Kobe trivia: what's the only team to beat Kobe in the playoffs and Kobe never beat that team in the playoffs ??
I guess the correct answer is Dallas and Detroit, although Real answering Detroit threw me for a loop. LOL. I was thinking West playoffs only. So both are correct.
pretty crazy to me that they only played the mavs once in the postseason considering that both teams were perennial playoff teams in the 2000s
In my view, he's going to finish with the second best 20th season in NBA history, behind Kareem. It's a pretty fitting ending to an awesome career.
I agree, a lot of us including myself, were quick to judge his play.. especially with the poor efficiency. But when you really take it all in he did well.. he's out of his element with this team and poor coaching. Had they been in some sort of contention and they had a true leader to coach the team and guide them I think he'd have put together a really decent season. We're very lucky to have witnessed Jordan/Kobe back to back careers.. I don't think we'll ever see anyone compete like they did. Not anytime soon, that's for sure.. they just don't make them like that anymore.
All my years of supporting the Lakers, I admit that liking 24 was like hugging a cactus. I have mad respect for him, his work ethic and his game. As 24 winds down his last season, letting his guard down for the most part and taking it all in, it pains me to see him just trying to give his all but not able to do it anymore. At least, he's going out on his own terms with dignity intact.
Kobe just told a cool story about Gary Vitti that I'd never heard before. Finals vs Indiana 2000. We know Kobe hurt the ankle, he was on crutches, but I never heard Kobe say his ankle was "done" and he should not have played the rest of that series. We know Kobe didn't play game 3, but he said Vitti was working on it at some point and they both heard a pop, looked at eachother and said it was either really good or really bad. Asked Kobe to get up and walk, Kobe said wow you fixed it. Rest is history, Kobe takes over game 4 without Shaq in OT, we win the game and the series.
Indeed. He also came to his press conference on crutches at one point, and when asked if anything could stop him from playing in game 4, he asked, "any snipers in the room?". I have that championship season VHS still, lol, there's also the scene of Shaq carrying Kobe around on his back after the injury.
Even 24 that we consider indestructible end up like this. Of course, if he did not have those major injuries to his Achilles and shoulder, who knows where he would be now.
With all the injuries Kobe has suffered throughout his career, he has always persevered no matter what. We've all watched him throughout the years, every time he got hurt we all knew he would play the next game. He was like a robot, not human at all. To me, he was indestructible. So it's been real rough these past few seasons watching a hero of mine basically limp his way through a season. I once saw him as indestructible, but now, he's just another athlete that father time has beat once again. But, he's my, our, athlete.
^In the first game against Minnesota, during a crucial possession where he had one on one coverage in the post he went up and was barely able to get the shot off. In the old days, that would have been an easy score or a flush. That was when I realized, 24 is not the same. Felt the pangs of nostalgia...