March 2011
2 posts
“I’m just very happy for him. Like I said, I’ve had my time, and it’s his time...”
– Kobe Bryant post-ASG interview
“Growing up, I just wanted to play basketball. I wasn’t worried about anything...”
– Kobe Bryant (via foreverla)
November 2010
1 post
“John Ireland: What is it about Detroit that gets you going like that?
Kobe...”
– (via straightlakers)
August 2010
4 posts
Caron Butler →
Caron Butler spent a year in Los Angeles as Kobe Bryant’s Laker teammate thanks to the Shaquille O’Neal trade that sent the big fella to Miami. “I say that’s the best thing that ever could have happened for me personally for my career,” Butler said. “To play alongside a guy like that, see his preparation, see what it takes to get to that level, that’s...
Trevor Ariza →
Trevor Ariza tried to explain the other day, and he wound up stopping mid-sentence to convey what he was truly feeling. “I used it like it was” he began. Then he tilted his head back, turned his palms up and stretched those noodle arms out to his sides. And he looked to the heavens. “I used it like it was the Bible,” Ariza said. What we were talking about was the...
“I thought you’d never ask. We’ll be on the plane, playing cards....”
– Ron Artest
July 2010
2 posts
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“I watch all the teams and what they did for LeBron, and [the Heat] still have to...”
– Larry Bird
May 2010
4 posts
1 tag
kobe →
There is also that ineffable something known as will. Earlier this season Orlando’s feisty Matt Barnes was standing close to Bryant when he feigned throwing a ball at Bryant’s face. Bryant never even flinched. “That scared me a little,” Barnes said later. “I mean, that wasn’t even human.”
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April 2010
11 posts
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Opening Ceremony in Beijing China →
This was the oddity of the night. Behind the Chinese president and the entire national team, the one athlete who appeared to get the loudest ovation was none other than Kobe Bean Bryant. The moment was so odd that even U.S. journalists were looking at each other in puzzlement. The Russian, Chinese and American presidents were here, but Kobe was the head of state tonight.
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Olympics
But the one thing we all learned is Kobe (Bryant) is the most popular player here, maybe the most popular athlete at the Olympics. The crowd was chanting his name, “Kobe, Kobe,” and the volunteers who were supposed to be guiding us were trying to get autographs. It is so out of control with Kobe that LeBron James cracked, “I thought I was famous until I got here with Kobe.” Kobe is big here in...
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“If you’re afraid to fail, then you’re probably going to fail. You know what I...”
– Kobe Bryant
“If you make it, great. If you miss it—what’s there to be afraid of?”
– Kobe Bryant (via foreverla)
“If you dont believe in yourself, nobody else will”
– Kobe Bryant
“A lot of guys have long arms, quick feet, great leaping ability. I’m not the...”
– Kobe Bryant
“There are very few Kobe Bryants out there. LeBron hasn’t won yet. Dwyane Wade...”
– Michael Jordan
March 2010
1 post
February 2010
7 posts
Kobe Bryant "In it to Win it" →
“Kobe is what he is. MJ too. They’re both mysteries. Not just to us, but to...”
– Roland Lazenby on Kobe and Jordan
“Kobe is still a great player who can kill you. Him shooting too much doesn’t...”
Rare Photos of Kobe Bryant →
“He just keeps getting better and better and better. Just watching him play this...”
– Jerry West on Kobe Bryant as a player. (via foreverla)
“I just have so admired players that play at both ends of the court and compete...”
– Jerry West comparing Kobe to Jordan and their desire to win. (via foreverla)
January 2010
11 posts
Kobe Kobe Kobe →
“I’ve been through so much,” Bryant said. “We didn’t make the playoffs (in 2005); we went through down-and-out times. I think me having the intestinal fortitude to try to get us back to the top – and having to fight through so many different things – makes it a different kind of emotion as opposed to me being 20 years old, just coming in here and winning a...
Kobe in October 2005 →
As much as Jackson might like O’Neal’s good heart, Jackson admires Bryant’s killer instinct. Odom calls it “the mentality of a pit bull.”
“Kobe helps me too, because if I’m ever lying back too much, him trying to get open or him fighting wakes me up,” Odom said. “Kobe’s game is like smelling salts. If you’re lying back, he’s going to get you up. He’s the best player I’ve ever played with.”
...
“Kobe Bryant won a title his way — by establishing a Kobe and the Kobettes...”
– Bill Simmons
“I think Kobe [Bryant] is the best player in the league because he is relentless....”
– Shane Battier - November 2009
“I dont want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant.”
– Kobe Bryant
“peter 1 Q on ur article…sayin i took a loan from JC to pay javale…HUH..thats...”
– Gilbert Arenas addressing himself to Peter Vescey (via gilbertarenas twitter)
December 2009
4 posts
“If you really want it, live your dreams. Learn from defeat, learn how to win....”
– Kobe Bryant (via bbelllle)
“That guy is amazing. To be able to shoot like he did with a finger problem on...”
– Don Nelson
With Kobe Everything is Working - J.A. Adande ESPN →
Kobe made this really easy. And of all his accomplishments — the four championships, the MVP trophies from the Finals, the scoring title, you name it — getting to the point of simplicity might be his most remarkable. For the first time, watching Bryant requires no justifications or qualifications. There is no battle for control of the team, no court case hanging over the season, no...
“Pippen said he would have to give the nod to Jordan as the greatest player ever because of what he “was able to accomplish in the game as an individual, from a team standpoint. He was at the top in every aspect of the game - offensively as well as defensively. Has Kobe met that yet? No. Will he? Maybe not. But does that make him less of a player than Michael was? No it does not.”
November 2009
2 posts
More Than a Game by Chris Ballard →
Consider the following hypothetical situation. Let’s say you are playing for your high school basketball team and have persuaded one of the team’s benchwarmers to stay afterward to play one-on-one. Let’s also stipulate that you are much, much better than this benchwarmer, who, for our purposes, we shall call Rob.
Now let’s say the two of you are playing a game to 100...
October 2009
1 post
Kobe →
“It’s funny to me when people talk about the notion of making other players better, and they talk about just passing them the ball. It’s just the most ignorant comment I’ve ever heard in my life. No, there are other things that have to come into play besides getting assists.
“It’s helping them get the championship mentality and attitude and work ethic and drive...