Most Misunderstood Player

[Mamba Venom]

Kevin Garnett.

People think that all that **** he does on the floor, from getting on his knees to making weird ass faces, is some act.

That's not true. KG actually does it because he believes it.

Maybe that makes him insane. But it doesn't make him an actor.

He was a very quiet kid until he got to high school, his coaches kept telling him to show his emotion. It made him play better. Then he jumped straight ti the pros and a college coach never taught him to balance his emotions and play with them without letting his emotions consume him. I think he could have won more if he was able to departmentalize those 2 because he is one heck of a talent.

I don't hold all the yelling against KG. In fact its the reason that he is the #1 endorsed basketball player of the the 2000s. More than LeBron, Kobe, Shaq. KG was the most marketable basketball for a decade... pretty wild.

I don't like how he attacked all the little white guys (sorry European Americans, got to make sure LeBron doesnt accuse me of being a racist, don't be a racist, use a Thesaurus and find a synonym). The back screens and stuff have hurt his rep and marketability.

[Ribalding]

OK, Kobe apologists. Here's the deal:

Forget the rape thing. Just throw it out the window. It never happened. OK? Doesn't exist.

People have a negative to reaction to Kobe because he's a jerk. Plain and simple.

He's. Not. Nice.

And that's okay. He doesn't have to be nice. There's no law. In fact, Kobe's incessant, pathological need to win is no different than MJ. Makes him a fantastic basketball player. One of the best. And it makes him a jerk.

And that's why nobody has ever liked the guy. (Doesn't help his PR when he tries to act hale fellow well-met, either. It's fake and it's obviously fake , thus rubbing people the wrong way.)

[gnar bonez]

Rodman

[High0ctane21]

Didn't look through the entire thread, but I think Stephon Marbury should be mentioned. Sure he did a few stupid things in the past, but he does more for the kids than 90% of the NBA. You gotta respect the fact that he sold his shoes for so cheap so that the less fortunate kids can still have a good pair of basketball shoes. I've been following Stephon since his rookie year, and he's always been one of my favorite players. I remember watching Inside Stuff back in the day and they mentioned how much community work and donations he gave to the kids in New York. So while we all see him as a stupid NBA player, he did do a lot of great work outside of the court.

[kingscourt]

Kobe is a jerkoff damnit.

He always plays dirty, he even elbowed lebron.
He is always pissed off when things go wrong.

[mikhailjordan]

Easy it's Iverson.
The future hall of fame, olympian, former MVP was labeled a thug by the media.
He's not a yes man and never compromised who he is.
An incredible talent at 6 foot 165 pounds.

Olympian? OLYMPIAN?! Allen Iverson was a disgrace to the U.S. during his tenure with Team USA. His inability play solid man-to-man defense against inferior ball-handlers kept Tim Duncan in consistent foul trouble and was the primary reason that Timmy was out of the game early and often.

Don't even get me started on Iverson's "leadership" during those Olympics. Iverson was a terrible pace-setter for Team USA, he would take terrible after terrible shots (38% from the field) alienating his own teammates and forcing them to play 4 on 5 at BOTH ends of the court.

You know what though... I'm going to stop here. If you want to "argue" this further meet me on the player comparisons board. Come alone or bring your crew. I'm ready.

[JustOneFix]

It's easily Iverson.

Guy gets sotonized by the media and kicked out of the league because he refused to be a backup to Mike Conley and Will Bynum. Just disgusting. I've never seen anything like it. It just showed the true face of the media and sadly, most of the fans.

[deepthighbruise]

I don't understand how people think Iverson was wrongly accused of being a thug when he spent time in jail. I've seen all the specials on the trial and yada yada yada, but the guy spent time in jail. And not to mention he recorded a rap album with derogatory comments towards homosexuals. And what was that thing with his wife in the early 2000's? Where he was chasing her around his house threatening to kill her or something? We ain't even talkin about practice.

Ultimately, AI was the embodiment of everything that was wrong with the NBA in the early to mid 2000's. Which is why, after all the rule and conduct changes, he flamed out. He's like the G-Unit of the NBA. "Did we really let this become one of our most prestigious acts?" We're in a new era, though. So that's a plus.

[kamaze]

Easy it's Iverson.
The future hall of fame, olympian, former MVP was labeled a thug by the media.
He's not a yes man and never compromised who he is.
An incredible talent at 6 foot 165 pounds.

Olympian? OLYMPIAN?! Allen Iverson was a disgrace to the U.S. during his tenure with Team USA. His inability play solid man-to-man defense against inferior ball-handlers kept Tim Duncan in consistent foul trouble and was the primary reason that Timmy was out of the game early and often.

Don't even get me started on Iverson's "leadership" during those Olympics. Iverson was a terrible pace-setter for Team USA, he would take terrible after terrible shots (38% from the field) alienating his own teammates and forcing them to play 4 on 5 at BOTH ends of the court.

You know what though... I'm going to stop here. If you want to "argue" this further meet me on the player comparisons board. Come alone or bring your crew. I'm ready.

Easy bro yeah he was an olympian what's the problem....Like I said before he's a future hall of famer like him or not./Waves

[wiff]

Latrell Sprewell. Don't you know how hard it is to feed a family on 10+mil a year?

I think he was around 16mil at the time but I'm to lazy to look it up.

Iverson is a moron. The guy had something like 65+ parking tickets for parking in the handicapped zone.

Some guys think the rules don't apply to them. That makes them an ass in my mind. Iverson is an ass.

[NOODLESTYLE]

The whole Kobe is cocky/arrogant is overrated. Frankly, there's a lot of professional athletes who are the same. What is it that people say that these superstar players have? Ego? Confidence? Swagger? Kobe Bryant is no different.

There were always people saying player (X) is better than Kobe..whether it was Iverson, T-mac, Vince Carter, Dwayne Wade...and then Lebron. Now everyone hates Lebron too, when they were all on his jock saying he was better than Kobe.

Both Jordan and Shaq were big A-holes themselves, yet no one smashes them for being "Cocky or Arrogant". Shaq had his own breakup party with Penny, yet no one remembered that either.

If I were to blame Kobe for something, it would be for the summer he broke down and used the mass media to demand to be traded. He went the Shaq route, but I guessed it worked for both of them.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec0WiAsZ4b8[/youtube]

[Zin5]

Darius Miles

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m_G0tq2MHg[/youtube]

[Teddy Bruckshut]

Kevin Durant.... I don't think he's really the "sweetheart" people make him out to be.

He just says all the right things when the cameras turn on. Smart man.

[deepthighbruise]

The whole Kobe is cocky/arrogant is overrated. Frankly, there's a lot of professional athletes who are the same. What is it that people say that these superstar players have? Ego? Confidence? Swagger? Kobe Bryant is no different.

There were always people saying player (X) is better than Kobe..whether it was Iverson, T-mac, Vince Carter, Dwayne Wade...and then Lebron. Now everyone hates Lebron too, when they were all on his jock saying he was better than Kobe.

Both Jordan and Shaq were big A-holes themselves, yet no one smashes them for being "Cocky or Arrogant". Shaq had his own breakup party with Penny, yet no one remembered that either.

If I were to blame Kobe for something, it would be for the summer he broke down and used the mass media to demand to be traded. He went the Shaq route, but I guessed it worked for both of them.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec0WiAsZ4b8[/youtube]

Personally, I don't fault Kobe for having an ego. And I there's been athletes like Kobe who have all been "jerks" and demanded to be traded and all that. And I know Shaq isn't this innocent bystander in anything.

How Phil Jackson portrays Kobe in his own book "The Last Season" is what makes me shake my head at Kobe. Jackson clearly outlines what he thinks are the fundamental differences of Shaq and Kobe: Shaq will talk, talk, talk, talk, talk but at the end of the day, he just vents and he'll do whatever PJ asks of him. Kobe, meanwhile, will say he'll do something, then do the complete opposite and ignore PJ's directions.

Just how Jackson continuously talks about how much of a pain Kobe is is enough for me. Best player in the NBA? Without a doubt. Biggest jerk in the NBA? No question.

[NOODLESTYLE]

Personally, I don't fault Kobe for having an ego. And I there's been athletes like Kobe who have all been "jerks" and demanded to be traded and all that. And I know Shaq isn't this innocent bystander in anything.

How Phil Jackson portrays Kobe in his own book "The Last Season" is what makes me shake my head at Kobe. Jackson clearly outlines what he thinks are the fundamental differences of Shaq and Kobe: Shaq will talk, talk, talk, talk, talk but at the end of the day, he just vents and he'll do whatever PJ asks of him. Kobe, meanwhile, will say he'll do something, then do the complete opposite and ignore PJ's directions.

Just how Jackson continuously talks about how much of a pain Kobe is is enough for me. Best player in the NBA? Without a doubt. Biggest jerk in the NBA? No question.

The way I look at the situation is that everyone was at fault for the demise of the Laker 3X champs of the early 200s. From Kobe and Shaq, to Phil Jackson, all the way to the front office. We can look back and blame Jerry Buss for letting Jerry West go.

At the end of the day though, both Kobe and Shaq were immature individuals and selfish in their own way. They both had their mistakes, but so did Phil Jackson. It is also quite evident that Phil Jackson wanted to fix the broken relationship that he had with Kobe, when he returned and has now won 2 consecutive championships with Kobe.

[spacemonkey]

Kevin Garnett.

People think that all that **** he does on the floor, from getting on his knees to making weird ass faces, is some act.

That's not true. KG actually does it because he believes it.

Maybe that makes him insane. But it doesn't make him an actor.

He was a very quiet kid until he got to high school, his coaches kept telling him to show his emotion. It made him play better. Then he jumped straight ti the pros and a college coach never taught him to balance his emotions and play with them without letting his emotions consume him. I think he could have won more if he was able to departmentalize those 2 because he is one heck of a talent.

I don't hold all the yelling against KG. In fact its the reason that he is the #1 endorsed basketball player of the the 2000s. More than LeBron, Kobe, Shaq. KG was the most marketable basketball for a decade... pretty wild.

I don't like how he attacked all the little white guys (sorry European Americans, got to make sure LeBron doesnt accuse me of being a racist, don't be a racist, use a Thesaurus and find a synonym). The back screens and stuff have hurt his rep and marketability.

I agree with you. KG seemingly can't check his emotions.

All these people screaming out pussy and stuff because KG backs away from fights. Get real. You're telling me you've never been heated, thrown a shove or small elbow, only to back away and realise that a fight isn't worth it and that the other dude's not going to do anything either? More often then not you're reading your opponent. If all of you swing first and then charge in like a rabid animal, you're all way more hardass than me.

KG believes in his emotions. I think he's slightly crazy, but I don't really believe it's an act. I don't really buy that KG goes around going "yeah, I'm going to act hard" - I think he actually believes he's hard.

Which, as I said, may make him insane, but at least that **** he does in genuine inside. There's a reason why KG has been the emotional leader of both Wolves and Celts. It's because he can't not express them. His emotional field, like a gravitational field, extends a hell of a lot further than the average NBA player. Even the opposing team picks up on his emotions, much the same way they would Jordan's.

DISCLAIMER: NOT A COMPARISON OF ABILITY.

[bostonfan34]

It's kind of funny when RealGM posters "call out" KG for not punching/fighting someone when something starts... but if he did, everyone would be all over him, PLUS he'd be suspended/hurting his team... for a competitor like KG, I think missing any games is much worse than supposedly saving face in an NBA "fight".

Kobe fans: "Besides the rape thing, Kobe's a great guy!"

[Cigamodnalro]

LeBron. He tries to be a total jackass, but only comes across as a partial jackass.

[J~Rush]

Most Misunderstood Player?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAFSD2RW3yU[/youtube]