Kobe doesn’t take charges

There has been a big deal about flopping recently and David Stern isn’t happy about it. On the flipside of that subject Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant told reporters not to expect him to take any charges.

“We got a couple guys that take charges, but for the most part, the one guy that took a charge is now playing in Oklahoma,” Bryant told reporters after practice Tuesday, referring to Derek Fisher. “I don’t take charges. Metta (World Peace) don’t take charges. Steve (Blake) will take a charge every now and then, but most everybody else just stands up and plays.” 


Standing up and playing didn’t help them in Game 1 against the Oklahoma City Thunder and they could’ve used some charges to help them out last night. Bryant says he doesn’t take charges to preserve his health and credits it to his longevity in the NBA.


“I learned from my predecessors,” Bryant said. “(Scottie) Pippen had a (messed) up back taking charges. (Larry) Bird had a (messed) up back taking charges. I said, ‘I’m not taking charges.’ I figured that … out at an early age.

“I’ve seen Michael (Jordan) not take one … charge, and he’s healthy his whole career, and the same thing with Magic (Johnson). I might not be the smartest guy in the room, but I can figure that … out.”


I do agree with Bryant and he is a season vet and one day he’ll take another one and it won’t be by accident.  

Jim Buss wants Kobe to be a Laker for life

While the Los Angeles Lakers made some deadline day moves to compete for another championship, Lakers exec,Jim Buss says he wants Kobe Bryant to be a Laker for life. That’s a shocker. Who in the Lakers front office wouldn’t want Kobe to remain with the team until he calls it quits?

The problem is placating Kobe and putting a competitive team around him. I guess Buss has it all figured out.

“I think about a lot of things to improve this team, to figure out how to manage the finances of it,” said Lakers executive vice president of player personnel, Jim Buss, as a guest on the “Mason & Ireland Show” on 710 ESPN on Friday. “One thing I haven’t thought of is Kobe being somewhere else. I don’t know why that question has ever come up and I’d like to squish that one.”


While it’s hard to imagine Bryant in another uniform, it’s had to say that Bryant will be able to compete at an elite level for the duration of his career. A caller on the show Buss appeared on went as far as saying that Bryant and the Lakers had a short window of opportunity to win a sixth championship. Buss thinks that Bryant has a lot left to give and won’t sell him short.

“I might disagree with you that Kobe only has three or four years left, but we’ll see,” Buss said. “As you see, we make trades and our whole focus isn’t to win a sixth (championship). I’m not sure I would stop there for Kobe; I would go to seven or eight if we can. … I think Kobe is going to be a Laker for life and I’m pretty sure he’s not going to hang them up after two years.”    

The only way Kobe leaves Los Angeles is if the Lakers are in so much disrepair that he doesn’t want to stick around for a rebuilding job. His competitive juices will keep him in the game for as long as he desires.

Kobe won’t chase rings

Some say Kobe Bryant is headed toward the twilight of a brilliant NBA career. I can’t tell by the way he’s playing and putting the Los Angeles Lakers on his back this season. Bryant is showing those that are ready to hand the torch to LeBron, Wade, or Derrick Rose that he’s still capable of performing at a high level. Whether the Lakers will remain a high level team is a different story.

The Lakers have declined a bit this season. The bench is weak, Pau Gasol plays like he saw the ghost of Maurice Lucas, they’re looking for an upper echelon point guard, and are still looking to make a blockbuster trade. So if the Lakers happen to go down the tubes, there will be Kobe trade rumors. But Bryant vows to remain a Laker for life, no matter how bad things get. Bryant told ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith that he wouldn’t  leave L.A. to chase another title or chase additional rings.  

“Why would I want to go somewhere else, that ship sailed in (2007),” Bryant said. “If there was ever a time I was going to move to go play someplace else, that was it. I’m not going to jump ship to chase a sixth ring, it’s just not going to happen.


“It’s going to happen here or it’s not going to happen.”


“You think I’d hang around and average 18 points, 19 points… hell no.”


Translation: I’ll be the alpha dog in L.A. until i decide I want to retire and I’ll never go anywhere to be a role player.

I’ll give Bryant credit. He plans on being there for better or worse when most will leave a team to go chase titles.  

    

Kobe: Paul,Rose Have That "Killer Edge"

The Los Angeles Clippers may have upstaged the Lakers last night, but as far as this season and beyond remains to be seen. Chris Paul had a good game against their co-tenants, scoring the 33 on 12-for-22 shooting from the field and six assists. Not bad in his first game against his L.A. counterparts.

You can count Kobe Bryant impressed with his performance.

“He’s a dog,” Kobe told reporters. “He’s going to fight to win, and not too many teams can deal with him.



“Chris Paul is really the only other guy in the league, other than Derrick Rose, who has also that competitive edge,” he continued.

A high compliment from someone who has that competitive fire in him at all times. The only player that had that edge like Kobe was Michael Jordan. There are others that like to win (Dwayne Wade, Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, Kevin Durant). But Kobe loathes losing.

I really haven’t paid attention to Paul in that vain, but you see it in Rose, albeit in a quiet way.

Kobe Bryant Sued By An Ohio Woman

Kobe Bryant just doesn’t have it when it comes to women. First there was the rape case in Colorado now Bryant is being sued by an Ohio woman for breaching a marriage proposal.

Selina Miller who claims residence in Columbus, Ohio and Santa Ana, California, filed a lawsuit in Orange County on June 24 claiming that on May 1, Bryant gave her “a completed and signed agreement” and that his subsequent behavior “comports with unfair business and no good faith efforts.”

Ok Kobe how do you explain this one to Vanessa. I don’t know if a trip to Zales is gonna bail you out if this has any shred of credibility. I don’t think it does, but in this crazy world who knows.

“The plaintiff, Selina Miller, request [sic] breaching party, Kobe Bryant, to correct his failure to provide plaintiff with the purchase of a ring,” reads the four-page suit.



Miller also stated why the National Basketball Association (NBA) superstar might not have given her a ring: “The defendant, Kobe Bryant, states he communicated with person [sic] stating Selina Miller is a prostitute.”

When Miller was contacted she says Kobe repeatedly visited her for “intimate relations”. She seems bitter that there were other women Bryant frolicked around with and got more of a reward than she did. She even mentioned that someone had an STD but wouldn’t mention any names.

“He likes playing games with women more than people know,” said Miller. “I’m upset because he promised me a ring [during one visit], and then some other people influenced him, and I didn’t get it. He thinks he can stop by my house any time he wants to. There are other women, too. One of them got a ring.”

Miller says she wants to sue Bryant for some money he owes her. She filed a previous lawsuit against Bryant and the NBA for invasion of privacy, but an Ohio judge ruled that the lawsuit was “frivolous” and “not plausible”.

I know Bryant isn’t this stupid to travel down this road again. and I don’t he would put anything in writing so it could come back and bite him in the ass. 

   

 

Quote Of The Week: Charles Barkley

Once again Charles Barkley takes the quote of the week award. Honestly he could probably take it for teh year.

Here’s Sir Charles on Kobe Bryant and the aging process from sportsradiointerviews.com. 

“Well he’s older. He’s older now. I’ve said the last year that he’s slowed down. You know, Tim Duncan has slowed down. I mean, listen, Kobe Bryant has been in the league a long time. He’s on my list…I made up a list, and he’s the sixth greatest basketball player ever in my opinion. He’s been a great, great player. But I tell you, the ain’t but two things in life that are undefeated — Father Time and those Las Vegas casinos.”

Kobe Says He’d Beat LeBron 1 on 1

Drop the 3-point shootout and slam dunk contest immediately and replace with a 1-on-1 competition. Smartest idea I have read in years. Absolutley right, who would not want to see that? Take 8 top NBA stars (pick ’em any way you want as long as Kobe, LeBrpn and Carmelo are in) and play a 1-on-1 tourney with $2 mil to the winner and that would be MUST SEE TV. That would be something every basketball fan would tune in to.

Some Lakers need to stop playing scared

Kobe Bryant is right.His teammates need to man up and play ball. Despite being the defending champions, some Lakers aren’t getting rid of the notion that they’re soft. Going into a possible season ending Game 6, Bryant seemed to questions some of his teammates’ toughness. I really don’t like to see a player calling out his teammates,but in this case Bryant may be right. No one besides him seemed to show up for Game 5. Andrew Bynum gets a pass because he’s basically playing on one leg. I’ll also give “crazy” Ron Artest a pass since for the first four games, he had Paul Pierce shackled. But the rest of the gang needs to step up if the Lakers stand a chance to make it to Game 7 and attempt to sweep the next two games. Pau Gasol seemed to shed the soft label after last season’s finals, but he hasn’t done anything to change my opinion of him. A good player, but a traditional European softy. Lamar Odom has regressed to floating, the story of his whole career. The rest just haven’t made the most of their opportunities. Bottom line, if the Lakers want to live to see another day, tonight is the night to lay it all on the line, because tomorrow may be too late. 

Kobe Bryant adds to his legend

This is why Kobe is widely regarded as the best in the league.

  

NBA is fantastic

This move is Jordan-nesque,but its straight out of a video game.