Barkley: If Kobe doesn't win now, he never will...

[Allstar24]

Actually.... he's very familiar with that.

How so? The closest he got to a title was the NBA Finals...

Barley having rings or not is irrelevant if you disagree with him attack the points he is making. I mean if he had said the same think but had won a ring does it change it. Wouldn't you still feel he is making a fallacious statement.

His points are too ridiculous (as they always are) for me to address. When was the last time one of his "predictions" came true? The Lakers will be contenders for the next few years, this is not a situation where if we don't win this year, we're done. Dr. Buss and Mitch has managed to put together a talented team that is capable of winning the championship every year for the next few years, deal with it Chuck

[Micku]

Just out of interest, which Lakers team do people think is better? The Shaq/Kobe Lakers or the current Lakers?

I would say the current Lakers have more talent, but they haven't went all the way yet. I would still say that the 00 would beat the current Lakers despite the fact that I think the current Lakers have more weapons.

[lilderrickrose]

how many titles did barkley win again?

[RedBlackAttack]

How so? The closest he got to a title was the NBA Finals...

How close have you gotten? It certainly hasn't hindered your drive to share opinions on the matter.

[oh the horror]

Honestly in my opinion, the Lakers are still a player or two away from tweaking their roster into a championship team.


And not to mention some of their players are still growing. So I dont know about this being the year, all or bust.

[cotdt]

The Lakers can still improve their team. Get Chris Paul and Lebron James.

Then they could beat the Celtics or Cavs no problem.

[oh the horror]

The Lakers can still improve their team. Get Chris Paul and Lebron James.

Then they could beat the Celtics or Cavs no problem.

And how would they get Chris Paul and Lebron James? Dark magic and voodoo?

[cotdt]

And how would they get Chris Paul and Lebron James? Dark magic and voodoo?

Same way Lakers got Kobe and Gasol, of course. Trade Luke Walkton for Lebron and Jordan Farmar for Chris Paul.

[macforever]

We all know it would finally turn out to be a Kobe vs Lebron matchup as Stern designed.

NBA = Epic fail

[TheCord#20]

How many rings does Barkley have again? He should refrain from speaking about topics he is not too familiar with...

And how many do you have?

[Suprageex]

Shaq's Lakers ofcoz. Who could stop Shaq back then?

errr, what would you do if a 7ft tall, 325lb guy comes running towards you and you're the only one standing between him and the basket?


On-topic tho, I think that the Lakers really should win this season. They have a really talented team and should be able to become champs. Blaming it all on Kobe isn't going to work either. I agree that a game can be lost due to 1 player only, but a potential championship winning team should know each other quite well to make a firm base for winning...

[godofgods]

Same way Lakers got Kobe and Gasol, of course. Trade Luke Walkton for Lebron and Jordan Farmar for Chris Paul.

Nobody would be surprised if the Fakers pull those trades off. Absolutely nobody.

[Charles_Oakley]

I think Barkley is wrong.

I mean, yes, Kobe struggles when he's the man but he's shown that he can play his role better when he's the sidekick.

This year Gasol became close to being the man but he's still the sidekick. Since Kobe's impact is diminishing with age and his teammates are getting better and better, I'd say in the next years, Kobe could become the sidekick again and Lakers could win the championship.

[Roundball_Rock]

This assumes Kobe will suddenly fall off. He is 30 years old right now. Many great players, like MJ and Karl Malone, continued to play at a MVP level up until age 34-35. There is no reason to believe Kobe will go in the tank next year or the year after that. His team should be perennial contenders to win the title for the next few years. I do think, though, that this is his best chance to win as the #1 since he probably has the best team in the league behind him as opposed to a 55 win 3 seed type team that he may have down the road.

[momo]

If Barkley does not win it all this year he never... wait. Never mind.