One thing I’ve realized about the debate over who is better Kobe or MJ is that it will never end. And that’s fine. Debating is fun for us sports fans. But when it comes to this specific debate, I can’t help but notice it’s usually the Kobe backers that initiate the debate and are all annoying about it. They are like Yankee fans in the sense they are always looking to prove why their guy is better than yours. Take this guy whose video I posted below. Apparently his whole purpose in life is to prove why Kobe Bryant is better than Michael Jordan (and someone should get him some soup. I think he’s sick.)
Now here’s a great response to the Kobe video. This guy (clearly a Jordan fan as evidenced by his name Jordanhair) compiles a bunch of MJ clips but dubs the Kobe analysis over the clips. My favorite part is when he inserts Jordan explaining why he had to develop a fadeaway right after the dude explains why Kobe had to develop a fadeaway. See for yourself.
My friend JD told me about this video entitled The Assassination of Michael Jordan by the Coward Kobe Bryant. At first I thought it was just another Kobe hater making a video on how much better MJ was (I mean…calling Kobe a coward is a bit harsh when you’re actually trying to compliment the guy) but apparently the creator, lite4thenite, is a Kobe fan. He was inspired by the film The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Fordstarring Brad Pitt and includes original music and quotes from the movie. Here is lite4thenite’s description in his own words:
With this mix I tried to do a figurative assassination of Michael Jordan. Most people will probably interpret the MJ plays followed by the Kobe ones as a comparison and it is, but at the same time it is also showing Kobe erasing or eclipsing MJ. When you think of the greatest today, you think of Kobe Bryant, he’s clutch, he scores at will, he makes impossible shots and is just breathtaking on the court. He’s the MJ for a new generation.
I did the mix to The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford. It is a fantastic film, and I encourage anyone who enjoys the mix to go out and see the movie.
All songs are from the original soundtrack, if you would like to know them, just ask.
And by all means, i encourage discussion about MJ and Kobe…just don’t get carried away.
It is a surprisingly engaging little video and will no doubt further fuel the debate as to who is greater, His Airness or the Black Mamba, as it gets more views. (In my opinion, MJ is undoubtedly the greatest.) Check it out below.
In the best ending of the college basketball season so far, the Cleveland State Vikings absolutely stunned the Syracuse Orange as senior guard Cedric Jackson sank a 60-FOOTER as time expired. That’s right. A 60-footer. I guess this makes up for when they lost a couple weeks ago to Ball St. on a buzzer beater.
Check out Kevin Durant, Rudy Gay, Brandon Roy, and Deron Williams in their Foot Locker House of Hoops commercials. The dudes talk about an experience in their own house of hoops and their overall love of the game. Not bad but it would’ve been cool if there were actual reenactments of their experiences. But I guess in this tough economy, Foot Locker’s budget only allowed for them to have the players, a basketball, and a white background. Oh they did give Deron a stool though.
Phoenix Suns GM Steve Kerr has made another splash by trading for Charlotte Bobcats guard Jason Richardson. The Suns also received Jared Dudley and a second-round draft pick and in return the Bobcats received Boris Diaw, Raja Bell, and Sean Singletary.
This deal makes you scratch your head on many levels. First let’s start off with the Suns. So the word on the street is that Kerr felt like his team needed some more firepower and gave up their best defender to do so. I can understand that but the Suns were still averaging 101.7 ppg, good for sixth in the league. The problem is they still played no defense as they also gave up 101.7 ppg. Richardson is not much of a defender either so their defensive woes will continue to persist. The truth of the matter is, the Suns are just a flawed team and Terry Porter is not a very good coach. I didn’t like the hire to begin with and I’m being proven correctly right now. Kerr never should have traded for Shaq and Mike D’Antoni should still be the coach. He got the most out of his guys and you can tell how bitter the players are under Porter as they’ve been talking negatively about the team all season long. I do feel bad to a certain extent for Porter because D’Antoni’s system is a tough act to follow. No matter what you do, the players won’t have as much fun in your system and the only way they’ll be happy is if you have more success. The Suns are barely a .500 team and I don’t think J-Rich will make them much better. Without Diaw, they are incredibly thin up front and with Shaq not even playing 30 minutes per game, the Suns are going to get killed up front, even with Amare. I expect Steve Nash, Shaq, and Stoudemire to all leave in 2010, Grant Hill will retire, and owner Robert Sarver will be left with a bunch of unhappy players, led by J-Rich and Leandro Barbosa. The question is how long will Sarver stay with both Kerr and Porter because it’s clear they aren’t getting the job done.
As for the Bobcats, I liked the trade until on Inside the NBA, Kenny Smith made me realize that DJ Augustin will probably be starting at point guard, forcing Raymond Felton to move to shooting guard yet again (and even if Augustin continues to come off the bench, he’ll still be playing the majority of minutes at the point). Now I have to first admit that I am biased because Felton is one of my favorite Tar Heels of all time. With that said, Felton is NOT a shooting guard and I think his 40% career FG% clearly shows this. And at 6′0, there’s no way he can guard the bigger two-guards on a daily basis. He is a point guard and I thought Larry Brown was going to use him as such. The Bobcats have enjoyed most of their success with Felton at point guard and it seems crazy to me they’d move him yet again. But I will say the success of DJ Augustin is a bit surprising and he has definitely earned a starting gig with his play. If he keeps this up, he’ll be a future star in the league and he’s gotta get big minutes to get to that point. The Bobcats have made it clear that Augustin is their point guard of the future so in my eyes, they have to trade Felton (who has been on the trading block for quite some time) and get something in return. They’ll only have Singletary as a backup (though I like his game as well), but if they keep Felton and start both him and DJ, they’ll have the smallest backcourt in the league (but also the quickest) by far and they’ll get killed defensively. I’ll be keeping an eye on how things are going in Charlotte but I hope my man Felton gets the opportunity to showcase his skills elsewhere.
The Washington Wizards, New Orleans Hornets, and Memphis Grizzlies were involved in a three-way trade that sent Mike James and Javaris Crittenton to Washington, Antonio Daniels and a conditional second-round pick to New Orleans, and a conditional first-round pick to Memphis.
In two stints with the Hornets, James never really was able to break into the rotation and be an important role player for the team. A career 43% shooter, he never even reached 35% with the Hornets. I always kind of liked James as a top guard off the bench as he is a proven scorer in the league. He did average over 20 ppg a few years back. He is definitely not a pure point so I saw him as an Eddie House-type guard who could come into the game and provide that scoring punch while CP3 was getting his rest. To be honest, I am not sure how much of an upgrade Daniels is over James but I guess he is more of a distributor and provides some size on the defensive end.
What I am surprised about is how the 20-year old Crittenton could already be on his third team. I always thought teams were looking for big point guards. In Crittenton, not only do you get a 6-5 point guard, but also a young one with an incredible amount of potential. He showed flashes of greatness with the Lakers then failed to impress with the Grizzlies but really, how could he? He was playing out of position at shooting guard alongside two smaller point guards in Mike Conley and Kyle Lowry. Now with OJ Mayo on the team, one the point guards had to go and I guess it was Crittenton that was picked again. Sadly, I don’t really see him playing much in Washington (especially when Gilbert Arenas comes back) either and don’t think his future is in the nation’s capital. Now I’m not sure about his work ethic or his maturity level or anything like that, but based on what I’ve seen of him so far, I think the former Yellow Jacket should get a chance to play at least 15-20 minutes a game to show what he can do.
During last night’s win over the Blazers, Celtics’ star Kevin Garnett totally ripped into Boston’s bench in the 4th quarter for allowing Portland to cut a 25-point lead in half, forcing the starters back into the game. Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis took exception to KG’s words I guess and………cried. Here’s the video evidence (and you’re welcome worldstarhiphop.com for giving you a free plug):
First of all, let me just get this out of the way and say I can’t believe he was crying. I mean, you’ve played with KG for more than a year now so you know what he’s all about whether you like it or not. You sucked while you were on the court and couldn’t hold a 25-point lead to a team that played terribly that night. The truth hurts sometimes and I don’t mean Paul Pierce. Take it like a 6′9 300 pounder. And you’re on national television. Have some pride dude. Some classic stuff by Gabe Pruitt also. It seemed like he wanted to laugh so bad but didn’t want to blow up Davis’s spot. Great job, Gabe.
Finally, at 300 lbs, you might think Davis is the biggest crybaby on earth (literally) but that distinction still goes to Manny Wright, formerly of the Miami Dolphins. The 6′4 345 pounder broke into tears after then head coach Nick Saban tore him a new one.
Yao Ming has joined Charles Barkley and Dwyane Wade in their T-Mobile Fave Five commercials. Not bad for Yao, a veteran of TV commercials. I like how they continued the whole “That’s why I don’t eat shrimp” thing for Chuck. Well done. But the real winner of this commercial is D-Wade. Some superb acting by him with the little jump at the end. Check it out for yourself. (And I hope Wade recycled his Sidekick and upgraded to the G-1. Same with Yao and Barkley. What are they doing with those cheap phones. C’mon guys. Keep up with the times.)
Last night, before the Knicks lost to the Blazers, a special presentation was held in the WaMu Theatre where the new President of MSG Sports Scott O’Neil spoke a little bit about breaking into the sports industry. When I signed up for it I thought it would be a pretty interesting thing to go to. The guy does know a thing or two about basketball – he founded HoopsTV.com and also worked as a Senior VP for the NBA. To my surprise, there were actually a good amount of people there (and also a good amount of girls). Unfortunately, most seemed to be college kids who apparently haven’t formulated an intellectual question ever in their lives. The dumbest question of the night was probably: “How do you evaluate salespeople?” Well, how do you think genius? The guy who makes the best spreadsheets? C’mon. The funniest moment of the night though was probably when a lady asked (and I’m paraphrasing) “Does MSG have a 5 or 10-year plan? Surely you guys have a 5 and 10-year plan.” To this, Mr. O’Neil said, “The question was if we had a 5 or 10-year plan………….asked in a somewhat condescending voice.”
………………
Okay so it’s not that funny when you have to read it. But the point is Mr. O’Neil seemed like a straight-shooter and tried to be as honest as he could without jeopardizing the company. He had no problem taking questions from the audience and also had no problems making short quips when asked a stupid question, which I appreciated. But as with all powerful people (and Harvard graduates) he definitely had his arrogant side and it was evident he thought he was better than everyone else in the room. I would have loved to see him give this kind of a presentation in front of his peers instead of a bunch of people who just wanted to be him.
In the end, I didn’t really learn anything new about getting into the sports industry. Most of the hour was used on answering stupid questions and the rest was basically another rich guy telling us that we have to seize the day and learn from our failures, stuff I could get from my parents. It was a nice experience nonetheless but I wish those college kids who attended a lot of luck in their pursuit of becoming thet next Scott O’Neil because they’ll certainly need it.
Posted by david im 
