Kobe goes ballistic on Odom

[nsentv]

From MSNBC.com

Kobe Bryant may be remaking his image off the court, but the Los Angeles Lakers guard reportedly is showing more of a nasty side on the court.

And a lot of the nastiness is directed at his teammates.

The New York Post said people sitting near L.A.'s bench for the Rockets and Wizards games were flabbergasted at the things he screamed at his teammates.

The Post also reported Friday more about a major confrontation between Bryant and teammate Lamar Odom after the Lakers? loss at Washington.

The confrontation reportedly led to smashing of lights and damaging of a TV monitor belonging to the Lakers' flagship station in front of the visitors? locker room.

Bryant was angry at Odom for supposedly botching a pick-and-roll that was to set up a three-point shot for Bryant that could have tied the game, the Post said.

The newspaper said as the pair got closer to the Lakers' dressing room, Bryant was yelling at Odom. Odom yelled back and that's when Bryant reportedly went after Odom. In doing so, The Post said Bryant kicked over the lights and a chair holding the TV monitor. The newspaper said Bryant?s security force of two quickly intervened and separated the pair.

The Post said they again exchanged heated words and challenges in the locker room and that the tension was so intense one of the security guys accompanied Odom to the back of the charter bus and sat nearby on the trip to the airport while the other sat in the front with Kobe, the last member of the Lakers to board.

[Brass]

Kobe has turned into a jackass.

[RickV]

Kobe has turned into a jackass.

What do you mean "turned into"? That implies he once wasnt, one.

[Cyclopsis Joe]

Dance puppets dance!

[TBGKon]

The newspaper said Bryant?s security force of two quickly intervened and separated the pair.

force of 2??? oh gosh, now I'm scared...lol

[gashouser27]

kobe kobe kobe

team player!!!

[Sodboy13]

Listen, as long as Kobe gets his 40 shots a game, he's all about the team concept.

How about the flagrant elbow against Memphis the other night and the subsequent "you don't drive the lane in our house, or that's what you get" b.s.? This is professional basketball, not Rucker Park. And even there, busting out the Laimbeer elbow would get you a well-deserved beatdown.

I think Kobe needs some time away from the game to gather himself and get his head on straight. I hear Colorado's nice this time of year.

[HowBoutThemFins]

Kobe has turned into a jackass.

He's always been a jackass. People fault Shaq for not aknowledging him and what not when they play eachother, but it's things like this that keep him and others from doing so. I'm glad Kobe's failing although I like Odom.

[Starchild]

Let the Odom-to-NY rumors begin!

[Seadragon76]

I think Kobe needs some time away from the game to gather himself and get his head on straight. I hear Colorado's nice this time of year.

What? No, no, no. What Kobe needs is a place where they actually stress the team concept. Since the Zen Master has basically let Kobe run wild (in a sense), the team thing is out of the picture in La-La land.

So, how about this: One jackass for another. Since the Lakers are pining for Ron Artest, how about they ship Kobe to Indiana for Artest. Being in Indiana might change Kobe.

[CS85]

Kobe Bryant is an .

That's, sadly, all I got.

[nsentv]

Also, Kobe's going to get suspended for that elbow against the Grizzlies. I don't remember the last time he was suspended. It was probably that fight he and Reggie Miller had a couple of years ago.

[FiddySicks]

Heres another dandy from bryant himself

League suspends Bryant for two games due to elbowing incident

[See Red]

Listen, as long as Kobe gets his 40 shots a game, he's all about the team concept.

How about the flagrant elbow against Memphis the other night and the subsequent "you don't drive the lane in our house, or that's what you get" b.s.? This is professional basketball, not Rucker Park. And even there, busting out the Laimbeer elbow would get you a well-deserved beatdown.

I think Kobe needs some time away from the game to gather himself and get his head on straight. I hear Colorado's nice this time of year.

Did you only see the last half of that highlight package? Or did you intentionally not mention the fact that it was well-deserved retaliation for a cheap shot from Mike Miller earlier in the game? If I was Kobe, I'd be extremely pissed off at everyone of my teammates on the Lakers -- they're absolutely awful. Aside from Lamar Odom, and he's nothing special, either, how many of his teammates even get playing time on any other NBA team?

Kobe Bryant has taken 6 more shots than Allen Iverson this year... why doesn't AI get called a ball hog in every post about him?

[Starchild]

Kobe is, and always has been an a-hole.

His finest moment though, was a game against the Knicks in 1999 I believe, when Chris Childs decked him. Nothing brings a smile to the face quite like that.

[nsentv]

His finest moment though, was a game against the Knicks in 1999 I believe, when Chris Childs decked him. Nothing brings a smile to the face quite like that.

I think it was 2001. I remember, because I was psyched for that game, which started at six, and fell asleep before the theme music started. Also, I think that was the last game the Lakers lost until Game 1 of the Finals.

Kobe Bryant has taken 6 more shots than Allen Iverson this year... why doesn't AI get called a ball hog in every post about him?

Allen Iverson gets more unfair criticism than anyone in the NBA. There's no shortage of uninformed sportswriters who don't seem to see that he's matured in the past year and hold his post-dress code comments over him.

That being said, there is a certain amount of criticism that Kobe gets over AI. That's because Kobe was a loved, fawned-over player all the way up until May 15, 2003. Then, the Spurs knocked the hell out of the Lakers, which was followed by the rape charges, the 2004 season and Finals, and the trade of Shaq. Because of how far Kobe has fallen in just under three years, there's a lot more anger at him than at AI, who was mostly-hated from the very beginning.

[See Red]

I'm not saying that AI doesn't get undeserved criticism from those that cover the game. But why doesn't he get called a ball hog by fans, like Kobe does? Kobe has absolutely no talent around him -- he's the only reason that team wins any ball games (sort of like AI and the Sixers). There only hope is Kobe taking 30 shots a game.

[brinkeguthrie]

Kobe is, and always has been an a-hole.

His finest moment though, was a game against the Knicks in 1999 I believe, when Chris Childs decked him. Nothing brings a smile to the face quite like that.

i thought he was a punk. is that worse than an a-hole?

[Sodboy13]

I'm not saying that AI doesn't get undeserved criticism from those that cover the game. But why doesn't he get called a ball hog by fans, like Kobe does? Kobe has absolutely no talent around him -- he's the only reason that team wins any ball games (sort of like AI and the Sixers). There only hope is Kobe taking 30 shots a game.

Oh, don't worry, AI *is* a ball hog. Always has been. Still can't shoot, but damned if he isn't gonna chuck it all day.

It brings me joy when Kobe or AI tosses up 40-plus in a loss. And I agree with the comment that Phil Jackson is basically letting Kobe have his run of the place - I remember reading a few weeks ago that Jackson and Bryant had agreed to "mutually tolerate" each other. Gosh, if that doesn't set off a few warning bells, what does?

[VandyDelphia Mike]

There really was no reason to bring up Allen Iverson in a thread about Kobe Bryant going ballistic on Lamar Odom, but since the proverbial Pandora's box has been opened ...

1) I'll at least say that Iverson has more around him than Bryant does with their respective ball clubs. Webber I'll take as a second option over Odom. Who on the Lakers can shoot like Korver? What young upcoming talent on the Lakers compares to Iguodala?

2) As was mentioned, when Kobe scored 62 in three quarters, he tallied zero assists. Allen averages 33 points and seven assists a game, and at times when he does go 40+. will even throw in 10+ assists for good measure.

3) For all of Iverson's faults, there is the fact that no one was ever going to confuse him for Mr. Squeaky-Clean, the heir apparent to Jordan for being the face of the league. Better yet, AI may very well be the face of the league, but the league is not too keen on that fact. The fall from grace of Kobe Bryant from marketer's dream to avoid-at-all-costs to slowly being re-accepted as a viable marketable figure puts any of Iverson's episodes to shame. After all, the media already had him in the gutter, so how can he get any lower? Kobe had a pedestal from which to fall.

Lastly, in defense of both players, if your teammates are deferring to you, and continuing to feed you the ball, isn't it a natural inclination to chuck it up? It's another story if you have teammates griping that the star is looking for h is at the expense of other players' ability to contribute. Again, I don't see this happening on the Sixers or Lakers, since the respective teammates seem pretty complicit in allowing AI and Kobe to shoot at will.