I was reading this and got really surprised to see what Pippen said there. I think he has a point. there are too much going on in this league, and it does not feel real. rookies average near a triple double in their first season, 3 guys are averaging more than 30 PPG, Kobe scores 81, the Pistons are on pace to post the greatest regular season record ever... but, are the 2005-06's Pistons as great as the MJ's Chicago Bulls? believe me, I'm a Piston fan, and I hope this chit-chat about winning 70 games end up. I'd like to see them losing a few (just a few!) games just to clear their minds and start worrying only about getting the ring. it only hurts a team to have this kind of pressure. at least, of course, they are an outstanding crew of guys who REALLY don't care about all that fuzz and are just playing, and winning.

anyway, I like to see that the NBA questions itself in its own web page.

I agree that MJ is better than Kobe. But Pippen was not even close to being as good as Kobe on Kobe's worst day. Pippen benefited from having the greatest NBA player of all time as a teammate. Without Jordan, (1994, 1995, 1998-retirment) Pippen was an above average player, but not a franchise player. Without Jordan, Pippen would have never been in the Top 50 of all-time IMO.

This isn't personal toward you, Goombah, it is just a gigantic pet peeve of mine.

I read the article by Scottie and didn't see anywhere in the article where Pippen claimed to be as good or better than Kobe. He compared Jordan to Kobe, not himself. He's an NBA analyst, so he gave his analysis. Whether Kobe is better than Scottie or not, that really has nothing to do with what he said about Kobe.

If Pippen has no right to analyze Kobe simply because you feel he was an inferior basketball player, then how are you able to criticize Pippen in the exact same manner? By your logic, you have no right to say anything that could be construed as negative about Pippen, because you obviously are not even on the same continent as Pippen when it comes to basketball skills. If you agree or disagree with what Pippen says, that is perfectly fine. You certainly have a right to your opinion, however, I see no correlation between Pippen's ability on the court and his analysis skills.

I think you're reading into it more than what I wrote. I never once said that Pippen didn't have the right to offer analysis on Kobe. And I never claimed that Pippen purported to be better than Kobe. I was simply stating my opinion on Kobe vs. Pippen, which is why I put "IMO" at the end.

For what it's worth the most Pippen ever scored in a game was 47. But...he also had 18 rebounds in a game once and 15 assists in a game twice, and 9 steals in a game once.

9 steals??? daaaamn... well I don't think Pippen compared himself with Kobe, but he did sound too tough, like he's taking too much away from Kobe. Pippen was a great role player who took gigantic benefit from playing with the greatest ever. Kobe is a genius! most of all, I believe he's the best player in the game simply because of his clutch time efforts.

How does the saying go: Stars are made in the first 46 minutes, Legends are made in the last 2.

They should just change the team name to the Kobes. Without Kobe, the Lakers are a lottery team.

The Los Angeles Kobes. Kinda has a ring to it.

Lol! How about the L.A. Bryants?

Bryant scored 40 Points, had 4 Steals, 3 Assists, 3 Rebounds and he went 23 for 26 (88%)! from the foul line tonight. He's averaging 35.9 Points Per Game, 1.29 SPG, 4.4 APG, 5.1 RPG and he's shooting over 83% from the Free Throw line! I think this kid's going places! Seriously though, inflated statistics or no inflated statistics and no matter what you may think of him as a man, there's no denying his brilliance on the court. I can safely say that he is the greatest player in the NBA today (Lebron James has not reached his peak yet) and perhaps the greatest player of my generation (I did grow up watching all the Championship seasons of Michael Jordan and yes he is better than Bryant but I have followed Bryant's career since he was a rookie) although one could make a case for Allen Iverson or Steve Nash.

Don J, I knew I liked you.

What a game though, did you see that? Everyone was on fire tonight. Well except the Knicks. Ha... ha... ha.

Anyway, I didn't want to join this thread earlier because... I don't know why. But I'm here now, so I'll give my take on the whole MJ/Kobe thing. There's no way I'd ever believe that MJ was as good as Kobe is. Offensively, shooting, etc? Forget it. Not even on his best day. Defensively, maybe. More than maybe, even. But that's it. No one scores like Kobe does... sure, he's a ball-hog. That's everyone's complaint. But what do they want, when the rest of the team can't rack up the points like he can? Everyone wants him to pass. Yeah? To who? (Whom?) I don't get it. We have a decent team, but it's Kobe's team right now, there's no two ways about it.

Now if we could only get some decent rebounds... I swear, I've spent all of this and last seasons stressing about our rebound situation. It's aging me, it really is.

By the way, on the subject of NBA bloggers, if you get a chance, guys... check out my favorite one, Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He's hilarious. Link

The first entry on the page, about Kobe's 81, is fantastic... but my favorite so far is the second one, called "Something About Purple and Gold-- It's great being a Laker Fan." Totally the best.

My favorite excerpt though, the one that seriously made me laugh out loud, was this, from December 16.

"memorable moments in the history of man:

1. man invents the wheel
2. thomas edison invents the light bulb
3. mahatma ghandi spreads true love around the world
4. martin luther king spreads more amazing true love around the world
5. LAKERS GO 5 0F 6 ON ROAD TRIP IN DECEMBER OF 2005, BEATING MILWAUKEE, DALLAS, AND THE GRIZZLEHOUNDS!!!!!!

i have lived to the fullest during these victorys
i have been to the mountain top
i have hit a hole in one during the masters in a playoff against tiger
and jack nicklaus
i have dueted free jazz with john coltrane in a holy temple of joy"

The guy is nuts, I love him. Anyway, sorry, I'm SO off topic.

Right back at ya baby! Allow me to clarify though, although I do admire the history of the team and I do like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Shaq I am not a Laker fan. I am a Toronto Raptor fan, but I just think that Kobe Bryant does not always get a fair shake and that`s not cool. I don`t think that as it stands now Bryant is better than Jordan was but Kobe`s career is far from over and when all is said and done he could very well have better numbers than M.J. himself.

As far as the claim that Bryant is a hog, the guy is averaging 4.3 Assists Per Game this year and is averaging 4.4 APG for his career which is, granted, a little on the low side for a Guard of his calibre but is most definitely respectable. His career high for APG was in 2004-05 when he had 6 a game. He has 2 996 Assists for his career and 528 Playoff Assists, neither of which are in John Stockton or Magic territory but both numbers are respectable.

My only advice to those who can`t stand K.B. is to invest in his Rookie Cards, you`ll thank me when they`re worth thousands!