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

[Meticode]

So, Kobe is the best player in the game, on the best team, so how much of a letdown would it be if he can't pull out the win? If he can't win now, will he ever?

No. no and no.

[zabuza666]

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

/yawn attacking the source is such a pathetic defense and makes you look like a homer.

[Meticode]

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

He doesn't how any rings. Which means he should know about missed opportunities best I would think.

[Torious]

I think the Lakers HAVE to win it all this year simply because they probably won't be able to re-sign Lamar Odom, who is the real reason that they are better than every other team in the league. Without Odom, they come back down to the pack, and teams will have a much better chance of taking them out in a series.

What makes you think, that Lamar isn't going to resign with the Lakers? He has repeatedly said, that he wants to be a Laker for the rest of his career and that he'd take less money to stay.

A few quotes:

"I want to be a Laker for the rest of my life. I'm a rock star. I can't help it. Some people want me to go, some people want me to stay.

"I want to stay. I love L.A. I'm done moving around. I've been in L.A. since 1999. Why would I want to go anywhere else? And I want to win the big one. Why not? You're playing, you might as well want to win, right? I've lost plenty. It's time to win.

Odom gets something like 15 mil this season and if he settles for half that or even 10 mio, there's really no reason why he shouldn't be a Laker for the rest of his career. It's not like the league can FORCE him to take a higher contract if another team actually offers one.

The only key guy for I'm unsure about for next season is Ariza. I'm quite sure that he wants to see some money after what he's done for the Lakers this season.

Who knows, Kobe might even obt out of his ridiculous 23 something milion contract to give the Lakers some breathing room... AHAHahahaha... yeah, I don't believe that one either.

[bruceblitz]

I thought that was an interesting quote. The general consensus is that LA has no competition on their way to the finals. They have the most talented team overall, and arguably the deepest bench in the game. They can win on the road, and account for Cleveland's only home loss. So if Kobe doesn't get it done with all this in his favor, will he ever if he's in a more difficult situation down the road? Is the pressure to win as "the man" irrelevant?

I think people were saying the same thing last year.

Never is a strong word.

[D-nugz]

I agree with Barkley except the title should be "win as the main man", with the type of team Lakers are now if Kobe doesn't win with this team he won't win as the main man.
To be honest I don't believe he is the main man I think there are two main guys on the Lakers Kobe + Gasol that is what makes the Lakers so good and there quality bench.

[gpfanz]

I hope Kobe wins too else Gasol is going to make the black mumba his scapegoat

[The Magic Man]

Lol, some of you fools are...just...fools. Okay, Kobe is 30. How does he suddenly become old and a shell of his former self? Dude will play till he is 40. Put up HOF numbers till he's 34. Superstar numbers till he's 36 or 37. He's in excellent shape and works harder than 95% of the 20 year olds in the league now. And people questioning who the man is and how Pau is the leader is just dumb. You guys don't understand basketball if you don't see that Pau is only as good as Kobe helps him to be. Pau never took Memphis anywhere, he gets traded to LA, now he is magicaly better than Kobe? Kobe opens everything up for him. If you want to be honest, Kobe would easily average better stats now if they weren't beating everybody and he sat out so many 4th quarters. It's a great thing right now. If anything that's gonna help him play even longer.

Last thing: My money is on Bynum to take the reigns when Kobe get's to that "Old Man Kobe" level.

[Allstar24]

And how many do you have?

WTF does that have to do with anything? I'm talking about Charles Barkley and the fact that he's never led his team to any title, so he shouldn't act like he knows everything about being a NBA champ...because he doesn't.

[Da_Realist]

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

Shaq/Kobe Lakers would DESTROY this team. Pick a year, any year. Even the ones they lost.

[OldSchoolBBall]

I think the Lakers HAVE to win it all this year simply because they probably won't be able to re-sign Lamar Odom, who is the real reason that they are better than every other team in the league. Without Odom, they come back down to the pack, and teams will have a much better chance of taking them out in a series.

The Lakers will not lose any major pieces next year, I can almost guarantee you that.

[5150]

Brandon Roy and the Blazers are going to smash any chance of Kobe getting anymore rings. He better get one this year. Who knows what's going to happen in 2010.

Kobe's legacy is going to be that he could not win without Shaq.

[OldSchoolBBall]

Brandon Roy and the Blazers are going to smash any chance of Kobe getting anymore rings. He better get one this year. Who knows what's going to happen in 2010.

Kobe's legacy is going to be that he could not win without Shaq.

The Lakers will almost certainly win this year. I have them at like 70-75% odds.

[AllenIverson3]

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

Someones salty...

[JustinJDW]

To be honest, I don't really agree with that quote. Kobe is only 30. He probably has about 4-5 more good years left. Pierce and Allen are 31 and 32, and they won a Championship. I don't get it.

It's the players around you that make up for your age. However, age has not even begun to slow Kobe down yet. He won't slow down for another two years, and they probably will still have Gasol and Bynum, so I really don't understand what Barkley means when he says this is Kobe's last chance to win it all.