Hello, all -
Just returned from my Australian trip - hope all is well with everyone.
Read through some of the more interesting topics since my departure and have some opinions:
Kidd being traded to the Lakers - not without some third team involvement.
After Odom (Kobe does not apply here), who on the Lakers can possibly offer equal value back to the Nets for a player like Kidd? Not Brown - not Mihm - Radmanovic only as "part" of the trade package. Though the Nets need front court help, who doesn't? If the Lakers trade Brown and/or Mihm, then THEY will need front court help. Bynum is the real catch, and so is Luke Walton to a certain degree, mostly for their potential. So why would the Lakers include either in a trade for a point guard of a certain age? If trading for Kidd could guarantee the Lakers a good run in the playoffs, then you might consider trading your young guys for a one or two year rental player. That sort of worked out well with Malone and Payton. Then it is back to the draft for that "potential".
A "gay" NBA player 'coming out' and it being an issue - How 'gay' is that to talk about? But I did laugh at some of the "I luv wemen's" posts, as if we thought otherwise because the posts was about being gay.
Kobe's suspension - You know, once again, the issue is not that Kobe got suspended by the League for his intentional/inadvertant elbow to Ginobili, or that Kobe saw him before flinging his elbow out (Kobe just got his shot blocked from his right - I am pretty sure he was aware of a Spurs player being in that vicinity at that moment), or if Ginobili was faking or overreacting to the play (People - he got whacked in front of his bench, the trainers ran out to him, and I think we can be fairly certain they told Ginobili to stay where he was until they stemmed the flow of blood coming out of his nose and to make sure he was all right before getting him to his feet. There certainly was no hurry in that the break at the end of regulation has just occurred).
In fact, I have little to say regarding the penalty, or the actions leading up to it. The League saw enough to make the assessment that Kobe could have avoided the elbow to the face of an opponent and suspended him for it. It happens. I have no idea if Kobe did it intentionally, was reacting to draw a foul, or (my personnal opinion), he was doing an NBA move to draw attention to (what looked like non-existent) contact and for drama he threw his elbow out to make it look more like he got hit on the side.
No, what got to me was the reaction by Jackson and Kobe AFTER the League handed down the suspension. Kobe should be given preferential treatment because of who he is? The League should make an exception to its own bylaws and review the decision immediately since the Lakers were in New York anyway? THIS garbage is the reason you might note some animosity towards the Lakers and/or Kobe on this board and elsewhere. They are not above the rules, period. Deserved or not, the penalty should be served after the required gripping about how unfair the League was in noticing a little blood after a hard hit, but to ask the League to suspend its rules because of who Kobe is or where they are, or for any other reason of the like is stupid.
And I think it is about time for Phil Jackson to stop thinking everyone else also considers Kobe to be the next Michael Jordan. With Jordon, a little special (and equally undeserved) treatment came with the game, but in many respects - mainly his attitude regarding his own greatness, plus some disagreeable off-court issues - Kobe just can't overcome that last Jordanian hurdle. So he should not expect it because of who he is. That is crass.
