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

[davis]

Kobe > Author.

 

[eight2one]

Kobe can do whatever he wants as long as his game speaks for it.

 

[mez 0ne]

^ Exactly.

This is 14 pages of nonsense, guy is a top player in the league who cares if he isn't the "greatest" people person?

He is a guy who takes the game EXTREMELY seriously and backs it up on the court.

 

[downtown43]

Originally Posted by Osh Kosh Bosh

Originally Posted by tilberg

Originally Posted by JD617

We're talking about his weird obsession with walking, talking, acting, sounding etc EXACTLY like MJ.
borderline psychotic

exactly..
please check out the 1:12 mark here


see, this fool truly believes he's MJ
i bet when he looks back and visualizes the game he played the other night he sees himself wearing a red bulls uniform with 23 on it

His game winner against the suns was so obvious and uncomfortable awkward rip off of MJ.

so now when Kobe hits a buzzer beater he's trying tobe like MJ?

i guess he should have passed the ball to Sasha instead of trying to be the hero, right..?

NT is jokes for days.

 

[CP1708]

^
Downtown, that's not what he's saying, he's talkin about the clenched fist afterwards, not the shot itself.

It was straight from the game 1 winner MJ hit vs the Jazz in the finals.


You guys gotta lighten up a little. Yes this is 14 pages, but we're talking about an elite. Not Derek Fisher or someone like that, one of the elitebasketball players of all time. People dissect what Tiger does, they'll dissect what Bron does, what A-Rod does, what MJ did. It comes with theterritory. I for one have enjoyed most of the thoughts and opinions in this thread, whether I agreed with them or not. People are at least thinking outsidethe box and offering a different view, nothin wrong with that.

 

[osh kosh bosh]

When I saw this I was like dude is INVITING comparisons.

It's all right to not like players it's part of being a sports fan, anyone who is denying this is silly.

I like Barry Bonds you don't see me crying for people to stop hating on Barry?

Nah.

 

[CP1708]

^
Anyone got the Jordan one so they can see how similar it looks?

 

[do be doo]

Originally Posted by MJsaver

Originally Posted by Lizaker4Lizife

People on NT actin like they know this stranger in his personal life

We all only know what he does ON the court and what the media portrays to us.

None of us have hung out with dude or seen him day-to-day in his personal life.

Shame on all of you who act like you know him

NT takes this too seriously

QFT...

Dudes trying to analyze his personality, just watch the games....

thats what i was thinking....

at nt...

 

[illoquent aka dsk]

Originally Posted by 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.

Great post.

Originally Posted by Pretty Toney

Probably because....we don't know them perhaps?

I know (insert professional athlete here) as just that....an ATHLETE. I don't converse and interact with this person myself in order to formulate an opinion about how I feel about anything he does that doesn't involves playing basketball.

I don't go around forming opinions about cashiers, mailmen, garbagemen, sales associates, etc. that doesn't relate to anything but their job responsibilities. Perhaps it's part of the gift and curse of being a celebrity/professional athlete because you're life is put on front street for the world's view as opposed to any of the people in the professions I just named...but personally, the same theory still applies. If a person says they don't like Kobe because they don't like his style of play...they think he's a ballhog...they think he's an overrated defender...he gambles too much...bad shot selection...I can't argue with that. I can have a different opinion...but I have no problems with it because it's pertaining to what these guys do for a living and how we know them...playing basketball. When a person starts trying to decipher his personality, question his mannerisms, and have well drawn opinions about his personal life...that's just OD to me. It's almost like your looking for these athletes as some sort of role models to fill some sort of void in your lives.

I grew up in similar conditions as Allen Iverson. Single mother...rough areas at times...moved around alot during my early stages...had a brief period trying to follow the wrong individuals. He's been my favorite player (He and Kobe are 1a and 1b to me) since his freshman year of Georgetown...and I can honestly say his image had NOTHING to do with this. I've never looked at Iverson and I said "I think this guy is a cool dude". If you ask me why I like Allen Iverson I'll tell you because he's one of the most athletically gifted individuals the sport has seen and I've always marveled at his ability to score at will with such speed and agility, yet being much smaller than the average sized athlete in the professional ranks. I'm not going to tell you something like "He keeps it real, he came from the hood like me, he never changed, he says what he wants, etc."...and that's because I couldn't care less. Allen Iverson is a man just like myself...and I don't know him. I can't have a legit opinion about the guy if I don't know him.

I don't know being a fan of a professional athlete meant that you had to follow every facet of their lives and decipher their mannerisms and off the court activity.

I've always kept athletes/entertainers in that regard...

That's why you're one of the few dudes I find myself agreeing with most of the time...keepin' it 100. Good !%#!.

Originally Posted by Pretty Toney

Originally Posted by mYToAsterspeak

I'll never forget that PLAYOFF game when Kobe took just 2 shots in the 2nd half just to prove a point. Or how about letting his team lose a 20 point lead in a FINALS game. What about when he lost by 30 in a FINALS closeout game. Oh yeah, how about being so "GREAT", that you're the last player in the league people would wanna play with. Get over Laker stans, dude is a fraud and yall know it. No more championships for the Lakers, at least not while Bron playing.

Comments like these are why it's hard to have a legit debate in this forum...because alot of people fuel their comments with pure hatred instead of legit and honest criticism.

And it's not just the S&T forum either...it happens a lot in Music too. I say it time and time again...+%!*+$ be letting their feelings orbiases cloud their judgment on making an objective analysis/opinion. It's quite silly.

 

[jefffort5]

Originally Posted by Pretty Toney

Originally Posted by 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

Probably because....we don't know them perhaps?

I know (insert professional athlete here) as just that....an ATHLETE. I don't converse and interact with this person myself in order to formulate an opinion about how I feel about anything he does that doesn't involves playing basketball.

I don't go around forming opinions about cashiers, mailmen, garbagemen, sales associates, etc. that doesn't relate to anything but their job responsibilities. Perhaps it's part of the gift and curse of being a celebrity/professional athlete because you're life is put on front street for the world's view as opposed to any of the people in the professions I just named...but personally, the same theory still applies. If a person says they don't like Kobe because they don't like his style of play...they think he's a ballhog...they think he's an overrated defender...he gambles too much...bad shot selection...I can't argue with that. I can have a different opinion...but I have no problems with it because it's pertaining to what these guys do for a living and how we know them...playing basketball. When a person starts trying to decipher his personality, question his mannerisms, and have well drawn opinions about his personal life...that's just OD to me. It's almost like your looking for these athletes as some sort of role models to fill some sort of void in your lives.

I grew up in similar conditions as Allen Iverson. Single mother...rough areas at times...moved around alot during my early stages...had a brief period trying to follow the wrong individuals. He's been my favorite player (He and Kobe are 1a and 1b to me) since his freshman year of Georgetown...and I can honestly say his image had NOTHING to do with this. I've never looked at Iverson and I said "I think this guy is a cool dude". If you ask me why I like Allen Iverson I'll tell you because he's one of the most athletically gifted individuals the sport has seen and I've always marveled at his ability to score at will with such speed and agility, yet being much smaller than the average sized athlete in the professional ranks. I'm not going to tell you something like "He keeps it real, he came from the hood like me, he never changed, he says what he wants, etc."...and that's because I couldn't care less. Allen Iverson is a man just like myself...and I don't know him. I can't have a legit opinion about the guy if I don't know him.

I don't know being a fan of a professional athlete meant that you had to follow every facet of their lives and decipher their mannerisms and off the court activity.

I've always kept athletes/entertainers in that regard...

feel what u saying..but this is what i get from what u saying

lets say its two rappers...both of them can rap real good...respectable rappers..but they have no personality at all..they dont standout or anything..thenwhat? i can listen to them..but only for so long..wiht no personality or anything of that nature its gets boring..personality its part of entertainment...its adiff between how katt williams tells jokes and how bill cosby tells jokes..and its who they are as a person...if allen iverson didnt come from where he camefrom..would he play the same and be the same player?? i doubt it..i understand what u saying..but do u get what im saying

 

[nicedudewithnicedreams]

^ haha. always easier to bring in the rap game like I said earlier. Especially considering being fake is frowned upon...

 

[tmukg21]

he fist pumps like MJ, the man can't fist pump after a game winner? Let me guess, MJ was the first fist pumper?
(Least we forget he literally carried the Lakers for all these years with almost no help until recent trades and player maturation

)