Congrats to the Mamba.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=300201029

One of the best players of my life time, or anyone elses. Love him or hate him, he may be the craftiest scorer of all-time.

To bad they didn't get the win as well. Kobe had a great game. Phil needs 1 more win the best the Lakers all time win leader, would have been cool to get both in the same night. :dancingpa:dancingpa:dancingpa

^I was hoping they'd get it on the same night. It would have been cool. :thumb:

I really like when players stay with the same team throughout at least the majority of their career. I know Bryant thought about leaving a few years back, but didn't. I don't know why, just always been something I like in a player.

 

Congrats to Bryant.

Kobe is a stud, but the more I watch this Lakers team, the more confident I become that they will not repeat. They just haven't looked right for awhile now, and I wouldn't be surprised if Denver ended up taking the #1 seed out West.

 

Congrats to Kobe on a great accomplishment.

Kobe is a stud, but the more I watch this Lakers team, the more confident I become that they will not repeat. They just haven't looked right for awhile now, and I wouldn't be surprised if Denver ended up taking the #1 seed out West.

 

Congrats to Kobe on a great accomplishment.

 

They don't look as good as last season. But, I wouldn't write them off. I've watched the NBA enough to know that championship teams often sandbag a little during the season, but usually turn it up come playoff time. They've been to the top, so I doubt they feel the need to play with the same urgency during the regular season. Even with that, they're still a game behind Cleveland for best record in the league.

 

I think the Lakers will have a tough time repeating regardless. They weren't dominant in their championship run last season...LA is capable of beating anyone, but there are also teams that can beat them. They need Kobe in top form, so thats the biggest concern to me at this point.

Kobe is a stud, but the more I watch this Lakers team, the more confident I become that they will not repeat. They just haven't looked right for awhile now, and I wouldn't be surprised if Denver ended up taking the #1 seed out West.

 

Congrats to Kobe on a great accomplishment.

 

The Lakers made a mistake in choosing Artest over Ariza IMO. Artest is the better player, but chemistry is much more important than talent if you already have some key guys in place. Ariza was a high energy guy that specialized in the little things that made the Lakers unbeatable last season IMO. Artest is still a great talent, but he can't do for the Lakers what Ariza did. It's similar to the Magic when they acquired Carter and people thought they were going to be better because their talent level was better, to which I laughed at and still do when the Magic play.

 

Both teams had championship level clubs IMO, the Magic ruined their title chances, at least from my point of view, and the Lakers may have though with Kobe you can never rule them out until they're knocked out.

The Lakers made a mistake in choosing Artest over Ariza IMO. Artest is the better player, but chemistry is much more important than talent if you already have some key guys in place. Ariza was a high energy guy that specialized in the little things that made the Lakers unbeatable last season IMO. Artest is still a great talent, but he can't do for the Lakers what Ariza did. It's similar to the Magic when they acquired Carter and people thought they were going to be better because their talent level was better, to which I laughed at and still do when the Magic play.

 

Both teams had championship level clubs IMO, the Magic ruined their title chances, at least from my point of view, and the Lakers may have though with Kobe you can never rule them out until they're knocked out.

 

The Lakers didn't choose Artest over Ariza. Ariza went to Houston before any of that happened.

The Lakers didn't choose Artest over Ariza. Ariza went to Houston before any of that happened.

 

They weren't going to offer him because he wanted more than the MLE to stay in LA. So they moved in on Artest and Ariza went shopping.

They weren't going to offer him because he wanted more than the MLE to stay in LA. So they moved in on Artest and Ariza went shopping.

 

Nope you are remembering it wrong. Ariza's agent screwed the deal up.

Maybe I am remembering it wrong? I had understood that Ariza got money in Houston that he could have in LA. The Lakers are missing his length and athleticism on the wing.

The move to cut bait with Ariza had a lot more to do with resigning Odom than it did securing Artest.

The move to cut bait with Ariza had a lot more to do with resigning Odom than it did securing Artest.

 

That's how it was. After the season everyone thought Ariza would stay and Odom would go. Keeping Odom and adding Artest was worth getting rid of Ariza.

Artest was going to be available either way. The Lakers had to choose between Odom and Ariza. Given Odom's versatile nature, they made the correct decision and took their chances on being able to find a wing type player that could fill the Ariza void.