Sure, Kobe is cocky, but so is LeBron and so was Jordan. No player was ever as cocky as Jordan (shooting freethrows with his eyes closed, tounge wagging). Cockiness is not the point. I like Kobe's skill and will not deny that he one of the best the league, the best in his position. The point of my argument is that what makes champions is a leader who leads. LeBron leads the Cavs players, and he enjoys playing with them.

I myself grew up a Golden State Fan during the "Run TMC" era... when the NBA was all about team ball, not individual standouts. Since then I have not had any strong allegiance towards any team. I am more of a player fan now.

The game is 48 mins long. Comments only apply when you see the letter F on the score board meaning Final. Kobe carried his team, Melo 39 is down the drain experience counts. Lakers steals game one for sure but that proves experience wins. Oh Hatred, How can i get over it. You just can't wait until they lose huh? I am rooting for Orlando tonight. All i know of Lebron is a High School Dunk Champion, where is his RING man? Wait, he is not married. Shaq won one in Miami that because of the young and athletic Dwade. I like Shaq the way he was with the Lakers, but there is no way 2 super stars coexist in one team, heard the word salary cap?. I wouln't keep Shaq because he is aging faster than he thinks. Look at him now. Money, its all about the money, they want someone exciting like Kobe stays with the team, not the aging Shaq, so that they could sell tickets and merchandise. Guess what? Kobe jerseys sell the most for the NBA. He is the NBA darling. Hate all you want, but the fact is he is far more valueable for the NBA than you think.

Watch more basketball and football you will see how fast the score changes the end of the game. That sure will shut up a lot of people when the comment a little too soon. Add some dough on the spread, your heart would be dancing to new wave techno.

Novax5, you knew that i don't like Kobe period! Now thinking about WCF series, i am sure this is a great series. Last night game was great and it's Conf. Final game. I want to see Nuggests win the Conf. final. Of course, you, QS and Kobe's fans love to see Lakers win.
Will see.

StartX5 and Dannyell -

Adding to Chilliwilli and Quicksilver's comments, I'll take it to different perspective. I've been a basketball junkie my entire life. I played organized basketball for 30 years, and when I wasn't playing in a league game, I was looking for a game at the local park or at the gym. IMHO, the best basketball is played on the street. Some of the best basketball players ever to play the game never made it to college. They didn't get the opportunity to play pro ball. But they owned the bragging rights because these guys could bring it against all comers, including NBA players.

Do you want to see the best basketball played on the face of the earth? Go down to the Cage in Greenwich or Rucker Park in Harlem. But be prepared to deal with the trash-talking and arrogance to go along with it, because it isn't the same game as the watered down basketball for the masses you watch on TV. The name of the game on the street is defile your opponent in any way possible, including talking shit about his mama while you're taking him to the hole.

Let's talk about arrogance and Kobe, or more specifically, why Kobe is singled out in this discussion. Kobe is no different than any other great player who can talk the talk and walk the walk.

Let's start off with the white guy in the greatest ever discussion. After Larry Bird made four straight baskets with Rodman guarding him, he ran over to Chuck Daly and asked "who's guarding me, Chuck? Is anyone guarding me? You better get someone on me or I'm gonna go for 60." Is that not arrogance?

Or is your beef with Kobe (no pun intended) when he complained about the personnel make up of the Lakers in 2006 and threatened to sit out the season? Did it happen? Nope. Was he posturing? Yup. Did it work? The Lakers got Paul Gasol and reached the Finals.

Hmmm... Didn't Magic do the same thing in 1981? Except he took it one step further. It was either him or the coach, Paul Westhead. Result: A immediate world championship with Riley and 3 more shortly after.

What about Jordan whose will to win led him to do very questionable things? Like be seen in Atlantic City at the crap table the night before a playoff game against the Knicks? Or bet and lose $1.25 million on a round of golf? And to quit on his team to go play baseball? He seriously thought he would be a great baseball player because, after all, he is Michael Jordan. That is the epitome of arrogance.

Or perhaps you have an issue with Kobe's alleged rape incident in Eagle, Colorado, which from every indication was an adultery that went bad. Do we perhaps think that Mssrs. Bird, Jordan, and Johnson have lived the lives of saints? Heck, the greatest of all time, Wilt Chamberlain, slept with 10,000 women.

The message is "Don't hate the playa, hate the game."

By the way, LeBron had better win the Championship this year. With a $91.5 million payroll, that's a lot of coin for a small market team and LeBron isn't even maxed out yet. He's only making $14M this year, compared to Garnet at $24M. It takes 3 superstars on a team to create a dynasty. Cleveland might be able to land a Chris Bosh as rumored for 2010-2011, but that isn't going to be enough. If you look back, the Laker, Celtic, and Bull dynasties were anchored by 3 or more HOF level players. LeBron is a damn good player, but he can't do it by himself.

Well put. Good analysis!

I never said anything negative about Kobe...nor any other basketball player..

I am just replying to people saying that Lebron makes no difference to CAVS..and that he is 'far behind' Kobe...Stupid to say such a thing...

I apologize if I got it wrong.

LeBron is a difference maker and has a greater impact on the outcome of a game than any other player in the league, even more so than Kobe because Cleveland's offense runs through LeBron whereas play is initiated through the high post in the Laker's triangle offense. If there were a touch count in the NBA like in the NFL, LeBron would easily lead the league in touches.

LeBron is every bit as good as Kobe, but in different ways. DWade is every bit as good as both of them, but in different ways as well. They are different players, each with different strengths and weaknesses.

But for anyone to think that Kobe is not a top-tier player is incredibly short-sighted or simply not very knowledgeable about the game of basketball. In fact, for anyone to not include Tim Duncan as not a top-tier player is just plain wrong. 4 NBA rings, 2 MVP's, 1 ROY, 3 time NBA Finals MVP, 12 All-NBA teams, and 12 All Defensive Teams tells me that Tim Duncan has been one of the best basketball players of all time, in the same breath as Russell, Wilt, and Kareem. Kobe's hardware collection is right behind Tim's.

We can all agree that LeBron has helped turn a franchise around, but you have to give credit to Danny Ferry for bringing in players that complement LeBron and Mike Brown for putting a system that maximizes the benefits of LeBron's many skills. The Cavs have played great during the playoffs. But had KG been healthy, I gotta think that it would have been a Celtics - Cavs conference final and I have to think the Celtics would have won it. LeBron could have gone off for a triple-double 50 every night, but if you hold the rest of the team down to 40 points, the Cavs are definitely beatable.

Thats exactly what happened. He is going down with the Cavs. He is a high school dunk champion, remember? Not a Finals material. I rank him the same level with Tracy McGraddy, Vince Carter. Thats max. Not sure about the rest of the series though, but they look weak playing Orlando. Orlando owned them today, on their homecourt. If Lebron doesn't make it to the Finals and win the whole thing for the next few years, he is done. Probably get traded to the Knicks and stuck there with a whole bunch of NBA-D leaguers. You never know. Remember Jayson William? He got drafted behind Yao, He was the most talented guard at the time coming out from Duke, guess what? Motocycle accident ended his career, you never know what happens, so you better win RINGS now. Kobe has already accomplised that he wanted that is 3 RINGS with the Lakers. He doesn't need to prove anything. All he has to do is try to win another one, or keep the Lakers in Playoffs and Finals to sell more ticket and merchandise. Lebron is shown too much on TV thats about it. How soon you forget about Lakers Dynasty just recently. It will take Lebron another 5 or more years to be at Kobe's level. Anyway, ORL 1 - CAV 0.

And.............In other interesting news

TOTALLY RANDOM Jerry West leans in direction of LeBron James over Kobe Bryant
Jerry West leans in direction of LeBron James over Kobe Bryant - Los Angeles Times