********Disclaimer********This isn't a popularity contest so I really don't care how the comments sound after you read this. Thanks for your support.
Written by Eboy
So I've been flying high since the "late night Saturday/early morning Sunday American time vampiristic live telecast" of the Unites States/Spain gold medal basketball game. The game that the much ballyhooed Redeem Team proved themselves in as being able to deal with slight adversity and closing out what most expected them to do. I was one of the people that caught the exhibition games, the prelim matches and then the important games the Olympics require. In actuality, the US squad should have just had a 2 game bye to the gold medal game, but you know, rules are rules. While I thoroughly enjoyed almost all of the players contributions to the collective prize American basketball fans have been waiting on, the things that caught my attention in these games were, in no particular order:
A) LEBRON JAMES
Lebron James is ridiculous. Simply remarkable. I know most people that are under the age of 30 really can't comprehend the history of the NBA before 1990, but believe me, Lebron is like nothing seen before. His strength is in the highest ranks of great power forwards in the history of the game. His athleticism is on par with super freaks like Shawn Kemp & Josh Smith, except Lebrons game is 10 times more well-rounded than either of those guys. His ability to be unstoppable on the offensive end is in the same class as guys like Jordan & Barkley, putting their heads down, taking and giving punishment and taking points, just not getting them. His passing is not quite at the level of Magic Johnson, but there is an eerie feel of sameness when he is in the open court with guys running with him that he can make THAT pass. And due to these Olympic games, the feeling of him being a hyped up defender is right there on the table. If he gets that part of his game in check, forget it. There may be new record books that are needed for dudes accomplishments. To anyone who can't comprehend it, this is the guy EVERYONE in the league is fearing. No one else is close. You can hate the guy all you want for speaking about his off the court endeavors but there is no way you can dispute the continued progression of the prototype player of the 21st century. One thing is clear, Lebron James is good at basketball.
B) THE MAMBA'S LUCKY STRIKE
Kobe Bryant changed nothing in my mind as to his place in the game. A truly gifted scorer, legendary in it's completeness, a fierce competitor, a proven winner and truly overrated at this point of his career. Yes I know I'm famously known as a Kobe basher, but hear me out. Kobe has had three phases of his career. The Young'n phase were he suffered through trying times with the Lakers including most famously his wide open failure in the Utah Jazz series when he struggled to close the deal on several occasions in the most heated of circumstances. The dude was talented and cocksure, but not ready for that type of pressure. His age was the big factor at that point. But he had that promise.
The second phase was his title years and should be known as his Legacy years. Teamed with an elite Shaq, a really fantastic set of teammates and the coach who molded Michael into the ultimate winner, Kobe's fire shown brightest in that phase. He became a hero and matinee idol and gained fans worldwide. He became a multiple champion and began to garner mentions in the same group of players that most basketball historians hold in the highest regard. It was well deserved at that time. No question.
This current phase would have to be deemed the Failure phase. From his much publicized and criticized off the court troubles to his continued basketball failings since the departure of Shaquille and the reforming of the current Lakers squad, there has never been a player who has failed so often (on the court and off) who gets so much leeway because of his past accomplishments. Guess what? It's going on six seasons that Kobe has done nothing resembling the winning ways he became known for. Kobe has gone in reverse as to the career paths most great winners usually follow. Lose early on, win in the prime of your career and then fade away into the sunrise. Magic, Larry, Michael, Hakeem, Shaq, these legends have done this in some form or another. Kobe has done something opposite of that. Not a bad thing, just odd. These Olympic games did nothing to change that perception of him though. His 4 minutes of fantastic play in the 4th quarter of the gold medal game didn't erase what basically amounted to simply mediocre international play from the so called "best player on the planet" and until he can right the Lakers ship and do what is expected of him (winning titles), those free passes should be held for someone more deserving.....someone who is back on the rise up........someone like.... 
C) DWYANE WADE !!!!!
Fine, I'm being slightly ridiculous, and yes, I am a homer, but I've waited a long time to give the dude some actual good words compared to the things I've been saying for most of the last two seasons and now seems like the time for it.
Dwyane's performance in the Beijing games was bordering on awe inspiring. Awe inspiring because no one knew or expected what he has going to bring to the table. I'm not saying it as a fan of his, but the American media and the large majority of fans from SLAM, local supporters in South Florida and on webboards on the "Worldwide Leaders" website, among others, seemed to bear out the same, shocked result. Dwyane Wa.....D-Wade, Flash, was back. Take one guy off the Olympic squad that would have given the US the largest handicap? It was Dwyane. Hands down. Try not to forget that almost every game (except Angola) had a close first period score that seemed to jump incredulously once D-Wade came off the bench. Odd huh? No, actually, not really. It was a forced move due to the perceived slight it would have been to ask Kobe to come off the bench, but anyone with a sliver of common sense knows that it should have been the Mamba as the Miracle to D-Wade's Smokey in this tournament.
Dwyanes determination to silence the critics and his desire to prove himself on the world stage was motivation enough that made his "benching" each game the fuel to his fire. His athleticism was off the charts, his speed was on par with....well no one else was close in the Olympic tournament except possibly Pat Mills from Australia or Jamaican wonderman Usain Bolt and his attitude showed his swagger to have returned full force. This is great news for the fans of Miami Heat basketball. Sure they won't be winning a title anytime soon, but there is hope again that the Dwyane Wade that rocked the basketball world in 2006 will again be driving into foreign paints starting this October and actually make the Heat a respectable foe to great teams and not so good ones that they struggled with last season. If Lebron and Kobe are now 1a and 1b in greatest player ranking in the current NBA landscape, Dwyane has positioned himself to be on the outer fringes of the conversation again, like he was in 2006, and the results he shows this coming season will be looked at under a microscope due to his excellent work in China. 
Lastly, I think the thing that shot out at me the most that really was unexpected was the tremendous play of Toronto Raptor F/C Chris Bosh. Dude proved a ton to me, and I know millions of others during the Olympics. He was clearly the best big on the squad and his passion was something most fans don't normally see on the networks due to Lebron, Kobe and San Antonio overload. I know there have been whispers in the Miami media that Riles is planning on making a strong play for Chris to pair up with Dwyane in Miami in 2010, and if this tournament was any indication of what the two of them might be able to do together...well damn, bring him on.
In closing, I'm glad the games are over, I loved watching the team as a unit accomplish the goal/gold and look forward to another great season of NBA ball. This was a summer of redemption for this group but for United States fans, this was where we NEEDED to be, back on top, by hook or by crook. Hey, it's the American way!
Welcome
Over the course of human history, greatness has melded together at one time or another, creating fused unity that can sometimes be history changing. Bonnie & Clyde, The Beatles, Marvin & Tammy, Earth, Wind & Fire, Michael & Scottie, Biggie & Tupac, Shaq & Kobe, Paris & Nicole! Now, the 21st century welcomes the next great movement to rewrite the history books and change the rules. It's us, ya'll. Ain't no stoppin' us now.
"We, the elite Linkstigators, have formed like Voltron, We could have used our powers for evil. It was quite tempting, actually. But instead, we have decided to bless the internets with the most slammin' blog (no pun intended). A blog which is dedicated mainly to the game of basketball, but also to diverse topics such as Mountain Dew Code Red, Democratic primaries, Guitar Hero 3 and post-structuralism. We are sponsored by Nabisco."
The Players
Cheryl
Cheryl will offer “A Sistah’s Point of View” (ASPOV) to this madness, because as you will read over the next few months, it will be needed. I see connections, like Haley Joel Osment sees dead people. Connections between modern sports, culture, politics, race and racialization, art and dance, religion and myth. I will try to point these out without being too esoteric or dogmatic (but if I am, sue me). But what you can always expect is that I will be open, honest, and often catty. (That was an awfully un-feminist thing to say, huh?)”
Eboy
White Hot Eboy, or just plain E, is a polarizing figure. On the SLAM site, the place of his e-origin, Eboy seems to move between love for his regular foils to sheer unbridled hate for his detractors. Here in this blogventure, look for Eboy to speak on basketball in all forms, movies, tv, politics, sports in general and anything else that he can throw his opinion at. Besides, he's legally obligated to be truthful and forthright, so stay ready, an E-storm is brewing.
TADOne
"We, the elite Linkstigators, have formed like Voltron, We could have used our powers for evil. It was quite tempting, actually. But instead, we have decided to bless the internets with the most slammin' blog (no pun intended). A blog which is dedicated mainly to the game of basketball, but also to diverse topics such as Mountain Dew Code Red, Democratic primaries, Guitar Hero 3 and post-structuralism. We are sponsored by Nabisco."
The Players
Cheryl
Cheryl will offer “A Sistah’s Point of View” (ASPOV) to this madness, because as you will read over the next few months, it will be needed. I see connections, like Haley Joel Osment sees dead people. Connections between modern sports, culture, politics, race and racialization, art and dance, religion and myth. I will try to point these out without being too esoteric or dogmatic (but if I am, sue me). But what you can always expect is that I will be open, honest, and often catty. (That was an awfully un-feminist thing to say, huh?)”
Eboy
White Hot Eboy, or just plain E, is a polarizing figure. On the SLAM site, the place of his e-origin, Eboy seems to move between love for his regular foils to sheer unbridled hate for his detractors. Here in this blogventure, look for Eboy to speak on basketball in all forms, movies, tv, politics, sports in general and anything else that he can throw his opinion at. Besides, he's legally obligated to be truthful and forthright, so stay ready, an E-storm is brewing.
TADOne
TADOne, or just plain TAD, is quite possibly the most sane member of this blog group, although, that is not saying much. My sarcasm, or just plain lack of empathy, has been known to reach epic levels of true disdain. Because of this, I have a love of binge drinking and mindless humor. Therapy is good.
Tariq
I am a sensitive, delicate soul. I use sarcasm and cynicism as self-defense mechanisms, douchebag. I do this to protect my faberge-egg-like psyche. If only I could increase my self-confidence, maybe then I could achieve a moment of sincerity. But I can't. So instead I have to be content with writing sublime pieces which delve into the realms of basketball, football (American), football (real), literature, religion, The Legend of Zelda and Reese's Pieces. I may even occassionally shed some insight into the complexities of the human condition. No promises, though.
My turn-ons are non-smokers and world peace. My turn-offs include crystal meth and springtime.
AR
You may (though most likely don't) know me as commenter H to the izzo from SLAMonline.I will no longer answer to that moniker-ever.I'm retiring only to return again,but this won't be no Linkin Park collaboration.My list of lifetime achievements include being the second most foreign member.The youngest member,the least educated member.I roughly rank as the 3rd most white member and am three time Vodka chugging champion in my district.I intend to prove that basketball opinion and having little else better to do are a dangerous mix.I am usually wrong and am possessed by the ghost of Charles Oakley's right fist.
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48 comments:
Wow....um....well, let's see. Where do I start? Let's go thru the list in a different order:
1)LeBron: Agree and agree. Next....
2)Wade: Agree, but.....the fastest player on the court? I will admit he showed the athleticism that he had when he first came in the league again and looked good doing it, but i'll wait and crown him as fully returned when the actual NBA season begins.
3)Bosh: Pretty f*cking impressive, young man! I will go ahead and repeat here what I said about Wade: let's wait till the NBA season starts before calling him a complete player.
4) Kobe: Oh my, oh my. E, your my man, but stop the complete madness. I am in no way a Kobe fan, but you are completely tearing him a new one where it doesn't deserve to be torn. The last 6 years have been nothing? Like the 81 point game? The runner-up to the MVP trophy before finally winning it this year? The 25 point game against Australia before that final game? The Finals appearance this year? It is fun to bash, but be fair and objective.
Ok, i'll bow out before the name calling starts.
1.We know
2.*Rolls eyes*
3.Yeah,kinda.
4.We knew that.
American players are good at basketball.
Dissapointing Olympics.....
The players already forgot they won....
YaY Propaganda...
This was somewhat well written...
I like cabbage....
3 Boxing medals.....
I demand to see Misty May Treanor naked....
DWade still isn't what he was,but is still awesome...
At least Michael Redd got to see China...
Test the following people:
Usain Bolt
Michael Phelps
That guy who won the 20k walk
The rest of the show jumpers
People who dive scare me
China were never that good...
Oh and the piece didn't really explain WHY they deserved it......other than them being American.
Ballywho?
Go fuck yourselves or didn't you see my disclaimer?
TAD, since I can't argue with AR and his 3 medal country mind, this is your argument for the betterment of the basketball world?
"Like the 81 point game? The runner-up to the MVP trophy before finally winning it this year? The 25 point game against Australia before that final game? The Finals appearance this year?"
You're kidding me, right? Being sarcastic? I get it know.
@Eboy: You get it "know" or now? Either way you obviously don't. You were right on point about Lebanon James until you said that he is the guy people FEAR the most in the NBA. There was poll already done by S.I. on who is the most feared player teams hate facing and it was by far Kobe. Not even close. Who cares what Kobe's field goal % was in 20 point blowouts? Obviously Coach K didn't thats why he played him in the most crucial minutes throughout the medal games. Years from now fans all over the globe won't remember how shitty Kobe shot in the pre-medal rounds. And Honestly they won't really remember how well LeBron played thru out the tourney because he took a backseat to players who are more clutch in the gold medal game and that's a shame. What will be burned into their minds are the performances of Flash reclaiming his spot with basketballs elite and those last 5 mins. of gold medal winning greatness. They'll remember that when Team USA needed the Mamba to strike he did and he was as deadly as ever.
One more thing, how does dragging a team to the playoffs in the toughest conf. ever that no one else could 4 out of 5 years, putting up ridiculous numbers while playing winning basketball, winning MVP, and taking a team a few injurys away from a championship make the last 6 years a failure for Kobe? Who has had a better past six years? Tim Duncan, maybe? You've said some pretty ridamndiculous things out of sheer hate in the past but that absolutely takes the cake. I guess judging by your scale LeBron's entire career has been a failure up to this point. Damn. Who knew?
Well, B., I knew you'd crawl out of your hole once you read this. And you know what, I don't care what you think. This isn't one point you can't dispute in my piece about your lover, and I guess you missed the totality of it since you, AR and TAD all failed to mnetion the props I gave him for the rest of his storied career. The problem with superfans, which you are, is that there is no gauge for good and bad, and that's why there's good old guys like me around to set the shit straight. Fantasies are fantastic B, and since you and I both love comics we know there's some good shit to be gleaned if you look hard enough. I'll take my years of knowledge that you haven't been through yet as the dividing point of where hopeless devotion lies and gleamed knowledge jumps off from.
And keep your spelling comments to yourself. I don't know how many times I've read a SLAM comment of yours that I thought was written by a Indian telemarketer.
E, you nailed it. This was a really nice piece of writing, arguably your best yet. And I agree about Bosh, especially. He and JO may just bring some excitement across the border.
And no, fellas I am not being biased or showing my Eboy love. It's that I recognize good writing from dude. Admit you enjoyed it too! :-)
Thanks, Cheryl.
BAH! That was nice. But Mills is faster. 10.7 for the 100 metres. Flash would struggle to break 11.3 thats over 6 metres of difference between the two over 100 metres which is 2-3 metres over a basketball court. BTW, Both Mills and Brad Newley were named in SI's all breakout team for the Olympics. Im not gonna teabag all over the article since I like all 4 of the major players you mentioned and have no problem with the statements except that Kobe has made himself an individual name rather than living under Shaq's rather large shadow as a sidekick 'I want to be the man' until 04-05.
Hey, just quickly a plug for hibachi2.0 We've put some good new stuff up after a while of not having anything recent so any comments you put in would be great.
Ok, ok. Since Cheryl prodded me, I will grudgingly admit this was pretty well written for a completely biased individual who still thinks White Snake is relevant and denim jackets used to be cool. However, disclaimers are for p*ssies.
This is all.
Whitsnake is one word, no capital S in snake. Fucker. And biased? I'm not a card carrying Chris Bosh fan, I don't worship at the scrotum of Lebron like certain Pennslyvania sports writers do and any time I type out compliments to Kobe, it make my fingers hurt, so suckle on that Piston pussy!!! :)
*White
*makes Eboy.
All I remember about the 2004 Olympics (other than the USA getting beat on) was how Dwyane Wade was *by far* the best player on the team. He literally is a Top 5 player in my mind...behind Deron of course! :-)
I am very proud of 3 medals,oh and by the way I did actually enjoy this,as I said it was well written(this,coming from someone who's 'dense').I just don't agree with it.Again,why did they deserve it?
Alan, I called you dense, not Eboy. Give my cynicism some credit. thanks.
TAD:It was very much a tip of the hat to you......rule changer!!.
Uhm.....they played better than every other team they played against head to head, their teamwork was leaps and bounds above the 2004 squad, they allowed themselves the ability to compete with the best talent they had as opposed to Coach Brown's philosophy of playing lesser players for the "good of the team". Anything else?
I thought that statement implied that you thought they deserved it even before the games started.At least that's how I read it.
They did AR. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
No, that's not what I meant, AR. Sorry for the confusion.
Nice work Eboy. This piece had a lot of good points. You obviously watched most of, if not ALL the games (including preliminaries). And I agree with what you said about Wade and Bosh. I do, however, disagree with you on some things:
1- LeBron is certainly one of the top 2 players in the League (1A and 1B like you said). He's unstoppable and basically a freak. But PLEASE don't mention his passing in the same breath as Magic. Yeah, he passes well, but come on. He's not even close to being compared to Kidd, who is light years away from being compared to Magic.
LeBron is an excellent passer FOR A FORWARD. Let's not even mention him in the same breath as elite point guards, nevermind "not yet being on Magic's level".
2- As good as Bron is (he may well end up being the GOAT) his game is not "well-rounded". His game is basically running over people and getting to the basket. He attacks the hell out of the rim. But clog the paint and make him beat you with that J and what happens? Where is his "well-rounded" game then? He seriously needs to improve his (declining) jump shot + FT percentages. And I won't even mention defense because that's not as big a problem as his shooting. I mean, what's his FT percentage? late-sixties, early-seventies?
3= Kobe. OK, EVERYTHING you wrote about Kobe's "failure period" is biased. Every single word, even "an" and "the". They're all tainted with your overwhelming hate. Dude wasn't the best player at the Olympics (that would be Wade) but he showed up when it mattered in the Final and he was the best player in the quarterfinals, and you call it "luck".
But that's OK, I wouldn't even mind if you just criticized his play in China, but to write off the last six years of his career as a "failure" is just hilariously inaccurate. What makes it even funnier is that you're saying this right after his MVP season, a season where he took his soft squad to the Finals. Did we forget how tough the West was? Sure, Boston killed them, but that doesn't make the season a failure at all. It was actually a huge success.
And the years before that? He was doing EXACTLY what Bron is doing now. He was putting up AMAZING numbers on a shitty team. I mean, their STARTING PG was SMUSH FUCKING PARKER. You know who they had STARTING inside? CHRIS MIHM? And he went out and played night in and night out. So to see you sit there in your little office by the beach and decide that one of the 15 Best Players Ever has been a failure for SIX YEARS makes me laugh until my balls hurt. FTH.
Tariq, I love you for your comment, but you, as many others of your age and ilk, are extremely tainted due to the fact no one had challenged the guy's game because it doesn't seem fair in your eyes. Well you know what? I don't play fair. Ever. It's not what people with winning mindsets do. You want to point out certain instances as to why Kobe should be revelled instead of jeered bear no merit. Lebron is at the beginnings of his career and hasn't had the opportunity to paly with hall of fame type players, for a hall of fame coach and for an orginization that is as teflon as the people's smiles that cheer for them. You point to Kobe's accomplishments as a measuring stick of some sort since the Lakeers dynasty ended, let me direct you to some of the BIG things non-fans of Mr. Bryant look to.
First his off the court issues (Colorado and his half-witted attempt at showing humility in a public forum at his apology press conference) along with his much publicized scrutinty of Andrew Bynum last offseason in a parking lot somewhere showed how far a great player had fallen. Not his game (I'll get to that) but his reputation, as a man and as a symbol of importance to his fans, young and old alike, was forever damaged, regardless of the bleeding hearts who try and throw dirt over it. Open your eyes to the ways of the world and people's perceptions of others to truly understand this.
Secondly his game, the one so many others dream about at night because you aren't able to have one of their own, has been erractic and his "team-mateness" or lack of it, is still an embarrassment to other well rounded leaders who don't ever get their due. Since this piece was Olympic related, start with that. He was a joke until like you said, his last quarter of action in the gold medal game. Shit shots, pourous D, forced threes over and over, and a relative lack of getting into the paint which could have made his time in China palatable instead of disagreeable. The media HAD to make it seem like he was the top dog, but the Mini Pin was sitting somewhere south of D-Wade and Lebron.
Let's go back further, shall we? I know someone other than me saw his complete meltdown in a certain Phoenix/Lakers series when in the deciding game he decided to give up. Yep, give up, like a bitch, 'cause he felt entitled to it, because his team couldn't do what was needed to support him.
You know what, suck it up greatest player in the world, because that's what you're SUPPOSED to do. Supposedley, you're not Stephon Marbury or Ricky Davis, those guys are never expected to do unimaginable things. He is. Do the impossible, you scored 81 points in a game, leading a team past an insurmountable object (the Celtics) shouldn't have been hard either.
Or don't you remember your interjection into insanity back in June when you were telling anyone with an IP address that Kobe would do the impossible and come back and beat that overrated Celtics team? A team most people in the media thought would roll over Boston because of a certain 24. Funny how those things don't work out, huh?
Both make good points,both come from places of extreme bias.
The answer(if there is one) is somewhere deep,deep in the middle.
I easily admit mine, AR. Other's should do the same in these types of arguments. I KNEW this would be a great comment getter!!!
I admit that this is a very well written article and that I am a biased Kobe fan. I also admit that me and Tariq are right.
As you should, B. You wouldn't be a Laker fan if you didn't scramble to protect him. :)
I cannot believe I am saying this, but Alan makes the most damn sense in here. Now excuse me while I go stock up on canned goods, matches, and candles.
That hasn't been said by anyone in at least three months.
Time to end it,Tim.
The comment or your name? I'm not currently running from anyone (that I know of), so you can use my government all you want.
The comment.
You can call me Zebbediah for all I care.
First off, let me respond to the "biased" claim some have been throwing (like you, Alan). We can all see that Eboy is biased. Me?
Ok, I'm a Laker fan, but since when? I just started to root for them AFTER they went down in the Finals. You know why? Just to make things fun for myself. My blood is not purple and gold. It's just like soccer... I root for FC Barcleona, but really, when it comes down to it, I know they're just a team. And truthfully, if I saw Kobe Bryant walking down the street I swear to God I wouldn't ask for an autograph or a photo or anything. He's just some dude who happens to play professional sports to me, and the fact that I root for his team is borderline arbitrary. I just decided I'd try out rooting for a team for a change instead of rooting for players. Kobe isn't even my favorite player, for God's sake (that would be Allen Iverson).
My point is this: unlike Eboy, I CAN be objective. And the fact of the matter is this: You can point to NUMEROUS occasions where Kobe fucked up. I'll give you that PHX, no problem. I could give you other examples as well if I were inclined to go down memory lane. OF COURSE he deserved criticism at certain times during the past six seasons. I wasn't suggesting otherwise.
But to just write off six years of the man's career as a "failure period"? That's some fradulent shit right there.
Now to get back to the specifics of your argument, Eboy, I could give a diseased skunk's nut about Kobe's off-court persona. Why the hell should I care whether or not he cheated on his wife with some chick? In my opinion, any man who cheats on his wife is severely lacking in manhood. I prefer to describe these types of people as "males" instead of "men". But that being said, it's none of my fucking business where the man puts his dick. That's between him and his wife. I don't CARE about his image. You think your boy MJ is some kind of beacon for morality? You think Jordan never cheated? We all know professional athletes NEVER cheat on their wives. Give me a fucking break with your holier than thou spiel; Dude isn't running for president.
Secondly, what your saying about his GAME is very... amorphous. What the hell is your argument, anyway?
You start of with the Olympics (you conveniently fail to mention his performance against Australia, but whatever).
Like I said, if you want to criticize him for Beijing, fine. I would argue that Bron wasn't the Bron we see with Cleveland either, but I won't go there. I told you, I wouldn't have a problem if you were just talking about the Olympics, so let's end that thread right there.
Then you talk about Phoenix.
You know what, fine... I'll give you Phoenix. Yeah, that wasn't the highest point of his career. Yeah, he deserves to get criticized for that.
But you know what? In that game, Kobe scored 23 points in the first half on 8-13 shooting, and then in the 2nd half, PHIL JACKSON decided he wanted to let Kobe defer to his teammates. And Kobe obliged. And they lost. So does he deserve criticism? Yeah, but I think he needed to go through that. He had to get to a point where he could learn to trust lesser teammates. In my mind, without that learning experience, he doesn't lead his team to the Finals in 2008.
But forget that. Let's say that that Phoenix game 7 was a complete and total bitch performance. Let's assume that and move on to your next point.
Um... there is no next point. That's your whole argument:
- Kobe was not at his best dring the whole Olympics, which was pretty much the Dwyane Wade show.
- Kobe has an unattractive image (constructed by the media)
- Kobe didn't carry his team past a superior Suns team, a team they weren't even supposed to compete against, let alone take to seven games.
So, in your opinion, because of these points, the last SIX YEARS of Kobe Bryant's career have been a "failure".
My retort:
Bullshit.
You just hate the guy, and what's more, you KNOW he hasn't been a failure, you just want him to be one.
And regarding my "interjection" into insanity, whatever that means (I guess you mean my "lapse" or something) when I was telling everyone that the Lakers would win, that had NOTHING to do with Kobe. I was just having fun, trying to make a pretty mundane Finals just a little bit more exciting. And you want to take jabs at me for saying that the Lakers were gonna win, I'm cool with that. I'm a big boy. I can take your ridicule. But that has NOTHING to do with your argument, because fact of the matter is, winning MVP and taking your team through the toughest conference in recent memory is one hell of an accomplishment in and of itself.
Oh, and Eboy, PLEASE stop playing the age card. Just because you're old enough to have had a flock of seagulls haircut does NOT mean you know shit about shit. If you know something, it's not because you're in your late thirties or whatever. And it's not like I'm getting ready for my prom, bro. I turn 30 in April, so it's not like you lived through the depression while I have a Thundercats lunchbox or something.
Also, what the fuck is my "ilk"?
Thundercats!
I'm pretty good at stirring the shit, ain't it? You should see it on a basketball court!!! Tariq, your arguments are funny and childish. I'm glad your big boy brain is working so hard to try and box me into some pointless battle. It's an opinion, my opinion, like you have yours. In my souless, shit filled country, that's still a right, so if you don't like a topic brought up on our blog (our, being the key word) please refrain from being a chucklehead, which you came off sounding in your last comment.
Mommy,Daddy,please stop!!
I thought Tariq's last comment was actually very good.
You have no credibility, your country won three medals, fucker!!!!! :) Whatever, I'm done with it. You guys can pull the piece down if you choose. Tariq is smarter than the world, so I don't deserve an opinion in anything related to him (SKO).
E, your tearing down Tariq for tearing down your opinion just like you ridiculed his. No one said the piece was bad. We all were in agreement that it was well written and thought out, but your opinion on Kobe is biased. You admit it and it is fact. Now, i'm biased as well. I've readily admitted to anyone who would listen that I don't like or root for Kobe. But, I love this game of basketball too much to discredit his abilities or what he has accomplished.
Now, does Kobe have unapologetic fans? Yes, of course. Jordan did too. I'm sure wilt did as well. Maybe Mikan too. That is what is great about sports, we can watch and debate it. But honestly, is it worth going back and forth at each other? (And to be fair, i'm including Tariq in the last question).
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone at SKO for all the comments on my Rubio story today. You guys are awesome.
B, I'm sure I speak for the rest of the crew, feel free to put something down in words that we can put up for you in the future. BTW, pretty nice feeling seeing your name on the SLAM page as a writer and not just a commenter right?
Damn,
Y'all say you want to stir up some shit, and when I partake you get mad?
Listen, I apologize if I stepped on your toes, Eboy. You have a right to an opinion over here, too, even if the government sucks. I'm not disputing your right to your opinion, I am merely exercising my right at expressing a different opinion.
I could have just rolled my eyes and moved on when I read your Kobe section, but I thought you WANTED a heated discussion, so I participated in it. Otherwise I would have just focused on the positive aspects of what you wrote (and there are many). So no, don't take it down.
And did I personally attack you in any way? The only thing I pointed out was that it can get tiring when you act like we should all just accept your opinion on things because you're 38 or whatever. IF we accept your opinion, it should be because the argument is strong, not because you're older. That's a cop-out. Your argument should speak for itself. It's not like "Well, that doesn't make sense, but I guess it's convincing because Eboy, who is 8 years my senior said it, so it must be true."
Let me ask you this: If someone who was 43 came up to you and started saying "You know what, Cliff, people of your age (and ilk?) don't really understand basketball. You didn't see George Gervin in his prime, ergo, I decree that Kobe is better than Jordan." Would his argument carry additional weight because he's 43 or would you just laugh at him?
Eboy,on the bright side-this is around ten times better than anything Jamele Hill has ever written.
Tariq: I hope you don't feel like I was attacking you? I was merely trying to diffuse a potentially ugly argument, which is where I thought it was heading.
Besides, I hate all of you just on principle, f*ck an argument.
Arguements fucking rule.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my sexual attraction to Eboy.
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