[Brujah]

I'm an average basketball fan. I like college hoops better.

You guys seen that new guy for the Pelicans? Zion Williamson? They drfated him with the too spot last year, but he had to have preemptive knee surgery, and has just been able to start playing. Zion Williamson

This guy COULD be the best since LeBron James and Shaquill O'Neal before that.

BK, the Pelicans are in your neck of the woods. You follow at all?

[Malankazooie]

Zion is riding the hype train for sure. He can jump out of the gym and has oodles of athleticism. He seems to have a nice mid-rage shot and it looks like he can hit an open three also. The league is primarily a shooting league now, so his atheism is somewhat not as important as being able to hit a clutch shot. The big question is injuries. His size and the amount of torque he generates (see footage of when he blew out of a shoe during a game in college) can be an issue. An injury early in pre-season is why he only made his regular season debut this week. He needs to continue with limited minutes as he works with trainers and a nutritionist to shed his baby fat and slim down. If he does that, and continues to work on all aspects of his game he could be a big deal.

[Vengeance]

Yes as well as his 13 yr daughter. Very sad.

[Malankazooie]

Lakers gonna be champions this year. You heard it here first. It was a high probability anyway, but many have Clippers taking it, but now, with what happened, it's a for sure thing.

[Brujah]

I know Kobe had a problem or too with a woman when he was young, but Kobe was one if the best men in the eyes of the public.

R.i.p.

[Malankazooie]

Yep, he got rapey with a hotel employee while he was rehabbing an injury in Colorado, said it was consensual. He paid her hush money and it went away. That's nothing new with overpaid professional athletes. Men with the means and money can make problems go away. He took a hit to his 'celebrity' when that went down, but he worked to shape his image back into having a relentless hard work mindset, and unparalleled drive to win and succeed brand. And he did well to show he was a family man (had to gift his wife some huge new ice on that finger though). I never liked his game myself, thought he tried too hard to emulate Michael Jordan early on, instead of carving out his individual stamp on the game. He did put his individual mark on the game later in his career though. But I'm not a fan of isolation ballers - those who get the ball in their hands and the movement and passing stops with them and they hot dog it and shake and bake while the rest of the team clears out to the other side of the floor (might as well not even come past mid court and just stay back on defense). He has 5 rings because of Shaq and Pau Gasol (and coach Phil Jackson). After the Shaq three-peat, when Shaq left, the Lakers went into the shitter and Kobe threatened to leave if they didn't make some deals to improve the team. Tragic news the accident. Kobe and his daughter and the others. Seems like they were going to a girls b-ball practice/game. Very strange a helicopter would be flying in those foggy conditions. I found myself driving through the worst fog bank last year and it was scary af. I couldn't imagine what that would be like managing in a helicopter. I know Kobe traveled a lot around LA via helicopter, so that mode of travel was nothing new to him. Much love and thoughts to his family and the other families who are dealing with this terrible loss.

[Tattersail_]

That didn't come across as much "love"

[amphibian]

Brujah, on 28 January 2020 - 03:42 PM, said:

I know Kobe had a problem or too with a woman when he was young, but Kobe was one if the best men in the eyes of the public.

R.i.p.

Minimizing sexual assault - which Kobe admitted it was - like this isn't good. He did it and bad things happened to the person he hurt beyond the hurt done that day.

He was on TV a lot and somehow made winning his brand even when he wasn't doing that. That made people forget a bunch of the crappy aspects of his life and much of the outpouring of grief is very hagiographic to me.

[Malankazooie]

Tattersail_, on 28 January 2020 - 04:35 PM, said:

That didn't come across as much "love"

Don't care how it comes across. Truth is often hard to process. He was a flawed person. But I send love and thoughts to his family and the others who lost someone.

[Brujah]

amphibian, on 28 January 2020 - 04:44 PM, said:

Brujah, on 28 January 2020 - 03:42 PM, said:

I know Kobe had a problem or too with a woman when he was young, but Kobe was one if the best men in the eyes of the public.

R.i.p.

Minimizing sexual assault - which Kobe admitted it was - like this isn't good. He did it and bad things happened to the person he hurt beyond the hurt done that day.

He was on TV a lot and somehow made winning his brand even when he wasn't doing that. That made people forget a bunch of the crappy aspects of his life and much of the outpouring of grief is very hagiographic to me.

Kobe was in the eyes of the spotlight from age 17. I didn't mean to minimalize anything of that nature. I'm just saying the man is dead. Everyone makes mistakes, but the later years of his short life were used to focus on being a good family man.

We lost a great man. A hero.

[Malankazooie]

Wait, Dwight Howard is going to be in the Slam Dunk Contest this year? uh, whut? Is that true?

[Malankazooie]

Aaron Gordon totally should have won the dunk contest. I mean that last dunk didn't have a lot in the way of in flight acrobatics, but if you can jump over a 7' 5" (Tacko Fall), you should score more then a 47. The absurdity of the optics of that dunk alone was enough for a perfect score from me.

[Malankazooie]

I was wrong about Zion Williamson. He's tearing it up. Hopefully he stays injury free because with his size and explosiveness he's been something rare in the league and a major headache for defenses to figure out.

[Malankazooie]

Any you round ball bros watching the Last Dance documentary airing on esspin? They don't make 'em like MJ anymore. Dude would tear out your beating hear, show it to you, and then tear off a bloody bite as the light dimmed in your eyes. Such a different league then. Way more physical. Charles Oakely was not to be messed with. That was your ass if you decided to step to him. And whooboy, when they added Dennis Rodman.

[Malankazooie]

Oi! @Brujah! Hoops gonna start up soon. Orlando bubble. Whatcha think my man? It's going to be weird for sure. Zion Williamson benefited big time during the stoppage and dude trimmed down and is looking fit and ready to ball! I want to see Nawlins play, no doubt. Talk is Lebron Lakers are favored, but I've seen other hoop talking heads hot take artists saying not to sleep on Milwaukee and Antetokounmpo. Shit is gonna be cray-to-the-cray!

[Malankazooie]

So, a question for you hoopsters. Has LeBron James earned his place now in the debate as the greatest of all time with MJ?

Also, the NBA bubble was a resounding success. All professional sports leagues should take notes. I'm looking at you NFL (*cough Patriots *cough). Although, to be fair, it would be completely unrealistic to play NFL in a bubble.

[amphibian]

Lebron was the best ever to play the game in terms of the skills after his third year in Miami and became the achievements wise best ever after the 2016 title.

It's been a dead debate revived again and again by people who either didn't watch basketball when Jordan played or have some kind of weird identity staked on the outcome.

He's been better than his hype, largely injury free for his career (so hard to do), phenomenally skilled at every facet of the game, physically dominant in the hardest era to be physically dominant, and keeps winning against everyone - including opposing dynasties.

[amphibian]

Although I think the best season of all time might be the 2005 KG season with LeBron having the next few.

[Malankazooie]

Steph Curry went off. 62 points in thirty six minutes. That's like Space Jam, cartoonish like performance. Crazy.

[Malankazooie]

Awwww yisss. That game last night between Nuggets and Trailblazers. Damn, Lillard went off. Dude is probably the most clutch player in the league (behind Steph Curry maybe). But my Nuggets got the win and now just need one more to advance to the next round.