Star Wars

Sky’s The Limit

SHAQ vs KOBE PT 2

Despite being one of the popular players in the league Kobe still couldn’t get into the starting line-up.  His role would be more defined than his rookie season. West and Harris decided to use Bryant as the sixth man.  The move paid off immediately and he became the spark the Lakers needed.  Playing 20-30 minutes a game he averaged nearly 18 points a game his second year.  The Lakers reeled off 11 straight wins to start the season.  Even with O’Neal going down with an injury the Lakers would continue to dominate.  Van Exel would continue to step up with Jones and Campbell contributing, as were supporting players Robert Horry, Rick Fox and Derek Fisher.  O’Neal would average 28.3 points and 11.4 rebounds per game.  He also led the league with a 58.4 field goal percentage, which would be the first of five straight seasons he would do so.

With the Lakers battling the Seattle Supersonics for first in the Pacific Division, the fans voted Bryant into the starting line up of the All Star Game (youngest All Star in NBA history).  The NBA jumped the gun in promoting the game as Jordan vs Kobe, it was like all those crazy Nike commercials two years ago with Kobe and Lebron but then the Cavaliers got knocked out by the Magic.  Kobe started getting more attention but for the wrong reasons.  Keep in mind that he is still only 19 years old.  This would be the beginning of the Kobe doesn’t share the ball enough arguments.  His teammates on the West complained that he didn`t pass the ball enough (when was the last time you heard someone not pass the ball enough in any all star game?)  Then to make matters worse he decided to diss Karl Malone. West coach George Karl wasn’t impressed and benched him for the final quarter. Even Jordan took him to the side during the year to talk about it. 

Then Bryant drew the ire of his own coach in LA.  And the message was the same as before “PASS THE BALL!!’  Everybody knew that Kobe was going to be a star but he wasn’t on that level yet.  Showing flashes of greatness and being great is two different things.  He was still raw to the game and didn’t know how to play within Harris’ system.  This would cost him playing time which made him understand that he would have to change his game to benefit the team more.  Most kids that age would have a million reasons to give up and not handle that type of pressure but not Kobe.  It happened slowly but Harris started getting through to the future NBA superstar. He became a better all around player and started making small contributions on the defensive end.

By the time the NBA playoffs rolled around the Lakers were the second seed in the West.  They dismantled an impressive Portland squad in the first round. Then lost their first game against Seattle before winning four straight to wrap up the series.  Kobe wasn’t really playing much because of a bad bout with the flu.  Shaq on the other hand was destroying everything in sight.  I remember watching the playoffs and feeling bad for opposing centers in the NBA.  It just seemed unfair that a guy that weighed over three-hundred pounds could move and jump like that. He never got tired and just kept punishing players in the paint like a bully in the school yard.  But the Lakers were still missing a piece to the puzzle.  The Jazz would sweep them in the Western Conference Finals.

There was a bigger obstacle for the Lakers and the NBA the next year.  A lockout forced the league to go on hiatus for the first half.  No games on the court but off the court there was a lot going on.  Kobe decided to record a rap album, which was never released.  At first I was like alright maybe he can do it.  Shaq had some good music and even managed to get on records with the late great Notorious BIG and NWA alum Ice Cube.  I will never forgot the first time I heard Chris Webber on a record with Kurupt .  Philadelphia 76er’s star Allen Iverson was dropping albums as well.  Unfortunately, we never got to here the Black Mamba rip it on the mic.  This actually turned out to be a good thing when I heard Thug Poet on youtube.  Rapping wasn’t the only thing that kept him busy during the lockout.  He met Vanessa Laine, a teenage dancer on the set of a music video in the same building where he was recording.  They would get married in the spring of 2001, against his parents’ wishes.  They felt like he was too young for marriage.  This led to a brief estrangement from his parents.

When the labor dispute finally ended the NBA had to alter the length of their regular season to 50 games.  With the championship up for grabs the Lakers made three big moves.  First they signed Dennis Rodman to a contract.  They fired Harris and replaced him with assistant coach Kurt Rambis.  In march, they sent Jones and Campbell to Charlotte in exchange for Glen Rice, J.R. Ried and B.J. Armstrong. The Lakers finished the season with a 31-19 record entering the playoffs.  They felt like they had a team that could go all the way with additions they made over the summer and the season. Shaq continued to dominate the NBA and Kobe became one of the NBA’s brightest young stars.  Finally becoming a full time starter in the NBA Bryant flourished during the shortened season earning Third All NBA Team honours.  He led the team in steals and averaged 19.9 points per game.  It wasn’t just the stats that he was producing, but he was clutch in pressure situations which is what he would become more famous for later on in his career.  His jumper still lacked consistence but he was getting used more in key situations. However this is when rumours started swirling around the NBA that all was not well in the locker room between Shaq and Kobe.  Some were saying that the big man was jealous of his younger counterpart.  The team tried to smooth things over in a team meeting but bad feelings lingered. 

Despite negative rumours in the locker room the Lakers easily beat the Houston Rockets.  But they earned a second round match up against the red hot San Antonio Spurs.  Even though the Lakers were swept in this series fans blamed Kobe for missing two free throws late in Game 2.  The Lakers would never recover and were sent packing by the eventual Champs.

Favorite All Star Memories

First of all, I hate the NHL's version of it right now. Is it really this bad or is it because I'm not a kid anymore?  When I was growing up I used to look forward to this game every year. Hopefully this year the Player Draft will make it entertaining. In the spirit of the All Star Game comming up in Raleigh I want to see what everyones favorite memories have been from the past.

Listening to John Garrett make his claim to fame (Damn that Gretzky if only he hadn't scored 4 goals in the third period of the 1983 All Star Game I would've been the MVP!). Its actually a pretty funny story unless your name is John Garrett.

John Garrett was involved in one of the oddest scenarios in the history of the NHL All Star Game.  Replacing an injured Richard Brodeur, the Vancouver Canucks only representative at the 1983 All Star Game that year, John Garrett was voted the game's MVP.  After Wayne Gretzky scored four times in the last ten minutes, a re-vote was held and Gretzky was named the All-Star Game MVP.

1993 and 2009 Montreal - In 1993 the entire weekend belonged to Washington's Al Iafrate for setting a new record of 105.2 mph. Then sixteen years later again in Montreal the Big Z breaks Iafrate's record. It's been awhile since I heard a Bruin receive a standing ovation in Montreal. Which is why I think the best fans in hockey come from Montreal. Also it seemed like Russia invaded Montreal on that weekend. Starting with Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin taking over the first ever Skills Shootout. One of the most loved Canadians Alex Kovalev (not a typo they love him in Monteal like teens like the Twilight Series) goes on to capture the MVP. Who would've thought that Kovalev would excell in a game where you don't have to try?

1996 Boston - The fans in Beantown know how to celebrate their Legends. If you don't know what I'm talking about then go back and listen to the intro that Ray Bourque gets when he comes on to the ice. Then Bourque goes on to score the winning goal with 37 seconds left.

1997 San Jose - Sharks captain Owen Nolan scores a hat trick on home ice. The best part was when he skated down the wing and pointed where he was putting the puck before scoring. Domink Hasek didn't know what to do after that. Also I noticed that there was a glowing puck when I watched these highlights. We'll save that for another blog some other day.

2003 Florida - I remember getting up off the couch when I saw Dany Heatley make future Hall Of Famer Rob Blake look like a pylon scoring his first goal of the game. Heatley would go on to score four goals in the game. And here Jeremy Roenick make fun of the gap between his teeth. Yah its pretty bad but he can't touch Bobby Clarke I was thinking to myself.

Lets not forget this is the first time the NHL would use the Shootout in an All Star game. Two years later the NHL made it a part of the Regular Season. Also the West won in a shootout and Heatley scored the only shootout goal for the East and walked away with MVP honours.

Who wins this battle?