ESPN Page 2: Leave the scowl at home, Kobe - By Tim Keown

[night marcher01]

^ as you stated... "when it comes to liking/disliking..."

Why do we have to like or dislike them for their personality? If they weren't athletes, would you even care about them? Nope!

So that whole "person before athlete" is useless because at the end of the day, they are professional athletes aka ENTERTAINERS!

Just Watch. Enjoy. Deal with it... no need to try to understand them. Leave that to psychologists!

 

[Deleted member 38182]

Originally Posted by JD617

Originally Posted by TWISTA

I am suprised no writer hasnt said anything about garnett this postseason I think he would be the person that they should have made this artice about he runs his mouth more than anyone in the league and drops way more F bombs and I think he is just as fake as people make kobe out to be.

In a word: no. KG has been the same since he stepped foot in the league. He wears his emotions on his sleeve. Some people like him for it; a lot of people don't. But there's nothing fabricated or contrived about it. He doesn't spend time trying to portray a certain image. He just is who he is.

True.....to me the guy has just been a D bag all along. Not fake or anything.

 

[darthska]

Night Marcher01:

---

as you stated... "when it comes to liking/disliking..."

Why do we have to like or dislike them for their personality?
Whoever your favorite players are and whoever your least favorite players are, their personality plays a part in you being a fan. C'mon, man.

 

[daytona 5000]

Kobe is nothing but an arrogant wanna be tough guy rapist piece of LA punk trash.

 

[no vert]

DAYTONA 5000 wrote:

---

Kobe is nothing but an arrogant wanna be tough guy rapist piece of LA punk trash.

You are right especially, when he rapes almost any defender every night.

 

[darthska]

DAYTONA 5000:

---

Kobe is nothing but an arrogant wanna be tough guy rapist piece of LA punk trash.
*warned* for trolling

That comment provided nothing to do with the discussion going on, and comments like that definitely bring down the quality of the board.

 

[finnns2003]

i've always disliked kobe, from the moment he started trying to portray MJ on and off the court, to his phony personality, to his ballhawk style of play.even pop who is a lakers fan, isn't enamored with kobe.

 

[night marcher01]

Originally Posted by 23ska909red02

Night Marcher01:

---

as you stated... "when it comes to liking/disliking..."

Why do we have to like or dislike them for their personality?

Whoever your favorite players are and whoever your least favorite players are, their personality plays a part in you being a fan. C'mon, man.

Plays a part?

You don't really believe this do you? You can't just be a fan of the game? A fan of an athlete because of his skills?

Kobe isn't my favorite nor is he my least favorite... i'm just a fan because of how he plays on the court.

Same with Boxing, NFL, UFC, Actors, Artists... i'm a fan of many athletes/entertainers... but I don't know shizzz about their life.

 

[jefffort5]

Originally Posted by 23ska909red02

Night Marcher01:

---

as you stated... "when it comes to liking/disliking..."

Why do we have to like or dislike them for their personality?

Whoever your favorite players are and whoever your least favorite players are, their personality plays a part in you being a fan. C'mon, man.
exactly what im saying..if u watch it for entertainment or whateva..u have ur favorite and least favorite players

 

[jefffort5]

Originally Posted by Night Marcher01

Originally Posted by 23ska909red02

Night Marcher01:

---

as you stated... "when it comes to liking/disliking..."

Why do we have to like or dislike them for their personality?

Whoever your favorite players are and whoever your least favorite players are, their personality plays a part in you being a fan. C'mon, man.

Plays a part?

You don't really believe this do you? You can't just be a fan of the game? A fan of an athlete because of his skills?

Kobe isn't my favorite nor is he my least favorite... i'm just a fan because of how he plays on the court.

Same with Boxing, NFL, UFC, Actors, Artists... i'm a fan of many athletes/entertainers... but I don't know shizzz about their life.

its not about their life..its about their personality..if mike had still had his same skills but played as dirty as rodman..u would prolly say..hecan hoop..but i dont like homey that much/or i dont like what he does, etc.

 

[mjsaver]

Originally Posted by 23ska909red02

Whoever your favorite players are and whoever your least favorite players are, their personality plays a part in you being a fan. C'mon, man.

NAH, not in my case..

I like scorers so all of my fav players scorers or pg's who can score..

Its their type of game which will draw me to that player as a fan..

 

[night marcher01]

Originally Posted by jefffort5

Originally Posted by Night Marcher01

Originally Posted by 23ska909red02

Night Marcher01:

---

as you stated... "when it comes to liking/disliking..."

Why do we have to like or dislike them for their personality?

Whoever your favorite players are and whoever your least favorite players are, their personality plays a part in you being a fan. C'mon, man.

Plays a part?

You don't really believe this do you? You can't just be a fan of the game? A fan of an athlete because of his skills?

Kobe isn't my favorite nor is he my least favorite... i'm just a fan because of how he plays on the court.

Same with Boxing, NFL, UFC, Actors, Artists... i'm a fan of many athletes/entertainers... but I don't know shizzz about their life.

its not about their life..its about their personality..if mike had still had his same skills but played as dirty as rodman..u would prolly say..he can hoop..but i dont like homey that much/or i dont like what he does, etc.




I don't understand how you guys can try to tell ME how I view players/entertainers

I already stated the way I look at things, yet you're telling me elsewise.

 

[darthska]

Hmph.

Then there are definitely different roads people take to becoming a fan of a player.

Apparently, some people take the road where they measure what a player does on the court, what he does off the court, and who he appears to be as a person, andif they like all of that, they call theirself a fan of him.

And apparently, there are other people who measure what a guy does on the court, and that's it; if they like what they see, they call theirself a fan. Theydon't give a crap what he does off the court or who he appears to be as a person; they just like what they see when he's playing, and that's allthey need to be a fan.

Interesting.

Me personally, I definitely take that first road.

 

[jefffort5]

Originally Posted by 23ska909red02


And apparently, there are other people who measure what a guy does on the court, and that's it; if they like what they see, they call theirself a fan. They don't give a crap what he does off the court or who he appears to be as a person; they just like what they see when he's playing, and that's all they need to be a fan.

yea if this is the case..i dont understand how u can call urself a fan..but to each its own

 

[statis22]

Obviously this had built up over some time. I didn't take that game 2 display he put on seriously

But his sense of some kind of entitlement if quite a turn off for folks who may not follow him or the Lakers closely

 

[Lizakers]

Nobody knows these people in real life.


Why is that so hard to understand?

We all only know them as they are portrayed to us by the media.

We don't know Kobe. We don't know lebron.

As a fan, I only care about how they help my team win games.

 

[Lizakers]

Originally Posted by finnns2003

i've always disliked kobe, from the moment he started trying to portray MJ on and off the court, to his phony personality, to his ballhawk style of play. even pop who is a lakers fan, isn't enamored with kobe.

did you dislike all the players who did no-look passes like Magic? or players who copied Dr.J and David Thompson dunks?

Get out of here with that nonsense, the NBA is a game of recycled moves and dunks. Everyone learns from the best. We've all tried MJ moves on the courtplaying pick up games.

Lame

 

[mjsaver]

Take IVERSON for ex....

He had all the swagg, tattos, and ice in the league at one point..

But it was his skill that made me a fan of him on the court..[ his 1st game at the garden OMG!!]

He couldve been cool as hell, but if he played like S#$^ would you still have liked him???


If so wouldnt you be considered a fan of the MAN himself instead of the actual ATHLETE??

No sarcasm either, i think its a valid question??

 

[grittyman20]

I like this response from another thread...

This is the time of year when everyone becomes an amateur psychiatrist and tries to psychoanalyze Bryant's body language, shot attempts, lack of shot attempts, etc. We saw this phenomenon rear its ugly head during the 2008 Finals and it is cropping up again now. I just read an entire article devoted to criticizing Bryant for scowling. When Bernard King did this everyone praised his "game face"; when Michael Jordan screamed at teammates, punched Steve Kerr in the face or trash talked with opponents and/or courtside fans everyone raved about how singularly competitive he is. How about this: instead of getting sidetracked by Bryant's scowl or about how Houston's Daryl Morey is going to revolutionize the usage of basketball statistics, let's look at the real story of this series, the story that no one is talking about: despite all of Houston's scouting and all of Houston's detailed statistics--and despite having two All-Defensive Team players in Shane Battier and Ron Artest--Kobe Bryant is averaging 29.2 ppg versus the Rockets while shooting .475 from the field and .391 from three point range and he has his Lakers on the brink of advancing to the Western Conference Finals for the second year in a row. Scoring averages and shooting percentages tend to decline in the playoffs because the competition is tougher and because each team can zero in on their opponent's tendencies but whatever advantage the Rockets claim to have in terms of statistical preparation is not showing up where it counts the most: Bryant's raw individual numbers and, even more significantly, wins and losses. Instead of focusing on a scowl or on one play or on one game, it would be nice if members of the media who discuss this series had the necessary attention span/analytical ability/intellectual honesty/communication skills to not bury the lead under a mountain of gibberish.

 

[Lizakers]

Originally Posted by MJsaver

Take IVERSON for ex....

He had all the swagg, tattos, and ice in the league at one point..

But it was his skill that made me a fan of him on the court..[ his 1st game at the garden OMG!!]

He couldve been cool as hell, but if he played like S#$^ would you still have liked him???


If so wouldnt you be considered a fan of the MAN himself instead of the actual ATHLETE??

No sarcasm either, i think its a valid question??

exactly. it's like Mark Madsen. Great guy, great family man, gives a lot to charity.....but does he have a lot of fans? ummm NO

 

[nicedudewithnicedreams]

^ I personally know a Mark Madsen fan because he plays like him and respects his wacky energy...

Anyhow, while there are fans out there that only care about what the player does on the court only, there are also a lot more fans out there that care morethan the fact that the player is a basketball player. Unfortunately, a lot of younger fans look at these players as role models so what they do off the courtis important too. Remember, when a young fan sees an "Iverson" making it out of the "hood" and succeeding in the NBA, it can give them hopethat they can do that too. There are fans out there that want to relate to the player they like and admire.

Basketball players are entertainers at the end of the day. We can easily compare NBA basketball to the "rap game" as it is entertainment at the endof the day. If Kobe Bryant was a rapper, who would he be? Actually he had his own rap mini album...

This is where personality comes in. On and off the court. A very skilled rapper with no personality or "interesting hood story" will have a toughtime gaining the fans needed to be a superstar in the game. However, there is nothing wrong with that as how great you are should be defined by how many fansyou have or record sales. Most Kobe haters see Kobe as a very skilled rapper with no street cred but yet he still raps in that certain sub-rap genre. Kobeshould stay in his own lane yet he doesn't and some people don't like it. The reason is why Kobe? (of course why not...?)

Just bringing back sports and Kobe into the picture. I've pretty much tried explaining why Kobe is hated on besides the MJ comparisons before in anotherthread. There are fans out there young enough to not have seen MJ play live by the day...

I certainly respect Kobe Bryant as a basketball player, but why he doesn't act like more like a Tiger Woods on and off the court blows my mind. Why be likeMike when you can be Tiger?

 

[jefffort5]

Originally Posted by MJsaver

Take IVERSON for ex....

He had all the swagg, tattos, and ice in the league at one point..

But it was his skill that made me a fan of him on the court..[ his 1st game at the garden OMG!!]

He couldve been cool as hell, but if he played like S#$^ would you still have liked him???


If so wouldnt you be considered a fan of the MAN himself instead of the actual ATHLETE??

No sarcasm either, i think its a valid question??

to be honest..i think ivo got alot of his fans from not only being the player he is..but the image he portrayed..alot of ppl where i come fromcould relate to him...i kno alot of ppl who like ivo cuz he never changed the fact of what type of person he was for nobody and it had little to do with hisskill..but hey..whatever right?

 

[marath0n]

Love Kobe's game but Tim Keown is right.

 

[travman24]

Lol @ people that don't like Kobe because he plays like Mike sometimes. That's just stupid. Don't hate the man because he works his butt off to belike the best. Who else is he suspose to model his game after? He grew up watching Jordan. What player would model your game after?

 

[tmoney85]

This is the time of year when everyone becomes an amateur psychiatrist and tries to psychoanalyze Bryant's body language, shot attempts, lack of shotattempts, etc. We saw this phenomenon rear its ugly head during the 2008 Finals and it is cropping up again now. I just read an entire article devoted tocriticizing Bryant for scowling. When Bernard King did this everyone praised his "game face"; when Michael Jordan screamed at teammates, punchedSteve Kerr in the face or trash talked with opponents and/or courtside fans everyone raved about how singularly competitive he is. How about this: instead ofgetting sidetracked by Bryant's scowl or about how Houston's Daryl Morey is going to revolutionize the usage of basketball statistics, let's lookat the real story of this series, the story that no one is talking about: despite all of Houston's scouting and all of Houston's detailedstatistics--and despite having two All-Defensive Team players in Shane Battier and Ron Artest--Kobe Bryant is averaging 29.2 ppg versus the Rockets whileshooting .475 from the field and .391 from three point range and he has his Lakers on the brink of advancing to the Western Conference Finals for the secondyear in a row. Scoring averages and shooting percentages tend to decline in the playoffs because the competition is tougher and because each team can zero inon their opponent's tendencies but whatever advantage the Rockets claim to have in terms of statistical preparation is not showing up where it counts themost: Bryant's raw individual numbers and, even more significantly, wins and losses. Instead of focusing on a scowl or on one play or on one game, it wouldbe nice if members of the media who discuss this series had the necessary attention span/analytical ability/intellectual honesty/communication skills to notbury the lead under a mountain of gibberish.



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