Some thoughts on the Kobe Bryant contract...because I have some VERY strong opinions on this.
Jim Buss might have just made one of the dumber contract decisions in sports history. I honestly couldn't believe the things he was saying in the news conference. Professional sports always has been, and always will be a business. In business, you don't make decisions with your heart, you make them with your head. "We just couldn't see him in another uniform". Please...give me a break. I'm a diehard Celtics fan and I know that the best possible thing for the Celtics was to give Pierce and Garnett away now and build for the future. "We wanted to see him (Kobe) get to 20 years as a Laker. That's a special number". What? Really? You gave up 40% of your salary cap to a 35 year old 2-guard with a busted achilles...1400 games...4 Olympic games?
I said before the season that if I'm the Lakers, I would seriously look at trading Kobe to the Sixers for a first round pick. Kobe gets to return home to Philly, a place that he has loved playing, and play with younger emerging stars that with a veteran player could contend. Now I'm sure Kobe would never go for that...and I'm sure that he has a no-trade clause or a veto clause in his contract that would prevent that. The best thing for the Lakers 10 years ago was trading Shaq to the Heat...sucking for a few years, but gathering the pieces to make the trade for Gasol.
They still might be able to bring in one more big name guy and some pieces around Kobe and Good Player X...but Melo ain't showing up...LeBron ain't showing up....Chris Bosh ain't showing up. This isn't a championship caliber team...and barely making the playoffs year in and year out is the worst possible thing for an NBA team. You need to be awful and get into the lottery and hope you get a great young player. In my opinion you always need to be looking 5 years down the road. The 2008 NBA Draft had 5 players that immediately made their team better and those teams are now among the best in the league (Rose/Bulls, Love/Wolves, Westbrook/Thunder, Hibbert/Pacers, Lopez/Nets). 2009 gave us Griffin/Clippers, Harden/Thunder-Rockets, Curry/Warriors. 2010 was a little closer and features players and teams that are looked at as being one year away...Wall/Wizards and George/Pacers and Cousins/Kings and Sanders/Bucks. Look back at the teams that had top draft picks in those years and you have the best teams in the league!! The division winners 5 years ago are now all struggling with the exception of the Spurs who have unanimously been the best in the league at constantly rebuilding. Celtics, Cavaliers, Magic, Nuggets, Lakers. The worst teams in the league? Oklahoma City, LA Clippers, Memphis, Minnesota.
The best possible analogy I could think of for this would be a bank giving a customer a $500,000 loan/mortgage because they are a nice person or have been banking with them for a long time and nothing else. Verizon doesn't give you the newest and best phones with unlimited data and accessories every 6 months because you have been with them for a long time. As I said up above, I'm a diehard Celtics fan. I know that the best possible scenario for them is to be absolutely horrible this year. I want them to lose every game they play. I don't want them to make the playoffs. I don't want Rondo to return this year. I want the chance to get Wiggins/Parker/Randle/Smart and pair them up with Rondo and Green next year.
In my honest opinion, the Lakers just gave up that chance to be great 5 years down the road. They did earn the right to keep one of the greatest players of all-time and lock in the #7 or #8 seed year in and year out.
Some thoughts on the Kobe Bryant contract...because I have some VERY strong opinions on this.
Jim Buss might have just made one of the dumber contract decisions in sports history. I honestly couldn't believe the things he was saying in the news conference. Professional sports always has been, and always will be a business. In business, you don't make decisions with your heart, you make them with your head. "We just couldn't see him in another uniform". Please...give me a break. I'm a diehard Celtics fan and I know that the best possible thing for the Celtics was to give Pierce and Garnett away now and build for the future. "We wanted to see him (Kobe) get to 20 years as a Laker. That's a special number". What? Really? You gave up 40% of your salary cap to a 35 year old 2-guard with a busted achilles...1400 games...4 Olympic games?
I said before the season that if I'm the Lakers, I would seriously look at trading Kobe to the Sixers for a first round pick. Kobe gets to return home to Philly, a place that he has loved playing, and play with younger emerging stars that with a veteran player could contend. Now I'm sure Kobe would never go for that...and I'm sure that he has a no-trade clause or a veto clause in his contract that would prevent that. The best thing for the Lakers 10 years ago was trading Shaq to the Heat...sucking for a few years, but gathering the pieces to make the trade for Gasol.
They still might be able to bring in one more big name guy and some pieces around Kobe and Good Player X...but Melo ain't showing up...LeBron ain't showing up....Chris Bosh ain't showing up. This isn't a championship caliber team...and barely making the playoffs year in and year out is the worst possible thing for an NBA team. You need to be awful and get into the lottery and hope you get a great young player. In my opinion you always need to be looking 5 years down the road. The 2008 NBA Draft had 5 players that immediately made their team better and those teams are now among the best in the league (Rose/Bulls, Love/Wolves, Westbrook/Thunder, Hibbert/Pacers, Lopez/Nets). 2009 gave us Griffin/Clippers, Harden/Thunder-Rockets, Curry/Warriors. 2010 was a little closer and features players and teams that are looked at as being one year away...Wall/Wizards and George/Pacers and Cousins/Kings and Sanders/Bucks. Look back at the teams that had top draft picks in those years and you have the best teams in the league!! The division winners 5 years ago are now all struggling with the exception of the Spurs who have unanimously been the best in the league at constantly rebuilding. Celtics, Cavaliers, Magic, Nuggets, Lakers. The worst teams in the league? Oklahoma City, LA Clippers, Memphis, Minnesota.
The best possible analogy I could think of for this would be a bank giving a customer a $500,000 loan/mortgage because they are a nice person or have been banking with them for a long time and nothing else. Verizon doesn't give you the newest and best phones with unlimited data and accessories every 6 months because you have been with them for a long time. As I said up above, I'm a diehard Celtics fan. I know that the best possible scenario for them is to be absolutely horrible this year. I want them to lose every game they play. I don't want them to make the playoffs. I don't want Rondo to return this year. I want the chance to get Wiggins/Parker/Randle/Smart and pair them up with Rondo and Green next year.
In my honest opinion, the Lakers just gave up that chance to be great 5 years down the road. They did earn the right to keep one of the greatest players of all-time and lock in the #7 or #8 seed year in and year out.
I agree 100% with your thoughts on the Kobe extension. Bad deal for them. They are paying for past performance, and it will cripple their flexibility in the future.
I agree 100% with your thoughts on the Kobe extension. Bad deal for them. They are paying for past performance, and it will cripple their flexibility in the future.
Capped this one to be Pacers -8 and a total of 187.5. Early reverse line movement going on with 60-70% of early money on the Pacers. I like the OVER right now simply because of the ability of the Pacers to put up points. I think they can easily get above 95 points...and with the garbage time points the total should go over. Also have to really take a hard look at the Bobcats early on or the UNDER early on. The Pacers are averaging 38.6 points per game in the first half on the road. The second half they are averaging 56.4. Amazing. Bobcats on the other hand put up 25 at home in the first quarter.
Philadelphia vs Orlando -
Capped this one at Magic -2 and 196. Still can't give Philly credit for having such high scoring games I guess. They have had 3 OT games so far this year, which inflates both the offense and defense stats. Magic so far this year in the 2nd game of a back to back have put up 94, 96, and 103. The 103 was on the road against Minnesota in a game that was extremely fast paced and started off very quickly. I figure to put the Magic in that 94-99 point range...which would make 208 very difficult to hit.
Memphis vs Boston -
Capped this one at Memphis -3.5 and 184. Celtics seem to go on 4-5 game streaks this season...so my lean would be towards the Celtics early on in the game. At home this year the C's score 3 points more...and are putting up 52 points in the first half on average. Grizzlies on the road have been terrible early on in games...only putting up 40 per game. I see this one following suit...Celtics get up early to put a scare into the Grizzlies backers then blow the lead late and Grizzlies win by 1 or 2.
LA Lakers vs Brooklyn -
Capped this one at Nets -4.5 and 198. Small lean towards the OVER and the Nets as both teams are in the middle of tough stretches. Nets have 4 games in 5 days and the Lakers have 3 in 4. If I'm the Nets, I'm also going balls to the wall in this one with Houston, Memphis, Denver as their next three games. Lakers also might be a bit distracted with all the Kobe talk this week. Lakers have a -13 scoring differential on the road this year and they give up 111 per game. Of course, with my luck lately...all signs are pointing towards the Nets so the Lakers will win.
Miami vs Cleveland -
Capped this one at Heat -7.5 and 204. Lean towards the Cavs and the OVER. LeBron has struggled overall when returning to Cleveland, and it's obvious that the Cavs take those games a little more serious. Heat are only 4-5 ATS this year as favorites of 8 or more points...but the Cavs are 0-4 as big dogs. One of the crazier stats I found with this game is one of the refs...Matt Boland. Home teams are 1-10 ATS in his games, but 8-3 SU. That's insane to me...but it doesn't necessarily apply here because this is the first game he is assigned to with a home underdog. Another opportunity for a 1st quarter play here as the Heat only put up 21 points per game on the road in the 1st.
Capped this one to be Pacers -8 and a total of 187.5. Early reverse line movement going on with 60-70% of early money on the Pacers. I like the OVER right now simply because of the ability of the Pacers to put up points. I think they can easily get above 95 points...and with the garbage time points the total should go over. Also have to really take a hard look at the Bobcats early on or the UNDER early on. The Pacers are averaging 38.6 points per game in the first half on the road. The second half they are averaging 56.4. Amazing. Bobcats on the other hand put up 25 at home in the first quarter.
Philadelphia vs Orlando -
Capped this one at Magic -2 and 196. Still can't give Philly credit for having such high scoring games I guess. They have had 3 OT games so far this year, which inflates both the offense and defense stats. Magic so far this year in the 2nd game of a back to back have put up 94, 96, and 103. The 103 was on the road against Minnesota in a game that was extremely fast paced and started off very quickly. I figure to put the Magic in that 94-99 point range...which would make 208 very difficult to hit.
Memphis vs Boston -
Capped this one at Memphis -3.5 and 184. Celtics seem to go on 4-5 game streaks this season...so my lean would be towards the Celtics early on in the game. At home this year the C's score 3 points more...and are putting up 52 points in the first half on average. Grizzlies on the road have been terrible early on in games...only putting up 40 per game. I see this one following suit...Celtics get up early to put a scare into the Grizzlies backers then blow the lead late and Grizzlies win by 1 or 2.
LA Lakers vs Brooklyn -
Capped this one at Nets -4.5 and 198. Small lean towards the OVER and the Nets as both teams are in the middle of tough stretches. Nets have 4 games in 5 days and the Lakers have 3 in 4. If I'm the Nets, I'm also going balls to the wall in this one with Houston, Memphis, Denver as their next three games. Lakers also might be a bit distracted with all the Kobe talk this week. Lakers have a -13 scoring differential on the road this year and they give up 111 per game. Of course, with my luck lately...all signs are pointing towards the Nets so the Lakers will win.
Miami vs Cleveland -
Capped this one at Heat -7.5 and 204. Lean towards the Cavs and the OVER. LeBron has struggled overall when returning to Cleveland, and it's obvious that the Cavs take those games a little more serious. Heat are only 4-5 ATS this year as favorites of 8 or more points...but the Cavs are 0-4 as big dogs. One of the crazier stats I found with this game is one of the refs...Matt Boland. Home teams are 1-10 ATS in his games, but 8-3 SU. That's insane to me...but it doesn't necessarily apply here because this is the first game he is assigned to with a home underdog. Another opportunity for a 1st quarter play here as the Heat only put up 21 points per game on the road in the 1st.
Capped this one at Pistons -2.5 and 185.5. Biggest lean for me in this one would be the Bulls TT UNDER. They have looked absolutely lost since Rose went out, and I think it's going to be a while before they figure it out. Probably going to stay away from the spread in this one because of the early reverse line movement. Pistons have looked great in their past couple of games for sure...but the refs aren't home friendly and this screams out letdown game to me. Bulls shooting 38% from the field and 31% from 3 in their past 5 games.
Atlanta vs Houston -
Capped this one at Houston -6.5 and 215. Just like I don't give the Sixers for having such high totals, I like to believe the Rockets always have high totals. Everybody and their mother is on the OVER so far...but the Rockets only allow 99 points per game at home this year. 4 out of their 8 home games have been against top 10 offensive teams. Refs aren't exactly point friendly either. First quarter over looks good as well...Rockets have a +5 scoring differential in the 1st at home...and the Hawks allow 28 points per game in the 1st quarter on the road.
Washington vs Milwaukee -
Capped this one at Milwaukee -3 and 191. I think the Bradley Beal injury has to affect them at some point. A home game against the Lakers and Knicks is easy to get up for and put in maximum effort. A road game in Milwaukee the day before Thanksgiving? Not so much. Lean towards the UNDER as well as I don't see much motivation on either side.
Denver vs Minnesota -
Capped this one at Minnesota -5.5 and 210. Tough game here, and nothing really sticks out at me here. Two teams going in opposite directions recently...Nuggets 7-3 and the Wolves 4-6 in their last ten...but the Wolves are much better at home with a +11 scoring differential.
San Antonio vs Oklahoma City -
Capped this one at OKC -3 and 204. Big lean towards the Thunder in this one. They are undefeated at home, and have been rolling along. I think the Spurs long winning streak ends tonight. Bigger game for the Thunder right now.
Capped this one at Pistons -2.5 and 185.5. Biggest lean for me in this one would be the Bulls TT UNDER. They have looked absolutely lost since Rose went out, and I think it's going to be a while before they figure it out. Probably going to stay away from the spread in this one because of the early reverse line movement. Pistons have looked great in their past couple of games for sure...but the refs aren't home friendly and this screams out letdown game to me. Bulls shooting 38% from the field and 31% from 3 in their past 5 games.
Atlanta vs Houston -
Capped this one at Houston -6.5 and 215. Just like I don't give the Sixers for having such high totals, I like to believe the Rockets always have high totals. Everybody and their mother is on the OVER so far...but the Rockets only allow 99 points per game at home this year. 4 out of their 8 home games have been against top 10 offensive teams. Refs aren't exactly point friendly either. First quarter over looks good as well...Rockets have a +5 scoring differential in the 1st at home...and the Hawks allow 28 points per game in the 1st quarter on the road.
Washington vs Milwaukee -
Capped this one at Milwaukee -3 and 191. I think the Bradley Beal injury has to affect them at some point. A home game against the Lakers and Knicks is easy to get up for and put in maximum effort. A road game in Milwaukee the day before Thanksgiving? Not so much. Lean towards the UNDER as well as I don't see much motivation on either side.
Denver vs Minnesota -
Capped this one at Minnesota -5.5 and 210. Tough game here, and nothing really sticks out at me here. Two teams going in opposite directions recently...Nuggets 7-3 and the Wolves 4-6 in their last ten...but the Wolves are much better at home with a +11 scoring differential.
San Antonio vs Oklahoma City -
Capped this one at OKC -3 and 204. Big lean towards the Thunder in this one. They are undefeated at home, and have been rolling along. I think the Spurs long winning streak ends tonight. Bigger game for the Thunder right now.
Kobe would never play for Philly...he hates Philly bro...he played high at Lower Merion which is on the outskirts of Philly but for some reason he hates Philly
Kobe would never play for Philly...he hates Philly bro...he played high at Lower Merion which is on the outskirts of Philly but for some reason he hates Philly
Capped this one at Dallas -5 and 208. Small lean towards the Mavericks in this one as I don't think the Warriors can pull out another game without Iguodala and Bogut. Warriors held on for dear life last night against the Pelicans...I don't think the Mavericks will allow them that opportunity. Possibly a play on the UNDER as well because of Golden State's stats on the road as well as 4 out of the last 5 Mavericks home games have gone UNDER.
Portland vs Phoenix -
Capped this one at Portland -6.5 and 197.5. Big lean towards the Blazers in this one depending on what the line does. The two best teams ATS in this one...defining factor for me is how well the Blazers are able to play on the road this year. They actually score 1 more point per game on the road than at home...also the Suns have struggled offensively in the past five games without Eric Bledsoe. They were able to beat the Magic and Bobcats...but the Blazers are clearly in a different category. No upcoming games for the Blazers either...so they can go full tilt tonight.
NY Knicks vs LA Clippers -
Capped this one at Clippers -8 and 204.5. Everything is set pretty much where I expected it to be. Nothing really sticks out to me in this one...only reason there would be a play on this game is if the line continues to go down. Reverse line movement.
Capped this one at Dallas -5 and 208. Small lean towards the Mavericks in this one as I don't think the Warriors can pull out another game without Iguodala and Bogut. Warriors held on for dear life last night against the Pelicans...I don't think the Mavericks will allow them that opportunity. Possibly a play on the UNDER as well because of Golden State's stats on the road as well as 4 out of the last 5 Mavericks home games have gone UNDER.
Portland vs Phoenix -
Capped this one at Portland -6.5 and 197.5. Big lean towards the Blazers in this one depending on what the line does. The two best teams ATS in this one...defining factor for me is how well the Blazers are able to play on the road this year. They actually score 1 more point per game on the road than at home...also the Suns have struggled offensively in the past five games without Eric Bledsoe. They were able to beat the Magic and Bobcats...but the Blazers are clearly in a different category. No upcoming games for the Blazers either...so they can go full tilt tonight.
NY Knicks vs LA Clippers -
Capped this one at Clippers -8 and 204.5. Everything is set pretty much where I expected it to be. Nothing really sticks out to me in this one...only reason there would be a play on this game is if the line continues to go down. Reverse line movement.
Kobe would never play for Philly...he hates Philly bro...he played high at Lower Merion which is on the outskirts of Philly but for some reason he hates Philly
Never knew that. I know he always gets up for Sixers games and has great stats against them...but I assumed it was similar to playing in MSG...just wanting to do great for his home city?
The reason I said Philly was it made sense for the Lakers getting a high draft pick and it would seemingly make sense for Kobe because he would still be the alpha dog. I can't see him going anywhere where there is another superstar. He needs to be the show.
Kobe would never play for Philly...he hates Philly bro...he played high at Lower Merion which is on the outskirts of Philly but for some reason he hates Philly
Never knew that. I know he always gets up for Sixers games and has great stats against them...but I assumed it was similar to playing in MSG...just wanting to do great for his home city?
The reason I said Philly was it made sense for the Lakers getting a high draft pick and it would seemingly make sense for Kobe because he would still be the alpha dog. I can't see him going anywhere where there is another superstar. He needs to be the show.
Celtics are hot right now...playing very well together. I don't think they are quite good enough or deep enough to stick it out for 4 full quarters against the Grizzlies, but based on how bad the Grizz are on the road in the first half...this seems like a solid play. Prediction: Celtics 48 Grizzlies 45
Celtics are hot right now...playing very well together. I don't think they are quite good enough or deep enough to stick it out for 4 full quarters against the Grizzlies, but based on how bad the Grizz are on the road in the first half...this seems like a solid play. Prediction: Celtics 48 Grizzlies 45
Going big on this one. Thunder at home will be more than up for this game...and even though the Spurs haven't been using their big players for many minutes, I don't think they will win this game.
Going big on this one. Thunder at home will be more than up for this game...and even though the Spurs haven't been using their big players for many minutes, I don't think they will win this game.
I think its a good idea to resign Kobe but not for 48mil. They could have save some money to get other players. I guess they are trying to make some kind of statement signing him at that rate.
I think its a good idea to resign Kobe but not for 48mil. They could have save some money to get other players. I guess they are trying to make some kind of statement signing him at that rate.
i agree with the kobe situation, i was laughing so hard when the lakers owner tried to explain his reason for overpaying kobe. "20 is a special number"
i agree with the kobe situation, i was laughing so hard when the lakers owner tried to explain his reason for overpaying kobe. "20 is a special number"
While I understand what you are saying CM, you have to look at it from the other POV as well. The Lakers estimate that Kobe is worth $65 - $70 million to the team per year. He has given his whole career to the organization and the team does not want to see him finish his career anywhere else. He has transcended through three different eras of nba basketball and the Buss family feel they owe it to him. Its not a simple business decision imo and the analogy to the banker is no where close to accurate. Kobe is going to continue to bring fill the stadium. When they traded away Shaq, they still had a superstar to fill the seats. Buss loves his star players and is willing to pay for them. I don't blame him.
While I understand what you are saying CM, you have to look at it from the other POV as well. The Lakers estimate that Kobe is worth $65 - $70 million to the team per year. He has given his whole career to the organization and the team does not want to see him finish his career anywhere else. He has transcended through three different eras of nba basketball and the Buss family feel they owe it to him. Its not a simple business decision imo and the analogy to the banker is no where close to accurate. Kobe is going to continue to bring fill the stadium. When they traded away Shaq, they still had a superstar to fill the seats. Buss loves his star players and is willing to pay for them. I don't blame him.
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