Kobe 2006 G7

[Black Feet]

After practice Saturday afternoon Kobe was asked about the infamous game 7 against the suns and if he purposely
did not shoot to prove something.

The following quotes are his responses. In the spring of 2006, did you tank the second half of Game 7 of the first-round series against the Phoenix Suns? "C'mon seriously? People who say that are stupid. That's just stupid. It's outlandish, the amount of irresponsibility people have, throwing out statements like that"

In response to Barkley's rant on Inside the NBA after the game "Barkley was stupid, he didn't watch the game, lots of people who were critical of me didn't even watch the game"

What went wrong in the game? "To get back in the game, we needed somebody else to start making shots. I was just trying to get the other guys going, turn the momentum around. I really tried to help everyone else, it just never happened, we missed shots, they got run-outs, three, three, three, and all of the sudden, the game was out of reach. I had been successful doing that before, other guys start making shots, the energy picks up, we get back in the game. But nobody saw those games."

Were you trying to send a message to the FO that you needed help? "Hell, no. That's not my thought process. I don't think like that. I think about one thing and one thing only, and that's kicking butt. If I'm going to send a message to the front office, I'm going to do it by going up there and raising hell. There is no way I'm going to be doing it on the court, losing a game. That's not who I am. That's just not my nature, you just have to know me."

[NO-KG-AI]

I don't think LeBron "quit". When players have a flaw in there game, sometimes coaches with certain players can exploit that.

LeBron losing to the Mavs ultimately pushed him to become a better player, much like how Dirk losing and poorly showing in consecutive series that he should have won made him work on his game.

At one point, Dirk looked like he "quit" because he couldn't expose smaller players. By 2011, putting a SF on him was a death sentence.

LeBron had a huge lapse in 2011. I really don't know why he played as bad as he did, but it's not a pattern or something to expect again. (He had a terrible game against the Celtics, with an injury, and definitely played hard in the closeout game).

[Doctor MJ]

After practice Saturday afternoon Kobe was asked about the infamous game 7 against the suns and if he purposely
did not shoot to prove something.

The following quotes are his responses. In the spring of 2006, did you tank the second half of Game 7 of the first-round series against the Phoenix Suns? "C'mon seriously? People who say that are stupid. That's just stupid. It's outlandish, the amount of irresponsibility people have, throwing out statements like that"

In response to Barkley's rant on Inside the NBA after the game "Barkley was stupid, he didn't watch the game, lots of people who were critical of me didn't even watch the game"

What went wrong in the game? "To get back in the game, we needed somebody else to start making shots. I was just trying to get the other guys going, turn the momentum around. I really tried to help everyone else, it just never happened, we missed shots, they got run-outs, three, three, three, and all of the sudden, the game was out of reach. I had been successful doing that before, other guys start making shots, the energy picks up, we get back in the game. But nobody saw those games."

Were you trying to send a message to the FO that you needed help? "Hell, no. That's not my thought process. I don't think like that. I think about one thing and one thing only, and that's kicking butt. If I'm going to send a message to the front office, I'm going to do it by going up there and raising hell. There is no way I'm going to be doing it on the court, losing a game. That's not who I am. That's just not my nature, you just have to know me."

Yup, that alludes to the controversy this thread is about.

[Doctor MJ]

Well it's all perception anyway feel free to think he quit. I'm just saying that most of the discussion about this came after the Lebron debacle.

Also Kobe and Lebrons situation where completely different, Lakers where fighting to make the playoffs while Lebron was on the team with the best record in the league. Lets say Kobe didn't demand a trade in 07 and was a free agent in 08 and bolted after the Lakers lost to Boston now that would be much less reasonable. Or at least be more devastating for Lakers fans, that's why I felt bad for what the Cavs went through.

Good of you to de-escalate. I should be doing that too.

Consider though Melo's relationship in Denver. Consider then that Denver & Melo was a pretty comparable situation to the Lakers & Kobe...EXCEPT that that Lakers had already 1) allowed Kobe to win 3 rings, and then 2) traded the other superstar when Kobe & him couldn't get along.

If Denver had proceeded to have their # wins drop by 40 the next year, and then continue to struggle for years afterward. Do you not think the hate for him would be legendary? There's already significant hate and that's despite the fact that Melo was so overrated that Denver has hardly missed him.

Kobe's situation isn't identical to Melo, but it's worth nothing that the very thing that would safeguard him from hate to a degree is the very thing that makes his behavior more appalling: Kobe had already won 3 rings due to the great moves the Lakers had made in the past and the Laker management had traded away another superstar because Kobe & him couldn't get along any more.

Realistically, what more could an organization do to earn your loyalty? So yeah, there'd be some hate.

I will say though one other thing that behooves mentioning that makes LeBron the "ultimate traitor": Cleveland is Cleveland. Los Angeles is not. So yes, I made statements that basically assume equivalence between them, and that struck you as quite wrong probably partly because I previously made no mention of this fact. No athlete could cut Los Angeles as deeply as what Cleveland felt of LeBron, and I don't dispute that. My point is just that the actual actions involved are not more heinous on LeBron's front.

[Doctor MJ]

I remember Kobe comparing his game 7 performance to game 4, in that he took few second half shots (6 shots in regulation & 8 shots in total) and the Lakers ended up winning. Has anyone even attempted to compare the 2 games and see if there's any similarities. In any case, it amuses me we have posters here that (rightly) talk down about creating narratives, but that's clearly not the case here. I wonder if there is a winning bias or player bias being placed here.

I think it's okay if people chafe at the "quit" label. The clear thing though is that Kobe is clearly not looking for a shot and also not really looking to make attacking passes. It's the 2nd half, his teammate passes him the ball, and repeatedly we see him make a quick pass to some other Laker on the perimeter and then make no cut. He just stands there. This is not normal, it's not something that gives anyone a reason to think it will work...so we find ourselves asking "What's up Kobe?"

Really everyone needs to ask that and come up with their list of realistic assessments of how a mess like this occurred.

It has to be noted though that the real issue with the Lakers in that game was that their defense was just getting torched. There's simply no reason at all to believe that if Kobe just shot more that the Lakers would have had any chance to win the game. The Lakers were going to lose no matter what. It's a point I also make relating to LeBron vs the Celtics in 2010 (though not Dallas in 2011 which is a far bigger issue).

[MistyMountain20]

Anybody have the games of that series uploaded? I'd really like to compare games 4 & 7.

[FreeChef]

After practice Saturday afternoon Kobe was asked about the infamous game 7 against the suns and if he purposely
did not shoot to prove something.

The following quotes are his responses. In the spring of 2006, did you tank the second half of Game 7 of the first-round series against the Phoenix Suns? "C'mon seriously? People who say that are stupid. That's just stupid. It's outlandish, the amount of irresponsibility people have, throwing out statements like that"

In response to Barkley's rant on Inside the NBA after the game "Barkley was stupid, he didn't watch the game, lots of people who were critical of me didn't even watch the game"

What went wrong in the game? "To get back in the game, we needed somebody else to start making shots. I was just trying to get the other guys going, turn the momentum around. I really tried to help everyone else, it just never happened, we missed shots, they got run-outs, three, three, three, and all of the sudden, the game was out of reach. I had been successful doing that before, other guys start making shots, the energy picks up, we get back in the game. But nobody saw those games."

Were you trying to send a message to the FO that you needed help? "Hell, no. That's not my thought process. I don't think like that. I think about one thing and one thing only, and that's kicking butt. If I'm going to send a message to the front office, I'm going to do it by going up there and raising hell. There is no way I'm going to be doing it on the court, losing a game. That's not who I am. That's just not my nature, you just have to know me."

LOL. What did you expect him to say? "Yes, I quit!"

[RayBan-Sematra]

but one might argue that the Laker faith issues stem from a continuation of Shaq's personality.

I don't think this is a really realistic argument.

Shaq was one of the greatest elimination game performers ever and he was the clear, vocal leader on 4 Championship teams.
He was all business when he was on the court, dominated individually and played with a fire which he spread to his teammates.

When his squads did lose it was almost always because they simply went up against much better teams or because despite his support his teammates underperformed or choked.

Shaq's own effort and leadership in most cases were excellent even when his teams were clearly on the way out.

[sisibilio]

wouldnt you call lebron a quitter for what he did against the celtics his last game as a cav?

Certainly not.

Unless you're talking about the previous game in Cleveland, there you can make a case. Not that i would call it quiting either.

[Asianiac_24]

The real difference between Game 4 and Game 7 was the Lakers' defense. Kobe didn't take a lot of shots in both games, only difference is his teammates stepped up on defense. In game 7 the Suns were just raining shots on the Lakers