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http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/872 ... e-question

Bill Simmons, a laker hater, wrote an excellent article about Kobe.

simmons does that grudging respect thing for kobe

He's barely bearable (per usual), and his dissection of Kobe's e-mail is freaking hilarious (not in a funny way), but it's a good read. Bill Simmons is certainly a good writer, and opinionated, if nothing else.

The best way of leading isn't always to pick up the slack of others. Oftentimes, it breeds complacency. Just because it worked for Russell some 50 odd years ago does NOT make it the friggin gold standard. And he doesn't even realize that his article makes it patently clear there are options available for team development (aka trades and signings and firings) that weren't available or commonplace in Russell's era, yet he berates Kobe for incorporating these things (and at times he exaggerates when/how/if Kobe appeals to these) into his "leader-belt."

It was far more damning than praising, he laid just enough "nice" on there to get in all the digs he wanted. He really is talented. And I enjoy his sense of humor. Mamba out, (lol).

Cliffnotes version: Kobe is an insecure egomaniac that wants to be held as the same regard to magic & jordan, but won't compare statistically. And he probably won't retire gracefully and sucks as a teammate.

Good stuff and great read, though Kobe fanboys might not appreciate Bill Simmons sorry

jigga_man wrote:Cliffnotes version: Kobe is an insecure egomaniac that wants to be held as the same regard to magic & jordan, but won't compare statistically. And he probably won't retire gracefully and sucks as a teammate.

wtf i didnt get that at all from the article...

Too many Celtic references SMH ( Toilet Flush Sound)

Other than that I thought it can be considered as a positive article about Kobe .
Especially coming from Simmons who probably has a naked picture of Larry Bird above his fire place.

Imadogg wrote:Good stuff and great read, though Kobe fanboys might not appreciate Bill Simmons sorry

You and Popo run with that KB fanboy line more than JayZ's "Numbers don't lie" quote. LoL
All though ill admit there are Kobe fans who are only Laker fans because of him.

Back to the topic, most LAKER fans don't appreciate majority of Simmons' articles because he spits out nothing but pure Laker hate and gags out nothing but Celtic praise.
I get his comedy and he is a funny guy but it doesn't overlook his maniacal hate towards the Lakers organization.

I remember him writing some ridiculous hate about Nick Van Exel's game winning buzzer beater 3 pointer in Boston back in the days that got LA times posting it on their sports page as comedy relief. It was from his days as the "Boston Sports Guy".
Now that was funny

i could certainly somewhat see how someone came away with that impression, especially on a lakers board, though i'm not quite sure where the "insecure" part came from.

i thought it was a good read and look into why kobe does what he does. simmon's own comments on kobe's thoughts on "leadership" were a bit over the top, but otherwise good read.

Interesting read.

Kind of curious about this part...

His third-best teammate (Andrew Bynum) got shipped to Philly and traded shots with Kobe on his way out.

Did I miss something? I don't recall them trading shots.

There weren't any whatsoever. If anything Kobe had Bynum's back way too much last year.

Simmons will compliment Kobe while stabbing him in the back at the same time.

Avid Grantland reader here and as much as Simmons gives Kobe respect it's only begrudgingly. He dislikes Kobe but tries to remain objective, so even though he gives him his due - it's peppered with veiled criticisms.

Knowing who Bill Simmons is, you should read some of his stuff (namely Lakers/Celtic related) with a grain of salt.

Good article though. Especially the Russell part, I found that fascinating.

What happened between Kobe and Bynum when he got traded to Philly? I missed it.

Either we all did or Simmons is making things up to make his article more appealing. There were a few things that he said which didn't quite compute, but that bit about Bynum was the most obvious.

Didn't he say something to the effect of Kobe not playing in practices costing the team at the end of last season?

Draginho wrote:What happened between Kobe and Bynum when he got traded to Philly? I missed it.

Nothing. I read the entire article and it reeked of a Laker hater (and Jordan hater).

Bill Simmons still believes its notfair that Perkins missed 1 game in 2010, but is OK that Bynum and Ariza missed all 6 games in 2008. Bill Simons loves Magic because Bird does. Bill Simmons knows old basketball. He doesn't appreciate Jordan and Kobe the way he appreciates Russell, Bird and Magic and that is a shame. I really respect Simmons opinions for everything before 1989. But he doesn't get the modern game and he is such a HBO/Showtime/AMC TV nerd that he would make a better TV critic than a basketball columnist BECAUSE he lives in the past (when the Celtics were the NBAs best team).

It's where Simmons feels the most comfortable.