Dec 1, 2015 Cool article with Bron giving his thoughts on Kobe and saying he's disappointed he couldn't make it to the finals in 09 to face Kobe, tells a couple other cool stories too. http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14266468/lebron-james-truly-sad-kobe-bryant-retiring
Dec 1, 2015 Came in here to post that. I always knew he'd looked up to Kobe in a way, (he mentioned somewhere he had a Kobe poster in his room) but I never knew it was this much. I really hope we get a moment similar to the one Kobe & Jordan had in 03.
Dec 1, 2015 KD expanded on his comments from yesterday. http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/1...tment-retiring-kobe-bryant-los-angeles-lakers "I understand [the media] have to write about the game. Of course I understand that," Durant told ESPN.com. "Kobe hasn't played well, and his team hasn't played well, but did we expect that from them? You did say he was the 93rd-best player in the league, you did have the Lakers as the worst team in the West, but it seems like everybody is happy that he's going out like this. Every game he's played on TV is about how terrible he looks, every article the next day is about how he should retire and give it up. Just killing him. "I never hear about the Finals MVPs, the accolades. They did it for [former New York Yankee] Derek Jeter, they will do it for Tim Duncan when he leaves even if he's playing bad. I know you gotta report the games, but you're going too in-depth about how bad he is. You're almost kicking him out the league." Durant, meanwhile, said he's learned to "respect those who came before me." "This game saved my life, this game gave me a new life, this game taught me so much about life," Durant said Monday. "h--- yeah, I'm sensitive about everything involving it. I understand not playing well and stuff; that's a part of it. But you can't treat Kobe like he's D'Angelo Russell when it comes to his coverage. Be a little more respectful to what he's brought to the game. Take yourself out of it and think about the game! These media people take it too personal, and when he doesn't play well, it's their turn to k--- him because they might not have liked what he said or did. But when you think about this beautiful game first, then all that personal s--- goes out the window when reporting. I think about the game, its players and everything else after that when I speak. "They say I don't get the media and how they work," Durant said. "Well, they never got players and how we work." Durant, 27, was teammates with Bryant on the gold medal-winning 2012 men's Olympic basketball team, defeating Spain in the finals to post a perfect 8-0 record. Durant competed against Bryant in two postseason series, with Bryant's Lakers winning in six games in 2010 and Durant's Thunder winning in five in 2012. "He had an amazing career, a guy who changed the game for me as a player mentally, physically," Durant said. "Means so much to the game of basketball. Somebody I'm always going to look to for advice, for help, anything. Just a brilliant, brilliant, intelligent man. Sad to see him go. But he put his mark on the game while he was here."
Dec 1, 2015 I know this is old, but if you love the game of basketball and this doesn't make you emotional, you have no heart.
Dec 1, 2015 Guilty as charged. Will need to see if there's any new highlights of Benny. Australia is gonna challenge for a podium finish at the 2020 Olympics imo.
Dec 2, 2015 Kevin Durant sounds so god d--- soft, holy f---. I guarantee Kobe could give a flying f--- about what the media thinks, which is why he's one of the GOAT
Dec 2, 2015 @redsoxx @Fitz You guys feel the same way? Dear Kobe Bryant, I hate you. Can you blame me? As a Celtics fan, I rooted against you for two decades. I rejoiced in your agony when my Celtics beat you in the 2008 Finals. Paul Pierce deserved it way more than you did. You already had three rings at the time. But three just wasn’t enough for you. You got your revenge and ultimately your fifth ring in 2010 while ripping my heart out in the process. I hope you still know how lucky you are that Kendrick Perkins was out for Game 7. I read your letter in the Players’ Tribune today and was shocked. Not because you announced your retirement – we all already knew that. I was shocked because of the way your letter made me feel. In my mind, I have always grouped you and Derek Jeter together. You are the players that we as Boston fans bitterly hate, but cannot help but respect. You played the game the right way – with passion, pride, and professionalism. You were true students of the game who pursued greatness by working harder than anybody. You became generational icons of your respective sports. You embraced every challenge. You gave it your all. You put your bodies on the line. You knew how to win. You respected your sport, your craft, and your rivalry with Boston. December 30 marks the last time that you will play in Boston. This is also the last opportunity for us Celtics fans to cheer our team to victory against arguably the most dominant player in the storied history of the Celtics and Lakers. As you go, so goes what is left of the rivalry that once dominated the NBA. Perhaps someday it will be rekindled by new faces. Perhaps not. So when you come to the Garden next month, I hope the crowd puts you through h---. I hope we heckle you and boo you more emphatically than we did in the championship bouts. I hope you miss every single free throw. I hope you never forget what it’s like to be surrounded by 17,000 screaming fans who bleed green and would give anything to watch you fail one last time. I hope we beat LA once again. And when you get pulled from the lineup halfway through the fourth quarter when my Celtics are up by 20 points, I think something beautiful will happen. Every single person in the Garden will stop booing. We will rise to our feet and show respect in the form of the loudest, most passionate standing ovation you have ever witnessed. We will chant your name. We will wipe our eyes. We will say our bittersweet farewells. They say you never truly know what you got ’til it’s gone. So before you go, I just want to say thank you for being far more than just a great basketball player. To an entire generation of NBA fans, you are basketball. I can’t believe I’m saying this… but I’m really going to miss you. Love (and hate) you always, A Celtics fan who didn’t appreciate you enough
Dec 2, 2015 He was an incredible player and 08-10 was a great rivalry with the Celtics. He will be cheered when he comes here I'm sure. You have kind of be a little weary about the type of person he is due to the 2003 incident, whether that's fair or it isn't.
Dec 4, 2015 It's gonna be amazing to hear the reaction he gets in Boston, gonna be a very cool moment for sure. Anyways, here's a kinda funny video of Kobe's high school PG trying to track him down at his last visit to Philly. http://www.csnphilly.com/blog/700-level/watch-kobe’s-high-school-pg-goes-quest-reunite-his-final-game-philly
Dec 6, 2015 You weren't at the game, were you? If so that kinda sucks man as far as Kobe goes since not only did he play poorly (which is pretty common this year) but he also didn't even play as much as usual since he had the stomach flu. He did say he'll play tomorrow though. I can't believe dumbass Byron Scott isn't limiting Kobe's minutes more, he should be at less than 30 minutes for sure and imo around 22-26. But instead he's been in the mid to high 30's lately which is insane lol. I'm definitely wondering if Kobe will make it through the season with this.
Dec 12, 2015 Mike Trudell @LakersReporter 2h2 hours ago In NBA year 20, Kobe played all 8 road games on this trip, including 3 B2B’s. Tonight: 25 points, 7 boards, 6 dimes, 3 steals, 0 turnovers. Mike Trudell @LakersReporter 2h2 hours ago Kobe had his most efficient shooting night of the year, hitting 9 of 16 FG’s. He’s shooting 47.4% in his last 4 games. ^f---in awesome to see this tonight from Kobe. He looked amazing and overall has been a lot better in recent games. I can't believe this but Kobe's about to prove me wrong again. I'm a die hard fan and tend to lean on his side more than not, but I didn't expect him to improve much over the year and play good ball again but his recent trend is certainly leaning that way. I hope he can keep it up, I don't expect games like tonight but at least pretty good numbers still.
