There is a new Los Angeles Lakers franchise scoring king and his name is Kobe Bryant. Bryant scored 44 points albeit in a losing effort to the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night. The Lakers lost the game 95-93, but Bryant passed Laker great Jerry West to take away a little of the sting of the loss. This is just another great accomplishment in the career of Kobe Bryant. Scoring the most points in the Lakers storied franchise is one hell of a accomplishment…
Kobe has been as clutch a player as the Lakers have ever had. He demands the ball at crunch time
Kobe is the new Laker scoring king.
and is not afraid to take the shot when the game is on the line. I have been a Laker fan for over thirty years and have seen Magic Johnson and Showtime. Kobe has put on his own brand of showtime since he has been a Laker. As a fan, you love the ball in Kobe’s hands whether he shots or passes the ball. He is the closest thing that you will ever see to the great Michael Jordan. Kobe leaves everthing on the court and gets the most out of his teamates. He loves to win and hates to lose ala Jordan. You can’t ask for much more as a fan. He represents all the Laker greats and knows he is just a part of their winning history. He has humility to go along with his greatness.
Kobe has won four championships and is eyeing a fifth. Everybody thought he would never win one without Shaquille O’neal ,but he did it last year. He was driven to come out from under his shawdow. Kobe is always motivated ,and one more title would put him ahead of Shack for his career. I love Kobe’s chances of pulling off number five. You can call in one for the thumb. Kobe will not be denied and that is why he is a favorite among Laker fans. Congratulations to the new Laker scoring king, Kobe Bryant.
Allen Iverson is finished. The Denver Nuggets figured it out. The Detroit Pistons figured it out. The Memphis Grizzlies figured it out. The only people that haven’t are Allen Iverson and 76ers GM Ed Stefanski.
Since Iverson’s arrival, the Sixers are 2-8. This is the identical record that the Memphis Grizzlies sported before cutting ties with the malcontent prima donna of the NBA. Iverson has played in just 5 of 10 games since his arrival, landing on the injured list again with knee arthritis. While just logging 29 minutes per game, Iverson has done very little to even aggravate an injury. Father time is just making his final call.
Iverson’s arrival was supposed to generate fan interest, put butts in seats and open eyeballs at home on the TV. So far, it has done nothing but deliver the same distraction it did in Memphis. Since Iverson’s return, the team’s attendance has not improved outside of the spectacle surrounding his initial return game. The Sixers still languish at the bottom of the NBA in attendance with an average of 13,000 showing up for games. Essentially, the arena is barely half-full and you can hear a pin drop.
The damage Iverson is causing is severe to this franchise. Since being cut from Memphis, the Grizzlies are 11-8 and talk is abuzz about the team perhaps getting into the playoffs. The Iverson drama eliminated team camaraderie and caused internal dysfunction. The coach wasn’t allowed to coach, the team wasn’t allowed to play. A tailoring to Iverson’s needs were necessary and it sunk the team.
The same is happening in Philadelphia at this moment. The players have lost faith in the coach and the organization. Quarrels are occurring between players and the coach and organization’s moves are being questioned by the players. It is the worst case scenario and Iverson is the middle of all of it, even if he isn’t showing up for “practice”.
Philadelphia is a fickle sports town. If you don’t win, the fans don’t show up. The town doesn’t like losers and the Sixers are the epitome the word. Philly fans don’t ask for much, just some consistentcy. How can you explain Andy Reid’s tenure if they demanded championships? This isn’t New York, Philly fans just want to see wins.
The Sixers can still get out from the contract they signed with Iverson. The contract doesn’t become guaranteed until January 8th when they become responsible for his riding the exercise bike and earning a paycheck for doing nothing but destroy the franchise further. Iverson’s contract is the difference between paying $0.50 less for a hot dog or beer at the game. Right now, I think the Philly fans would prefer the discount at the concession stand.
During the December 8th taping of the Mike and Mike in The Morning Show on ESPN 2, co-host Mike Golic went on a tirade during a segment that discussed the recent 60 Minutes interview wherein disgraced former referee Tim Donaghy accused the NBA and it officials of being in collusion to aid certain teams with marketing value to get beneficial calls.
During the 60 Minutes interview, Donaghy shares that the NBA provided instructions on how they wanted officiating improved. An example, confirmed by the NBA, was a directive about fouls calls not being called on behalf of one of its biggest stars Kobe Bryant. Donaghy used this information to win seven bets knowing that the directive would lead to beneficial game calls in the Lakers favor.
Golic’s tirade, with Mike Russo’s support, chastised fans for believing that a league could fix games and the truth behind those fixes not get out. Both jumped on fans stating that it would have to start at the top of the NBA, coming down from Commissioner David Stern to Stu Jackson to a team owner to a head coach. Too many to keep it quiet, that everyone would have to be in on it. That questions that the Pau Gasol trade from Memphis to Los Angeles was fixed to help the Lakers win were absurd. Golic demanded from the fan that emailed him to provide the “proof”.
If Golic needs proof of possible collusion, all he needs to do is read up on the NBA’s revenue sharing agreement amongst team owners. Adopted at the end of the 2007-2008 season, the agreement provides for $49 million to “qualifying teams” to help close the gap between high and low-revenue teams. More interestingly, the league doesn’t disclose the formula for how the money is doled out to these “qualifying teams”.
Noted in the Street & Smith’s article is that one of the leaders of the proposal to increase revenue sharing by 63% from $30 million to $49 million was the owner of the Memphis Grizzlies, Michael Heisley. Coincidentally, the proposal was approved just weeks after Memphis traded its star player, Pau Gasol to the Los Angeles Lakers in a highly criticized, unbalanced trade that helped send the Los Angeles Lakes back to the championship game.
While there is no smoking gun, Mr. Golic needs to take a deep breath and realize that revenue sharing agreements structured in this manner do not give incentive for smaller market teams to attempt to compete. The NBA stands to profit more by having its large market teams win and rewarding teams like Memphis with revenue sharing dollars by aiding those large market teams with unbalanced trades.
Clearly, Golic should offer up an apology to the listener he chastised. The NBA doesn’t deserve a free pass until to opens up the books and shares specifically what money is distributed out to what teams under the revenue sharing agreement.
If Golic and Russo are truly newsmen, they would demand Commissioner Stern to come onto the show, answer some tough question and open the books on the revenue sharing agreement. If there is nothing hide, Stern doesn’t need his lawyers his present and has everything to gain by putting this to rest.
If you haven’t heard, Allen Iverson decided to retire this week from basketball. Obviously you heard, as it has been the ongoing saga story now for a week even after the lowly New York Knicks took a pass on A.I. and decided not to offer him a contract through the end of this season.
Since his announcement, his former coaches Larry Brown and John Thompson have come to the defense of the poster child for selfishness. Brown has shared that he still has “the passion to play” and Thompson sharing he should not “retire due to frustration”.
Here’s my two cents…perhaps he should retire because he no longer has what it takes to play in the NBA and will be a disease to any team that decides to bring him on.
While Coach Brown talks a good game about Iverson and his value, he has no interest in bringing him onto the Charlotte Bobcats bench with him. He uses excuses such as being overloaded at the guard position despite his team sporting a 4-9 record at the time of Iverson’s retirement announcement. The Bobcats flat out stink, are not building the framework for a future team and Iverson’s arrival would actually get people to show up and watch a team of bench players on the court in Charlotte. It’s the perfect environment for Iverson…and Coach Brown won’t take him.
What NBA team executives understand about Iverson are the only factors that matter. They understand he lacks defensive skills, doesn’t include his teammates in the game well, has a penchant for not showing up for practices and most recently, no longer has the quickness that allowed him to play great one-on-one basketball.
Most of Iverson’s fans defend him by pointing to his stats. His points scored, his steals and his ability to play one-on-one basketball. These don’t mean a thing. All that really matters is wins, which is not a stat that Iverson rates high on the totem pole amongst NBA greats. In his career, in games he has played, Iverson has garnered a .531 winning percentage. This is abysmal for a player many say is one of the best of the decade.
The final word on Allen Iverson is that he is not a winner and Larry Brown cemented his legacy as one of the truly great coaches due to his handling of Iverson. The championship game run by that 2000-2001 team was defined by terrific team defense. Brown’s coaching genius was realized when he figured out that the only way to offset Iverson’s selfishness on offense was to not let the other team score when they were on defense.
Recent reports now have the Philadelphia 76ers contemplating bring Iverson back for a second round with the team. Before making that offer, Ed Stefanski would be wise to watch the replay of the infamous press conference that will always be the legacy that Iverson leaves behind, regardless if a desperate team decides to give him one more shot.
