[QUOTE=Lakers91]I certainly wouldn't doubt his resolve...just maybe the human physical ability to match his mental will/determination haha[/QUOTE]
Ditto
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[QUOTE=Lakers91]I certainly wouldn't doubt his resolve...just maybe the human physical ability to match his mental will/determination haha[/QUOTE]
Ditto
[QUOTE=DKLaker]Ditto[/QUOTE]
I don't want to mean by that, that he's not physically strong just that I can't just say I won't say "nope you can definitely come back you will be fine" based on him being Kobe Bryant he still bleeds, he's still mortal, he's exceptionally more gifted than most and has huge determination but he's still human, humans can only physically push so far for so long no matter who they are whether it's Kobe, or LeBron a physical phenom but he won't be like it forever, Wilt Chamberlain the greatest athlete in NBA history after a knee injury although times change but it's an example none the less, McGrady, Hill etc although they had more injuries it just shows that no matter the determination and talent you are still human and you can break down and not be able to recover I hope Kobe isn't at the point I don't think he is but it's not a foregone conclusion he'll ever be the same in my opinion.
[QUOTE=Lakers_Kobe_Fan]honestly i would blow up as much as we can
Hill for 1st round pick
Blake for the same
Pau for 1st rounder + rookie contract like Waiters
blow it up...& Rebuild while kobe sells tickets next 2 years[/QUOTE]
I understand trading Hill since it seems to me that MDA don't want to play him long mins anyway but I just don't understand why they should blow the team up for the sake of doing it.
I like some pieces that can help the team's cause for the next few years.
Yes, Blake is getting old but I think they can develop the other players.
Hire a shooting coach for Wesley Johnson. Meeks is fine as a back up SG IMO, SAME with Farmar and Henry. They are not great players but good enough role players.
Having some fine young athletes are good too, but why let go of guys who can help too. :confusedshrug:
[URL="http://www.lakersnation.com/video-charles-barkley-thinks-lakers-should-shut-down-kobe-bryant/2013/12/23/"]LINK[/URL]
Full Video: [url]http://youtu.be/2slCpx6u8hw[/url]
[QUOTE]One of the Lakers biggest critics, Charles Barkley of Inside the NBA on TNT, weighed in on whether or not Bryant should play again this season on the heals of another significant injury. It was Barkley who recently said the Lakers “will stink” with our without the 35-year-old veteran guard and voiced his opinion that he shouldn’t play again this season. [/QUOTE]
Barkley is right. It's over. Shut Kobe down for the year. It is time to rebuild..
1) Lets just build for next season with a mid-range draft pick. 8th seed and first-round exit does not help because you get crap draft pick and still lose. You want to miss playoffs.
2) I would try to trade Gasol before February also. I don't know who I would get for Gasol, but it has to be a potential star in their 20s.
3) We already have some young pieces that will be great off the bench next year (mainly Young, Farmar, Henry, Meeks, Hill - others are expendable). I would re-sign them over the summer.
4) Nash's days are over. Trade him or use the stretch provision
It feels like 2005 again. We're gonna have to go through some Kwame Brown's & Smushie's. Although, Shaq was my favoritte player back then .. So yall know how it is. lol
#rebuild!!!!!!!!
I think in about a year or so, they're going to fire MDA. Ideal roster would be something similar to 09 w/ Ariza. We'll be stuck with Beasley if that ever happens. Just saying.
[QUOTE=bladefd]Barkley is right. It's over. Shut Kobe down for the year. It is time to rebuild..
1) Lets just build for next season with a mid-range draft pick. 8th seed and first-round exit does not help because you get crap draft pick and still lose. You want to miss playoffs.
2) I would try to trade Gasol before February also. I don't know who I would get for Gasol, but it has to be a potential star in their 20s.
3) We already have some young pieces that will be great off the bench next year (mainly Young, Farmar, Henry, Meeks, Hill - others are expendable). I would re-sign them over the summer.
4) Nash's days are over. Trade him or use the stretch provision[/QUOTE]
Fk Meeks. Dude is just in a contract year. He still reverts to making those bone headed plays he's been doing all of last year. Can't run a 3 on 2 fast break properly, gets stuffed a lot when he drives and just gives you the :wtf: look after every foul he commits. I can't stand this guy. He's just thriving now as a volume shooter. He's not getting his shots when Kobe comes back so I think he's definitely expendable.
[QUOTE=bladefd]Barkley is right. It's over. Shut Kobe down for the year. It is time to rebuild..
1) Lets just build for next season with a mid-range draft pick. 8th seed and first-round exit does not help because you get crap draft pick and still lose. You want to miss playoffs.
2) I would try to trade Gasol before February also. I don't know who I would get for Gasol, but it has to be a potential star in their 20s.
3) We already have some young pieces that will be great off the bench next year (mainly Young, Farmar, Henry, Meeks, Hill - others are expendable). I would re-sign them over the summer.
4) Nash's days are over. Trade him or use the stretch provision[/QUOTE]
Nobody is touching Steve Nash... He is just stealing money from lakers... Retire already.. I know i know...nash is hardworking good guy...blah blah blah but he has to go....
Trade gasol & his lazy no defense/no rebounding ass to somebody...i am ready to take Larry Sanders from the bucks & hid 11mil contract...
Kobe did what he had to....got fat contract.... Let him sell tickets while we rebuild the right way....
Trade everybody on this roster to get a pick in next yrs draft...Jhill....wes Johnson..X henry...blake
Only keep farmar & Nick young... Have a fire sell otherwise
Thread merged.
[QUOTE=$LakerGold]I think in about a year or so, they're going to fire MDA. Ideal roster would be something similar to 09 w/ Ariza. We'll be stuck with Beasley if that ever happens. Just saying.[/QUOTE]
I'm worried if they do at the trajectory of the coaching decisions, Mike Brown I was skeptical of and still am, think his offense for drawing up plays for bigmen can be okay but it's basically on Irving pretty much like a wave haha give to Irving and everyone else spread like the plague and let him do what he wants, D'Antoni's I'm hyper critical of and not to mention as Ive posted otherwise I can't stand him :oldlol: despite not having met him, I'm worried with the past skipping of Adelman, Shaw, Jackson potentially again who will be the next coach, I've said before I'd like Hollins, would that be a good move I think it would, he likes using the big men maybe it wouldn't work only having Gasol as a consistent big man threat it wouldn't be ideal but I think he could work well with the current roster but that's just me. I think if they are going to get rid of D'Antoni it will be at the end of this season bring in a new coach so he can have a full preseason otherwise will be for the 3 years, if they want to get Melo they must get rid of him, Melo will not sign with D'Antoni at the helm and with the way the Knicks are playing and reading between the lines he's a possibility/could be tempted. I don't think you could shut down Kobe he would almost refuse to stay down in my opinion, he would miss the game too much I reckon being out for so many months even no training would have had him so angry and frustrated let alone him being able to play and being told he can't, I think he should for awhile only play 20 minutes maximum, 15-20 I think for a fair few games back anything more is going to be overloading with the current injury and the achilles from last year and it's flowing effects on the rest of the lower leg.
[QUOTE=tamaraw08]I understand trading Hill since it seems to me that MDA don't want to play him long mins anyway but I just don't understand why they should blow the team up for the sake of doing it.
I like some pieces that can help the team's cause for the next few years.
Yes, Blake is getting old but I think they can develop the other players.
Hire a shooting coach for Wesley Johnson. Meeks is fine as a back up SG IMO, SAME with Farmar and Henry. They are not great players but good enough role players.
Having some fine young athletes are good too, but why let go of guys who can help too. :confusedshrug:[/QUOTE]
Again.....to trade Hill would mean you are committing to 'Antoni beyond this season. It would be idiotic to trade him and then hire a coach who would love to have him/ know how to use him. What a failure that would be...right?
(BTW idiotic meaning management, not in any way referring to any of us) :cheers:
[QUOTE=tamaraw08]OMG, sorry for hitting a nerve "Kobe-[U]FAN[/U]":rolleyes:
I was just asking to validate the answer.
Chicago won atleast 55 games when MJ left the first time. Does that mean he is not a great player?:confusedshrug:
Well ofcourse Lakers wouldn't have won 5 rings without Kobe. I felt the year 2001, Kobe should have won the MVP esp when he almost single-handedly dominated the Spurs in San Antonio.:bowdown: The problem was when they to the finals, Shaq would dominate the weaker centers of the East, hence, he wins the finals MVPs. :pimp:[/QUOTE]
U forgot the mosg important part their tam: lakers 1st then Kobe fan..
Stats r ok for the geeks @ESPN.. Henry abbortion, the grizz vp.. & all of the stat junkies... But if u have watched basketball long enough u can tell bb stats carry wieght but not to chips...
I guess a coach like dklaker would agree with me on this 1
When will you idiots realize that Kobe was extended so he can put asses on the seats.
You think people will pay to see Gasol play merry go round and Meeks as a starter :lol
Lakers don't need to sit Kobe for the season if he can play he should be on the court. What they need to do is let him take 8 weeks off to get into playing shape then cap his minutes at 25 and give him games off. No reason Kobe should be playing over 35 minutes when the Lakers are ridiculously deep on the wings.
Although this could and I suspect will be merged with the Kobe return thread I kind of just wanted to create a thread :lol (sorry if this isn't worth it's own thread, so mods will probably merge it lol) , after reading a number of sports articles I thought I would create a thread to get the opinion from supporters/fans of the Lakers and Kobe fans irrelevant of the contract status whether you agree disagree or whatever, this is more so do people believe Kobe Bryant will ever be the dominant superstar on court player again?
There is obviously a case that he will, that he the year before doing his achilles he was in great form with some of his best stats FG % wise, scoring wise and assists wise (career high in assists average at 6 I believe), that his mindset mentality and sheer desire of will is superior to most in sports with his sheer will and determination and self belief. Bryant also seemed very confident although as he always is on his return he said he felt like he could still do everything he once could before his injury, he's probably one of the most endured players in sports in terms of both avoiding injuries in the past prior to his achilles and also the amount of minutes without missing that much time and also having the ability to play through a number of injuries he could have easily have taken time off for. Kobe's game though has not always relied on explosiveness his first step has always been deadly but he does have a great mid range jumper and can be a good 3 point shooter and as a guard has a solid post game against other guards and he has shown he can adapt, so maybe it will not effect him as much as others who rely on explosiveness/athleticism more. His superstardom if you asked him didn't end with his achilles injury and I'm sure he'd tell you he will be back stronger than ever if someone asked because of the mindset he has.
On the flip side of the coin (yes this will be a long thread or post:D ) the argument he will return to form seems more so based on Kobe Bryants will and determination not on factual evidence, Kobe saying that only an idiot would bet against him that is not factual evidence, it is not logic it is sheer will and strength of mind that most say he will be back to his dominant best. The only player to have successfully came back in the NBA (I can think of other sport examples non NBA but will stick to the NBA for now) that have came back successfully would be the main example of Nique Wilkins he still wasn't quite the same either, Kobe had already logged 17 years of mileage or so before the injury, he is not only in age at 35 but also in the amount of years played straight out of high school quite old. In his return it showed that he was very rusty which is clearly to be expected but he certainly did not look as quick and his first step was not nearly as effective, was this just rust or is that first quick step and ability to go past defenders gone? Is the fact that Kobe is special, Kobe is Kobe just more blind loyalty from us Laker fans and Kobe fans also that he will return to being dominant rather than if it had been anyone but Kobe?
[url]http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3178860/[/url]
Apologies for the long post but I thought if I was going to post something like this I might as well go the whole way, I think I've posted both sides of the argument and would like to ask what others think? I'm generally a more logical and analytical person and I think Kobe could come good but I don't think he will ever be as good as he once was and I don't think he will be a superstar again, logic>faith and although Kobe has stronger faith than anyone I can't just ignore the logic of the situation and write off an achilles injury and now a leg injury just on him being Kobe I'm sorry. What does everyone else think both after his return and now a new injury? Feel free to refute or however you like or will this is of course just my personal opinion and wanting to get other peoples views.
[QUOTE=DKLaker]Again.....to trade Hill would mean you are committing to 'Antoni beyond this season. It would be idiotic to trade him and then hire a coach who would love to have him/ know how to use him. What a failure that would be...right?
(BTW idiotic meaning management, not in any way referring to any of us) :cheers:[/QUOTE]
But you, DD24 and other posters here are so loud and adamant that this season is meaningless etc and the coming draft is LOADED with talent.
I like to keep Hill, I actually would love for him to play about 30 mins or more, but if DD24 and you are right about the incoming rookies..these guys will have rookie contracts, you also can use that 3.5 mil Hill is getting to sign cheap FAs.
[QUOTE=tamaraw08]But you, DD24 and other posters here are so loud and adamant that this season is meaningless etc and the coming draft is LOADED with talent.
I like to keep Hill, I actually would love for him to play about 30 mins or more, but if DD24 and you are right about the incoming rookies..these guys will have rookie contracts, you also can use that 3.5 mil Hill is getting to sign cheap FAs.[/QUOTE]
Hill's value goes well beyond his $$$, he hustles, and with the right coach who believes in hustle and defense, he could be a positive influence on young players.....and old players. (Hell, if any of you follow baseball, look at how the all-out hustle every play of Yasiel Puig sparked the Dodgers.) You seriously need that on any team....are your Cheap Free Agents going to provide that???
It's great to have young promising prospects from the draft, but Jordan Hill has already proven his capability. If someone was to get traded, I think it shouldn't be Jordan Hill. If he is just coached the right way & play big minutes, I think he can be a 10/10 type of player.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/eGfKuXl.png[/IMG]
^We will see a lot of this (red boxed), if played more than 30 minutes.
Take the gamble by trading/signing someone else, but don't include him in it. Pringles is just really stubborn. I'm really starting to hate him as a coach. I will be really baffled if Jim Buss gives in to making this team around Pringles's system.
You can't play Hill tons of minutes he wears down and gets injured. Look at games played. he has one season you could say was a full season at 72 games and that season he averaged 15 mpg.
His games played in a season are 47, 72, 39, and 29 this season... His injury report is a mile long for a guy whose never logged major minutes. and very rarely as a starter.
Hip surgery last year, ankle issues sore knees early on... get the minutes you can get out of him by using him when you need him and not playing him when he doesn't match up well.
He's a hustle player which is great but broken down hustle players are no good to anybody, they just take up space
[QUOTE=DKLaker]Hill's value goes well beyond his $$$, he hustles, and with the right coach who believes in hustle and defense, he could be a positive influence on young players.....and old players. (Hell, if any of you follow baseball, look at how the all-out hustle every play of Yasiel Puig sparked the Dodgers.) You seriously need that on any team....are your Cheap Free Agents going to provide that???[/QUOTE]
If you look at my other points from other threads,I said I wanted Hill to play longer minutes but yes, I did say I "understand" if they trade him cuz he's not getting used properly anyway, I didn't say I obsessed in getting rid of him, but I was actually replying to Lakerskobefan's postion to BLOW UP THE TEAM, which you btw, you chose to ignore. :rant
What, you're tired arguing with him:confusedshrug: you just point to one little nugget of what I said?:rolleyes:
Going back to your question about cheap hustlers.
I like Farried, Pyscho T. Again, DD24 and some other posters here are so convinced there's great talent in the coming draft.
Like you and I, Im sure they notice Hill's value too, and for sure they can use him better...
[QUOTE=gts]You can't play Hill tons of minutes he wears down and gets injured. Look at games played. he has one season you could say was a full season at 72 games and that season he averaged 15 mpg.
His games played in a season are 47, 72, 39, and 29 this season... His injury report is a mile long for a guy whose never logged major minutes. and very rarely as a starter.
Hip surgery last year, ankle issues sore knees early on... get the minutes you can get out of him by using him when you need him and not playing him when he doesn't match up well.
He's a hustle player which is great but broken down hustle players are no good to anybody, they just take up space[/QUOTE]
Good point, he doesn't have a great injury history/record given he hasn't really played that many minutes for a high first round draft pick or at all, bounced around from team to team a bit and has never had major minutes that I can recall. If he is injured or has injury niggles there goes his physicality which is his main benefit or the reason you have him on the team for his physical nature, bruising style and hustle if his injury problems continue it's a problem and I hope they don't, it's dangerous to play him 30+ minutes but I'd like to see him play around 20 which I think he might be about averaging this season 20-25 is decent but anymore on a consistent basis and your overloading for someone that seems to have continuous but unrelated injury problems. If he didn't have injury problems he'd certainly deserve more minutes possibly but overload him for too much then he will eventually break down in all likelihood.
[QUOTE=dd24]Hopefully Kobe doesn't catch the injury bug for the end of his career. It's tough seeing him like this. It's better for the Lakers though. They really need a lottery pick this season. Kobe being out more helps that.[/QUOTE]
Lakers were 6 and 2 and were really jelling in the 8 games before Kobe showed up. They're 2 and 8 since. They did not call him "Chemistry Killer" his entire career for nothing.
Expect more of the same for the next 2 and a half seasons as Kobe goes in and out of the lineup with various injuries. Unless he has the decency to retire earlier, which he does not.
[QUOTE=mr sax]Lakers were 6 and 2 and were really jelling in the 8 games before Kobe showed up. They're 2 and 8 since. They did not call him "Chemistry Killer" his entire career for nothing.
Expect more of the same for the next 2 and a half seasons as Kobe goes in and out of the lineup with various injuries. Unless he has the decency to retire earlier, which he does not.[/QUOTE]
Kobe wasn't quite himself yet either though. There's more to do with it than just chemistry in that situation. Anyway around it, whatever the Lakers can do to get a higher lottery pick is the only thing that has a chance of turning things around in a hurry.
[QUOTE=tamaraw08]If you look at my other points from other threads,I said I wanted Hill to play longer minutes but yes, I did say I "understand" if they trade him cuz he's not getting used properly anyway, I didn't say I obsessed in getting rid of him, but I was actually replying to Lakerskobefan's postion to BLOW UP THE TEAM, which you btw, you chose to ignore. :rant
What, you're tired arguing with him:confusedshrug: you just point to one little nugget of what I said?:rolleyes:
Going back to your question about cheap hustlers.
I like Farried, Pyscho T. Again, DD24 and some other posters here are so convinced there's great talent in the coming draft.
Like you and I, Im sure they notice Hill's value too, and for sure they can use him better...[/QUOTE]
:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:
Please tell me that you're not serious :oldlol:
My opinions are most certainly not the word of God, and I do not read every post nor do I reply to every post. I don't get why you are upset that I didn't reply to another person? Is that my JOB? I'm quite positive that Lakerskobefan doesn't care if I reply or not :roll: My reply wouldn't make nor ruin his day.
For the record, I understand his angle of blowing it up, multiple 1st round picks, better than I do yours of just trading Hill. Not that his is the route I want to go, I just understand that it is something reasonable.
At the time I was thinking about all the opinions months ago that we should Amnesty Kobe and how that is not looking so dumb now. He could've sat out the year and re-signed with us after the season I believe.
I always consider other viewpoints and even reflect on them after history reveals other possibilities......so yeah, Amnesty doesn't look so bad at the moment. Would've saved the team major $$$$$.
This is just basketball talk bro, don't take it so seriously :cheers:
Thread Merged. :D
[QUOTE=$LakerGold]Thread Merged. :D[/QUOTE]
I knew it I have psychic powers afterall :biggums:
[QUOTE=$LakerGold]It feels like 2005 again. We're gonna have to go through some Kwame Brown's & Smushie's. Although, Shaq was my favoritte player back then .. So yall know how it is. lol
#rebuild!!!!!!!![/QUOTE]
It's actually more like 2004-05.
2005 with Phil, even with Smush and Kwame, Lakers went to the playoffs.
2004-05, Under Rudy T (won 2 rings with the great Hakeem), almost the same as MDA, who did pretty well with ONE superstar Nash, as in both coaches NEVER PROVED that they can do well with other great players.
both years Kobe got hurt.
Various injuries to other key players.
will most likely miss the playoffs.
[B]Kobe Bryant Praises Steve Nash On How He Plays The Game[/B]
[B]Link: [/B][URL="http://www.lakersnation.com/lakers-news-kobe-bryant-praises-steve-nash-on-how-he-plays-the-game/2014/05/25/"]HERE[/URL]
[QUOTE]“He brought back basketball the way it’s supposed to be played, like when Bird was a player and when Magic was a player.”[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=$LakerGold][B]Kobe Bryant Praises Steve Nash On How He Plays The Game[/B]
[B]Link: [/B][URL="http://www.lakersnation.com/lakers-news-kobe-bryant-praises-steve-nash-on-how-he-plays-the-game/2014/05/25/"]HERE[/URL][/QUOTE]
And this is why Kobe won't ever be a good GM.
[QUOTE=lakerfreak]And this is why Kobe won't ever be a good GM.[/QUOTE]
What do you mean exactly? Nash is one of the best PG of all time...all the praise is legitimate and deserved.
[QUOTE=lakerfreak]And this is why Kobe won't ever be a good GM.[/QUOTE]
??????????????????????????????????????????
[QUOTE=D-Rose]What do you mean exactly? Nash is one of the best PG of all time...all the praise is legitimate and deserved.[/QUOTE]
Yes, his past is undeniably great, legendary, nothing short of success, whatever.
But I am looking at Kobe's comments from a different angle. Is this his way of rebelling against the front office again? Is this his way of wanting to win, ON HIS TERMS again?
He keeps backing the ineffective by bringing up past contributions. I don't like it one bit. For those of you who remember, I called it that one season when he said he was "closer to being a bull than most people think". I talked about the inappropriateness of those comments and how he would demand a trade later, and nobody believed me, but then he did, every single day for a month.
When he starts speaking like this, I get extremely uncomfortable.
[QUOTE=lakerfreak]Yes, his past is undeniably great, legendary, nothing short of success, whatever.
But I am looking at Kobe's comments from a different angle. Is this his way of rebelling against the front office again? Is this his way of wanting to win, ON HIS TERMS again?
He keeps backing the ineffective by bringing up past contributions. I don't like it one bit. For those of you who remember, I called it that one season when he said he was "closer to being a bull than most people think". I talked about the inappropriateness of those comments and how he would demand a trade later, and nobody believed me, but then he did, every single day for a month.
When he starts speaking like this, I get extremely uncomfortable.[/QUOTE]
I didn't take it as having ANYTHING to do with that...I took it as him paying homage to his teammate who is clearly an all time great. It was for a documentary on Nash, so of course it will deal with his entire career.
On a side note...we haven't seen Kobe in the playoffs since the 2012 series against OKC...over TWO YEARS ago...that's crazy and so bizarre. I really miss the 08-10 run.
[QUOTE=lakerfreak]Yes, his past is undeniably great, legendary, nothing short of success, whatever.
But I am looking at Kobe's comments from a different angle. Is this his way of rebelling against the front office again? Is this his way of wanting to win, ON HIS TERMS again?
He keeps backing the ineffective by bringing up past contributions. I don't like it one bit. For those of you who remember, I called it that one season when he said he was "closer to being a bull than most people think". I talked about the inappropriateness of those comments and how he would demand a trade later, and nobody believed me, but then he did, every single day for a month.
When he starts speaking like this, I get extremely uncomfortable.[/QUOTE]
The thing is, he was actually going to be a Piston, not a Bull.
[QUOTE=lakerfreak]Yes, his past is undeniably great, legendary, nothing short of success, whatever.
But I am looking at Kobe's comments from a different angle. Is this his way of rebelling against the front office again? Is this his way of wanting to win, ON HIS TERMS again?
He keeps backing the ineffective by bringing up past contributions. I don't like it one bit. For those of you who remember, I called it that one season when he said he was "closer to being a bull than most people think". I talked about the inappropriateness of those comments and how he would demand a trade later, and nobody believed me, but then he did, every single day for a month.
When he starts speaking like this, I get extremely uncomfortable.[/QUOTE]
Wait, we traded Nash away? When did that happen?
[QUOTE=D-Rose]I didn't take it as having ANYTHING to do with that...I took it as him paying homage to his teammate who is clearly an all time great. It was for a documentary on Nash, so of course it will deal with his entire career.[/QUOTE]
So what benefit was it to Kobe to say that? With Kobe, who learned from Phil and the mind games, What was Kobe really trying to say?
[QUOTE=lakerfreak]So what benefit was it to Kobe to say that? With Kobe, who learned from Phil and the mind games, What was Kobe really trying to say?[/QUOTE]
What do you think he should say on a Nash documentary?
Do you actually think he should say a single negative thing.....and can you imagine the public backlash if he did say something bad?
Lighten up bro, you are way too serious about this......much ado about nothing.
[QUOTE=DKLaker]What do you think he should say on a Nash documentary?
Do you actually think he should say a single negative thing.....and can you imagine the public backlash if he did say something bad?
Lighten up bro, you are way too serious about this......much ado about nothing.[/QUOTE]
I was thinking the same thing. There's no way he could get away with saying something negative. It's not like we're talking about Smush Parker here. Kobe doesn't even talk bad about Shaq anymore, lol. He wouldn't say anything bad about Pau. I don't think he'd even say anything bad about Artest. There's no mind games here. I would bet if he was asked who deserved the MVP's more him or Nash he would answer himself, but I don't even find that controversial.