee to post articles like this, claim this is why people think Kobe's a bitch, then claim the media has no influence on his opinion whatsoever...LOL.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

laker-fans would never admit that. to them it's always kobe is misunderstood, quoted wrong, wrongly accused of rape and all that.

Never understand what? Explain what Kobe did wrong based on this typical media-made hate article...LOL.

[GangstaBoogy]

The Lakers were in no condition to play the Pistons in the 04 Finals. Too many internal issues, too many injuries, too man new players who didn't understand the triangle. The blame shouldn't all go to Shaq but it shouldn't all go to Kobe either.

no one is saying that. i was the one infact who said it was only kobe and shaq pulling any weight in that series , we got exploited everywhere else. NIK was the one shifting blame to one player

NIK is a moron who doesn't deserve to be on the internet. Why even respond to him?

Someone is upset that they've been called out on being  a Laker fan casual basketball fan who likes Kobe.

Upset? Lol lil Niky you give yourself too much credit. I could care less what you say about me. You're opinions hold no credit my bitch.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Some recent history: In 2004, following a 5-game loss to the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals, the Lakers traded Shaquille O'Neal. With that series in evidence, it seemed an odd choice. O'Neal had averaged 26.6 points on 63 percent shooting and almost 11 rebounds a game. Kobe Bryant, by contrast, played poorly through most of the series, scoring 22.6 a game on just 38 percent shooting. His success rate from behind the three-point line — where he tried his chances with regularity — was just 17 percent.


 
Shaq did his part in the 2004 finals. And then Kobe got him traded. (Jeff Haynes / Getty Images)

oh NIK, was it you that said shaq lost the finals for us? did you read that in some laker book, because i'm not the only one defending the fact that shaq did more than pull his weight.

I never said Shaq fucked us in the finals, he fucked us in the long-run... but Ben Wallace DID have his card in that series. Anyone who denies this didn't watch.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

The Lakers were in no condition to play the Pistons in the 04 Finals. Too many internal issues, too many injuries, too man new players who didn't understand the triangle. The blame shouldn't all go to Shaq but it shouldn't all go to Kobe either.

no one is saying that. i was the one infact who said it was only kobe and shaq pulling any weight in that series , we got exploited everywhere else. NIK was the one shifting blame to one player

NIK is a moron who doesn't deserve to be on the internet. Why even respond to him?

Someone is upset that they've been called out on being  a Laker fan casual basketball fan who likes Kobe.

Upset? Lol lil Niky you give yourself too much credit. I could care less what you say about me. You're opinions hold no credit my bitch.

If you weren't upset, my nuts wouldn't be all up in your mouth in every other one of your posts in this section. What happened, woke up bloody today?

[jeromechickenbone]

LOL, Kobe absolutely put Mitch on blast.  He can't ask for Jerry West to replace Kupchak and act like that's not a slap in the face of the man who supported him blindly.  By Kobe saying he trusts West completely means that he doesn't trust Kupchak completely.

That's why Kobe is a bitch.  Be a fucking man and say Kupchak ain't bringin us talent to win, we NEED Jerry West.  Don't say you need Jerry West to make you a contender and then act like that's not what you're saying.  Fuckin man up, quit half steppin.  Kobe has bitch tendancies.  He can hide them for a while but they always come out in the end.