Re: If There Was No Michael Jordan
He did, but it seemed different to me. As if Michael was out to prove something to the world, ala Lebron, like a "look at me", mentality. Kobe doesn't seem to give two craps what people think, he just wants to be the greatest for his own personal reasons. Just my observation,t hough.
I thought it had already been pretty well established, at least amongst Lakers circles, that even though nobody was blameless, Shaq was significantly more guilty if you were looking for someone to blame for the breakup. All you have to do is look at the drama and bush league stuff he's taken with him everywhere since.
I do not consider it an admirable trait, no. But I certainly don't see the difference, if we're judging the men by their character, between Kobe's public comments and all of the disgusting "behind closed doors" things that Jordan has been accredited as saying and doing to his teammates.
Also, public criticisms aside, outside of Game 7 of the Suns series in '06 (maybe '07?), I never saw Kobe give anything less than his best during his rough stretch. At least not any less than any other NBA player. Kobe never actually wanted to be traded, it was a bluff to get the powers that be to get off their hindquarters and put together a winning product.
Obviously, neither of these guys are perfect. I personally judge athletes based on the kind of human beings they are, mixed with how devoted they are to their craft. Kobe has had some rotten incidents from the human being standpoint, no doubt about it, but has certainly learned and grown up in front of our eyes. Michael is probably just as guilty (although living before the information age helps him out a bit), with the biggest difference between the two being that Michael was obsessively controlling of his public image, and Kobe seemd more just....whatever, I want to play ball.
Of course, that's only my opinion. I don't know either man personally, nor would I be qualified to make these assumptions even if I did.
He did, but it seemed different to me. As if Michael was out to prove something to the world, ala Lebron, like a "look at me", mentality. Kobe doesn't seem to give two craps what people think, he just wants to be the greatest for his own personal reasons. Just my observation,t hough.
I thought it had already been pretty well established, at least amongst Lakers circles, that even though nobody was blameless, Shaq was significantly more guilty if you were looking for someone to blame for the breakup. All you have to do is look at the drama and bush league stuff he's taken with him everywhere since.
3) So Kobe didn't think his scrub teammates were worthy of greatness, so was a poor teammate. Would you consider this an admirable trait? Jordan was surrounded by total scrubs before Pippen and Grant emerged, and he never once publicly threw them under the bus( like Kobe bitching about Bynum getting traded in the parking lot back in 2007), or demanded to be traded. He played his *** off for years, doing the best he could with what he had, then Pippen and Grant came onboard, Phil came in as coach, at the rest is history. As much as I like Kobe, he's never won a single title without the help of a dominant offensive big man. Jordan won 6 titles without that, in an era where many of the all-time great centers were in their prime. How hard that feat is, cannot be stated enough.
I do not consider it an admirable trait, no. But I certainly don't see the difference, if we're judging the men by their character, between Kobe's public comments and all of the disgusting "behind closed doors" things that Jordan has been accredited as saying and doing to his teammates.
Also, public criticisms aside, outside of Game 7 of the Suns series in '06 (maybe '07?), I never saw Kobe give anything less than his best during his rough stretch. At least not any less than any other NBA player. Kobe never actually wanted to be traded, it was a bluff to get the powers that be to get off their hindquarters and put together a winning product.
Obviously, neither of these guys are perfect. I personally judge athletes based on the kind of human beings they are, mixed with how devoted they are to their craft. Kobe has had some rotten incidents from the human being standpoint, no doubt about it, but has certainly learned and grown up in front of our eyes. Michael is probably just as guilty (although living before the information age helps him out a bit), with the biggest difference between the two being that Michael was obsessively controlling of his public image, and Kobe seemd more just....whatever, I want to play ball.
Of course, that's only my opinion. I don't know either man personally, nor would I be qualified to make these assumptions even if I did.
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