The new "great teammate" Kobe......I didn't think

[mainevent3405]

I found this to be rather interesting being that Kobe is "supposed" to be this new "team" player this year......when everything was going good I guess. Now that things aren't going so great, I wondered if he'd reform to his old self. This is from Curt Schillings blog from last nights game where he had prime seats of course and was able to overhear the Kobster all game.....

Red Sox starting pitcher Curt Schilling, who watched last night's Game 2 from courtside seats at the Garden, today blogged some interesting thoughts on Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett.

"Who doesn't know Kobe Bryant right?," asks Schilling. "I only know what I have heard, starting awhile back with the entire Shaq debacle. I don't really have an opinion one way or the other on or about him other than to know that people feel he might be one of the 4-5 greatest players to ever lace it up. What I do know is what I got to see up close and hear, was unexpected. From the first tip until about 4 minutes left in the game I saw and heard this guy bitch at his teammates. Every TO he came to the bench pissed, 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 about 'hey let's go, let's get after it' or whatever. He spent the better part of 3.5 quarters pissed 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 f'ing go, right now, right here' or something to that affect.

"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. He walked off the floor, obligatory skin contact on the high five, and sat on the bench stone faced or pissed 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."

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball ... tics_blog/

[donte124]

Boston players and fans are f*** ing Retards!!!!

[Kilroy]

Yeah that really jumped out at me too...

I mean with KG and PP and Ray Allen and all their manufactured and contrived "Intensity" and thuggish, OG-ism... Kobe getting upset at some miss-ques really jumped out at me...

I mean with Perkins and PJ Brown "ACTING" all hard-core... Kobe trying to instill the intensity to win a game in the face of an oficiating team handing the game to the other team, in his other team mates was a real eye-opener...

But then again, Curt plays a game that takes 13.5 hours to complete and moves along at the pace of a lethargic snail after a huge thanksgiving dinner. Plus...

HE'S A PITCHER!!! Those guys don't even talk to their team-mates half the time...

[incontrol__]

I found this to be rather interesting being that Kobe is "supposed" to be this new "team" player this year......when everything was going good I guess.

Troll.

Oh, and would you look at the join date.. What a surprise.

[hermes]

i'm going to quote tsherkin from the same thread you posted on the boston board

I think Schilling is just remarking on the contrast in styles, right?

Kobe was obviously being a good on-court teammate until the fourth quarter, when he put forth the obligatory and quite necessary personal show of offensive talent.

He's not a naturally charismatic leader figure the way that some guys are.

But let's not forget, Kobe's not doing anything Jordan didn't do... MJ was acerbic, angry, confrontational and outright rude to his teammates when they weren't playing well.

And he won 6 titles, right? Kobe sounds and acts almost exactly like Jordan at a similar age, when he still hadn't totally bought into the triangle and all that. Kobe's 29, turning 30 in August. Jordan didn't fully buy into the triangle until the second three-peat, at which point he was somewhat mellowed personally (but not THAT much).

There are, of course, better leadership styles but Jordan had Pippen and Phil Jackson, whereas Kobe just has Phil. Neither Odom nor Gasol has the personality required to really mediate things between Kobe and his teammates, so it just seems more overaggressive and antagonistic on Kobe's part when it really isn't. He's a fierce competitor, it happens.

[tsherkin]

I'll just quote verbatim what I wrote in the Boston board thread about this same quote...

I think Schilling is just remarking on the contrast in styles, right?

Kobe was obviously being a good on-court teammate until the fourth quarter, when he put forth the obligatory and quite necessary personal show of offensive talent.

He's not a naturally charismatic leader figure the way that some guys are.

But let's not forget, Kobe's not doing anything Jordan didn't do... MJ was acerbic, angry, confrontational and outright rude to his teammates when they weren't playing well.

And he won 6 titles, right? Kobe sounds and acts almost exactly like Jordan at a similar age, when he still hadn't totally bought into the triangle and all that. Kobe's 29, turning 30 in August. Jordan didn't fully buy into the triangle until the second three-peat, at which point he was somewhat mellowed personally (but not THAT much).

There are, of course, better leadership styles but Jordan had Pippen and Phil Jackson, whereas Kobe just has Phil. Neither Odom nor Gasol has the personality required to really mediate things between Kobe and his teammates, so it just seems more overaggressive and antagonistic on Kobe's part when it really isn't. He's a fierce competitor, it happens.