NBA

Although throughout this series I have been thinking that the officials seem to be giving more calls to the Lakers, I didn't see anything that couldn't have gone either way at the end of that game. Even Nash said basically the same thing.

And you gotta admit, the shot Kobe made at the end of regulation was beautiful. And the one at the end of OT? That was classic Jordan--I mean Kobe. Easy to get those two confused.

Not for me, it isn't.

You have eyes, but fail to see...

I agree, the Kobe shot was clutch and followed by the Jordan fist pump.

As for the refs giving the NBA golden boys calls, anyone see Lebron's traveling no call at the end of the Cavs/Wizards game Friday? A blatant travel that cost the Wizards the game.

I'm also amazed at the Spurs/Kings series as everyone wrote off the Kings after the Game 1 blowout.
Kings Even Series

Between that and the Heat/Bulls series, the playoffs are getting good.

What I'm surprised about is Kobe making assists and giving credit to his teammates. He's always had the talent but has been so immature and selfish about it -- if he's finally growing up, that'd be great.

I also can't stomach comparing him to Jordan, though.

You were employing humor here, right snood? A take-off on the, "they all look the same to me" racial cliche?

I don't see it all that much from you, so I'm just checking.

Uh...no. I meant I don't personally see Kobe and Jordan as alike.

i think kobe realized (or maybe jackson read him the riot act) that monopolizing the ball in the playoffs would guarantee an early exit.

as a rookie, he idolized jordan -- taking it to such an extreme that he even imitated the way jordan sounded giving an interview.

their games are similar, but kobe's never had the killer instinct of MJ...

Thing is, Jackson's been trying to get that through Kobe's thick head from day one, and there have been plenty of other situations where it would've behooved Kobe to "realize" that -- but he didn't. If he finally IS realizing it, great.

Kobe's a poseur, Jordan was an original. Talented poseur, but he needs some originality. He's still young, there's still time.

Gotcha. I think I'll just look for the laughing emoticon in the future.

(It's over on the left, BTW.)

It is at best, amateur personality analysis based on unverifiable observation, but here's my two cents on Kobe and Jordan....

I followed Michael Jordan from the time he first walked on the court at UNC. I'm from NC, and had followed Dean Smith teams since around the time of Charlie Scott. I also played, so I had some appreciation of what it meant to be a 6'6" guard with his kind of grace and power. His interviews later got more canned-sounding and corporate, but I have always seen Jordan as a country boy made good - I have always felt like it would be fun to play him in a pickup game (even though he'd try to take your heart); I've always believed he was a good person - pathologically competitive, but someone who has a good heart.

I saw Kobe from when he entered the national stage, as well. He has always impressed me as motivated differently than Michael, and the way I see it - it comes out in the way he plays the game. He is someone I think would say and do anything - bar nothing - to get his way. I see him as a spoiled child who is motivated by center stage, and not winning (recent increases in assists notwithstanding). I think that mess in Colorado was just a tip of the iceberg as far as his true character.
Sure, there are similarities in their games, because Kobe wanted to be Michael. But the game is played by people not some automaton-athlete, and I don't see these two people as similar.

Now LeBron is another story....

I'd agree with snood's take. Jordan isn't a saint, either, and I don't want to put him on too much of a pedastal, character-wise. But in terms of the game and how they play it, there's something so much more... profound about Jordan.

I didn't like Kobe from the minute he decided to go pro and skip college. I know it's common these days, and some people, with the right attitude, can pull it off -- Kevin Garnett, for example. Kobe had totally the wrong attitude. No humility.

Oh, I don't mistake Jordan for a saint, by any means. He's had at least one affair on his wife, and a mean gambling habit by all accounts.

And I know one can only tell so much from the televised images one gets in one's home. But Kobe just seems like a slimy, selfish, arrogant prick. Jordan just doesn't come across to me that way.

There are so many things I disagree with in almost all your posts that I don't even know where to begin. it seems that you are comparing Kobe and Jordan by personality, and you're letting your annoyance at his arrogance taint your opinions. Yeah, he's arrogant. So what.

What I meant was that Michael was the greatest, and now Kobe is the greatest.

Personality doesn't figure in that.

Charles Barkley said yesterday, "Steve Nash is the MVP, yeah sure, but Kobe is the greatest basketball player on the planet right now."

Barkley's right. And just think, he's only twenty-seven.

You say Kobe's a ball-hog?

Need I remind you that when Jordan began with the Bulls, he shot all the f*cking time? In his third season in the league, he averaged MORE points per game than Kobe this year. Of course you'll all see that as doing what it takes to win, but with Kobe, who has, for the past two seasons, had arguably even less scoring help than Jordan had in his first two Shaq-less years, it's being selfish.

Actually, I see a lot of similarities in this Lakers team and the first few years of the Jordan Bulls. I would say that this team is about where the Bulls were in Jordan's third year. It took Jordan three more years to win a title, and that was only with big-time players supporting him. Time will tell how Kobe does with this similar situation. He's already got three championship rings. Who knows how many more he can get with the right team around him?

Do you remember how lousy Lamar Odom and the rest of these guys shot for most of the regular season? Kobe has finally got (some of) them up to a level where they can at least contribute, and is playing accordingly. Saying that he should have done this all year long is naive, in my opinion. The boy is a superstar, and will one day be mentioned in the debate about the best who ever played the game.

But he's arrogant, so go ahead and ignore the facts.

Y'know the good thing about this discussion is? You can leave it admiring Kobe Bryant, and I can leave it disdaining him, and the world will keep on turning just fine.

I got no problem with your admiring him - can you live with the fact that I don't?

Of course I can. Sometimes I just love arguing about **** like this. I still have a long distance argument going from about twelve years ago with a buddy of mine about who is better, Jordan or Jabbar. I will never give in, and neither will he. Come on, admit it. It's fun.

But I need you to admit that Kobe is a great player. I need it baaaaaaad. Come on, just say it. I dare ya.

Kobe is a great basketball player. Oops, does that spoil your fun?

Thank you! I appreciate that. Now, would you say he's as great a player, greater a player, or a player who is just a tiny bit less great than Michael Jordan?

Kobe Bryant is a piece of ****.

Just wanted to add my two cents worth.

Ha! Best laugh I had all day!