Tag: kobe bryant

Categories
Indiana Pacers

Jermaine O’Neal is basically banging on Jerry Buss’ door

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past year or so, Jermaine O’Neal wants to get the heck outta Indiana soon.  And of course, he wants to play on a team that can contend for a championship.  After all, Kevin Garnett is finally getting a solid shot at a ring and taking postseason suckers like Paul Pierce and Ray Allen along with him.  But, unlike Garnett who remained quiet and pessimistic about being traded, O’Neal is letting the whole world know that he wants to be wearing the purple and gold next season.

I love L.A.,” O’Neal said. “I normally train here every summer. The last two summers I haven’t trained here because I got hurt, but I love it here. My daughter loves it. My wife loves it. This is one of the prime places that if I were to be traded, I would allow Indiana to trade me here.

Hmm, sounds like he loves L.A.  But the biggest selling point about L.A. is Kobe Bryant and O’Neal didn’t forget to start buttering up the bitter superstar with hopes of rings and “missing piece” dreams.

I think Kobe’s in a position right now where he understands that he needs some help,” O’Neal said. “He needs some help to get to the position where he wants to be. I think he’s the best player in the NBA and the world, but obviously no player can do it by himself. He has a nice group around him, but he needs some help and I can give him some support.

Of course, O’Neal has to be healthy in order to contribute which is something he hasn’t been able to do over the past several seasons.  However, O’Neal is claiming to currently be at 100 percent.  And just to be sure that he didn’t put all of his eggs in one basket, O’Neal lobbed up a distant second choice as he gushed over the Lakers.  

Los Angeles and New Jersey would be my top two teams,” O’Neal said. “I think L.A.’s a real possibility and I think New Jersey’s a possibility too.

What, no New Jersey lovefest?  

Links:

[SI.com]: California dreamin’

Categories
NBA General

Santa Shaq can stay, but Kobe isn’t welcome at Christmas this year


If you’re already getting burnt out on all the Tim Donaghy chatter that has dominated the NBA landscape for the past few days, here’s something that might distract you from the incessant coverage. It seems that the NBA and ABC have finally given up on the holiday bad blood between Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal and for the first time in a long time it appears that the fans won’t be settling into a Lakers/Heat game on Christmas afternoon. Instead, the scheduling gurus have decided to focus on the on-court feud of the future between LeBron “Baby Dunker” James and O’Neal’s sidekick, Dwyane Wade. Of course, this could have a little something to do with the fact that Bryant is pushing to get outta Los Angeles too.

Now, the schedule isn’t final and this is all speculation at the moment, but we’re really hoping that this is true. We were getting sick of all the hype that went along with the LA/Miami game and the James/Wade battle has a lot more sizzle to it anyway, considering that both are able to compete at extremely high levels still. Sorry Shaq, we’re not saying that you’re washed up just yet, but if you’re going to be the main billing in a X-Mas day contest, you should at least be in better shape than the obese kids you’re profiting off of.

Links:

[MiamiHerald.com]: Stockings void of Shaq-Kobe

Categories
Seattle Supersonics

Around the Rim: The Sonics continue to evolve


1. The sun is finally shinning in Seattle

The ever changing face of Seattle just got another nip and tuck as the Sonics finally filled their vacant head coaching spot with the ultra talented, yet blackballed, P.J. Carlesimo. Fans in Seattle have got to be ecstatic with their new, overhauled roster of young talent and now they have an experienced coach who knows what it takes to win. After all, the guy has spent the last five seasons with the Spurs as an assistant to Gregg Popovich, so he has probably picked up a couple of tricks from Pop that he’d be more than willing to use against him. And poor player relationships like the one that got his throat squeezed in a “Why I oughta…” type moment straight out of an episode of The Simpsons back in Golden State shouldn’t be an issue anymore. Not only has Carlesimo had ten years to become more player friendly, but he has a young sponge in Kevin Durant who would make any coach happy to roll out of bed in the morning. Nobody has had a better off-season than Seattle and the good times should continue coming for years to come with this new, young core of talent. Enjoy Sonics fans, enjoy.

2. Kobe’s mood swings keep on coming

The Kobe coaster continues to roll up and down through the peaks and valleys of La-La Land. The latest turn has taken us dead smack into another apology and backtrack by Bryant. Weeks after the whole, “I want out of Los Angeles…I love Los Angeles” radio talk kicked off the controversy, Bryant told the media that he apologized to GM Mitch Kupchak for his infamous on-air/video blasts. He said that he was sorry and that it all just came out wrong as he was venting. He also said that he hasn’t thought about being traded in a “long, long time.” We’re not buying it though; after all, hasn’t he been watching the TV this past week? It has got to be killing Kobe that all these teams are getting new franchise building faces via the draft, free agency or trades. Meanwhile, all the worthwhile opportunities for him to move on to a winning environment are simply dwindling away.

3. Phoenix gets even more talent
There was some talk for a while that Grant Hill could be joining the Spurs in order try and piggyback his way to the championship ring that has eluded him his entire career, but after San Antonio held onto Jacque Vaughn, Matt Bonner and Fabricio Oberto it became obvious that they weren’t going to have the funds to pay for Hill’s dream to come true. So, Hill did the next best thing: he joined the Suns roster in an attempt to become the missing piece that propels Phoenix past the Spurs in next year’s playoffs. It’s not like Mike D’Antoni really needed any more talent in the superstar diamond mine they call Phoenix, but there’s no way anyone could turn down putting Hill on their bench for a mere $2 million per season. If Hill can stay healthy and be just one-tenth of the mega talented All-Star that he was in Detroit then Phoenix could have their very own Robert Horry/Michael Finley as a nice compliment to their nucleus. Or, even better, they could get their very own Grant Hill; a potential 18ppg, 6rpg, 6apg type of guy.

Buzzer Beater: If you haven’t made your travel arrangements yet, you’re probably screwed because Tony Parker and Eva Longoria are going to be tying the knot on Saturday in France. We’re sure it will be a lovely ceremony with lots of glitz and glamour and big name celebrities. We can’t wait to hear all the great gossip about the dress and the cake and the church! Hopefully some photos will leak and we’ll get some embarrassing snap shots like the ones from A.J. Hawk’s wedding with, say, David Robinson playing the role of Brady Quinn.

Categories
LA Lakers

The Kobe Bryant video is out and we feel cheated

It’s hard to believe any of the reports that you hear about Kobe Bryant anymore. One minute he wants this, the next minute he wants that; but the one thing we do know is that Bryant has a dirty potty mouth.

We know that L.A. is still trying to keep their cornerstone, but now that the Kevin Garnett trade has fallen through and the Lakers have reportedly turned their attention toward an injury prone Jermaine O’Neal, there’s only one way to make Bryant a winner again: “Ship his ass out!”

Links:

[Our Book of Scrap]: The Full “Kobe Rips The Lakers” video

Categories
Indianapolis Colts

Odds and Ends: The ESPYs are coming! The ESPYs are coming!


The ESPY awards are just about three weeks away and the voting has begun for all 38 categories on ESPN.com. And surprise, surprise, surprise; everybody’s favorite group of good guys, the Colts, lead the field with six nominations; including Best Team and Best Male Athlete (Peyton Manning). We’d like to see the Super Bowl champs go 0-for-6 on the evening, but that’s like asking Tony Dungy to give an acceptance speech without mentioning the Lord. It just isn’t going to happen.

In other news…

[MSNBC.com]: Marion Jones is flat broke.

[USA Today]: Steve Spurrier is already starting the year on the wrong foot.

[Our Book of Scrap]: A cliff and a swinging wire with Dennis Rodman attached. Let the hilarity ensue.

[Dallas News. com]: Bad news Bear gets cut.

[DetNews.com]: Chauncey Billups is officially a free agent, and a popular one at that.

[OrlandoSentinel.com]: Could a K.G. trade to L.A. keep Kobe in town?

And finally, Kobayashi’s streak of five consecutive July 4 Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating contest could be unexpectedly ending after the master of raw dogging it came down with a nasty case of jaw arthritis. Apparently, Kobayashi attempted to train through the pain and ended up doing more harm than good. With the champ out of the picture, it’s time for America to put their greasy little mark back on the map of competitive eating. C’mon, “Jaws” Chestnut, we’re counting on you.

Categories
LA Lakers

$1.99 to see Kobe rant against the Lakers organization?


I know that pretty much everything is wide open in the sports blogging world but the owners of “The Kobe Video” seem so shady. While they purportedly have been offered “a lucrative offer” to destroy the tape, they feel to need to make it public because information wants to be free… or $1.99.

The big story in the tape apparently is that Bryant rips on the Lakers organization for not trading for Jason Kidd because they wanted to bold onto Andrew Bynum. OK cool. And Kobe probably curses and bunch and talks about all the assholes in the Lakers organization. For this, I’m supposed to part with $2? Especially since someone will watch the video and post it or the transcript of it anyway?

What I’m afraid of is that these opportunists will actually benefit from this and then athletes will no longer talk to fans candidly for fear of being videotaped and posted on the internet.

The video was taken around June 10th which means it’s already old news. I don’t know what it is but it just seems like this is a mildly interesting story that’s getting a lot of play for no reason. And these guys are trying to make a cheap buck out of it. I don’t begrudge people who try to make a fast buck but it should be at least clever or amusing. This is just a guy talking to Kobe while Kobe was clearly agitated about his situation. I’m not here to defend Kobe but this whole thing is cheap.

Here’s an interesting take on the Kobe video on Sports Law Blog.

Links:
[Lakers Blog]: Obviously, there are worse “amateur videos” to pop up in
[Hoops World]: Lakers: Video – Bryant Frustrated

Categories
San Antonio Spurs

Odds and Ends: Tony Parker’s bachelor days are quickly running out


Now that Tony Parker has won his third championship to go along with his first Finals MVP, he can put all that basketball drama behind him and start focusing on all the drama that is going to surround his July 7th wedding to Eva Longoria. And the first thing he’s gotta deal with is some of Eva’s loudmouthed BFFs. According to the New York Post, one of her friends had this to say about the Frenchman: “He is just not gracious,” one of them said. “He puts himself ahead of her. He always orders at restaurants before her and is rude to waiters. We just don’t have a good feeling about him.”

We’re guessing that the mystery girl is the fat, ugly, jealous chick that always seems to make her way into the circle of babes. You know, kinda like that porker in the Dixie Chicks.

In other news…

[WFRV.com]: The Pack is back, it’s just not in a good way.

[PittsburghPostGazette.com]: A burnt finger will keep Ian Snell off the mound tomorrow. Damn chicken breasts!

[KSDK.com]: MMA legend tests positive for steroids. No, not Johnnie Morton.

[USA Today]: Kobe Bryant wants out of LA again. But give him a little bit, it could pass.

[Our Book of Scrap]: Getting kicked in the nads just got even funnier.

[TMZ.com]: Mark Cuban is reduced to doing coke off a cell phone. We blame Golden State.

And finally, here’s a story that will have any potential criminals thinking twice before they consider a kid and his mom as easy pickins.

Categories
Cincinnati Bengals

Chad Johnson shuts us up

A while back we told Chad Johnson that he should reconsider racing a horse because we thought that he’d get smoked. Well, when you’re wrong, you’re wrong and this time we were wrong. Ocho-Cinco ended up being the one doing the smoking (no, not that kind of smoking) as he torched that colt like he torches, well, the Colts.

But what really surprised us was what Johnson said after the race as he called out Floyd Mayweather, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and some NASCAR hillbilly to take him on in their respective professions. Listen, we all know that Johnson is a helluvan athlete but surely he’s bitten off more than his big mouth can chew this time. That stupid horse might have made us look stupid but there is no way CJ KO’s Mayweather or dunks on LBJ. Is there?

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: The finals are finally underway


1. King sized stage fright
Everyone seems to be pulling for the Cavaliers in the finals but we’re not hearing too many people bet against the Spurs in the series and in Game 1, San Antonio showed why. The Spurs cruised to an easy 85-76 victory in which the Cavs were close at times but never challenged the former champs. Of course, it’s going to be tough for Cleveland to win a game against anyone when their being led in scoring by Daniel Gibson (16 points). With all the LeBron James talk that has been shoved down our throats since Game 5 of the East Finals, the young King didn’t look anything like MJ or Magic or Bird or any other legend for that matter. LBJ finished with just 14 points on 4-of-16 shooting that included a dismal 0-for-7 first half and Bruce Bowen gets to accept a majority of the credit for that. Cleveland can not win when James plays like he did but the Cavs are really going to be up a certain, smelly creek without a paddle if Tim Duncan and Tony Parker continue getting everything they want offensively. Parker had a game-high 27 points as his interior penetration (Huh-huh; we said penetration) carved up the Cleveland defense like a Thanksgiving turkey. And Tim Duncan was, well, Tim Duncan; do we really need to say any more than that?

2. Orlando tells Donovan to go to hell

It was getting pretty sticky in Orlando after Billy Donovan did one of the fastest 180 degree turns in the history of professional sports. But the Magic are ready to forget all about ol’ what’s his name and quickly solidify their young club with a committed head coach. And even though it cost `em a second-round pick, Orlando got their man in Stan Van Gundy; hopefully SVG sticks around a little longer. Donovan might be kicking himself in a year or two when Dwight Howard develops an offensive game and begins ripping off division and, possibly, conference titles. Van Gundy has got to be pinching himself when he looks at his new roster; his boys might be young and raw but their potential is almost unlimited. And you know that those players are going to hold a grudge against Billy the Kid for this slap in the face. Opposing centers should beware if Howard starts playing with a chip on his shoulder.

3. It’s time to put the Super back in front of Sonics
Seattle finally landed a GM but he’s no grizzled veteran at the helm of an NBA ship, in fact he’s just a 30-year-old kid. Sam Presti is now the man in Seattle and he’s gonna have his hands full right off the bat considering that the Sonics are minus a head coach at the moment. In addition to that, they have the enviable task of making the second selection in the NBA Draft at the end of the month. But what has our wheels turning is that this kid might just be ballsy enough to make some noise with his current high pick. The most interesting scenario we’ve heard is Seattle trading the second pick (a.k.a. Kevin Durant) and Ray Allen to the Lakers for Mr. On Again/Off Again, Kobe Bryant. Then again, he could decide to cut ties with Rashard Lewis and bring in a complimentary player to play alongside Allen and Durant (we’re not jumping the gun are we?). Or they could always just stay pat with what they got if Lewis decides not to get swept away in the free agent waters. About the only thing we do know is that Seattle is on their way up, no matter what moves they decide to make.

Game 1’s MVP: Tim Duncan vs. Cleveland 39 min, 24 pts (FG: 10-17, FT: 4-5), 13 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 5 blk

Buzzer Beater: Listen, LeBron James is a freakin’ amazing player and he has the possibility to become on of the greatest to ever lace up a pair of sneaks, but these constant references to Michael Jordan are driving us up the wall. And finally, we repeat, finally, someone stepped up and said what everybody already knows. “I’m not going to compare him to Michael Jordan,” said Gary Payton on the Best Damn Sports Show. “There will never be a Michael Jordan in basketball again.” Hey, we like trying to compare guys from different eras as much as anyone but this whole Jordan thing has just gone overboard. And it’s not just with LBJ; Kobe Bryant gets the same stupid comparisons. Just leave it alone already and don’t try to categorize these guys anymore. Actually, if James or Bryant ever reaches the six ring plateau then we give you permission to label them lil’ Michael to your heart’s content.

Categories
Golf

The 2007 50 Highest Paid American Athletes



Still good to be Tiger

SI has released their list of the top U.S. money earners for 2007. Of course, Tiger Woods is #1 with his $100M in endorsement money and the regular cast of characters fill out the top 10 (Shaq, Kobe, Mickelson, A-Rod, etc.) but it’s really the middle of the list that is the most interesting.

We spotted two types of athletes in addition to the genuine superstars. First, you have the washed up former superstar that is making a ton of cash on their contracts (thank you stupid GMs!) and practically nothing in endorsements. These are mostly NBA players (Michael Finley, Jalen Rose, Eddie Jones, Steve Fraacis, Grant Hill) but also includes useless baseball player Jason Giambi.

The second anomaly is the overhyped athlete that hasn’t done a damn thing but manages to get into this list by virtue of the great hype machine. Well… it’s just one person actually — Michelle Wie. With only $700k in earnings, she manages to come in at #22 with $19.5M in endorsements. What a joke.

The full list of the Top 50 earning American athletes in 2007 after the jump.

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