dreamfactory313 said:

How do you figure that?

namepeace said:

Its my own personally opinion.

dreamfactory313 said:

I understand that, but I wanted to hear you speak more on it.

namepeace said:

Shaq has an even bigger ego. He talks more mess about Kobe than Kobe about him. Kobe always handles this "beef" with dignity and class. Shaq acts like a child with his trash talk. I hope the Mavs when games 1-4.

dreamfactory313 said:

Coming from a Laker fan, Kobe has a much bigger ego. He would rather be on a team that has no shot at contention if it means he's the No. 1 guy than on a contender if he's the No. 2 guy.

Kobe also talked a lot of stuff about Shaq's work ethic and leadership to the national media during the '02-'03 season.

Kobe's also savvier than Shaq. Shaq's upfront with his feelings. Kobe prefers not to say things publicly, but to Buss and Phil behind closed doors. The day after Buss meets with Kobe at the end of the '04 season, Phil is gone. He only re-signs with the Lakers the day after Shaq is traded. And when he's dissatisfied, sometimes he'll show it in his play to make his little points.

You make valid points, but look at what Kobe's done, which on balance did MORE to hurt the Lakers than Shaq did. At least Shaq comes at you directly.
[Edited 6/8/06 17:04pm]

PLAYOFF SERIES: NBA finals; Game 1.

This postseason has provided further proof Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki are two of the world's best players. Only one is about to become an NBA champion for the first time.

While Wade has the advantage of three-time champ Shaquille O'Neal playing beside him and a coach in Pat Riley who has won four titles, Nowitzki and the Mavericks appear to be deeper and have the home-court advantage over the Miami Heat as the NBA finals get underway.

This series features two franchises appearing in the finals for the first time. It took the Mavericks 26 years to get here, 18 for the Heat.

july said:

Thursday, Jun 8, 2006

Miami 80
At
Dallas 90 Final

MIA: D. Wade 28 Pts, 6 Reb, 6 Ast
DAL: J. Terry 32 Pts, 4 Reb, 1 Ast

Mavericks lead series 1-0

dreamfactory313 said:

Do U want 2 know why Shaq talks so much about Kobe?

Graycap23 said:

What!! Are you kiddin'??? Tell me, dude, tell me You're killing me here and the next tip-off isn't until the 11th. Hit me on the spin!

senik said:

There is NO spin it's the straight truth.
Shaq and most of the fellows love to have a good time. Mostly everyone on the team use to hang out in and around what ever town they go to, EXCEPT Kobe. Let's just say the guys will be guys and whatever happens during these fun times stay's within the group.

Kobe's punk ass got caught up in a BOGUS rape scam and what does he do? Bust out Shaq and other's because they know how to HANDLE their issues without it being public or dragging other people into it. It's really that simple. Kobe tried to bring Shaq into his B.S. and Shaq had nothing to do with it.

Don't even get me started on the honey he was to supposed to have raped. That's a whole nother story.

Graycap23 said:

That's exactly what I was thinking. Kobe calling out Shaq when the rape charged first became public was so wrong.

sextonseven said:

I saw when he revealed that on Sportscenter...that's what made me dislike Kobe even more.

AnckSuNamun said:

That whole situation could have easily gotten out of hand. Kobe would have been blackballed for sure if it had.

RipHer2Shreds said:

Graycap23 said:

yeah...I was glad for Shaq that it just blew over. Kobe should've known better....he's involved in a rape scandal....so of course people are gonna focus on that more. Plus, Shaq is a more well liked person than Kobe. I know plenty of folks who hated Kobe way before this whole scandal even went down....I was one of them

AnckSuNamun said:

I met the lil prick back in 1997. Did not like him from the first minute.

july said:

The leading scorer on the winning team, was a homeboy. Mr Jason Terry.

july said:

namepeace said:

I gotta disagree with you, bro. Shaq has THEE biggest ego in the history of the NBA. It's now bigger than Wilt's ego and Wilt's ego needed its own zip code.

Shaq has made ridiculous statements like "I will make Wade the best player ever"...what the fuck? YOU don't play SG, fool! LOL! He said that about Penny and then he said that about Kobe. Shaq HATES sharing the limelight, and trust me, he hates the shit now, the thing is he's just knows he has to put up that front or else people are gonna say "Yeah, it WAS Shaq and NOT Kobe that fucked up that dynasty".

Now when Kobe talked that shit about Shaq's conditioning, that was during the 03-04 season - the rape case season. This was after Shaq told Kobe "He should pass more since he doesn't have his shot yet"...WTF? How are you gonna tell a SG how to play SG? Shaq had no reason to say that publicly and Kobe took offense as he should have. That was like the last straw, Kobe went off to Jim Gray and that's the most shit we've all seen from the 2 of them.

The thing is this, there was no way the Lakers were gonna be able to keep Phil, Kobe, and Shaq. Either 1 or 2 of them were going. Buss didn't like the way the triangle was looking so Phil was gone and he was definitely gone because Kobe was sick of the triangle offense holding his game down. Now, once you get rid of Phil then you KNOW Shaq is gonna want out because he sees that they are trying to keep Kobe and make it HIS team and Shaq's pride wanted NO part in any of that. Now, had they elected to keep Shaq, Kobe was gone. Plain and simple. Kobe was tired of playing with Shaq and tired of the rifts between them and he was outro unless Shaq was gone and Phil, but especially Shaq.

I don't like Shaq or Kobe.
I like Dwayne Wade, Gary Payton, Jason Terry, Ray Allen. Those are some good peeps.

Graycap23 said:

What, no way, dude! Thanks for that piece, man. Awesome!

Sunday, Jun 11, 2006

Miami 52-30 (Road: 21-20) 9:00pm ET
At
Dallas 60-22 (Home: 34-7) ABC

Mavericks lead series 1-0

I dont see the Heat winning a game. They have no depth. They shouldnt have gotten past my PISTONS but we just had nothing left in the tank after that remarkable regular season and going 7 games with Lebron.

No more ringz for Shaq. Sorry Zo and GP.

PLAYOFF SERIES: NBA finals; Mavericks lead 1-0.

With many players from the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks appearing in their first NBA finals, Game 1 featured some sloppy play from both teams. Now, each club hopes the jitters are behind them as the series resumes in Dallas after a two-day break.

On Thursday, Dirk Nowitzki had just 16 points for the Mavs while Heat stars Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal combined for 45 points. Dallas, though, won 90-80 behind Jason Terry's 32 points to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

dreamfactory313 said:

If The Heat win tonight. It's perfect.
They have the 3 game home stand.
The Heat could win 3 in Miami.

july said:

True, but that almost makes this a must win tonight. It's a lot to ask if they lose to win three straight, but that's what they'll likely need to do with the two games in Dallas closing out the series. Dallas just need to be at least 3-2 up with two to play and they'll have it.

Fauxie said:

Dallas is looking great right now. 52-34 3rd Quarter.
If they win one more. It's looking more like a sweep.

july said:

Sunday, Jun 11, 2006

Miami 85
At
Dallas 99 Final

MIA: D. Wade 23 Pts, 8 Reb, 3 Ast
DAL: D. Nowitzki 26 Pts, 16 Reb, 4 Ast

Mavericks lead series 2-0

StoneCrib said:

My man, we found ONE thing we actually DISAGREE on.

Name one other player who'd be arrogant enough to force out a HOF big man and 3-time Finals MVP, along with the greatest coach in the history of the league, so he can control the team, regardless of whether it will actually compete for a title.

Before you say anything about Shaq, remember: he was the Finals MVP 3 straight years, and justifiably so. Kobe had proven he was an all-star, and could complement Shaq, but that was it.



Come on, man. You can make other players better by opening up opportunities for them. Just like Jordan made Pippen better. Like Kareem made Magic better (and vice versa).

Look at what happened to Penny after Shaq left. Kobe hasn't gone far without Shaq, and led "his" team (my beloved Lakers) to one of the biggest choke jobs in NBA history against a team that didn't even have its franchise player (Amare Stoudemire).

Shaq has a big ego, yes. Shaq cost the Lakers a title in 2002-03, true. Shaq said a lot of things about Kobe, yes. But remember. Shaq had to play with this guy AFTER he called him out on a rape case. Shaq had to listen to this guy excoriate him for being out of shape and lazy on national TV their last season together. And THEN to have the team he led to 3 titles sell him out for peanuts to sign that same guy?

I'm not saying Shaq had no role in it. But Kobe has a demonstrably bigger ego. He just keeps his mouth shut about it.




Kobe was the main distraction that year and he had no business opening his mouth WHAT-SO-EV-A. And to boot, he shot away Game 4 of the Finals when Shaq could have had 60. You could tell that was the end of it all.



And when Phil was gone, and the Lakers were getting their asses handed to them, guess who said, "let's try the triangle again"? K-O-B-E. In the 04-05 season, the team actually played BETTER in a lot of stretches when Kobe wasn't on the floor.



As if Kobe had no role in it? Bruh, you don't believe that, do you?

I love the Lakers just as much as the next man, but the common denominator in ALL of that mess was Kobe.

He damn near destroyed the franchise. And if it weren't for Phil coming back, and saving his ass, he'd be persona non grata.

Surely you don't think the Kobe flak is a PR masterstroke of Shaq's. He's bright, but not that bright.

Kobe brought a lot of it on himself.
[Edited 6/12/06 11:27am]

namepeace said:

100% agree.