2012-13 NBA Season Thread

[OnWis97]

Kobe Bryant was an instrumental part of five championship teams, spanning two completely lineups. Of all the "new Jordans" after MJ left in 1998, Kobe was the closest to matching his legacy.

Yes but if Kobe does not go to LA (AKA "the free agent magnet") it's an entirely different story. I don't particularly think Kobe's overrated but the rings argument, even with two different teams, is flawed when one guy demands his way to the Lakers while some other toil away in, oh I don't know, Cleveland for seven years.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

EDIT: Hold the phone, I don't know anything. Shaq and Kobe arrived at the same time and my entire premise is flawed.

[zpqmaowl]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqx3btWttqI

[Lights Out]

That was hilariously awkward. I'm surprised ESPN even showed that whole argument with full sound and everything.

[Breakwood]

So the Raptors won again. They really are ten times better without Bargnani.

[dfwabel]

Royce White was a guest on the Slate.com sports podcast, "Hang Up and Listen" to discuss his suspension and some of his issues.

The transcript and podcast audio can be seen HERE.

Here is a portion:

STEFAN: You had someone that worked with you very closely at Iowa State, sort of someone that was your guy. To make sure that you understood what the plans were. To make sure that on a daily basis your expectations were clear about what was required of you to play. You’ve mentioned on Twitter a lot about a “protocol” that you’d like to establish. In my mind, a lot of that is sort of groundbreaking for professional sports. You want to set a sort of precedent for how athletes with mental health issues can work with teams to ensure that they compete and train in a safe environment. What specifically though, Royce, are you seeking from that protocol? What is it that the team—whether it’s the owner or the front office, whoever—what is it the team has not been able to come to agreement with you on a plan?

ROYCE WHITE: Well, there’s two pieces to it. One is that, you know, under ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] law, anybody who has a disability in the work place, and if your job has over 50 employees, your job is required to accommodate you and the accommodation does need to be reasonable. That is stated in the law. The protocol here is just that, you know, when a medical situation arises, dealing with the mental-health-related symptoms, that a medical professional take the lead on how to move forward. Whether that be not moving at all, whether that be moving slow, whether that be moving at 100 miles an hour. Somebody that’s qualified and trained to give medical advice is the person who is at the lead of that. And I think that’s very logical and sensible. And to allow somebody like Daryl Morey, for example, to take the lead on that situation with having no medical training, is not only illogical but at the bare minimum it’s very unsafe.

STEFAN: What comes to my mind, there are two things. The level of support to help you get the deal that you need in order to work safely, but also this larger question of, are you pressing these issues because you really believe you can’t function without something very, very specific? Or has this become about something larger for you?

ROYCE WHITE: It has become something bigger, I think. It was never my intention for it to become a big political thing or a social type of issue. I really didn’t intend for that to happen. I think it happened because the mental illness community by default is one that is (a) very quiet, and I am very unique to that group in that I’m not quiet. And (, it’s just something that we’ve been avoiding for years and years. I mean we have players that are actually in the NBA right now with mental health issues probably even on my team. And there’s no protocol in place. So that just tells you there’s an issue out there that’s being talked about but it’s never being acted on. Now, talking about Iowa State, I think is very tough in terms of support, right? Because, you can’t even compare the two, and the reason why is because in college, the coach is the head honcho. OK, what Fred Hoiberg says at Iowa State goes. And what Kevin McHale says here in Houston is, it’s kind of neither here nor there, you know, when you’re talking about front office issues. Coach Hoiberg doesn’t really have a boss. The AD, yeah. But the AD really gives all the power back to him. I think at the end of the day, you’re never going to see the same kind of support on a professional team that you would at a college team just because there’s not the money factor involved for the players, and that adds a different dynamic, and ( is just because the structure is set up different.

[CS85]

Kobe talked with ESPN The Mag and had a hilariously ballsy interview. Observe:

On why he only has 1 MVP: Because I played with Shaq. It’s that simple. A lot of the time we cancelled each other out. I sacrificed a lot playing with him. I really did. I did it for the success of the team. If I never played with him, my numbers would have been ridiculous.

On dropping 33 on Jordan when he was 19: I wasn’t scared or nervous back then when I played Jordan. He looked at me like he was going to f--- me up but I had to let him know that I wasn’t that guy.

If he played 1 on 1 with LeBron: Me. No question. As far as one-on-one, I’m the best to ever do it.

If he ever grew his hair out: It would be a struggle. It would be awfully thin up front. There would be a two-month period where people would look at me like, what the f--- is going on. It would just be messed up.

Biggest pet peeve: I hate dog s---. I won’t go near it. So pissed when I step in it.

He also funnily claims to have destroyed Tracy McGrady's back by dominating him so hard in 1 on 1, thus ruining his career.

[Gary]

Alvin Gentry fired as Head Coach of the Suns

[Still MIGHTY]

Kobe talked with ESPN The Mag and had a hilariously ballsy interview. Observe:

On why he only has 1 MVP: Because I played with Shaq. It’s that simple. A lot of the time we cancelled each other out. I sacrificed a lot playing with him. I really did. I did it for the success of the team. If I never played with him, my numbers would have been ridiculous.

On dropping 33 on Jordan when he was 19: I wasn’t scared or nervous back then when I played Jordan. He looked at me like he was going to f--- me up but I had to let him know that I wasn’t that guy.

If he played 1 on 1 with LeBron: Me. No question. As far as one-on-one, I’m the best to ever do it.

If he ever grew his hair out: It would be a struggle. It would be awfully thin up front. There would be a two-month period where people would look at me like, what the f--- is going on. It would just be messed up.

Biggest pet peeve: I hate dog s---. I won’t go near it. So pissed when I step in it.

He also funnily claims to have destroyed Tracy McGrady's back by dominating him so hard in 1 on 1, thus ruining his career.

Everybody can go kick rocks. I love that Kobe Bryant.

[The_Admiral]

Yeah, see, that's the happy medium we need between "I dunno it was a good game and all and we played hard and we're taking it one game at a time and stuff" and "I've tasted your wife." People better not get mad.

[FiddySicks]

I hope opposing fans start flinging dog s**t at Kobe during games.

[pmoehrin]

Alvin Gentry fired as Head Coach of the Suns

To me its a case of a coach getting fired because the team sucks, which is usually the case, but I didn't know what people were really expecting out of the Suns this year. Who would is going to be afraid of a team where Goran Dragic is the best player?

If your looking to fire somebody, fire Michael Beasley. For a player with as much talent as Beasley has to be putting up the kind of numbers he's putting up is nothing short of pathetic.

[Lights Out]

Kobe talked with ESPN The Mag and had a hilariously ballsy interview. Observe:

On why he only has 1 MVP: Because I played with Shaq. It’s that simple. A lot of the time we cancelled each other out. I sacrificed a lot playing with him. I really did. I did it for the success of the team. If I never played with him, my numbers would have been ridiculous.

On dropping 33 on Jordan when he was 19: I wasn’t scared or nervous back then when I played Jordan. He looked at me like he was going to f--- me up but I had to let him know that I wasn’t that guy.

If he played 1 on 1 with LeBron: Me. No question. As far as one-on-one, I’m the best to ever do it.

If he ever grew his hair out: It would be a struggle. It would be awfully thin up front. There would be a two-month period where people would look at me like, what the f--- is going on. It would just be messed up.

Biggest pet peeve: I hate dog s---. I won’t go near it. So pissed when I step in it.

He also funnily claims to have destroyed Tracy McGrady's back by dominating him so hard in 1 on 1, thus ruining his career.

Kobe has somehow managed to become an even bigger delusional prick by the year. BTW, it came out that he lied about playing T-Mac 1-on-1.

He's also started whining that his teammates "need to help him score easier." Uh... Kobe, protip: get a grip on your shot selection and try passing the ball to open teammates if you don't have a good look yourself. Could it be any clearer that at this stage of his career, Kobe only cares about padding his career stats?

[Rockstar Matt]

Kobe talked with ESPN The Mag and had a hilariously ballsy interview. Observe:

On why he only has 1 MVP: Because I played with Shaq. It’s that simple. A lot of the time we cancelled each other out. I sacrificed a lot playing with him. I really did. I did it for the success of the team. If I never played with him, my numbers would have been ridiculous.

On dropping 33 on Jordan when he was 19: I wasn’t scared or nervous back then when I played Jordan. He looked at me like he was going to f--- me up but I had to let him know that I wasn’t that guy.

If he played 1 on 1 with LeBron: Me. No question. As far as one-on-one, I’m the best to ever do it.

If he ever grew his hair out: It would be a struggle. It would be awfully thin up front. There would be a two-month period where people would look at me like, what the f--- is going on. It would just be messed up.

Biggest pet peeve: I hate dog s---. I won’t go near it. So pissed when I step in it.

He also funnily claims to have destroyed Tracy McGrady's back by dominating him so hard in 1 on 1, thus ruining his career.

Kobe has somehow managed to become an even bigger delusional prick by the year. BTW, it came out that he lied about playing T-Mac 1-on-1.

He's also started whining that his teammates "need to help him score easier." Uh... Kobe, protip: get a grip on your shot selection and try passing the ball to open teammates if you don't have a good look yourself. Could it be any clearer that at this stage of his career, Kobe only cares about padding his career stats?

Giving Kobe a "protip" on basketball is like trying to teach Paul McCartney how to play music.

Kobe has consistently proven to care about one thing more than anything else in basketball and that's winning championships.

Kobe haters can't see past their hate and look at him for what he truly is: a player who is very confident/arrogant and one of the game's legends.

[The Six]

Giving Kobe a "protip" on basketball is like trying to teach Paul McCartney how to play music.

Well if it's classical oboe technique (one of the notoriously difficult instruments), I'm sure he has a lot to learn.

[Kramerica Industries]

The Memphis Grizzlies are like the professional equivalent of the Florida Gators.

Good team that would be a championship contender, if they had any goddamned clue about how to protect a late lead.

[Lights Out]

Giving Kobe a "protip" on basketball is like trying to teach Paul McCartney how to play music.

Telling your teammates to help you score better while you're freezing them out and chucking up horrible shots is like telling your boss to make you work harder while you're ignoring all his instructions.

Kobe has consistently proven to care about one thing more than anything else in basketball and that's winning championships.

....as long as he's getting his stats and all the credit in the process, and it has to be with a certain coach and specially hand-picked players. If he doesn't get everything he wants, he pouts and reverts to chuck mode.

[Rockstar Matt]

Giving Kobe a "protip" on basketball is like trying to teach Paul McCartney how to play music.

Telling your teammates to help you score better while you're freezing them out and chucking up horrible shots is like telling your boss to make you work harder while you're ignoring all his instructions.

Kobe has consistently proven to care about one thing more than anything else in basketball and that's winning championships.

....as long as he's getting his stats and all the credit in the process, and it has to be with a certain coach and specially hand-picked players. If he doesn't get everything he wants, he pouts and reverts to chuck mode.

Ah, I was wondering when the retort would come.

You keep reiterating old news. Kobe hasn't been like that in years plus your hatred of Kobe is getting old.

Tell me when you come up with something better, will you? Then we can actually have a real conversation on basketball instead of all the reasons why the Lakers, Kobe and Laker fans (some valid points on the latter by the way) suck.

[The Six]

I'm no Laker fan, but I can understand Kobe's attitude. He doesn't want to waste his time playing with joke players. He's not only naturally better than most, but by far he puts in more time than most other players, and if he doesn't see the same work being put in, he'll always have resentment.

[Lights Out]

I'm no Laker fan, but I can understand Kobe's attitude. He doesn't want to waste his time playing with joke players.

Maybe those players wouldn't be "jokes" if he actually tried to be a leader and help them improve, instead of telling them from day one to "not talk to me until you match my resume," like he did with Smush Parker.