Kobe Bryant and Practice

[Pablo Escobar]

Kobe has a bad knee so why would he practice and make it worse?

[tracey_nice]

all im saying is if I was andrew bynum, bustin my ass at practice while kobe has ice packs on his knees, and then in a game, seeing the statline with kobe going 8-18 and bynum going 8-13.....yeah i would be pretty upset.
not practicing totally messes up in game situations. thats why we're one of the poorest teams to close out games.
and YES, stepping on to a court in shorts and shoes and working on your game...if thats not practice, then what is?

Surely, you must be able to understand the difference between practicing hard with your teammates, scrimmaging, drills etc. where you're a reacting than when you are by yourself in a controlled environment.

kobe isnt kobe anymore. hes not the best in the league, and hes barely the best on his team.
winning and losing starts with him. if your name is kobe bryant and you have the highest salary in the nba, then im damn sure you should carry atleast that much responsibility on your back. if you want your team to go to work, i suggest you get off your ass first.

This is where you and I differ. First, I think Kobe is clearly our best player. I'm not really sure who else exactly is in the discussion as best Laker?

now dont get me wrong, hes still the hardest working athlete ive EVER seen, but to me, it doesnt mean a thing if you cant get it done with your own teammates and organization.

Don't you think the fact that Kobe is the hardest working player and the Laker team winning a championship is more important to him than any other player would mean something?

thats my opinion...you can have yours...dont bother calling someone out though. later.

I am not sure if this was directed to me.

[TruSkool]

I know kobe's our best player....but we all know he has to acknowledge the rest of the talent we have. As for the next best laker, I was referring to Andrew Bynum. Given that he's healthy, I believe he has what it takes to lead this team, offensively and defensively. But again, it lies in Kobe's hands- whether he's willing to be 2nd fiddle or not, regardless of him being the teams best player.
Your best player sometimes doesnt bring the best outcome. Kobe isnt one of those players who can make his team mates better. The only way the players next to him can have a productive game is because the opposing team focuses on Kobe, giving the rest of the players a little bit more freedom to play their game...but we're getting off topic here..
Now, I agree with you completely that winning a ring is more important to Kobe than any of these lakers....but then again, I think for someone like Bynum, knowing he came out for the first time actually healthy and make a deep run with more of a burden on his shoulders, and then, ultimately losing to the Mavs--I think he was just as hungry, if not more, than Kobe. This is by far his most productive post season...
for LA to be stay contenders, they need to get younger...and they already have a good young center...why not play off him?
as for Kobe's practicing- All I'm trying to say is this- these lakers are a "team". Tracey_nice, say you were a legit 2nd option to kobe on the lakers, and you see kobe icing his knees, and there you are bustin' your ass at practice day in and day out. And then at game time, you get 10 touches a game to his 20...I'm sure it would have atleast some type of effect on you....it sure would on me. thats all im saying bro. My guess would be thats how bynum and gasol are feeling....even odom (I believe he mentioned something like getting everyone involved too)

[Pablo Escobar]

Kobe is our franchise player so him getting 20 shots shouldn't be a problem.

[Mamba Venom]

AI does not understand what Kobe is talking about.

How can he make his teammates better?

Why is practice so important?

[kblo247]

First off, did someone say fisher didn't miss practice? He admitted he did up until the all star break because Phil sat him out like he did Michael and Scottie in their last runs in Chicago to that time. Pau and Odom also sat practices out to start the year when Bynum was down and it was documented because Phil wanted them to rest from those big minutes early on in the season.

Did you also not know that Kobe came back early from his knee recovery because the commissioner of the NBA asked him to play and be an ambassador for the league in Europe this preseason? Did you also forget that the last two times he had his knee scoped without even making a finals trip to June, he missed all of training camp, the preseason, and opening night to strengthen the leg?

He himself said the leg wasn't strong this year because he was asked to play by Stern and the LA FO who wanted LA to come out the gate strong with Bynum also expected to miss the start. He pushed through it and he did. He scored over 2000 points while playing a career low as a starter for Phil when looking at his minutes average. He didn't miss a game during the season even with the tweaks. He has already said the summer will be dedicated to strengthening his knee so that he could practice and play more.

And for anyone who says well Bynum should be mad, call the wambulance. The fact is Kobe wouldn't have some of the damn wear and tear he has if Bynum had developed sooner much like Bryant did also coming out of high school (all star as a sophomore), if he didn't miss so many games or wasn't so limited the past postseasons before this one. To those who say the Lakers pay him so he should practice, lets not act like they have ever given him any damn perimeter help to lighten his facilitating, scoring, or even chasing pg's role that he has had for years. He flat out has been the player who in the history of the franchise has been asked to do more than any other Laker and has never been given the deep teams that the likes of Magic played on, yet he has gotten it done time and time again both from a basketball perspective with the 7 finals and 5 rings, and a business perspective by being the most profitable player the franchise has ever had.

If a story came out and said Kobe was told by doctors to not practice and he did forcing him to get hurt, you same ingrates would be saying he was a damn fool and egotistical **** who put himself and his own personal agenda over the team.

[Slava]

^ Good post. I wonder how much Magic, Bird and even MJ would have got criticized if they all played in a message board era.

[JustAwesome]

Fisher, Barnes and Artest should be vocal enough to ensure there's some intensity in practice.

[KB24TBOTB]

First off, did someone say fisher didn't miss practice? He admitted he did up until the all star break because Phil sat him out like he did Michael and Scottie in their last runs in Chicago to that time. Pau and Odom also sat practices out to start the year when Bynum was down and it was documented because Phil wanted them to rest from those big minutes early on in the season.

Did you also not know that Kobe came back early from his knee recovery because the commissioner of the NBA asked him to play and be an ambassador for the league in Europe this preseason? Did you also forget that the last two times he had his knee scoped without even making a finals trip to June, he missed all of training camp, the preseason, and opening night to strengthen the leg?

He himself said the leg wasn't strong this year because he was asked to play by Stern and the LA FO who wanted LA to come out the gate strong with Bynum also expected to miss the start. He pushed through it and he did. He scored over 2000 points while playing a career low as a starter for Phil when looking at his minutes average. He didn't miss a game during the season even with the tweaks. He has already said the summer will be dedicated to strengthening his knee so that he could practice and play more.

And for anyone who says well Bynum should be mad, call the wambulance. The fact is Kobe wouldn't have some of the damn wear and tear he has if Bynum had developed sooner much like Bryant did also coming out of high school (all star as a sophomore), if he didn't miss so many games or wasn't so limited the past postseasons before this one. To those who say the Lakers pay him so he should practice, lets not act like they have ever given him any damn perimeter help to lighten his facilitating, scoring, or even chasing pg's role that he has had for years. He flat out has been the player who in the history of the franchise has been asked to do more than any other Laker and has never been given the deep teams that the likes of Magic played on, yet he has gotten it done time and time again both from a basketball perspective with the 7 finals and 5 rings, and a business perspective by being the most profitable player the franchise has ever had.

If a story came out and said Kobe was told by doctors to not practice and he did forcing him to get hurt, you same ingrates would be saying he was a damn fool and egotistical **** who put himself and his own personal agenda over the team.

Well said, anyone who throws a fit because another player isn't practicing, needs to grow up

[KB24TBOTB]

First off, did someone say fisher didn't miss practice? He admitted he did up until the all star break because Phil sat him out like he did Michael and Scottie in their last runs in Chicago to that time. Pau and Odom also sat practices out to start the year when Bynum was down and it was documented because Phil wanted them to rest from those big minutes early on in the season.

Did you also not know that Kobe came back early from his knee recovery because the commissioner of the NBA asked him to play and be an ambassador for the league in Europe this preseason? Did you also forget that the last two times he had his knee scoped without even making a finals trip to June, he missed all of training camp, the preseason, and opening night to strengthen the leg?

He himself said the leg wasn't strong this year because he was asked to play by Stern and the LA FO who wanted LA to come out the gate strong with Bynum also expected to miss the start. He pushed through it and he did. He scored over 2000 points while playing a career low as a starter for Phil when looking at his minutes average. He didn't miss a game during the season even with the tweaks. He has already said the summer will be dedicated to strengthening his knee so that he could practice and play more.

And for anyone who says well Bynum should be mad, call the wambulance. The fact is Kobe wouldn't have some of the damn wear and tear he has if Bynum had developed sooner much like Bryant did also coming out of high school (all star as a sophomore), if he didn't miss so many games or wasn't so limited the past postseasons before this one. To those who say the Lakers pay him so he should practice, lets not act like they have ever given him any damn perimeter help to lighten his facilitating, scoring, or even chasing pg's role that he has had for years. He flat out has been the player who in the history of the franchise has been asked to do more than any other Laker and has never been given the deep teams that the likes of Magic played on, yet he has gotten it done time and time again both from a basketball perspective with the 7 finals and 5 rings, and a business perspective by being the most profitable player the franchise has ever had.

If a story came out and said Kobe was told by doctors to not practice and he did forcing him to get hurt, you same ingrates would be saying he was a damn fool and egotistical **** who put himself and his own personal agenda over the team.

Well said, anyone who throws a fit because another player isn't practicing(due to health issues), needs to grow up

[Jay24]

kobe isnt kobe anymore. hes not the best in the league, and hes barely the best on his team.

[Tee212]

come on now guys take it easy on him lol, this is gettin sad. OP come up with something better when you reach 10k post.

[jigga_man]

kobe isnt kobe anymore. hes not the best in the league, and hes barely the best on his team.

[DrewBynum77]

I guess some people here don't know about the severity of the injury on his knee.

It's almost bone-to-bone.

But yeh, he surely could practice hard in a 82 games/season and then we'll pay him 50m in his last 2 years for him to play like Brandon Roy.

Amazingly dumb. He does not practice because he can't/shouldn't. The coaching and training staff agreed with this. So who am I to question their decision?

[DrewBynum77]

all im saying is if I was andrew bynum, bustin my ass at practice while kobe has ice packs on his knees

Oh... poor andrew! He's so old and worked so right to give us our championship rings, right? So stressful!

Come the **** on. He contributed to basically nothing in the previous 3 years and last year he delayed his surgery to watch soccer games in South Africa causing him to miss the first 2 months of the season and because of that Gasol was forced to cover him and play center 42+ minutes per game until his body probably gave up...

This alone may be one of the main reasons Gasol played so bad this year...

And Look at my screen name. I love bynum but really. You don't what you are talking about. Bynum can't complain about anything for the next 50 years.

[LApwnd]

all im saying is if I was andrew bynum, bustin my ass at practice while kobe has ice packs on his knees

Oh... poor andrew! He's so old and worked so right to give us our championship rings, right? So stressful!

Come the **** on. He contributed to basically nothing in the previous 3 years and last year he delayed his surgery to watch soccer games in South Africa causing him to miss the first 2 months of the season and because of that Gasol was forced to cover him and play center 42+ minutes per game until his body probably gave up...

This alone may be one of the main reasons Gasol played so bad this year...

And Look at my screen name. I love bynum but really. You don't what you are talking about. Bynum can't complain about anything for the next 50 years.

Bynum doesn't haven't a leg to stand on when it comes to this issue, literally, where was he is the last 3 yrs when everyone else was carrying the load and getting beat up during the runs? Oh thats right tending to his knee's ....given Iki response, I wouldn't even be surprised if it is that cry baby Bynum not giving all his effort during practice....dude played another half season and because he had some nice games here and there he thinks he has the right now to whine/moan bout touches and being the focal point of the offense

seriously, Bynum shouldn't

[iamworthy]

So do we know who actually made the comment?

[Dr Aki]

I can understand their anger, tbh.

That Trixx sig is sick!

viewtopic.php?f=74&t=758202

still calling mitch kupcake

ah to reminisce