It's Thanksgiving, despite how this season has unfolded for Kobe, you gotta be thankful for what he's given the league, the Lakers, the city in the past 20 years. I've essentially watch him played for my entire life (I'm 23). He made me a Laker fan and a fan of basketball. It's gonna suck when he's gone.
Absolutely. I will remember Kobe before the achilles injury, because that was the real Kobe, he's never been the same since. Before he got ran into the ground by 'Antoni he carried one last team to the playoffs, it's just that since then his body hasn't held up. 5 titles, teams taken to the playoffs that probably had no business there, countless hours of entertainment. I'm ready for Kobe to retire, and I will remember him nothing but fondly when he does, been watching him play since I was 12.
It is often difficult to walk away for a great, uber competitive player. Only a few have done so at the peak of their game...Jim Brown and Barry Sanders come to mind. A majority of them hang on even if they are just a shell of their former selves. Hard to watch...tougher when it is one of our own.
D'Antoni really accelerated this whole process for Bryant. When they say they look at Kobe now and see a guy thats body has literally given everything and has nothing left, I believe it. I will never forget him willing us to the playoffs, I mean just watching that last Warrior game in which he hurt his achilles you could legit see his body giving up on him through it, yet he kept pushing it until it finally broke. So sad.
This is why I can't stand the Lakers subreddit. There are so many over the top homers and Kobe fanboy apologists it's impossible to have an objective discussion: What the hell games has this guy been watching? I would like to watch those instead.
To be fair we'd lose the games we lost without Kobe. On the w/l column Kobe isn't a negative. He might be when it comes to development though.
I'm honestly hopeful that Kobe retires during the season, maybe after the All-Star break. Hell maybe before the All-Star break if he doesn't get his honorary All-Star membership in his last year. I don't want to keep watching him this way. It's tarnishing my memories of him and hurting the team. I'd like for the rookies to be free from the grasp of trying desperately to prop Kobe up. Part me wished he'd retired after the Detroit game.
It's hard to watch for sure. I know this analogy may bum some more animal cruelty sensitive people out, but Kobe has always reminded me of a fighting dog who won't stop until he kills or is killed in the ring. He doesn't have any kind of "slow down" or "stop" in his nature. He only knows one way - all the way - and that's what none of these terrible coaches (Brown, D' Antoni and Scott) have been able to reign in. Only a strong coach like Phil was successful and even he had his struggles because of Kobe's headstrong drive. Now that same incessant drive is making it impossible for him to lay off the terrible shot selection, wanting to play too much, do too much . . . It's not fun. Yeah, I wish he could just go back to more of a facilitator role. And I certainly don't want to see any more 37 minute games out of him. It's not good for anyone - fans, team or himself. He and Byron are both being way too stubborn. I really hope they both hang it up in the offseason.
I hope the Lakers will wire me the remaining of Kobe due salary . I will split it with you since you came up with idea
Yeah absolutely. Kobe is the greatest Laker of all time. The greatest player of this era. There will never be another Kobe Bryant. His fire, his will to win, his competiveness, his assassin mentality, his ability to put his team on his back and I'm crunch time coming through time and time again, never shied away even if he failed, the closest thing I believe we'll ever see to Michael Jordan. These last 2-3 years don't mean anything to me in terms of Kobe. There's nobody in history that could endure what he's had to endure in terms of the minutes and games played, shaky supporting cast at best, the overall level of atricion and mileage, the injuries and fare any better. The fact he even tried to come back shows what Kobe Bryant is all about.
Malone or Jordan didn't tear their Achilles last time I checked. That's the difference. Yeah it's depressing, but not really surprising. All the wear and tear on his body was gonna catch up at some point and that injury only accelerated the process. I have no doubt if Kobe hadn't suffered that injury he would still be playing at a very high level.
This is obviously Kobe's last season but I hope he remains with the franchise in some way. He's arguably the greatest Laker ever, a legend for the franchise.