sashime76

I've been a Lakers fan since Magic's rookie year. I root for them everytime but I can't help but wonder if Kobe is good for the franchaise or bad? So, if you are a Lakers fan, what's your take on this? Think Kobe can win another ring without Shaq?

For you non-Lakers-Anti-Kobe fans, you can give your two cents but let's try to make it short.

dylanmarsh

As a fan of the glory days of the NBA and the Celtics, I was really hoping the Lakers would keep them together and form a new dynasty. I know they won a few championships but I think they could've won so much more. Plus, with those two on the left coast, the Celts might have tried to get their crap together and resurrect the glory days of Bird and Magic. As it is now, the Celtics suck, the Lakers aren't the same, and the NBA is still stuck in nuetral.

bravosnakeeyes

its hard for me not to root for any Laker (except Rick Fox)... but i am a Kobe fan... i think kobe, shaq, jackson, and buss are equally to blame in dismantling a dynasty... i would have kept kobe instead of shaq...

i wish kobe could play like he is now with shaq their... and shaq could lose that weight like he did with Miami...

hopefully players around the league will still want to play with kobe or its going to be a long time till they become championship contenders again...

Halx

I think Kobe is the most amazing and talented player I've ever seen. I grew up during the Jordan era, and while Jordan was an amazing act, I see a lot more out of Kobe for some reason. He does everything under the most intense pressure and scrutiny. He gets labeled for all the wrong things. I'm not saying nominate the guy for president, but damn... respect the SKILLS.

He's simply the best 1 on 1 player in the league. He is NOT selfish... in fact he has the most triple doubles this year by any player, reaching over 10 assists in 4 straight games at one point I think. He's one of the best defenders and hustlers in the game as well. I can't stand it when people claim otherwise - they obviously listen more to the critics than actually watching games.

Call me a homer or whatever, but once Lamar Odom steps up to relieve some of the stress from Kobe's shoulders, you're gonna see an amazing team. The reason the Lakers are struggling is because Kobe has to do EVERYTHING. People are saying he's not doing enough, but I see that he's doing as much as he possibly can, stretching himself thin. He needs a little support so he can relax and just play his game.

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Shpoop

face it...he, or anyone else for that matter, needs a big man in the center. its the nature of the beast. if they get a really good center through free agency, trade, or the draft, i think you will immediately see championship contenders again...but not until then

Mitzkrieg

grew up a laker fan. always will be. as for Kobe, eh, at first after the whole "cheat on wife end up in court" thing, i really didn't care. his personal probs aren't my business. but then after the shaq and kobe drama came to a head, he started pissing me off. now after the malone drama, i'm really ticked off. i don't care if malone was a little too touchy about kobe's first comments about malone coming back or not. i don't care if malone really was hitting on kobe's wife or not. i swear kobe has been just too damn stupid and karma has been biting him in the ass, and i'm not really a fan of his right now. yeah, respect the skills, he's a great player. but i can only take so much drama that causes the team problems before i start to hate a player.

thecoldone33

I think that if you can get past the drama that he can bring to himself and his team-mates you'll find that he is still the big ticket along with Lebron. It is evident that he cannot carry the lakers on his back. In a couple years i think that if he conducts himself like he did when he entered the league, gets some promotional deals with clothing or shoe company's, and continues to put up numbers and win, people will turn back around.

CityOfAngels

You don't even want me to comment in this thread. Thankfully I'm technically not a Laker fan anymore.

Let me just say that Kobe is the reason I stopped being a Laker fan.

Go Clippers!

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sixate

The Lakers have always been my favorite team, but since Kobe ran Phil and Shaq outa town I hate Kobe and his piece of shit Lakers. I will never ever root for LA. Fuck 'em.

Kobe is a great player, but not the best, and certainly not Jordan. Kobe only won a ring because he had the most dominant force in the league, Shaq, and the best coach in the league, Phil, on his team. When Kobe wins 6 rings while being the best player on his team maybe I'll put him in MJ's category, but we all know that'll never happen. I'd take LeBron, KG, Shaq, and at least 10 others over Kobe any day of the week. People hate to play with him now. So whatever he can do on the court doesn't really matter if people don't want to be his teammate. Could anyone ever see Kobe make someone a Hall of Famer Like MJ did with Pippen? Of course not. He doesn't really make people around him that much better like MJ, or even Shaq. Look at what Shaq is doing for the Heat. Wade is now an All Star, and the Heat are now the best team in the East. Kobe couldn't do that for any team.

Mitzkrieg

actually, as far as being the big ticket..... ticket sales for games around the league involving the lakers have gone down 30% as reported by ESPN sportscenter. also just last week(can't remember where) but the lakers were the road team and it was the first time that the venue they played at wasn't sold out in lots of years(darn i can't remember how many years, lol)

anyways, you get my point, heh.

i'll still be a laker fan though, even if i'm getting to the point where i can't stand Kobe.

Mobo123

Just have to echo what everybody else has said. I live in LA. I go to some Laker's game. But Kobe lives in a dream world. There is a total disconnect between him and reality. Saturday's game should be interesting.

Kobe as a basketball star? absolutely. Kobe as a person? I'll pass.

bravosnakeeyes

all this Kobe bashing... but not to take any thing away from shaq.... but shouldn't he get some of the blame.... your asked to lose weight in LA but you wait to get traded to do it ...to try and prove a point??... maybe its Shaq with the ego... it happened in LSU with chris jackson... in orlando with penny... in 1996 with the dream team... in la with eddie jones and nick van exel.... and of course with kobe.... i know the big fella should get the ball in almost every possesion... make those free throws and maybe you will... but come on he couldn't have won those titles without kobe.... why couldn't shaq play second fidle to kobe like he is with wade....don't get me wrong kobe deserves a lot of the blame too.... why couldn't kobe be a playmaker like he is now with shaq there.... just like winning those championships they both did it to the lakers....

Mitzkrieg

well, you're bringing up a whole other can of worms, bravo. the subject here was Kobe. i believe he deservers the bashing he gets. the boy brought it on himself.

now as far as Shaq goes with the whole leaving the lakers thing.... i believe that Kobe, Shaq, Phil and even Jerry Buss are all to blame for the lakers falling apart. Kobe and Shaq both acted imaturely with the whole thing. Phil could have handled it better. and Jerry Buss has got too much damn pride if you ask me(although i like that he wants his team to be succesful) hell, even Mitch Kupchak should share some of the blame. he said some pretty stupid crap when all the splitting up was about to go down.

anyways, that wasn't the point of this thread. it's about the drama that follows Kobe since he became an alleged rapist. you can't tell me that Kobe's rape court case couldn't possibly have had any emotional stress factor on the lakers as a team. take away Kobe being accused of rape and going to court, missing games, practices and such, and the lakers core might still be together. shit, look at what Phil wrote in his book about Kobe.

Kurant

Not being a Lakers fan, I can really say, I find Kobe very selfish. Define selfish you say? It's all about Kobe. No one else. He didn't give 2 shits about keeping Shaq or Phil there, he only gave a shit about himself, thats selfish.

I love to watch him play, but to compare him to Jordan is just absolutley crazy. Jordan is still heads above Kobe. Kobe will never be Jordan, he will always be Kobe Bryant. Nothing more. Jordan has a physique about him that Kobe will never have. No one will ever have. The sooner people realize there will never be another Jordan, the better off the NBA will be. I lived in Kenosha, WI - about 30 minutes out of Chicago. I grew up watching Jordan on WGN everyday after school, I saw 10-12 live games, I still own some of the ticket stubs. Kobe will never, ever, be Jordan.

I don't hate him, but I certinaly don't enjoy his selfish comments or his antics - on or off the court. While I don't think Lamar Odom works well in that offense, I do think Kobe is good enough single handedly to be able to take that team as is to playoff contention. But they are still at least a season away from being true contenders. And I say a season, because Jerry Buss has made it very clear he's not afraid to open the check book. I wish my boys had a GM like that.

Nimbletoe

All I can say is this... can you imagine what would have happened if Jordan had Shaq? Three rings? Pftt.

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sashime76

Kobe + Lamar still won't = Championship I'm afraid. I think Dr. J was the best player of his era (70s-80s), then Magic/Bird (80s), followed by Jordan(90s), Kobe(90s/00s) and now LeBron. Unless Kobe & company can find a good big man in the middle, one that can get 12-18 ppg and 6-8 rpg, I can't picture Lakers parading Downtown LA again.