uPtoWnNY said:

Exactly! MJ was such a fake punk! I lived in Chicago for the later championships and there were always so many stories about MJs "real" personality and the womanizing. (Don't get me started on Scottie, either! lol).


That's why my favorite Bull was always:



Admittedly not as great of an offensive player, but he at least he played defense (unlike a lot of ballers) AND:

5 NBA championships,
2 time NBA Defensive Player of the Year
7 time NBA 1st team All-Defensive team
10th all-time in NBA history for rebounds per game
6 time offensive rebound leader
3 time defensive rebound leader
all time leader in NBA history for rebound rate

Furthermore, Dennis never tried to front about the fact he liked to party, or womanize, or that he was just as much about entertainment as the game. At least he didn't seem fake!

Love The Worm!!!

Bishop31 said:

my brother was just saying the same thing to me today

yeah, even in college, MJ was miking everything for what it was worth. I worked with a guy that went to college during the MJ days, and he said there would literally be females lined up down the hall of his dorm room waiting to get in and have sex with him. One of his team mates would stand outside the door and when he was ready, the dude would say "who's next?"

That's gross.

But there were a lot of stories that he was a jack ass in college too....obviously. Juanita knew EXACTLY what she was marrying.

DevotedPuppy said:

Oh yea! Dennis was my boy also. His Passion was never a question. I knew he was always gonna give 100%...no bullshit.

I don't know what the personal stuff has 2 do with PERFORMANCE on the court. That is all I care about.

Graycap23 said:

exactly what i was thinking.

i was really into the sacramento kings some years back when they were in the play-offs with the lakers. but now.....

Bishop31 said:

1. I rue the day Shaq was traded.

2. Kobe is a good but not great team player.

Let me put it to you this way. I regret that Shaq and Kobe could not stick together and get on the same page. If so, they'd likely have won one more title between now and today, and would likely be up on this C's team. I was so disgusted with the team and with Kobe that I couldn't watch the Lakers until the beginning of this season. Shaq should still be a Laker.

It wasn't until Shaq backed Kobe in his public feud with the Lakers' FO that I cut Bryant some slack. Both he and Kobe, in hindsight, made a divorce inevitable. But that doesn't mean Kobe's now the model of teamwork.

Even after I had re-examined my personal opinion on Kobe, his tantrums during the summer, I felt, were bound to cause this season to be another disappointing one. But he had his finest season as a Laker and a team player. He's no Russell, Bird, Magic, Kareem or Jordan, but he's made great strides. He still has his moments where he loses his focus, but they're becoming farther and fewer in between. Having Derek Fisher with him was a huge help. So was the acquisition of Pau Gasol (which, in Spanish, means "Merry Christmas"). Bynum's emergence before his injury was very encouraging. Vlad Rad bounced back, and the younger players, Farmar, Turiaf, and Vujacic all took a step in the right direction.

The Lakers could not have succeeded if Kobe hadn't matured. I stand by my comments that Game 4 of this series settled the MJ v. KB question, perhaps permanently, but there's no doubt he's a better team player than he was.
[Edited 6/16/08 12:03pm]