Should Kobe Go For The Scoring Title?

Kobe Bryant needs 38 points against the Sacramento Kings tonight to win his third NBA scoring title. There is a very good chance he can get those points but should he even be playing?

The Lakers have locked up the third seed in the Western Conference and conventional wisdom says that Kobe should be rested for the playoffs.  But I get the feeling that Kobe wants this scoring title. And whatever Kobe wants, Kobe usually gets.

And that leaves Coach Mike Brown in a difficult situation. If he keeps Kobe on the bench he runs the risk of upsetting Kobe and if he plays him and Kobe gets hurt he’s going to be vilified by the fans and talking heads alike.

I think this scoring title does mean a lot to Kobe. He’s 33, been in the league for 16 years and it seems like he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder this season. He wants to prove to all the critics and haters out there that he is still The Man. He wants to show that he is just as good, if not better, than the new crop of NBA superstars.

Winning championships is still the most important thing but getting another scoring title at this point in his career would be a nice little extra. Kobe will only play for a few more years (maybe two or three) and there has to be a sense of urgency in Kobe’s mind. He may only have one or two more legitimate shots at winning another championship.

For a game that should mean nothing there is a lot of drama surrounding it. For one more night all eyes are going to be on Kobe Bryant. And I’m sure he wouldn’t want it any other way.

Are the Lakers Better WITHOUT Kobe?

How dare I even ask that question, right?  Of course the Lakers aren’t better without Kobe Bryant. But they are winning without him. And beating good teams, too. They have won their last four games, three of them against playoff teams.

Since Kobe has been on the bench Andrew Bynum has been a monster on the court.  He followed a 30 rebound game against the Spurs with a 30 point game against the Nuggets. Can those numbers hold up once Bryant comes back into the lineup? Some people think they can’t.

This reminds me of when Linsanity hit the New York Knicks. With Carmelo Anthony out, Jeremy Lin energized the team and led them on a great run. The fear in every Knicks fan’s mind was that Melo was going to come back and screw everything up.

That is the fear some Lakers fans have right now.

Can Kobe Bryant come back and be a complementary player to this team? Would anyone even suggest this? I seriously doubt that Mike Brown would approach Kobe with this suggestion.

But if the Lakers are going to contend for a 17^th championship that’s exactly what Kobe is going to have to do.

He’s going to have to become a more efficient player. The days of jacking up 30 shots a game are gone.  He’s going to have to make due with 18-20 shots per game. He’s needs to pick his spots.

Kobe desperately wants to win that sixth championship ring and the window for him to do that is rapidly closing. His ego is going to have to take a back seat when he comes back. If he truly wants that sixth ring, he’s going to have to let the rest of the team win it for him. He will have to trust them to win it for him.

Right now this Lakers team is giving him every reason to trust them. Let’s just hope he does.

It’s Time To Push The Panic Button!!

I know it’s only been two games but the Lakers are 0-2 and I say it’s time to push the Panic Button. Call it over reaction. Call it pessimism. Call it whatever you want. Just push that sucker.

It’s time.

After another last minutes collapse against the Sacramento Kings last night I tweeted that it is time to push the panic button and was immediately inundated with responses that I was crazy to even suggest such a thing. All I can say is something has to be done and pushing the Panic Button is as good a solution as any other I have heard.

I understand that Andrew Bynum is out but after watching the uninspired play of the Lakers and Kobe’s frustration level go off the charts, I’m not sure Bynum would have made a difference.

Think about this for a second, the Lakers had the game won against the Chicago Bulls on Christmas Day and fell apart in the last minute and gave the game away. The game against the Kings was one they should have won and were coming back only to fall apart in the last two minutes of the game. Two last minute collapses in two games is not confidence inspiring.

And watching Kobe get more and more frustrated isn’t helping, either. We all know that when he gets to the point where he doesn’t trust his teammates he gets into that mode where he tries to do it all by himself. And that is not good for the Lakers.

I understand Kobe’s frustration because I am frustrated, too. The Lakers did not get better in the offseason. They did not get Chris Paul or Dwight Howard like everyone thought they would. In fact, they may have gotten worse purely based on the fact that they traded away Lamar Odom for essentially nothing.

So I say let’s push the Panic Button and make some major changes.

Vanessa Bryant Files For Divorce!!

As if the Lakers haven’t had enough drama this season with all the failed trade attempts and losing Lamar Odom to the Dallas Mavericks it seems that things just got worse.

TMZ is reporting that Vanessa Bryant has filed for divorce.

Sources connected with the couple tell TMZ … Vanessa — who stuck by Kobe after he was charged with sexually assaulting a Colorado woman in 2003 — decided to end the marriage because she believes Kobe has been unfaithful … again.

As one source puts it, “She’s been dealing with these incidents for a long time and has been a faithful wife, but she’s finally had enough,” adding, “This one is the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

This might explain why Kobe has been in such a bad mood lately.

One of the most shocking revelations is that Kobe and Vanessa didn’t have a prenup!

There is no telling how this will affect the Lakers season but it can’t be good. This going to get ugly before it gets better.

Kobe Bryant Alley-Oop to Derrick Rose (VIDEO)

Kobe Needs to Sit Down!!

Kobe Voted “Mr. Clutch”, Haters In a Panic!!

There may be a lot of debate among fans as to who is the most clutch player in the NBA but the actual players have no doubt; it’s Mr. Kobe Bean Bryant.

Sports Illustrated recently asked 166 current NBA players, “Who do you want shooting with the game on the line?” and 74% said they wanted Kobe.

Here is how the voting broke down:

Kobe Bryant – 74%

Kevin Durant – 8%

Dwyane Wade – 3%

Ray Allen – 2%

Dirk Nowitzki – 2%

Now, those numbers don’t add up to 100% so I’m assuming there were a lot more players that got votes but didn’t break the 2% threshold.

So, Kobe’s own peers (players on other teams) want him talking the last shot. That should put the argument to rest, right?

Of course not!!

What do the Kobe Haters have to say? They have a lot to say.

The ink wasn’t even dry on the story when the haters came out. I saw these comments;

“Which players did they ask?” like that really mattered. These are guys that play night in and night out. They’ve been around and know who can do what. Even if they’re sitting on the bench, they’re watching the game.

“Kobe misses more than he makes.” All players miss more than they make. Nobody has a career shooting percentage of 60%. That’s like saying Babe Ruth struck out more times than he hit home runs so he sucks.

“Laker groupies have selective memories.” This one I don’t even understand. These are players, not fans.

“What about Derrick Rose?”  Derrick Rose is having a great season. Kobe Bryant has had a great career. He’s hit big shots season after season. Maybe in 10 years Derrick Rose will have a career like that. It remains to be seen.

And it goes on and on. Kobe Haters can’t stand it when anything good happens to him. But we have come to expect that. The fact remains that even his opponents wish he was taking the last shot for them. Probably because they all want a Championship Ring, too. And Kobe has quite a few to spare.

Kobe Fined $100,000 For Slur!!

WARNING: If you get upset while reading “offensive” words, please do NOT read this. You will be offended.

 David Stern and the NBA have fined Kobe Bryant $100,000 for calling a referee a “faggot.”

I know there are many of you out there who are upset that I printed that word. And I understand why you would be offended. Just listening to all the outrage that has sprung from this comment you would have thought that Kobe called President Obama a “nigger.”

And now I know I have upset a lot more people by dropping the N-Bomb.

I do that just to make a point. Many people will dismiss an F-Bomb but get incensed over the N-Word. How do I know this? I have plenty of Black friends who routinely drop F-Bombs and think nothing of it. I have been called a faggot plenty of times. For good or bad, it’s a word that many straight guys call each other. In my book, F-Bomb and N-Bombs are both the same. (To be fair, I’ve been called a “Nigga” by my Black friends, too)

Of course Kobe should not have used that word. No matter how angry he was. It’s just bad manners. If you are, arguably, the biggest basketball star in the world, you need to be aware of your image. Even in the heat of the game. But all the phony outrage is getting on my nerves. I’m sure many of the talking heads who are now shocked, (shocked!) at what Kobe has said have used that word many times. It drives me crazy the way so many writers and “personalities” will take up any cause just because.

And that is what upsets me more than what Kobe said. Don’t get me wrong, he shouldn’t have said what he said. But he did. He used that word. I’m sure that LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins and plenty of other professional athletes have used that word. Maybe not on live TV, but they have used it. And I have a confession to make; I’ve used that word, too. Not to denigrate homosexuals, but I have used it. And I’m sure a large percentage of males who are reading this have used that word, too.

Does that make us all bad people? I’m sure there are some people who would say, “Yes, you are a horrible person for uttering that word.”

For his part, Kobe has apologized, saying, “The words expressed do not reflect my feelings towards the gay and lesbian communities and were not meant to offend anyone.”

So where do we go from here? Kobe Haters will add another arrow to their quiver. All the talking heads will feign outrage. And the rest of us will get on with our lives and deal with the prejudices we encounter every day. We will deal with every slight and back-handed compliment we receive on a daily basis and we will get on with our lives.

But at least Kobe has learned his lesson.

The Argument For Kobe as MVP!

Will Kobe’s Knee Sink The Lakers’ ThreePeat?

Kobe Bryant is injured.

That may not be breaking news because he has fought through so many injuries in the last few years. But this one seems different.

Anybody who has watched even one Laker game this year can see that Kobe is not the same as he once was. Specifically, he can’t elevate like he did. When you watch him you can tell he is not quite right.

His knee is still bothering him. In an interview with The New York Post he discussed the state of his knee. Kobe admitted that there is “very little cartilage under my right kneecap.” Kobe went on to say, “It’s almost bone on bone.”

This is not good news for any Laker fan. So far Kobe has undergone three operations on his knee. Everybody knows that once you keep chopping the same body part over and over it is never the same. This brings up the main questions; How many more seasons can Kobe Bryant play and still be effective?

We all know that Kobe will play through any amount of pain. That has been proven. There is not a more fierce competitor in the league right now. Kobe is a warrior and will give it everything he’s got.

The real question is; When will his injury become detrimental to the team? And has it already happened?

Kobe still views himself as the heart and soul of the team. “I feel it’s up to me to take the team to where we want to go and still believe we will go,” he told The Post. “No question about that. I’m not about to make claims I’ll have to back off on later on. I’m a clear thinker. I truly believe we have the pieces and personalities to three-peat.

I believe they have the pieces for a three-peat as well. I just wonder if those pieces can pick up the slack if Kobe has to shut it down for a few games or even a few weeks.

And brings up an even bigger question; Can the Lakers survive without Bryant?