Curt Schilling Critiques Kobe Bryant
Photo. Chris SembrotCeltics247.com (via the Boston Herald) brings us Curt Schilling’s observations from his personal blog 38pitches.com about Game 2 of the Finals. In case you missed him, Curt was sitting front row.
His most interesting commentary was on what saw from Kobe. He seemed less than impressed. From his post:
“From the first tip until about 4 minutes left in the game I saw and heard this guy (complain to) his teammates. Every TO he came to the bench (ticked), and a few of them he went to other guys and yelled about something they weren’t doing, or something they did wrong. No dialog (sic) about ‘hey let’s go, let’s get after it’ or whatever. He spent the better part of 3.5 quarters (ticked) off and ranting at the non-execution or lack of, of his team. Then when they made what almost was a historic run in the 4th, during a TO, he got down on the floor and basically said ‘Let’s (expletive) go, right now, right here’ or something to that affect (sic).
“I am not making this observation in a good or bad way, I have no idea how the guys in the NBA play or do things like this, but I thought it was a fascinating bit of insight for me to watch someone in another sport who is in the position of a team leader and how he interacted with his team and teammates. Watching the other 11 guys, every time out it was high fives and ‘Hey nice work, let’s get after it’ or something to that affect (sic). He walked off the floor, obligatory skin contact on the high five, and sat on the bench stone faced or (ticked) off, the whole game.
“Just weird to see another sport and how it all works. I would assume that’s his style and how he plays and what works for him because when I saw the leader board for scoring in the post season his name sat up top at 31+ a game, can’t argue with that. But as a fan I was watching the whole thing, Kobe, his teammates and then the after effects of conversations. He’d yell at someone, make a point, or send a message, turn and walk away, and more than once the person on the other end would roll eyes or give a ‘whatever dude’ look.
“Let me reiterate that this is from a complete basketball newbie, so for all I know this could be exactly how these guys play this game and interact with each other.”
Interesting to hear what another professional athlete - one who doesn’t censor what he says - has to say about another from first-hand observation. And this info on Kobe is exactly what we were talking about earlier today when we wrote about Bryant having to his “Michael Moment” tonight. So far he’s looked frustrated and angry as opposed to raising his team to a higher plane.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
shake&bake says:
1st
June 10th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Octopus Jonny says:
It worked last time, so…
Dear Kobe;
PLEASE WAKE UP AND DO HORRIBLE THINGS TO THE BOSTON CELTICS!!!
June 10th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
AY says:
i spilled ketchup on my socks.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Jim says:
I am torn here, in that these are two of my least favorite athletes.
I think the implication here is that no one could get away with this in baseball. Obviously you’ve seen some of the biggest stars (Bonds+Kent, Manny last week) get into it publicly with teammates. I have my doubts, though, that anyone would step to an ace pitcher on their own team. Maybe he means no one in Warcraft would do this?
June 10th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
knocks says:
OK…but didn’t we always know this about Kobe? That this is the way he plays the game?
Yah, we heard all about how the Lakers are a family this year and how everybody is all happy and stuff. But every team is happy when they’re winning. I always wanted to see what would happen to the Lakers’ newfound unity once they started losing. This is how Kobe has always been–Schilling’s observations are no surprise to me.
If the Lakers get handled in either of the next 2 games, watch the s#!t really hit the fan…
June 10th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Jay says:
This is why I (and probably many others) were so skeptical to just assume Kobe Bryant had transformed himself this season from selfish and arrogant prima donna to team-oriented one-of-the-guys MVP. Kobe had seemed happy and more of a leader simply because he had better teammates. Nobody can pout and bitch if you’re winning. It went all through the playoffs until this moment and now we are seeing the hidden Kobe resurface.
Getting in the face of teammates and challenging them mentally and physically to compete at a higher level is completely different from putting them down and degrading them. You can’t win it all if you only have confidence in yourself, Kobe.
June 10th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
curt schilling?…
when this mofo throws a pitch this season, then he can critique somebody.
June 10th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
word says:
lebron first, kobe now, the celtics put a hurtin on ‘em.
June 10th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
DaPro says:
Schilling might have pulled a Spike Lee move and amped up the best player on the court
Although I agree Kobe had the before the MVP season look in his eyes, this is wasted print from Schilling
June 10th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Jay26th says:
His team was playing horribly. Who smiles and high fives when his team is down 20?
June 10th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Rico says:
That’s why Kobe doesn’t have any friends.
June 10th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
PJ 310 says:
WTF, is he supposed to be out smiling and giggling if his team is down by 20 and not executing, it’s his job as a leader to get on their ass when their doing a bad job and praise them when they do a good one.
People make me sick over analyzing everything Kobe does, like all during the game when the Lakers were down the ABC cameras kept panning to Kobe showing him him looking upset on the bench, its like what do u expect him to be doing??? playin pattycake with Rony or something??? Its the Finals and your down 20, who would be happy about that??
June 10th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Prof. TX says:
Nobody expects Kobe to be happy about losing. The article is about the fact that he criticizes teammates instead of encouraging them. The point is that in baseball it might be ‘keep trying, we’ll get them next time’ or something like that but Kobe has the ‘it’s everyone’s fault but mine’ approach.
You’ll never hear Kobe do the T-Mac line in this series and say “If we lose, then it’s on me.” He’ll blame the refs, the bench, the front office, but never himself.
June 10th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
kb24! says:
Who the fuck is Curt Schilling anyway. You throw a fuckin baseball around..go suck a something big. This is the NBA Finals. of course Kobe’s gonna be heated. No one likes to lose.
June 10th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
JHov says:
At Prof Tx. When did T-Mac blame himself for anything!!?!? Everytime they loss it was always..”these guys are so young” or “I tapped the ball to Landry he just didn’t get it!” I never heard him take credit for any loss
June 10th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
PJ 310 says:
First off, did you see how timid the lakers were playing??? He has a right to be upset at his team, and I’m pretty sure he places blame on himself too because he is the leader of the team. You play 82 games plus 15 playoff games to get to this point and you play scared and don’t execute. I would be upset too.
Prof., Tmac only says that he’s placing the blame on himself because he know’s the media is gonna blame him anyway, that’s why he made a joke about it this past season, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oleKfixy-7A
June 10th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Scott says:
Thats the difference between the Kobe of these playoffs/season and his years in the past. This year he was finally finding a way to motivate his teammates positively even when they weren’t playing their best.
But he is only human. His habits while changed, were still his old habits, and like anyone changing themselves, they do tend to return to their old ways every now and then, its only human nature. Hopefully the return to home, his wife, his kid, will all make a huge difference and allow him to get his mind right.
If Kobe can get his mindset back to the way it was, this could be a hell of a series. If not, its the Celts in 4.
June 10th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
oscarisalakerfan says:
KOBE SUCKS!!!!!!!!!
June 10th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Rico says:
Kobe doen’t know anything about being a leader. Paul Pierce does. I love watching Peirce command the floor, it reminds me of how courageously George Bush commanded us through 9/11.
June 10th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Octopus Jonny says:
“it reminds me of how courageously George Bush commanded us through 9/11. ”
Uhhh WHAT?!
Paul Pierce Leadership>GWB
June 10th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Brandon Hoffman says:
I’m shocked that the Boston Red Sox pitcher was critical of the Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard.
What Schilling failed to mention was the possibility that Bryant’s tirade worked since the Lakers DID fight their way back into the game late.
June 10th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Rico says:
@Octopus Jonny… I wouldn’t put Paul Pierce on that level, but he does have pretty good leadership qualities.
June 10th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
mr.fresh says:
Kobe is a beast! And I agree his teammates need to bring that same tenacity and ferociousness but he needs to learn how to communicate better….talking down to grown men will never wrk, he has to learn how to motivate through positive negativity…huh? Haha
June 10th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
rob stewart says:
You are 100% right Mr. Fresh. Kobe is the best talent in the league but his communication skills are horrible. Since everyone always tells him he is the greatest and he can’t always relate to less talented teammates I can see why it would be difficult and frustrating to communicate with others
June 10th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Rico says:
Maybe Kobe wouldn’t have this problem if he would have went to college or joined the military. Or maybe he should take a hiatis to play baseball. MJ was a new man when he came back from playing baseball, that was one of his smartest career decisions.
June 10th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
david herrera says:
MJ yelled and cussed out his teammates when they played poorly and he was always known for being hard on his guys. is it so different when kobe does it?
looks like his “Michael Moments” have come with his teammates.
June 10th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
doc says:
Curt took the words right out my mouth.
June 10th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Beantown, son! says:
I figure u guys would kill Schill for saying this…
(even I think he talks too much)
June 10th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Ding Dong We Got The 6th Pick says:
Easy to judge when you don’t know the man, you aren’t on his team, and you are not playing in the NBA playoffs. Where is this hate coming from? Edited interviews on ESPN and Sportscenter and the Bynum carpark video? I’m not a kobefan, but its a bit silly to go beyond what curt said on his blog: an observation.Its like the old Seinfeld joke: if an alien landed on earth and saw humans picking their dog’s poo on walks, who would they think the superior species is?
June 10th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
bigpatty says:
he is a great man,support him.
many fans often talked about him on a tall dating site: Tallmingle.c o m ,especially those models.
June 11th, 2008 at 6:27 am
iain. says:
i agree that Kobe gets on his teammates alot more than he should, and sometimes shouting and cussing them out isn’t the best way to get a positive reaction, but when you are so competitive like Kobe is, you can’t help it, especially if your the leader of the team and ultimately it all falls on your shoulders one way or the other.
I am competitive (proably to a fault) too. No matter how much you tell yourself before the game your going to be cool about it all and stay positive, when you have that fire and passion to win at all costs it is impossible to stop the outbursts.
It just comes down to wanting to win and i’d rather see that all day long than indifference and hugs between opposing players after games.
Kobe’s a competitor and a warrior and this goes a long way to him being accepted as the best basketball player we have on this planet.
June 11th, 2008 at 10:57 am
sp1nks says:
It’s sad that Curt Schilling has succumbed to the “blog-about-stuff-I-have-no-idea-about” phenomenon. Kobe Bryant is perhaps the most ferocious, intense competitor since Michael Jordan. I said it — Michael Jordan. The Bulls guard got after his teammates just as much, if not more than Kobe did. The difference was that not everyone had a blog that they were willing to put ANYTHING on. Curt, focus on pitching, leave sensationalism to the tabloids. I yearn for the days when people kept their opinions (observations, sorry) to themselves or a tight circle of friends. If you’re blasting opinions to the masses, you should be getting paid for it.
June 11th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
You Can't Handle the "Truth" says:
I’m still crackin up at the guy who said ” its like what do u expect him to be doing??? playin pattycake with Rony or something???
MJ yelled at Kwame Brown so much, Kwame still aint right!
June 11th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Mike C says:
I’d much prefer someone that gets angry when he’s losing over one that smiles and jokes around with the opponents (a la Vince Carter).
June 11th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
shawn K says:
Every thing shilling is sayin reconfirms that Kobe is a great leader. When al the laker are sleep walking what do you want him to do? Give him a pat on the back and say nice job!!??? Are you kidding me?
and the guy who says Kwame was yelled by MJ, thats cuz kwame was a bust to begin with. He always has and always will be but these lakers are not busts and someone needs to wake him up, namely the LEADER of the team. As a laker fan I am so happy that I have him playing for my team.
who do you want?? A KG that tried to be everyone’s frend while his timberwolves were the floormats of the western conference???
June 11th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
eyeused2b says:
Dear Curt Shilling,
STFU!
The Lakers were playing like straight garbage in the first 3.5 periods. That was not a “come on guys, keep up the hard work and we’ll get right back into this thing” kind of moment. That was a “who are these MFers and what did they do with my real teammates” kind of moment.
I think baseball is one of the worst sports ever created, so I don’t know how they roll, but I know when you’re on the court with a bunch of guys that are showing a lack of effort, you don’t want to high five and praise them.
June 12th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Maddie says:
Get the hell out of here curt schilling! you h ave no idea how the team operates, and your opinions are obviously biased because you h ave a problem with Kobe. Kobe is a great leader….he leads by example. And he know how to motivate his young team….you dont take that kind of stuff personal in basketball. YTea when you start losing its frusterating, especially for someone who works so hard and wants it as bad as kobe does. So when youre down 24 with 8 minutes to go in a finals game, you are going to motivate your teammates in whatever way you can. Players like sasha LOOK UP to kobe, and when KObe gets down on him it serves as inspiration for sasha and other young players to step it up. but i guess you have to play basketball to know that…
It isnt kobe being arrogant, its kobe being a motivational leader when they are on the ropes. and it obviously worked because the lakers almost pulled one of the greatest comebacks in finals history
SO, as a basketball newbie, dont post crap like this when you have no idea wat its like to play basketball and the dynamics of basketball teams.
October 19th, 2008 at 8:39 am
curt says:
more from Curt Schilling…