“Well, first things first: I will never say anything bad about Derek Fisher ever again. He could start launching the ball at his own basket for the first 40 games of next season and keep his starting job. Honestly, if there’s one guy who I’m happy about making me look like an absolute and total idiot, it’s Fisher, who deserves sucess in this league just about as much as anyone else.”
Cavs: The Blog, June 12th, 2009.
(I am very, very, very rarely right about anything.)
So, that’s that. Lakers are your back-to-back NBA champions.
Let’s get this out of the way first:
LeBron, Game 6: 27 points, 8-21 shooting, 19 rebounds, 10 assists. Satan.
Kobe, Game 7: 23 points, 6-24 shooting, 15 rebounds, 2 assists. Champion.
LeBron did have five more turnovers than Kobe, but still. For a couple of minutes there, I dreamed about how if Kobe lost while playing like he did, the LeBron/Kobe article would have to become about basketball. The whole “Kobe is a better sports human” thing would sort have melted after a historic choke in game 7 of the NBA Finals against the Celtics.
Alas. The Celtics got tight on the road, they missed Perkins, and Kobe’s teammates stepped up. History is the propaganda of the victors (do I really have to tell you again) — in a few months, this game will be remembered by most people as Kobe’s indomitable will manifesting itself in rebounding, defense on Ray Allen, and some late free throws. Or just be another of Kobe’s five championships, each one like the last.
I know — it’s not fair. Nobody cares. Life isn’t fair. There’s no reason that being a sports fan should be. Smile, clap, tip your cap, and hope one of your favorite athletes gets bailed out the same way someday. The Kobe/LeBron thing is what it always was — LeBron fans waving stat sheets and specific examples and Kobe fans pointing to T-Shirts with rings on them. Nothing ever changes. Nothing ever ends.
As bad as the Kobe nutjobs on the winning side will be, the conspiracy nutjobs on the losing side will be much worse. Not a great game seven for people that like basketball writing to be about basketball instead of legacies and championship organs or the paranoid ramblings of sore losers.
I am extremely happy for Ron Artest, and, to a lesser extent, Derek Fisher. And Gasol, kinda. Not Sasha.
So, the Lakers surviving a horrible Kobe performance because they played gutty defense and were fine with the game becoming a war. That’s another sheet in my “I’m really not sure firing Mike Brown without a clear replacement in mind was a good idea” folder. I mean, maybe they could have waited to see how good the Celtics were before firing Brown? Maybe?
In hindsight, what was the freaking rush? What idiot big-name coach did they think was going to come and help them recruit LeBron? Do they realize that coaches, unlike young players, often have fully formed post-basketball lives that they have no pressure to leave? I mean, I guess Mike Brown’s bonus forced their hands. But yeesh, this is a royal mess.
Ray Allen: very much available for the MLE.
That’s all I have for this season. What a year. First season doing this site from start-to-finish, and after I started doing NBC along with this, first season doing basketball as a real job. Not the outcome I was hoping for this year, but the journey couldn’t have been better. Thanks to all of you for making this such a great season for me and this site.
Hopefully I’ll be able to do the real off-season work here now: rumor breakdowns, player report cards, goofy posts, et cetera. Stay tuned, campers.
aww, here we have the sweet ol´cavs fans moaning and goraning. i was wondering where you all were hiding at… is this a secret club meeting? It amazes me that you all want to compare lbj with the mamba… thats sad. Let me make it clear, the only conversation kobe is in is the big one: kobe vs mj …. sorry to burst you all bubble but mrs james is know where in the picture…. maybe still fishing down in orlando…lol… so let lakers rule and kobe be praised….
HERE IS THE SIMPLE FACTS LEBRON JAMES GAVE UP IN GAME 5 VERSUS THE CELTICS. DONT GIVE ME ALL THE STUFF HE DID IN GAME 6 CLOSEOUT GAME NONSENSE. THE DUDE GAVE UP IN GAME 5 WHEN THE SERIES WAS TIED 2-2 AND HE HAD A CHANCE TO GO UP 3-2 AT HOME. YOU GUYS MAKE SO MANY EXCUSES FOR LEBRON WHILE DURING THE REGULAR SEASON NO SAID ANYTHING BECAUSE YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE ON WAY TO ANOTHER HAVING THE BEST RECORD IN THE LEAGUE. THEN WHEN LEBRON CHOKES AND GIVES UP IN GAME 5, YOU SAY HE HAS NO HELP. PLEASE GIMMIE A BREAK. LEBRON HAS NO HEART AND HE PADS STATS. PLEASE DO NOT PUT HIM IN COMPARISON WITH KOBE BRYANT WHO IS 6 YEARS OLDER THAN HIM AND STILL OUTDOES HIM….I WANNA SEE LEBRON EVEN GET TO 1 FINALS AFTER THE AGE OF 30. I BET HE WILL NOT.
LEBRON JAMES DESERVED EVERY BIT OF BASHING FOR HIS GAME 5 PERFORMANCE, BECAUSE WHAT HE COULD HAVE DONE IN GAME 6 HE DIDNT DO IN GAME 5, THIS GUY WANTED OUT AND HE COST THE CITY AND ORGANIZATION A SHOT AT THE TITLE ONCE AGAIN. KOBE ISNT GONNA GET BLAMED THE DUDE HAD TIME AND TIME AGAIN CARRIED THE LAKERS TO THEIR 3RD STRAIGHT FINALS AND WIN OR LOSE GAME 7 ..KOBE WAS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE ALL TIME GREATS AND THE BEST PLAYER BECAUSE AT LEAST HE FORCED A TEAM TO 7 GAMES…..AT LEAST HE TRIED TO DO SOMETHING…LEBRON NO AFTER GAME 4 IT WAS DOWNHILL AND GIVE UP TIME.
THATS THE DIFFERENCE ….THAT IS WHY LEBRON DESERVES WHAT HE GOT AFTER HE LOST TO THE CELTICS. KOBE BRYANT WILL BE CONSIDERED THE BEST BASKETBALL PLAYER UNTIL HE CANT DEFEND HIS CHAMPIONSHIPS ANY LONGER. UNTIL THEN LEBRON IS NUMBER 2 OR TIED FOR 2 WITH WADE.
why is everybody talking bout they didnt have perkins. well remember in 2008 the lakers didnt have andrew btynum or trevor ariza they were hurt and boston won so stop crying boston get some more people
Kobe vs Lebron
Comparing Kobe vs Lebron, clearly Kobe has the better resume and Lebron the brighter future. Kobe is clearly the better shooter, more “skilled player”, and imo a better defender. Lebron is the better rebounder, is more athletic and superior passer. But who’s the better player? Yikes I think it’s tough to say.
This is really challenging because the thing that makes Kobe more of a winning player, his superior supporting cast, also will limit his stats — the opposite of course applies to Lebron. Kobe and Lebron have the opposite problem. As a big Laker fan I can tell you that countless times Kobe has distrusted his teammates and taken absurdly difficult shots to try to carry his team — making him appear selfish. The more Kobe’s teammates come through (Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol) the more he trusts and will go to his teammates. On the other hand it seems as though Lebron James has the opposite problem (quality?) in that he’ll always pass to the open man. Of course during the long run/regular season this is a good trait, however sometimes in playoff basketball you need to understand there is a reason Anderson Varajeo is open on the baseline for a jumper.
Personally, I’d give Kobe the slight edge right now but I expect Lebron to catch Kobe very soon. Besides my previous criticism of Lebron that he needs to be selective with who he trusts with the ball in crunch time, I feel that Lebron has the potential to impact his teammates like Magic Johnson did in the 1980s — which is to make them MUCH better offensive players by making everything easier on them. While of course Lebron makes the games easier for his teammates like Kobe and Michael (being the focal point of the opposing team’s defense), at this point in Lebron’s career he doesn’t make his teammates better (offensively) the way Magic did in the 1980s and Nash does today. Once Lebron gets to that point WATCH out.
(by the way the best playoffs performance I’ve ever seen still has to be the dwayne wade when he absolutely trounced the Dallas Mavs D.
by the way I don’t really care who the best player in the league is as long as my team is hoisting the trophy at the end of the year. As a Laker fan the Cavs or whoever else can have the best player in the world, I’ll take my team being world champs. Kobe can be selfish, Phil just lucky, Pau soft, Odom inconsistent, Artest crazy, and Fisher too old as long as they’re world champs.
Also It can be said that no basketball player ever before has faced more pressure than Kobe Bryant did in game 7. Winning the title would either kill his legacy or build it to the greatness of the likes of Jordan and Magic Johnson. Jordan never faced a game 7 in the NBA finals and never had to deal with what people were calling “a career defining series”. But all that matters is he willed his team to win, he won the title and now has the chance to win a 6th ring.
This whole article is retarded and a waste of time reading.
Also I agree with what has been said here, Lebron has 2 options: the Cavs or Nets. People dont see the Nets play often but they underachieved this season, Brooke Lopez is a top 10 big man in this league, Devin Harris is a stud, Chris Douglas Roberts is solid, Courtney Lee is a great player, Terrence Williams is coming off the bench AND they have the number 3 pick in the draft. PLUS a Billionaire owner who will do whatever it takes to win. They have more of a chance by just adding Lebron than the Bulls do. STILL the Cavs have the best chance out of anyone because the NBA will not look much different next season. The Celtics will be a year older, the Magic will still not win because Vince Carter is expected to do too much and the Lakers will still be the best in the league. The Cavs were better in matchups against the Lakers this season and it would have been an interesting series (because records dont matter in basketball unless you’re talking about home court advantage) all that matters is how you handle matchups on the floor.
Look at the Lakers Roster vs the Cavs Roster and see the Cavs had more talent.
PG. . . LA-Fisher, Farmar Cavs-Mo, Gibson Advantage Cavs
SG . . .LA – Kobe, Brown, Sasha Cavs-Parker, Delonte Advantage Lakers
SF . . .LA-Artest, Walton Cavs-Lebron, Moon Advantage Cavs
PF . . .LA-Gasol, Odom Cavs-Jamison, Hickson, Varejao Advantage could go either way because Odom is inconsistent
and the Cavs have more depth.
C . . .LA-Bynum, DJ Mbenga Cavs-Shaq, Big Z Advantage Cavs especially since Bynum is plagued by injuries.
So this whole idea of Lebron having a worse team is bull and anyone who brings it up doesn’t watch basketball, because the ENTIRE year everyone said the Cavs had the best team and their record reflected it. There was almost too much talent to where Mike Brown didn’t know how to juggle it all. In fact against Boston the Cavs would have been better off sitting Shaq and just playing Hickson, Zydrunas and Varejao the entire time. But Lebron deserves the most blame for Cleveland losing because he quit on the team, and Cavs fans who aren’t blinded by Lebron’s ego even said that after watching his game 5 performance.
Stefan,
Mo williams is more talented than derek fisher as is jordan farmar — i’ll take derek fisher over both of those guys in the playoffs ANY DAY.
If you’re arguing Kobe vs Lebron you have to compare artest vs Parker — ADVANTAGE Artest by A LOT.
PF GASOL/ODOM vs the cavs 4s? LOLOLOLOL GASOL and ODOM are in a different UNIVERSE than the combo of jamison and varajao and I LIKE Jamison — Gasol MAY BE the best 4/5 combo player in the LEAGUE.
C I’d take bynum over ancient SHAQ any day. If you’re a Laker fan I’m shocked you don’t give more LOVE to the rest of the lakers — especially PAu.
I am the most realistic Lakers fan you will ever meet, I watched every Lakers and Cavs game this season and the ONLY team that scared me in the playoffs was the Cavs because of the matchup reasons. Artest was inconsistent the entire playoffs along with Odom, Gasol has the ability to play incredible but did you see Kendrick Perkins cause him to struggle when he got physical with him? Gasol does that against physical defenders, and he played soft in both Cavs meetings this season. Parker was a better shooter than Artest all year long by the way. Hickson is going to be a stud it’s just sad Mike Brown gave his minutes to Jamison when he should have stuck with what got them that record all year. I give Love to my team they showed heart and won the title, but I PRAYED every night they would face Boston because I knew they would win (if Bynum had been healthy it would have been a shorter series). All I’m saying is dont give Lebron all the credit for his 60 win season and then blame it all on his team for the postseason loss. The Cavs had the talent to win it all and STILL do if Lebron comes back, more than anything it was poor coaching to not have the proper players on the floor in the series against Boston. Zydrunas played great in 2009 against Boston in the ECF and he should have had more minutes just like Hickson. Along with Orlando, Cleveland had the deepest team in the league hands down.
only east team that ever scared me as a laker fan was the celtics. I KNOW the lakers are a more skilled team than anyone in the playoffs but these celtics crushed us in 2008 with their toughness. I didn’t know if the lakers would step up. the cavs Stefan u were obviously wrong about the quality of the BOTH Orlando and Cleveland and the quality of boston as Boston CRUSHED both the CAVS and MAgic without Home court and nearly won the title in game 7 in LA. Lebron should take the heat for losing in the playoffs no question he didn’t have a good series, but if u want to compare pau gasol/odom and say they are equal to varajeo and jamsion and hickson i laugh at that all day and say you are delusional. if you want to say that anthony parker > or = artest b/c he shoots better I also laugh at that and say you are delusional.
Outlawnyc, I’m delusional because I saw that Cavs team dominate the Lakers during the regular season? Do you understand that in basketball it is all about matchups? The CAVS choked they had the talent to win it all but they fell apart at the head starting with Lebron. Odom was inconsistent all year and he did nothing against the Cavs, you as a Lakers fan should recognize this because all Lakers fans do, he only shows up when he feels like it. Gasol is one of the best players in the league, however he only dominates certain games he had 3 great games in the Finals, and game 7 was a decent performance (yes he had good numbers but for someone who shoots so close to the basket he was very inefficient). Kobe had bad shooting numbers but the man was double and triple teamed all night, just like he was all series. I never said Anthony Parker was better than Artest but he is a better shooter and he played great defense on Kobe, forcing him to bad shooting nights both times they played. Just because LA won the title dont have your head stuck up your butt, I am one of the biggest Laker fans ever but most people at Forum Blue and Gold were afraid of the Cavs not the Cetics or Magic just like me.