OT - Kobe Bryant done for the year
Kobe Bryant is out for rest of season. From ESPN's online article
Bryant has been sidelined since Dec. 17 with a fracture of the lateral tibial plateau in his left knee. He also missed the Lakers' first 19 games while recovering from a torn Achilles in his left leg suffered last season.
After 18 years in the league, is Father Time telling him it's time to hang up the sneakers?
LeBron, in my eyes, will never be held in as high regard as Michael Jordan for one simple reason.
LeBron could not build a team around him and win on his own. He had to force the team to let him go, and go build a 'dream team' to win championships. Michael Jordan did it the noble way. He put a bunch of scrubs and a solid player on his back and willed his team to the playoffs and championship almost single handidly.
What LeBron did, and what players in general are doing now, is a travesty to the sport. I am glad i no longer watch that horseshit they call NBA basketball. Only thing i do now is lookup the boxscore of how many rebounds Drummond got in a 20 point blowout loss.
That's just crap about Jordan.
Pippen was a HOF and one of the top 50 players in NBA history according to his peers. Horace Grant was a great rebounder and defender, and Phil Jackson is one of the best coaches in history. LeBron's best teammates were a breaking-down Big Z, Larry Hughes, or gun-toting nutcase Delonte West. Mike Brown was his head coach, who seems like a nice person but not much of a HC without James in his back pocket.
And I know people wax poetic about Jordan and how he "carried" teams to championships, but LeBron somehow took a team with Sasha Pavolovic and Drew Gooden starting to the NBA finals. Jordan is an all-time great, but guys didn't like playing with him and much of his success was due as much to having a set of talented, well-coached teams around him. Put LeBron on that 1996 team and he'd be just as good. That isn't meant to diminish Jordan, but acting like a basketball hipster because the current crop of guys are making a "travesty" of your precious NBA game ignores reality.
I mostly agree with what you are saying, but I have the feeling that if I saw Lebron D-Wade and Bosh at the local basketball courts to play pick-up bball, Lebron would somehow make sure those three were on the same team. While Jordan would want to go against the best guy out there.
March 12th, 2014 at 11:15 PM ^
I'm guessing you're young but maybe not. Anybody that watched the Bulls when Pistons were dominating them know all to well about Mr. Jordan. I used to hate him. Of course, he was the enemy. But as a fan of great talent ... over time ... I had to give him props. And then over more time, come to realize that I was watching greatness .... and over more time, realize I was watching the best ever.
I love Lebron. He's top 10 right now. You can compare Lebron to Kobe all day and it's a great argument. But to compare Lebron to Jordan is just ..... well lets just say ..... don't do it.
I won't even get into defense, and will to win, rings, and records, and winning percentage, and ability to take over a game when it matters, and clutch, .......
Instead, lets talk about your position on supporting cast. You'd be hard pressed to find a NBA fan during Bulls era that would tell you that Pippen is a top 250 player all time in NBA without Jordan on the court with him. Jordan truly dominated a game. He demanded double and triple teams. Pippen was a great player but he's not a top 50 player without Jordan. Pippen was long and athletic but didn't have a great shot and benefited HUGE by the other 5 guys all looking at MJ!
The second player you name is Horace Grant. That's why I question how much you actually watched Jordan's teams. Horace? Really? Replace Horace with Harvey and you'd see exact numbers. Again, Jordan demanded the double team and the collapsing defense. Horace, Cartwright, and Pippen made their living on cleaning up junk when the defense was focused on Jordan. Kerr has publicly said that he made his career off open 3 point shots when the defense was crashing on MJ. If Pippen, Grant, Cartwright, Kerr, etc are receiving NBA pensions .... they should be sending half of it to MJ ..... but he doesn't need it.
So Pippen. Yes, a great player. Not top 50. But the rest??? Grant? Kerr? Cartwright? Toni Kukoc? Ron Harper? ..... These are middle of the road NBA players.
Now Lebron goes to Miami where he plays with Dwade who had already established that he can win a ring by himselft. Very MJ like. Then brings Bosh with him. Not top 50 but a top 3 center in the league. And then a supporting cast .... just to make sure bases are covered ......
Lebron - 1st round
Wade - 1st round
Bosh - 1st round
Ray Allen -1st round
Shane Battier - 1st round
Michael Beasley - 1st round
Mario Chalmers - 2nd round
Udonis Haslem - undrafted but obviously should have been
Richard Lewis - 2nd round
Norris Cole - 1st round
You could make two winning NBA teams out of that roster. All day and any day!
So when people like me hear somebody say Lebron vs Kobe ..... I listen and think pro/con .... good topic.
But when I hear somebody say Lebron vs Jordan ..... ha i can only say ... Lebron has been close enough that he'd already have 6 rings if he was MJ.
"[Michael Jordan] put a bunch of scrubs and a solid player on his back and willed his team to the playoffs and championship almost single handidly."
"I am glad i no longer watch that horseshit they call NBA basketball."
I posit that you're not entirely familiar with the early '90s Bulls roster.
Aside from Pippen (who I think was an All-Star, but not a top 50 player) and Grant, who else did they have? BJ Armstrong was a good 3 point shooter and one of the first guys I remember who use to make a killing on the corner 3. John Paxson had a good jumper... Cartwright was a center... Was Jud Buchler on that early 90s team? Stacey King? I'm grasping for straws now...
So I'd say he wasn't two far off on his assessment.
Also met Luc Longley (center) at the hospital. His wife and mine were two rooms away when they delivered boys. Also a very nice guy.
Quick, someone get TWO cool story boxes!
Gettign talent to Chicago, as opposed to Cleveland, isn't hard.
What about San Antonio? They are able to someone acquire talent.
March 13th, 2014 at 11:12 PM ^
They've drafted and retained a lot of their talent. They're not exactly a hotbed for free agents, as I was referring to above. Also, Popp is one of the best coaches of all-time.
Can't wait until you come back next year.
Wishing u a speedy recovery.
Time to call it a career I think.
March 12th, 2014 at 11:04 PM ^