Jordan would be complaining that Kobe was stealing all his ownership moves. He would sign Kwame Brown's son and a middle aged Adam Morrison to big contracts. Seriously though coaching is one of the things Kobe could beat Jordan at. Imagine him and Magic owning the Lakers. The two greatest Lakers bringing back the rings. Kobe would be too impatient, Basketball takes time, I think he sees business as limitless and like others have said Magic the entrepreneur is a powerful role mode. Coach Kobe was pretty awesome though when we had EL CLowno coaching. I think he might be scary as a coach or owner coming to a practice. But like they say if you can't stand the Heat join the Cavaliers.
If he makes it through the season and decides to hang it up ... well that would be such a nice way to end your career.
I don't know man. I find it doubtful, but you're right it'd be a cool way to end your career since you probably aren't winning an NBA ring. Still though everyone seems to have written him off even among Laker fans. Does he have enough left in the tank to be a real contributor on that team? Or would he be he token old guy? Does it matter to Kobe either way?
^ That really depends on what a "real contributor" means. Pierce was a meaningful contributor last season, and clutch as hell. For Kobe, 12/4/2 and some clutch threes probably isn't "real contribution". I am sure Kobe himself would agree.
That would be cool for Kobe. He wouldn't be the main contributor at that point but it doesn't matter, with that talented of a roster Kobe could just chip in and help the guys from a leadership prespective.
One of the funniest parts is how the announcer explains everything in Mandarin, and then says something like "...kaza doi chiva a basic fundamental move..." (0:20).
If Kobe is retired after this season and wants to go out with Team USA and try for gold, I'd certainly like to see that. They don't need Kobe really though. Durant, Westbrook, Curry, Melo, Paul, etc, they're more than good on star guards and small forwards.
LOL what they didn't show was Kobe elbowing him in the left eye earlier ...... why he's being so nice to him now .....
I just mean is he going to play at all? If he is still playing a little bit, I see him trying to go for it. If he's just a token old guy, then I don't think he does it.
I hope he will, but you just never know with those injuries. His body is breaking down... if he gets injured again, he's done. But if he is relatively healthy, he can still score 20 ppg and be a leader, motivating our young players. I think that's still valuable. But for Kobe, being a "contributor" and scoring 20 ppg is probably not enough, so I think he'll probably retire.
I don't know if we're talking about the same thing here... I'm just talking about the Olympics. I think Kobe is done with NBA ball after this year barring some crazy unforeseen circumstance where he re-gains form and leads this team to the cusp of the WCF or something. The reality for the NBA is if he makes it through this year then he will probably call it quits because why risk ending on a bad note? If he doesn't make it through this year then Father Time finally won. When it comes to the Olympics though, I think he'll only do it if he feels like a contributor and they're not just dragging him along for show.
Ah, I see. We were not talking about the same thing at all! Sorry about that... yeah, I agree with you 100% about the Olympics.
That kind of thinking would resonate with most people. Not Kobe. When has Kobe willingly accepted "defeat" (for lack of a better word)? This is the same dude who nailed two FT's on a torn achilles, played with broken fingers, etc. etc. Unfortunately, I believe Kobe will only stop when he's literally unable to go. It's just his MO.
For his sake I hope not and in some ways for ours. As much as I treasure what he's done for us, we're on the cusp of moving on from him. If he sticks around just so he can empty the tank it becomes a distraction. If he's still fully capable and makes it through a season... I guess that's different. I just see that as extremely unlikely.
Kobe is unpredictable.. I think he has bigger plans than a farewell tour this season. I could see him returning dirt cheap for the 16-'17 season if he has a successful major injury free year.. especially if they sign some real talent to help. Maybe a pipe dream.. but I refuse to give up on the guy just yet.
A farewell tour as part of Team USA is something I think he'd be down for much more than with the Lakers. He doesn't want to take away anything from the season and goal at hand. Granted there's still a massive goal for USA, it's not the same and he's not shouldering the load. If he has a good year, stays healthy, but can't handle another grueling 82 game schedule then this allows him to leave it all out on the court one last time. To work through any last unresolved issues/demons with the basketball gods. If he's playing around 20 minutes (or less) a game for USA, he'd be able to go full tilt and make the most of every possession on both ends.
