YEAH, I'M A LAKER HATER... EVEN KOBE IS ON THE DOWN
Kobe's 42 is Great?... MJ Averaged 41 During a NBA Finals

Ralph Wiley has a good article on the Lakers in ESPN's Page2. All the preseason hype about this Lakers team being one of the greatest has proven to be just hype. Squeaking by the Spurs where fortunes could have easily crumbled if Fisher's prayer shot didn't go in, these Lakers are stumbling towards greatness. I still believe the Pistons have the best chance to beat this fading team, so let's just watch and wait.

As for all the talk about how great Kobe is, he still doesn't come close to Michael Jordan. Sportscasters were yellin' and a screaming after he scored 42 on the Spurs. 42 points? MJ AVERAGED 41 points against the Suns in the 1993 NBA Finals. Kobe still hasn't proven to me if he can take the double-teaming that Shaq doesn't allow. When Shaq was sidelined with injuries and teams focused on double-teaming Kobe, he was not as effective. It will be interesting to see if he leaves LA how he will respond. Lastly, in this era of no hand-checks, I believe a young MJ would have dominated even more. During the year where he average 37 points for the season, he would have gone above 40 if people were not allowed to hold, grab, and push on his Airness.

I'm not a fan of Shaq, and now Kobe's favored status is losing steam with me. After reading last month's ESPN Magazine's article on Kobe's general attitude of entitlement and treatment of his employees disturbs me (e.g. treating them "like slaves"). The article portrayed Kobe's attitude as a prince among paupers, where the paupers were the majority of the human race. Kobe was on the down in my book after reading that article.