Kobe the Aggrieved, Kobe the King
The Kobe Bryant story has so many angles, but whatever happened that night between Kobe and Kate Faber, one thing seems clear to this admitted layman: there was never, remotely a case against him. According to Laie Wetherwax, Faber's close college friend, Faber had schemed on an earlier occasion to bed Eminem. Combine this with dozens of other credible accusations about Faber's behavior and character and there never was any real chance for a finding of "guilt beyond a reasonable doubt." Some have pointed out that prosecutor Mark Hurlbert was heading for certain Marcia Clarkdom until Faber withdrew her cooperation from the criminal case and the charges were dropped; but, it's much worse than that: Clark had a strong case against O.J. Simpson and simply lost, while Hurlbert had only a celebrity by his privates, but no case. Perhaps the biggest loss in this circus has been the cause of legitimate victims. If you have the stomach for it, here are some sites detailing allegations against Faber, who is now being sued by Weatherwax! http://www.fratpack.com/article-main.php?id=12
Scroll down the page past the Scott Peterson articles to the Bryant articles at: http://www.fratpack.com/article-archive.php Here's an index of articles on the subject:http://www.tabloidcolumn.com/kobe-bryant.html
In the midst of this turmoil, Kobe reportedly staged a coup d' etat of the Lakers. He is said to have influenced the departures of guru serial winning coach Phil Jackson and the most forceful presence in the game today: Shaquille O' Neal. It seems that Kobe wanted rule of the Laker Kingdom and to step out from the great shadows cast by Jackson and O'Neal. Michael Jordan is the modern standard of Hoops greatness: he inspired teammates, performed consistently, heroically and won. And indisputably it was his team. Since I am a skeptic by nature and training, I doubt Kobe's ability to duplicate Michael's unique feats, particularly since it was Kobe's selfishness (bad shots, refusal to play with Shaq or follow Phil's game plans) that cost L.A. another NBA championship in the loss to the Pistons last spring.
It's much too early to gather long term proof for my suspiscions, but here is an early analysis of Kobe's Lakers through December 5, 2004. The 10-7 record is a little better than I would have guessed, but the Lakers are not demonstrating potential for playoff success. Significantly, in the 10 victories, Kobe is averaging 23.1 ppg, while in the losses he has averaged 32 ppg. In a miserable December 1 loss to the 1-10 Bulls, Kobe made 9 of 21 shots and committed 6 turnovers, while Lamar Odom managed only 6 shots. Odom is shooting .480 from two point land, while Bryant is shooting .403. If Kobe wants to win, he will need to either more fully engage teammates in the offense or play more effectively himself. Or both. Here's the Lakers web page http://www.nba.com/lakers/index.html?nav=page
Scroll down the page past the Scott Peterson articles to the Bryant articles at: http://www.fratpack.com/article-archive.php Here's an index of articles on the subject:http://www.tabloidcolumn.com/kobe-bryant.html
In the midst of this turmoil, Kobe reportedly staged a coup d' etat of the Lakers. He is said to have influenced the departures of guru serial winning coach Phil Jackson and the most forceful presence in the game today: Shaquille O' Neal. It seems that Kobe wanted rule of the Laker Kingdom and to step out from the great shadows cast by Jackson and O'Neal. Michael Jordan is the modern standard of Hoops greatness: he inspired teammates, performed consistently, heroically and won. And indisputably it was his team. Since I am a skeptic by nature and training, I doubt Kobe's ability to duplicate Michael's unique feats, particularly since it was Kobe's selfishness (bad shots, refusal to play with Shaq or follow Phil's game plans) that cost L.A. another NBA championship in the loss to the Pistons last spring.
It's much too early to gather long term proof for my suspiscions, but here is an early analysis of Kobe's Lakers through December 5, 2004. The 10-7 record is a little better than I would have guessed, but the Lakers are not demonstrating potential for playoff success. Significantly, in the 10 victories, Kobe is averaging 23.1 ppg, while in the losses he has averaged 32 ppg. In a miserable December 1 loss to the 1-10 Bulls, Kobe made 9 of 21 shots and committed 6 turnovers, while Lamar Odom managed only 6 shots. Odom is shooting .480 from two point land, while Bryant is shooting .403. If Kobe wants to win, he will need to either more fully engage teammates in the offense or play more effectively himself. Or both. Here's the Lakers web page http://www.nba.com/lakers/index.html?nav=page
posted by Man of Ages at 7:32 PM
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