I honestly think if you just came out and said that you hate him and think he’s a prick and don’t want him on the Pistons we’d all respect it. But the flimsy evidence you provide just make you look silly:

“Scored 81 points in a single game, seriously read that again yo.”

yes he did. he’s also the teams ONLY scoring option. if he gets real hot, he’s bound to have a big game like this. I don’t care if Rip takes 30 shots, as long as he makes 20 of them. This isn’t proof of an overall selfishness, just of his role on the team and his incredible talent.

“Gives himself stupid nicknames”

the majority of the players in the lague do this, including Shaq (who you consider basketball royalty). why the selective prosecution? maybe because you irrationally hate kobe and are grasping at straws as to why?

“Runs around the court in purple compression shorts (read tights, yes girly fing purple tights).”

again, proof he’s selfish or more proof your hatred for him is irrational?

“Has repeatedly critisized his team-mates for not being talented enough.
Spent the summer killing his GM in public
Spent the summer killing the team owner in public.”

I’m lumping all these together because they fall under the category of “Unfortunately, He’s Right.” Wether you want to admit it or not, Kobe tried everything last year to be succesful, that included taking far fewer shots and trying to get his teammates involved. it didn’t work. why? because he has nothing to work with. I’d be as frustrated as him were I in his shoes.

I think Kobe was selfish in the ‘04 Finals loss to the Pistons.

Kobe, ‘04 Finals vs. Pistons
43-113 FG, 38% FG%, 23-25 FT, 45% EFG%, aprox. 125 shots + fouls

Shaq, ‘04 Finals vs. Pistons
53-84 FG, 63% FG%, 27-55 FT, 68.6% EFG%, aprox. 111 shots + fouls

I know the Pistons played great defense in that series but Shaq had every right to complain he wasn’t getting the ball enough. Shaq shot over 50% from the field in EVERY game and had two games where he was unstoppable (13-16 Game 1, 16-21 Game 4). In both of those games Kobe still took more shots than Shaq. I know there is foul trouble for Shaq to consider but that works both ways. I know I was happy to see Kobe chucking it up night after night in that series.

I think Kobe is a great player and his defense and toughness would fit well in Detroit (think of his play for USA Basketball). But it’s never going to happen so no sense arguing. I’d rather have a Mutumbo-esque Shaq into his 40s playing 15 minutes a night.

I’m not wasting much breath citing examples of Kobe being selfish/egotistical/a team cancer. They are ALL over the net. I’m sorry you haven’t READ any of them but here’s a quick off the top of my head, just in the past couple seasons list:

Scored 81 points in a single game, seriously read that again yo.
Gives himself stupid nicknames
Runs around the court in purple compression shorts (read tights, yes girly fing purple tights).
Has repeatedly critisized his team-mates for not being talented enough.
Spent the summer killing his GM in public
Spent the summer killing the team owner in public.

That’s for starters…. the rest of it I’m sure you can look up.

2) Sheed was pretty ugly at the end of last year. He’s never jacked up 50 shots in a night to my knowledge however. Additionally it’s harder for Bigs to destroy team flow since they only get the ball once the guard sends the ball out to them, no so with a player like Kobe.

Look, feel however you want about the subject but know we’re pretty much 3 days away from this thread’s inception and way on a tangent…

1) Someone asked me to PROVE Kobe Bryant is a selfish player. That in an of itself should make it obvious this thread has gone insane

2) The Aquistion of Kobe Bryant is now being related to keeping Sheed Wallace which is NOT related to even this flimsy rumor.

Too much nonsense.

If we magically get Kobe and don’t win a championship he’ll throw a fit afterward. However, if we still have Sheed he’ll throw a fit DURING a series and guarantee that we lose it (again).

I’m not saying I necessarily want Kobe on the team (though I am saying I want Sheed off it), but to say what a terrible person he is and what a chemistry killer he would be is a rather thin argument considering the problem child we’ve been harboring all this time.

Rip and Sheed for Kobe works salary-wise, and I’d rather keep the under-performing but in control Prince than the blathering embarrassment that is Rasheed Wallace.

It surprises me that so few people are floating Wallace’s name around the trade rumors. Maybe he’s proven to be such an idiot it seems unlikely the Lakers would want him.

I don’t want him on my team anymore. I’m sick of justifying why we have the biggest, whiniest, jackass in the league on our team. i’m sick of getting my hopes up in one playoff series just to see Sheed quit in the next.

I guess this is what really irks me. For that past year or two we’ve had to hear about how it’s really Sheed that sets the tone for the team. NO NBA TEAM WILL EVER WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP WITH RASHEED WALLACE IN THIS ROLE!!!

One way or another I want Sheed off my team. If getting rid of him can bring the best player in the league here, then all the better.

Kobe made one huge mistake. He thought he could win a championship with himself as the lone superstar on a team full of role players. So he drove away Shaq, who btw hasn’t won anything without another superstar playing alongside either. Kobe realized he screwed up, and decided to opt out and test free agency waters. He was lured back to the Lakers with two things: a boatload of cash, and the promise that the team would be made competitive.

That promise was not fulfilled. Kobe has been extremely frustrated over the last two years because the team has refused to make moves that would make them a contender now. Despite promising Kobe publicly that they would. Instead, they hang on to Andrew Bynum like he’s the second coming of Mikan and draft projects like Javaris Crittenton.

For two years, Kobe did his damnedest to make that team competitive. When he dropped 81 points in that game, he wasn’t running up the score. Until like the last couple minutes, the Lakers needed every one of those points. Kobe hucks it 50 times a game because that’s the best strategy the Lakers have given their roster.

But then what happens? Kobe gets blasted by a bunch of talking heads and writers who need to fill column inches about how he’s selfish. So what does he do? He snaps like in Game 7 against Phoenix in 2006 and tries to facilitate a collection of role players who simply aren’t that good. As the most talented player in the league, the demands placed on Kobe are simply unreasonable: take whatever junk the front office hands him and being a contender in a tough conference, but do it without meeting some nebulous definition of “selfish” that really only exists to make news stories out of nothing.

After two years of this and essentially admitting his mistake (he’s pining for Jermaine O’Neal for Christ’s sake), he snapped completely, something I can’t blame him for. I couldn’t imagine living under the pressure he has to simply because Shaq is a big oaf who’s good for a quote or two, so the media loves him, thus making Kobe the bad guy.

Find me cases where Kobe has talked about averages, individual awards, his own stats, etc. and I’ll change my tune. No, he wouldn’t automatically fall in with the Pistons, and there would be some adjustment. And I’m not sure Phillip is the right guy to coach him. But I don’t buy that Kobe is a me-first stat hog who would rather win scoring titles than rings, or even demands to do both. I think it’s much more likely that he would relish playing with teammates as talented as Chauncey and Sheed or Tay. I think he would relish having competent backups. I think having a defined role would suit him. Run through scripted starts to games, and if the rest of the team is off, take over. If he’s off, play tough D and pass more.

In short, I don’t think Kobe is a square peg in a round hole if he were to come to the Pistons. Whether or not Kobe agrees, I think the Pistons are exactly what he needs: talented, loose teammates playing in an atmosphere that isn’t driven by stars and media frenzy.

Thankfully, the deal wouldn’t ever happen in a million years…

*crosses fingers*

as for the 80% of posts… sorry, work was shall we say “incredibly uninspiring” today and my internet connection was the only one to console me

You’re wrong about something, though: he wasn’t acquitted. The woman decided not to testify, so the charges were dropped. The most likely scenario is that a deal was cut where she would essentially drop the charges and then the civil suit she had filed three weeks earlier would be settled. It’s a fine distinction, but it comes down to no chance of jail time in return for the money. Oh yeah, and the woman was able to start getting her life back to normal after being the epicenter of media for a year. In a he-said, she-said case, the alleged victim is under as much, if not more, than the alleged perp. Getting paid to be able to walk away from the scrutiny is a great deal.

It just seems to me, on another level, that Detroit hasn’t ever bought into the idea that you have to build around a superstar. We’ve gotten stars through the draft, and through a ridiculous trade that sent away Chucky, a pick, Rabraca, and Sura (in that order of importance) in return for Sheed, but we haven’t mortgaged the house to buy a Porsche, and I don’t think we should. I just don’t see Joe D. making a trade that is the antithesis of his managerial style. He won a championship by giving a home to players who hadn’t found one yet. Plus, I would love to see Tay finish his career in Detroit.

As a Piston fan, believe it or not, i perfer running under the radar. I don’t need the world media here in Detroit, trying to stir up trouble, thats partly why i think having Kobe here might be a mistake. We all know we’ve had a great team for the last 5-6 years, i think we should have popularity for THAT…NOT for having the most popular player in the NBA. If we made a trade to send away players that contributed to our success, JUST to get a player to make us popular and sell jerseys, than thats just stupidity.

We DO have the Bad Boys here, we don’t need to add a Bad Girl.

and Piston’s Fan in ChiTown, no I don’t… I can begrudingly tolerate him in the name of winning however… see Williams, Roy WR Detroit Lions.

I, like many others here, am a huge fan of both Tay and Rip. But business is business, and Kobe is Kobe.

If the deal is on the table, you got to pull the trigger.
I’d even throw A. Affallo and a second rounder to sweeten the pot.

Hate Kobe, but you got to love him on your team.