Sports Guy weighs in on the Kobe 81 thing.
i think this summed it up best
When an exhausted Kobe reached 81 and appeared barely able to stay on his feet, the Lakers removed him to a standing ovation, as well as half-hearted hugs and high-fives from his teammates (all of whom will be disciplined this week from Mitch Kupchak for not celebrating joyously enough). The best reaction belonged to Jackson, who seemed amused, supportive and somewhat horrified, like how Halle Berry's husband probably looked after sitting through his first screening of "Monster's Ball." The second-best reaction belonged to my Dad, who listened to Kobe's postgame interview with Patrick O'Neal and excitedly said, "Wait, how can you score 81 points and not thank your teammates?" Not since Hilary Swank snubbed then-husband Chad Lowe at the 2000 Oscars have we seen something that blatantly egocentric. And look how they turned out.
see here's the thing, this whole situation isn't all that surprising on several levels.
- calling Kobe "selfish" or "a ball hog" at this point is like calling Tom Brady a good QB or Tony Stewart a good driver. it's a given. if someone tells you Kobe is a ball hog the proper reply is "thank you. why don't you type that up in a memo and title it SHIT I ALREADY KNOW!!!"
- i can't imagine what being his teammate is like. it must be like being a pit crew member on a NASCAR team. you know that you have a job and that if you screw it up you can cost everyone the game/race and yet when it's all said and done you're going to be watching some other guy hoisting the trophy getting the chicks and having his face on the cover of the papers.
- i'm not going to deny that what he did was impressive. 81 is a high number no matter how much you snub your team or how bad the other team sucks.
- i think Jim Rome had the best comment on the Raptors when he said that at some point your personal pride as a professional athlete HAS to kick in and you just have to guard Kobe with all 5 men and let the other 4 scrubs on the team take uncontested layups. How can you let a guy score that many damn baskets?
so do i think Kobe can break 100? at this point, who knows.
3 comments:
I stopped watching the NBA when Jordon Retired. No one could score on a basket quite like Jordon. Expecially those 3 pointers...when it needed to count. Very impressive & Most impressive.
I think thier last Championship ( Chigago Bulls) where Scotty Pippin, Dennis Rodman and Michael Jordon really made NBA exciting.
In regards to your comment about what it would be like to be a teammate, I think you have to be realistic. Kobe is arguably the best player in the league, and his teammates have to think he gives them the best chance to win night in and night out. As a teammate, you also know that he's capable of carrying his team to a win against anyone and you have the potential bonus of being courtside for a historic moment like an 81-point game.
uhm......wasn't that me...Ironman?
:)
Cynthia
Post a Comment