I have been a Lakers fan since a few months before I was born. Hell, I'm not a fan, I AM a Laker!!! Just as much as Kobe, Lamar, Derek and Dr. Buss!!! In fact, I've been here since '83 so I'm longer tenured than them. Since the first game against Denver in the 1997-1998 season, I have not missed a single game (I've only attended three in person, but I've seen every pre-season, regular season and playoff game since that season). The last few years, I've even gotten down to CSULB and watched a bunch of summer league games on NBATV. In 2001, I even missed my own father's wedding for a Playoff game. He knew better than to plan a June Wedding anyway.
My point is this: I felt bad for Sonics fans before, but after reading both of Bill Simmons' Save The Sonics Mailbags, I got to thinking of Eddie Jones and Gary Payton showing us what it meant to play suffocating deffense against each other. In 1998, when both teams had 61 wins (which was just amazing because neither were 1st in the conference and Jordan's Bulls were better than anyone!), I can still hear Chick Hearns saying "Eddie Jones had SIX Blocked shots! Can you believe that!?!?" and then Stu Lantz saying in that laid back drawl of his, "That. Is a Lot... of Blocks..." after a Sonics/Lakers playoff game that year. I thought about all of the many fond memories I, as a Lakers fan, have about the Seattle Supersonics and this is the conclusion that I have come to. If/When the Sonics are Torn away from Seattle, I will not indulge the new franchise in any way. I will not attend, watch, or acknowledge the existence of a single Lakers/Rodeo Clowns game. As far as I'm concerened, the Lakers will have 79 games on the schedule. If someone asks me about the game, I'll say "What? The Lakers aren't playing tonight..." with a confused look on my face.
Furthermore, I will not support or acknowledge the existence of this new franchise in any way, except when discussing how terrible it was that the Supersonics were torn away from Seattle. If they make the playoffs, and win, the NBA has no champion. If a team beats them in the playoffs and wins the Championship, they will get an asterisk in my mind (*Lakers received a BY in round one because there is no OKC franchise). That's right, I'm committing to miss Lakers Playoff games if necessary.
I hereby pledge to join Seattle fans in Seattle for some sort of non-violent protest when planned. Instead of Save Our Sonics, I'll hold a Save Our NBA sign or something like that.
Finally, I will campaign, both publicly and privately, for all Lakers and Clippers fans in this city to do the same. Everyone, join me!!! If these stories don't touch you, you don't have a heart! Seriously, you might want to get that checked out. It's not healthy... Mr. Stern.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
23, 24... 1?
Ted Williams or Joe DiMaggio? Brett Favre or John Elway? Magic Johnson or Larry Bird? Larry Bird or Magic Johnson? That last two five or six more times... It's rare that we, as sports fans, get to watch two athletes define themselves as the best in their fields while simultaneously raising their teams to new heights.
Throughout the 2007-2008 NBA season, the prevailing storylines have been the dominance of the Western Conference and the dozens of trades, which have made the west... even more dominate. But one of the most intriguing stories of the last few months has been the emergence of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant as the two best players in the League. And behind the two of them, it isn't even close. Just to put that in perspective: there are two guys with 3 finals MVPs each (Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal), a 7-footer who can win a three point shooting contest against most of the league's guards (Dirk Nowitzki), a point guard who, at only 21 years old, has drawn comparisons to Oscar Robertson and nearly had a tripple double with steals a few days ago (Chris Paul), a monstrous individual by the name of Dwight Howard who can make a 20/20 game look like a Sunday morning walk in the park, a 7'6" behemoth who shoots over 80 Percent from the Free throw line and countless others who, every time they walk in the gym, are the best player in sight. Next to Kobe Bryant or LeBron James, all of these people look like 7th graders trying out for their junior high teams.
LeBron James is on the verge of completing the "Great Scorer" accomplishment that all great scorers in the NBA aspire to: Averaging 30 points per game for an entire season. The difference between his year and, let's say, Tracy McGrady averaging 32 a few years ago? LeBron is also averaging 8 rebounds and almost 8 assists. He dsoes everything on the offensive end and this year, he has also actually been playing defense! His Key defensive stats are great (1 Block, 2 steals, 8.1 rebounds), but they don't even begin to tell the story of his improvement this year on the defensive end. I'm not saying that he's 1st team all defensive. Not with Garnett, Duncan, Bowen, Artest, Bell and about 8 other great defensive players playing the same position. But the year before last, he was a liability on defense. Last year, it was pretty much a toss up. You forgot he was even on the floor for half of the game. This year, he is taking his defense very seriously. Until Ben Wallace joined the team, I felt very comfortable in saying that LBJ was the best defensive player on his team. And Larry Hughes is a very solid defensive player. Lebron has just been that good. He takes on the best perimeter player, which is exactly what the greats do. And he successfully defends the likes of Richard Jefferson, Paul Pierce, Hedo Turkoglu, Rip Hamilton and Micheal Redd on a nightly basis. Oh Yeah! He's Also leading the league in scoring at 30.3 points/game, 8th in assists and 8th in steals! MVP isn't even a big enough prize for this guy! They should crown him Ceaser!
So Lebron James is averaging more points, Rebounds, assists, steals and blocks than Kobe. He has a chance to be the first person to average 30, 8 and 8 for the first time since Jordan did it in 1988. That is Absolutely AMAZING. And still, Kobe Bryant deserves the MVP. If you look only at the stats, then Kobe looks like he's playing second fiddle to LeBron James. But if the Statistics determined the MVP, Kobe would have won it for the last two years. Kobe's statistics are great (28, 5 and 5). But all of the other impact he has on the game is what really separates him and makes him the MVP this year. Kobe's lakers are currently tied for 1st place (percentage points behind the Spurs). He has been playing better defense than his annual first team all defense selection would suggest, literally confounding and frustrating the opposing team's best player, especially in crunch time. He's taken a group of pretty good players and turned them into the best team in basketball. That is what MVPs do, and that is what Kobe Bryant has done this year. When he steps onto a basketball court, moreso than any other player, he turns the game into his personal playground. As LeBron James put it, "With Kobe, you have to stay focused a full 48 minutes... probably even during half-time! That guy is so focused!"
editor's note: Eric is a Big Laker's fan
Throughout the 2007-2008 NBA season, the prevailing storylines have been the dominance of the Western Conference and the dozens of trades, which have made the west... even more dominate. But one of the most intriguing stories of the last few months has been the emergence of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant as the two best players in the League. And behind the two of them, it isn't even close. Just to put that in perspective: there are two guys with 3 finals MVPs each (Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal), a 7-footer who can win a three point shooting contest against most of the league's guards (Dirk Nowitzki), a point guard who, at only 21 years old, has drawn comparisons to Oscar Robertson and nearly had a tripple double with steals a few days ago (Chris Paul), a monstrous individual by the name of Dwight Howard who can make a 20/20 game look like a Sunday morning walk in the park, a 7'6" behemoth who shoots over 80 Percent from the Free throw line and countless others who, every time they walk in the gym, are the best player in sight. Next to Kobe Bryant or LeBron James, all of these people look like 7th graders trying out for their junior high teams.
LeBron James is on the verge of completing the "Great Scorer" accomplishment that all great scorers in the NBA aspire to: Averaging 30 points per game for an entire season. The difference between his year and, let's say, Tracy McGrady averaging 32 a few years ago? LeBron is also averaging 8 rebounds and almost 8 assists. He dsoes everything on the offensive end and this year, he has also actually been playing defense! His Key defensive stats are great (1 Block, 2 steals, 8.1 rebounds), but they don't even begin to tell the story of his improvement this year on the defensive end. I'm not saying that he's 1st team all defensive. Not with Garnett, Duncan, Bowen, Artest, Bell and about 8 other great defensive players playing the same position. But the year before last, he was a liability on defense. Last year, it was pretty much a toss up. You forgot he was even on the floor for half of the game. This year, he is taking his defense very seriously. Until Ben Wallace joined the team, I felt very comfortable in saying that LBJ was the best defensive player on his team. And Larry Hughes is a very solid defensive player. Lebron has just been that good. He takes on the best perimeter player, which is exactly what the greats do. And he successfully defends the likes of Richard Jefferson, Paul Pierce, Hedo Turkoglu, Rip Hamilton and Micheal Redd on a nightly basis. Oh Yeah! He's Also leading the league in scoring at 30.3 points/game, 8th in assists and 8th in steals! MVP isn't even a big enough prize for this guy! They should crown him Ceaser!
So Lebron James is averaging more points, Rebounds, assists, steals and blocks than Kobe. He has a chance to be the first person to average 30, 8 and 8 for the first time since Jordan did it in 1988. That is Absolutely AMAZING. And still, Kobe Bryant deserves the MVP. If you look only at the stats, then Kobe looks like he's playing second fiddle to LeBron James. But if the Statistics determined the MVP, Kobe would have won it for the last two years. Kobe's statistics are great (28, 5 and 5). But all of the other impact he has on the game is what really separates him and makes him the MVP this year. Kobe's lakers are currently tied for 1st place (percentage points behind the Spurs). He has been playing better defense than his annual first team all defense selection would suggest, literally confounding and frustrating the opposing team's best player, especially in crunch time. He's taken a group of pretty good players and turned them into the best team in basketball. That is what MVPs do, and that is what Kobe Bryant has done this year. When he steps onto a basketball court, moreso than any other player, he turns the game into his personal playground. As LeBron James put it, "With Kobe, you have to stay focused a full 48 minutes... probably even during half-time! That guy is so focused!"
editor's note: Eric is a Big Laker's fan
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