After three quarters of feeding the post and flexing their size advantage, the Lakers went back to their bread and butter when things got tense against Toronto: Give it to Kobe Bryant and vacate the premises … Midway through the fourth, L.A. was down on the scoreboard and in danger of losing their fourth game in a row. Predictably, that’s when Kobe (32 pts, 6 rebs, 6 asts) went to work. In the span of what seemed like a few seconds, he strung together a jumper and some free throws to turn a four-point deficit into a Lakers lead. A couple minutes later, Kobe put L.A. up four with a short baseline fadeaway. Read More »
Anybody who watches MSNBC’s “Lockup” knows this much about prison etiquette: It’s all about perception. You might come into the bing at 5-foot-4 with a real pretty mouth, but if you create the perception right away that you’re stone crazy, you can drop the soap all you want and not have to worry.
Same rules apply in basketball. Guys only mess with you if you let them think they can, which is what makes Kobe Bryant such a strange case. Read More »
In a recent poll, Sports Illustrated asked 173 NBA players who the dirtiest player in the NBA is. And according to the League, the winner (perhaps loser) is Reggie Evans. This past September, we put together our own sneaky-dirty list, and Evans clocked in at three. (Keep in mind, we note that if we were ranking guys in order according to strictly dirty-ness, Evans would be #1 and #2 at the same time.) Check out the rest of the list: Read More »
Dwyane Wade needed a team like the Warriors on the schedule last night. In just his second game back from the calf injury that cost him four crucial games as the Heat try to stay in the playoff picture, Wade was coming off a 6-for-17 effort against Orlando; G-State’s crew of D-League call-ups running Nellie’s defensive “system” was the perfect opportunity to get back in rhythm … Wade finished with 35 points (15-23 FG) and 12 assists — throwing in crazy-angle bankers, pull-ups, finger rolls and one alley-oop from Carlos Arroyo where he had to move his head out of the way so he wouldn’t hit the rim — but the Heat still got all they could handle for a Warriors squad whose roster of injured guys would beat the healthy guys more often than not. Read More »
Jason Richardson should just lay it up next time. Don’t get us wrong, J-Rich is still one of the baddest to ever look down into a rim, but he’s developing a weird habit of blowing crucial dunks in the fourth quarters of close games. Last year it was the 360 for no reason that LeBron snuffed out. Yesterday it wasn’t even that complicated … Phoenix was down two in San Antonio with about 40 seconds left, Spurs ball. Jared Dudley got a steal and threw it long for J-Rich, who had gotten behind the defense. All by himself, J-Rich went conservative and tried a basic one-hand dunk that he’s probably been making since he was 13, but somehow missed it. Read More »
All due respect to Kobe, but you could argue that LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Kevin Durant have been better than any three players on the planet this year. And even after Kobe reaches NBA old-age, those three should still be in their primes and setting the standard by which most other players are judged. Read More »
From the cover of Dime to the cover of GQ, Kobe Bryant has been everywhere lately. Except the basketball court. And it’s been killing him. Previously on his way to one of the most impossible Iron-Man like seasons in recent NBA history — playing through well documented injuries to his fingers, back, knees, shoulders and ankles — Kobe finally had to show human frailty and miss some games sandwiching the All-Star break, including the All-Star Game itself. (Kobe may be the only guy in the League who takes the ASG seriously.)
Last night he returned to the lineup, and in storybook fashion, dropped 32 points and the game-winner in Memphis. This entire season for Kobe has been a self-inflicted cross-examination of his toughness, but is KB24 the toughest man in the NBA? Read More »
Always a media favorite, without a doubt, Ron Artest gives some of the best quotes in the NBA. Check out this clip from the Land O’ Lakers’ Andy Kamenetzky as Ron talks about the Grizzlies coach, Kobe “fitting back in” and USA-Canada Olympic hockey.
Two things that will make me angry enough to twist my face into a Kendrick Perkins scowl and start launching Mike Tyson threats: Any Houston sports-related headline that reads, “Houston, we have a problem,” and any Seattle-related story headlined, “Sleepless in Seattle.”
Stop it. The Apollo 13 launch was in 1970, a.k.a. FORTY years ago. The Tom Hanks movie (not Apollo 13, but the other one set in my hometown) came out in 1993, a.k.a. when Ken Griffey Jr. and Shawn Kemp were in their primes. Read More »
