Kobe Haters Have Egg On Their Face!
on May 27th, 2009
After the Lakers’ game 5 win, LA is one game away from a return trip to the NBA finals. Meanwhile, on the other coast, a last-second shot from LeBron James is the only thing standing between game 5 versus Orlando and a summer vacation to Cancun! Don’t you just hate it all? That was sarcasm folks.
CNNSI (online) recently featured an article asking Kobe to calm down, criticizing his facial expressions and scowls as if the writer knew who they were/are directed at. Kobe has done everything in his power to make himself an easy target, but how blatant can the media bias be? By now hasn’t Kobe shown that he is willing to do what it takes to win a championship even if that means scoring less?
Think back to the beginning of last season and try to remember if you thought the Lakers had a chance in the world to go to the finals against the Boston Celtics. If you are honest with yourself, you didn’t think it possible. But somewhere along the way, the team started to mesh and they made it back to the finals sooner than most people thought. I’m not going to lie, fleecing the Memphis Grizzlies to get Gasol didn’t hurt, but Kobe still had to adjust to a more team-oriented game.
But the man gets no credit.
LeBron isn’t supposed to be down 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals. No, surely not the annointed one, not “King James!” Say it isn’t so! Before the thought of youth as an excuse even creeps into your mind, just stop it. LeBron’s youth wasn’t an excuse for him winning the MVP, it isn’t an excuse for all the accolades as the ultimate team player to be thrown his way and it shouldn’t be an excuse for what has occured in this series.
Stan Van Gundy, the Orlando Magic head coach, has devised a game plan where James is allowed to score and score he has done. He is averaging 43.75 points per game against the Magic and only has one win to show for it. Hmm, when a certain player from LA was scoring a lot and winning a little he was bombarded with comments about not getting his teammates involved. Isn’t it ironic that someone would still criticize Kobe for the same/similar, but he isn’t scoring as much as LeBron (32.7 points per game)? Shouldn’t this critism be directed at LeBron right now? It isn’t and I know why.
Pure hate.
It has nothing to do with age, Shaq or anything other than what it is: people don’t like Kobe. It could be because of the incident in Colorado, the riff with Shaq or his swagger which at times is clearly mimicking Jordan. But I don’t think he is getting a fair shake no matter the reason for it.
Let’s look at something else: technical fouls in the playoffs. Kobe has had one rescinded and so has Dwight Howard. What does that mean and why is Dwight Howard’s name brought up? Even though the technicals were rescinded, the one against Kobe hurt the Lakers and the one against Howard helped the Cavaliers. Taking them away after the fact doesn’t change the impact they had on the game, it just means a “mistake” was made.
Let’s keep going and talk about the Caveliers coach, Mike Brown – the NBA coach of the year. Uh, this guy is really getting exposed right now – his tics and blinking doesn’t help during interviews either. He knows one play: give it to LeBron and get out of the way. If something isn’t created off that one play, the Cavaliers are in trouble.
I have been telling people all year that the Cavaliers will show their true colors when things get tough and those words are turning prophetic. See, they were riding a positive high for the regular season and most of the playoffs. Most players in the NBA do not have the confidence of a Kobe Bryant, just like no other golfer has the mental focus of Tiger Woods. When things are going good and you are receiving passes from a great player, confidence flies sky high and shots fall. But when the going gets rough and that confidence isn’t there, those same players start getting tight and things don’t work out so well. The Cavaliers have to take one game at a time now or their hopes of going to the championship are over. For their sake, the home court needs to help them get through game 5.
I’ve said all of that and still, the supporting cast on the Lakers has been so up and down it doesn’t make any sense. This is a team that went to the championship last year, with more ammunition this time around, and they are struggling. Is it Kobe’s fault? I know, he doesn’t instill confidence the way some people would like and maybe his teammates feel that. But wait, what about the historic rants from a certain #23? Jordan was notorious for berating his teammates, but since everyone loves him, I guess it wasn’t a problem when he did it. Man, Kobe sure does have a lot of burdens to bear. It isn’t enough that he is the best player in the galaxy (present tense) — he must also make people feel all warm and cuddly inside. I’m sure there are a lot of those types of NBA players, but most of them are sitting at home right now, just like you and me.
Whew, it was really good getting all of that out!
