Many basketball fans don’t like Kobe Bryant. Whether it’s his on-court shot decisions, his off-the-court 2003 decisions or something in between, the future Hall of Famer has plenty of detractors.
But love or hate the guy, no one can argue the fact that the NBA has been more interesting since he was drafted into the league in 1996 by the old Charlotte Hornets. What has set Bryant apart from most of his contemporaries – even more than his five NBA titles – is that he simply doesn’t care.
Not that he doesn’t care about basketball. Kobe doesn’t care about anything beyond basketball. He wanted to be great on the court. That’s it. That’s all. He didn’t want to be anyone’s friend. He didn’t care if his team-mates loved him. He didn’t want to be the friendly face of a global brand. He was a single-minded basketball assassin. A stone cold killer who believed he was the best and wanted to drain shots in every opponents’ face until they were humiliated and forced to admit they were, indeed, pathetic in comparison. If that made him an asshole, fine. Nice guys finish last and all that.
Maybe he should have passed more. Or deferred to Shaq more. Or read more of Phil Jackson’s stupid books. Or taken less money. Or not worn this. Fine. You were some nobody with an opinion. He was Kobe friggin’ Bryant and he’d continue to do whatever he wanted to do for that very fact.
If you were going to like Kobe Bryant, or even just respect him, he wanted it to be for what he did on the basketball court, not how he gave an interview or appeared in a commercial. Only the basketball mattered. It was refreshing.
But with Kobe now on his way out, the bulk of the remaining stars in basketball – and all sports – tend to give off the vibe that they’re heavily-managed and media-coached consumer brands just as much as they are basketball players.
Except for one man. One wonderful man.
After Kobe plays his final game in April, the NBA’s Zero Effs Given torch will be passed to Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook to march with it into the future, middle fingers raised.
Russell Westbrook openly despises the media because he thinks answering dumb questions is a waste of his time (it is) and that his play on the court should speak for itself (it does). Russell Westbrook looks for his shot as a point guard, no matter who says he shouldn’t. Russell Westbrook doesn’t defer to Kevin Durant, even if every talking head says he should. Russell Westbrook plays through a visible DENT in his FACE like it’s nothing. Russell Westbrook – every night – wears outfits as ridiculous as the most absurd thing Kobe ever put on. He simply doesn’t care what anyone thinks. All he wants to be is an awesome basketball player.
We only have about four months left of Kobe Bryant, but we hopefully have another six to 10 years of Westbrook. Cherish it. Cherish him. Or don’t. He doesn’t really care what you do either way.
Video of the week
DeAndre Jordan airball.😂😂 pic.twitter.com/CLccWrv6UC
— ※ηεхт※ (@NextForLife) November 29, 2015
DeAndre Jordan airballed consecutive free throws against the Clippers on Sunday, which was part of a 3-for-12 effort at the line that he then followed up on Monday by going 12-for-34. Armed with his big, new, $88m contract, Jordan is currently shooting 37% from the charity stripe – which would be the worst in his career since he became a regular starter. Some might say Jordan is stealing money. Others might say that with every missed shot and airball, he’s just trying to honor 2015 Kobe Bryant. Who can say.
How much did LeBron carry the Cavaliers this week?
This category is insulting! LeBron doesn’t carry the Cavs. Why, this rag-tag group of basketball outcasts in Cleveland is only able to post a winning record because they are taught the game each and every day by the great David Blatt.
David Blatt was just named the NBA Eastern Conference Coach of the Month: https://t.co/londeahfSR Congrats, Coach! pic.twitter.com/zFjpTuwbBN
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) December 1, 2015
(Congratulations on winning NBA Eastern Conference coach of the month, LeBron! Maybe let Blatt borrow the plaque one weekend to show his wife.)
Quote of the week
“You guys [in the media] treated [Kobe] like shit. He’s a legend, and all I hear is about how bad he’s playing, how bad he’s shooting and it’s time for him to hang it up. You guys treated one of our legends like shit, and I didn’t really like it. So hopefully now you can start being nice to him now that he decided to retire this year.” – Kevin Durant, on Kobe Bryant retiring.
I agree with Durant. For example, the guy who wrote that thing above about DeAndre Jordan honoring Kobe with airballs is a total jerk. Trust me. I know him well and he’s bad people.
Power Rankings
1. Golden State Warriors (Last week: 1)
Steph Curry won an NBA title, the NBA MVP ... and then has come back the next season and INCREASED HIS SCORING BY 7.8 PPG ON AN UNDEFEATED TEAM! That’s insane. Unheard of. What Curry and the Warriors are doing is the complete opposite of a title hangover. It’s a … I don’t know … a title staying-up-all-night-freebasing-cocaine.
2. Cleveland Cavaliers (2)
The Cavaliers have the best record in the Eastern Conference and now Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert have returned to practice, so they’ll be back in the lineup soon. This could mean the Cavs are about to get even better, or that the team will struggle to make all the talent mesh together. Like any good expert, I’ll wait to provide my analysis until after one of those occur and then I’ll tell you I saw it coming.
3. San Antonio Spurs (3)
Kobe retiring due to age and performance should serve as another reminder of how Tim Duncan’s freakish career. Kobe’s position and playing style takes a much greater toll on the legs, so it’s kind of comparing mambas to oranges, but Duncan is two years older at age 39 and still an very important piece on a title contender. Duncan is not human. He is an alien. It’s reassuring to know that if the rest of his species ever comes to Earth, they’ll just be kind of boring and want to win basketball championships semi-regularly. That’s much preferred to zapping the planet with a giant laser.
4. Oklahoma City Thunder (6)
Russell Westbrook scored 17 points in the fourth quarter Monday night against the Hawks, including going on a 10-0 run all by himself. But Oklahoma City still lost, 106-100. Obviously, Westbrook should have distributed the ball more to his teammates, so the the Thunder could have lost by a larger margin in an inclusive, team-friendly way.
5. Indiana Pacers (8)
Indiana has won five in a row with Paul George averaging more than 33 points per game over that span. Their most recent loss was a close, four-point win in L.A. just hours after Kobe announced his retirement. If I may, I’d like to express my thoughts on that game in Kobe-fashion, via poem:
Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
Indy beating Kobe?
Durant says “Booooooo.”
6. Chicago Bulls (7)
Hey, if it’s time for former superstars who have had injury problems and can’t shoot anymore to retire, then Derrick Rose has to go, too.
7. Miami Heat (4)
Miami lost to Boston at home by 10 points on Monday night and Justise Winslow had four points and four turnovers in 29 minutes. On draft night, Boston reportedly offered four first-round picks to move up and take the Duke product, so it was nice of Winslow to not make them feel bad about missing out on him.
8. Memphis Grizzlies (13)
The Warriors have no title hangover. But the Grizzlies had a classic lost-a-2-1-playoff-series-lead-to-the-Warriors hangover at the start of the season. That’s understandable. But Memphis has now righted the ship with seven wins in their last nine games to get right back up near the top of the NBA (with the rest of the good teams who remain lightyears behind the Warriors).
9. Dallas Mavericks (5)
Dirk and the Mavs lost four of five over the Thanksgiving holiday week. It’s probably time to stop dancing now.
From our family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving MFFLs! Have a great day! pic.twitter.com/tNzk34hwFY
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) November 26, 2015
10. Los Angeles Clippers (17)
With Kobe retiring, the last link to Laker greatness will be gone and many of the remaining LA bandwagon fan holdouts will likely switch allegiance to the Clippers. Maybe even these bros.
11. Toronto Raptors (11)
The Raptors had Drake Night last Wednesday and beat the Cavaliers, 103-99. But while they won on the scoreboard, they actually lost because, as I said, the Raptors had Drake Night.
12. Charlotte Hornets (15)
The Hornets have won five of six and are now 10-7, good for a .588 winning percentage. Fun Fact: in Michael Jordan’s 12 years as an NBA executive with the Wizards and Bobcats/Hornets, not once has one of his teams finished a season with a winning percentage above .537. [crying Jordan face meme]
13. Atlanta Hawks (9)
The Hawks are spinning their tires. A loss to the Cavaliers was followed by a win over the Celtics, but that was followed by a loss to Minnesota, which was then softened with a win against the Grizzlies. But then Atlanta lost to the Spurs, only to then follow that with a win over the Thunder. In short, the Hawks aren’t bad, but they’re not great either. They remain the Atlanta Hawks forever and always.
14. Boston Celtics (16)
Jae Crowder spoke about the Celtics inconsistency to reporters this week: “We haven’t built our identity yet as a unit. Coaching staff hasn’t figured it out yet.” He then added: “A lot of guys don’t know where we’re going to play or what time we’re going to play.” Jae, I can’t help you with the identity or the coaching stuff, but here’s a link for the time and place of all schedule Celtics games. Hope it helps!
15. Utah Jazz (14)
The Jazz almost pulled the upset Monday night and ended Golden State’s perfect season, but Rodney Hood missed a shot with five second left that would have given them the win. It was a good moral victory, though, and good morals count for a lot in the state of Utah.
16. Phoenix Suns (10)
While the Jazz gave Golden State a battle on Monday night, the Suns got blown out of the building by the Warriors on Friday. But then they had enough energy to beat Toronto on the road two nights later. Way to conserve your energy so you can play well against teams you have a realistic shot of beating, Phoenix!
17. Orlando Magic (22)
The surprising Magic have won three in a row, but now have a five road games out West. That could be a long and intimidating trip for a young team, but they should remember what some of Orlando’s most famous residents would tell them: “It’s a small world, after all.”
18. Minnesota Timberwolves (21)
Everyone is talking about the decline of Kobe Bryant, which has to be nice for Kevin Garnett. At age 39, he’s starting every game and averaging 2.8 points. Two. Point. Eight. 2015 is a tough year for old basketball stars who like to make scary faces.
19. Detroit Pistons (19)
Reggie Jackson had to pay $25,000 for saying this to the Thunder crowd on Friday.
So imagine how much it costs to actually receive oral sex these days. Wow.
20. Houston Rockets (25)
The Rockets are 3-4 since firing Kevin McHale after their 4-7 start. That’s not much of an improvement. This whole Rockets season is turning into a really bad joke. So Dwight Howard must love it.
21. Milwaukee Bucks (20)
22. Washington Wizards (12)
23. New York Knicks (18)
24. Portland Trail Blazers (24)
25. Sacramento Kings (26)
26. New Orleans Pelicans (28)
27. Denver Nuggets (23)
28. Brooklyn Nets (27)
29. Los Angeles Lakers (29)
30. Philadelphia 76ers (30)
