81<<<<<<<<
what was the team they played again? What are they doing next week again?

4/17/2006 9:29:25 PM

The Lakers are a 7 or 8 seed and that is due largely in part to Kobe, who is the most dominant player in the league.

The Cavs are a 4 seed and that is ALL due to Lebron, who not only is dominant, but has made everyone of his teammates better. You cannot say that about Kobe, at all.

Kobe is a great individual player, but Lebron is the most valuable.

without Kobe, the lakers go from a 7 seed to not making the playoffs in an unusually down year for the West.

without Lebron, the Cavs go from a 4 seed to one of the worst teams in the League.

Lebron = MVP

4/17/2006 9:33:59 PM

Raptors & not in the playoffs.

4/17/2006 9:35:16 PM

thats was my point^ it was impressive though

but,honestly, I can't stand kobe...superdude could confirm this, I would rather have kobe playing for me than Lebron..hmmmm????

[Edited on April 17, 2006 at 9:39 PM. Reason : .]

4/17/2006 9:37:35 PM

Lebron is one heck of a player. The offensive stats don't lie. A couple of months ago, he wouldn't have been nearly considered because he was getting knocked for not being clutch. He's hit a few big shots since then.

You say that the West isn't as strong? In relation to the East, they're still much stronger. Every playoff team in the West has a better record than the East's 5th seed. While we would never know, I would bet that if Kobe's Lakers were in the East, they'd have a better record than Cleveland.

And you can't deny the fact that Kobe is a better defender than Lebron, hands down. I've watched them as they matched up against each other this season. When Kobe wants to, he can lock down Lebron. Lebron even has better talent lined up around him (overall).

Kobe is the best individual player in the league. Lebron is valuable in his own right, but I'd have to rank him behind Kobe. Without Lebron (assuming they had Hughes), they'd still be a playoff contender. Without Hughes, they would be pretty bad. But so would the Lakers if Kobe wasn't there (even if Odom was around)

4/17/2006 10:06:19 PM

^that

4/17/2006 10:08:08 PM

Quote :

"Without Lebron (assuming they had Hughes), they'd still be a playoff contender."

THATS BULLSHIT AND YOU KNOW IT....THE REST OF THE CAVS TEAM IS JUST AS PATHETIC AS THE LAKERS...THEY JUST DON'T PLAY LIKE IT BECAUSE LEBRON MAKES THEM BETTER.....

I WILL AGREE THAT THE WEST AS A WHOLE IS BETTER THAN THE EAST BUT NOT AS DOMINANT AS THEY HAVE BEEN IN YEARS PAST....THIS IS ABOUT AS CLOSE AS THE EAST HAS COME SINCE THE JORDAN YEARS....

KOBE MAY BE A BETTER DEFENDER BUT SERIOUSLY DOES ANYONE REALLY CARE ABOUT DEFENSE IN THE NBA??

LOOK WHO WON THE MVP LAST YEAR....HE DIDN'T WIN IT FOR PLAYING DEFENSE

Quote :

"LEBRON FOR MVP....ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE IS RETARDED AND SUPPORTS RAPE"

[Edited on April 18, 2006 at 9:24 AM. Reason : YOU DON'T WANT TO BE A RAPE SUPPORTER DO YOU?? VOTE LEBRON]

4/18/2006 9:23:49 AM

KOBE IS UNQUESTIONABLY HAVING THE BEST SEASON THAT WE HAVE SEEN SINCE JORDAN PUT UP 37.1 A GAME IN 1987.

HE IS HAVING THE BEST SEASON IN LAKER HISTORY:
KAREEM
ELGIN
WILT
MAGIC
JERRY WEST

im sure lebron is having the best season in cav history: ehlo, price, ??????

KOBE:
6- 50 POINT GAMES (81-season high)
27- 40 POINT GAMES

LEBRON:
2- 50 POINT GAMES (52-season high) <- kobe had 62 in 3 quarters against mavs
10- 40 POINT GAMES

a lebron-less cavs team is a lot better than a kobe-less lakers team:

Ilgauskas, Flip Murray, Damon Jones, Gooden, hughes, Donyell Marshall, Eric Snow,

vs.

kwame, bynum, Brian cook, aaron mckie, odom, smush, mihm


not to mention that the lakers would be 5th in the shitty east right now with their west schedule

KOBE IS BY FAR THE BEST PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE NO ONE IS EVEN CLOSE

KOBE IS MVP

4/18/2006 10:50:00 AM

^^

Did I say that they would make the playoffs? No. I said that they could be a playoff contender. In the weak East, they could easily win at least 35 games without Lebron. Big Z knows how to play. Hughes can score. Their role players have proven themselves to be pretty good. 35 games isn't out of the question. 35 games puts you in the hunt in the East. If they didn't have Lebron, they wouldn't be perennial basement dwellers with the likes of Atlanta, Toronto, and the Knicks.

The East has had better talent come that way to try to look pretty good versus the West, matchup wise. The East record against the West this year? Just as bad as they've been over the last five years.

Good defense is just another thing that makes Kobe stand out over Lebron. When you have two talented players like that, it's easy to give the nod to the guy who plays better defense. They are more valuable because they can score AND lock down the other guy. People are aware of the defense factor, and it'll be the big reason why Nash doesn't win it back to back. (I still think he'll get it)

4/18/2006 12:09:40 PM

this is gettin good

4/18/2006 12:20:14 PM

I can't really add anything that hasn't already been said, so I'm just gonna copy/paste part of a Bill Simmons (who HATES Kobe) article that more or less pegs it:

Quote :

"Question No. 3: If you replaced every MVP candidate with a decent player at their position for the entire season, what would be the effect on their teams' records? Answer: If you replaced Kobe with a decent 2-guard (someone like Jamal Crawford) for the entire 2005-06 Lakers season, they would have won between 15 and 20 games. I can say that in complete confidence. Terrible team. When Smush Parker and Kwame Brown are your third- and fourth-best players, you shouldn't even be allowed to watch the playoffs on TV. Throw Kobe in the mix and they're headed for 45 wins. So he's been worth 25 victories for them. Minimum. "

from

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060414

4/18/2006 12:24:37 PM

YOU GUYS ARE TALKING LIKE THE CAVS WERE SOME SORT OF FUCKING POWERHOUSE AND THE LAKERS ARE AN NBDL SQUAD...GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK......THE CAVS HAVE BEEN THE BOTTOM FEEDERS OF THE NBA FOR THE PAST 15 YEARS.......THE LAKERS ARE A FUCKING DYNASTY FOR FUCKS SAKE........ALL OF A SUDDEN THEY GET LEBRON AND THEY ARE A PLAYOFF CONTENDER.......THE REASON THOSE ROLE PLAYERS YOU SPEAK OF ARE SOLID ARE BECAUSE THEY FEED OF LEBRONS GAME...

LEBRON MAKES THEM BETTER AND GETS THEM INVOLVED....

KOBE MAKES HIS TEAM LOOK WORSE BECAUSE HE HOGS THE BALL.....

LEBRON FOR MVP.......

SO FUCKING WHAT KOBE COULD SCORE A THOUSAND POINTS A GAME AND THE LAKERS WOULD STILL HAVE A FIRST ROUND EXIT IN THE PLAYOFFS

Quote :

""LEBRON FOR MVP....ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE IS RETARDED AND SUPPORTS RAPE""

4/19/2006 9:26:17 AM

Steve Kerr's thoughts:

Quote :

"MOST VALUABLE PLAYER LeBron James – This was the toughest selection of all the awards because there were as many as eight candidates worthy of consideration. But LeBron carried the Cleveland Cavaliers all season, putting up huge numbers while also bringing out the best in his teammates. Of all the candidates, James is the most well-rounded. He is just the fourth player in league history to average at least 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists – the others being Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird. Perhaps James' best asset is his passing skill because he truly makes his teammates better. James created countless open looks for other Cavs throughout the season, but he also recognized when he needed to take over games on his own. Moreover, LeBron's 31-point scoring average came on four fewer field-goal attempts per game than Kobe Bryant, proving that James is a more efficient scorer than the Lakers star. "

I REST MY CASE. STEVE HAS SPOKEN

LeBron = MVP

[Edited on April 19, 2006 at 9:51 AM. Reason : asdf]

4/19/2006 9:51:06 AM

What Kerr says....hahaha

4/19/2006 12:06:29 PM

Lakers up by 27 at halftime.

...Coincidentally, Kobe has 27 at halftime.

Looks like they'll lock up the 7th seed and play the Suns.

4/19/2006 11:38:50 PM

Back when the Hornets had a better record than the Lakers, Chris Paul appeared to be more valuable than Kobe. Because the fucking Hornets have ZERO talent not named Paul, and he took them from being the worst team in the league last year to a playoff contender.

Kobe doesn't deserve the MVP. Its not even close. He is the best scorer in the NBA this year, by a significant margin. And he's a very good defender. But his overall game is not that good.

He has a weak field-goal percentage. Steve Nash, a guy who is 3 inches shorter and rarely gets points in the paint, has a much better fg%.

He turns it over a lot.

Considering how much he touches the ball, his assist numbers are very bad.

And he just doesn't seem to make his teammates better.

Nash is the MVP this year. Lebron and Dwyane have both made a strong case for it and will be contenders in the years to come. Dirk had a hell of a year as well, on par with Kobe's.

4/20/2006 1:10:21 AM

Lakers are owning the Suns right now.

They really look like they could beat the Suns in this series now.

4/26/2006 11:30:17 PM

Kobe on the bench with three fouls because Raja Bell flops like a mo-fo.

Lakers still up by 15.

4/26/2006 11:46:48 PM

Quote :

"He is the best scorer in the NBA this year, by a significant margin. And he's a very good defender. But his overall game is not that good."

You couldnt be more fucking stupid if you tried.


Whats "up" with downs

4/27/2006 1:38:43 AM

Kobe is supposed to be changing his number from 8 to 24.

Here's some funny and legitimate reasons as to why he's doing this.

- He wore the number in high school
- To remarket his image
- To show D Wade that he's the best jersey seller (He hasn't been since everyone already had a jersey)
- To 1 up Michael Jordan
- Decided to root for Jeff Gordon instead of Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- 8 + 24 = 32 (Magic)
- Jack Bauer made him
- Kobe and Lamar makes 24/7
- It's his stepping stone to "34", which he'll use when his number is retired to make sure Shaq can't be retired with it.

4/27/2006 8:21:40 AM

Nash got dunked on

4/27/2006 8:38:08 AM

One more win and we'll meet up with the Clippers.

Kobe is a god amongst men...that's all I need to say.

4/30/2006 8:30:51 PM

I love that this thread finally gets some support, go Lakers baby!

4/30/2006 8:36:36 PM

one more cheat....hmmmph....no credit this game

4/30/2006 9:20:27 PM

Quote :

"One more win and we'll meet up with the Clippers. Kobe is a god amongst men...that's all I need to say. "

HAHA....KOBE GOT INTIMIDATED BY RAJAT BELL....BETTER LUCK NEXT YEAR......!!!!

"WHO IS THIS GUY...I DON'T EVEN KNOW HIM.....MAYBE HE WASN'T HUGGED AS A CHILD"

WHAT A FUCKING PRICK!!

HA HA KOBE....YOU CAN WATCH "THIS GUY" PLAY ON YOUR HOME COURT AGAINST THE CLIPPERS IN THE 2ND ROUND LOSER!!

5/8/2006 11:25:25 AM

aha....the bulls are gone as well

5/8/2006 4:05:13 PM