The front office has pretty clearly seen what Kobe can and can't do at this stage in his career. The pressure is on them to bring in some guys who can lighten the load on Kobe. We just can't look for him to be our number one distributor, scorer, and defender. Those days are just over.
That depends on his supporting cast. Will the FO be able to land a star to play next to him and a supporting cast? At this stage of Kobe's career, he needs as much attention away from him as he can, and he needs targets he can 100% trust to pass to when he gets doubled. Or else, you get what you see now, in 2013, from 05-07, an inefficient Kobe. Injuries isn't what is going to hinder Kobe's efficiency, it's always going to be about his team.
Here's a question. We saw Kobe can distribute well when he wants to. Randle and Johnson are athletic freaks. Let's say we lose enough to get Johnson. Does a run at Kevin Love make sense with Randle as our new sf, Johnson at sg and Kobe at pg? Clarkson subs in at both guard spots. Swaggy a little at sg and sf. Randle can play a bit at pf as well. It seems like the NBA is moving towards a more 5 best players on the court type approach. I kind of wonder what a starting 5 of Love, Randle, Johnson, Kobe and a yet to be named center could do. Obviously due to the inexperience I'm not sure they finish much better than 7-8 in the conference, at best. But it could really build towards something interesting.
I think Kobe at PG presents 2 problems, very high turnover rate, and over-usage. There is a version of PG that Kobe could play that can conserve his energy, but I've never seen him play that way, I think in his 20th year he's incapable. He goes all out at PG, just like at SG, his usage rate is still too high and he will wear down again. The only option I see for him is more off the ball next to a real PG, which he's also never been capable of, but he will HAVE to be if he wants to last IMO. He's said he'll never be a role player or he'll retire, whatever the quote is, but he's going to have to be a little closer to role player than he's ever been IMO, or he will go out injured not on his own terms again.
Did anybody catch him in Jimmy Fallon? Just a Short funny Clip and I was wondering if somebody recorded it or got a link? Gesendet von iPhone mit Tapatalk
Hey, in the long days of a suck *** Laker season again for the 3rd year in a row ruined by some cretin with pins and a doll ..... what else to do to while away the time? Rag mag or rag news fodder is fair game. Ball Don't Lie Did Karl Malone just challenge Kobe Bryant to a fight? By Kelly Dwyer46 minutes agoBall Don't Lie . View photo Kobe Bryant and Karl Malone clinch before the fight referee separates the two. (Getty Images) Man, a lot of aging Basketball Hall of Famers sure seem to have some strong opinions about Kobe Bean Bryant. Karl Malone was a Laker for exactly one season, participating in an injury-plagued final campaign with Los Angeles in 2003-04 that saw the Lakers fall in the NBA Finals to the Detroit Pistons. Malone retired following that season and seemed to be easing into a life spent moving construction equipment around before Bryant alleged that Malone hit on Kobe’s wife Vanessa (who is Latino) while attending a Laker game. Remember this? On Nov. 23, the night the Lakers played the Bucks at Staples Center, Vanessa was talking on the phone to Malone's wife, Kaye. Kaye gave Vanessa her husband's cellphone number, and Vanessa called Malone, who was sitting at courtside, and invited Malone's child to join her. Malone, wearing cowboy boots and a hat, eventually took the child to Vanessa. Malone hugged Vanessa, and then Vanessa asked -- as Manley recounts this part of the story -- "Hey, cowboy, what are you hunting?" "She said it twice," Manley said, "and Karl answered the second time, 'I'm hunting for little Mexican girls.' " After the game Vanessa told Bryant that Malone had come on to her, and said several inappropriate things. She also told Bryant that she had called Malone's wife and asked Kaye to get her husband away from her. Bryant called Malone on his cellphone after the game, and Bryant laid into Malone. Bryant said Malone didn't have much to say in return and didn't deny anything. That’s an understandable beef for Bryant to develop. Strangely, while appearing on Huffington Post Live, Malone made an odd invitation toward Bryant in his typical Karl Malone-ese, just about asking Kobe to get in the ring with the Mailman. Watch: Here’s a transcript: "We had a little issue," Malone told host Marc Lamont Hill. "I don't hold grudges ... I love Westerns. I'm old-school Western. Back in the day, when you had a beef, you didn't go get guns and knives ... we just go back in the back with no cameras and knuckle up. Get it over with." Hill pressed Malone if he offered Bryant that route to resolution. "It's a standing offer," Malone said. "Look, I don't want no trouble. I don't have a problem. People say whatever they want to say and that's great. I'm 6-9, 272 [pounds] to be exact. I'm not hard to find. I don't want no trouble. But if something got to go down, I'm not playing fair." I would suggest that fighting a man currently wearing an arm sling after undergoing surgery to repair a significant tear in his right shoulder would be the epitome of “not playing fair,” but that’s Karl for you. This is all very … weird. That 2003-04 Laker team could have been a great one. Shaquille O’Neal was out of shape that season, and Bryant was fighting rape charges on some off days in a Colorado courthouse, but the team still managed to start the season on an 18-3 tear. Just before Christmas, however, Karl Malone sprained his knee after running into Phoenix Suns big man Scott Williams, suffering the first significant injury of his 20-year career. From there, point man Gary Payton seemed to age in dog years, the Lakers fell back, and championship contenders in Minnesota (perhaps the most unheralded and overlooked also-ran of the modern era), Sacramento, San Antonio and Dallas all found their rhythm. After injuries struck the Wolves and the Derek Fisher sucker-punch took the wind out of San Antonio’s sails, the Lakers still managed to make their way to the Finals. Malone hurt that same knee again during that series, and a white-hot Pistons squad downed the Lakers in five. Malone retired, Payton was dealt to Boston, coach Phil Jackson stepped away, O’Neal was traded to Miami, and Bryant (after flirting with the Clippers and Bulls) re-signed with the Lakers. It was an abrupt ending. Just as abrupt and brief a fight between Kobe with one arm and the self-satisfied Malone would presumably be.
I guess fighting Rodman didn't net him enough viewers. It's really a damn shame how everything that season played out -- from injuries to squabbles between franchise players to hunting Mexican girls to GP not fitting with Phil or the triangle. It should've been a historical, we should've been watching one of the best starting lineups ever assembled go on a ridiculous run, and we should've won the damn trophy. What's crazy is with all that turmoil and drama we still came close and if not for Scott Williams, Malone would've won it for us. I hated (but immensely respected) Malone as a member of the Jazz but when he came to LA, he was one of my favorites. Easy to root for with the effort and intensity he gave out there against players half his age, often quicker or taller than him. Didn't matter. Had he not gotten hurt, I would've liked to see him get the Finals MVP if we won. The matchup between he and Yao was one of my all-time frontcourt playoff wars and I imagine him at 100% going against Sheed and Big Ben would've been epic.
Right there with you JSM. And until the thing with Vanessa he and Kobe had really bonded and were two of a kind with the effort and day to day work ethic. A whole lot of mutual respect. Had it not been for the Vanessa thing I think he might have come back and been capable of chasing down Kareem's record, as a Laker. Not that I wanted that but wouldn't have hated it either. Kareem didn't spend his whole career here either. All that aside he talked about how he had lost the reason and incentive to continue to put out that kind of effort when his mom died. (that year I think?) She meant everything to him. Still if the tiff with Kobe hadn't happened, thanks for blowing it up to having to have your honor defended, Vanessa (whatever, just my opinion), maybe playing with the Lakers and competing for championships in his last years could have been done for her or at least been a place to lose himself in getting over her loss.
Read the article, saw nothing too bad about it, but I still have to point out that Kelly Dwyer is a Kobe hater and and a miserable human being. He's a young TJ Simers, and would probably be happy if he could find some dirt to post about Kobe every single day.
well this is odd over 10 years later and malone brings this up now? sounds like a cry for some attention anyways. that 03-04 season stills irks me like no other. it really makes your blood boil to think that if it wasn't for that dumb POS scott williams, the lakers would have more than likely won another title. even through all the drama of that season, a healthy malone in the finals would have been huge. he would have easily shut down wallace. i never liked malone much before that season but i loved him with the lakers, he fit into the system perfectly unlike payton
