TD retires now it is KG's turn

[bleedspeed]

That sounds like Kobe. What a cluster. I don't see Wolves giving KG that treatment and I don't see KG being that way.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Sorta related...

I heard Roy Hibbert on a podcast. He had this story to share...

The Lakers were all on the plane ready to leave for a road trip at 2:00. But Kobe Bryant wasn't there. Now, if it was anybody else, the flight would have taken off and the player fined. But this was a star player in his farewell season. So they waited. 10 minutes. 20 minutes...

Suddenly, a helicopter showed up next to the plane at 2:30. Bryant got out. But he didn't walk to the plane. He waited for the people on the helicopter to grab his bags and put them in one of those golf cart things. Then, they drove him to the plane about 50 yards away.

When Bryant got on, the team clapped. Bryant wondered why... and somebody said something about how glad they were he could make it. That's when Bryant lowered his shades to say "You mfers are lucky I showed up at all."

The final season of a legendary HOF career can get dicey...


[Note: The other funny part was when he was talking about fans yelling at Lakers players for not helping Kobe in the final game. "He's doing it all out there. Help him!!!" Apparently, the fact that the entire team strategy was to give Bryant the ball and set picks for him was completely lost on the clueless fans.]

Unbelievable....well, not really.

Yeah, I really felt bad for the young dudes on the Lakers. Byron Scott and Co. set their development back a year catering to Kobe's self-centered farewell chucking tour. He led the team in field goal attempts despite only playing 66 games. He shot 35.8%. What a troll.

Meanwhile, the Wolves have spent the last two seasons making sure the likes of Wiggins, LaVine, and KAT were given tons of starts and shots. Yes, the LaVine situation was handled poorly when Mitchell flip-flopped early in the season and tried to make him a PG (again). But that eventually was course-corrected.

At least KG knows his role. In the limited time we saw him play last season, he was extremely helpful, playing good defense while deferring to his younger team mates on offense. The issue with him has to do with the cascading effects of Flip's death.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

You must have missed it, LST, but Thibs said he had spoken to KG in one of his press conferences, but that conversation would remain private.

I guess Thibs kept it from your "source", too!

My guess is that they have had a phone or text conversation of some kind but not a face to face conversation. That could account for the discrepancies from various sources.

Could be...but just to clarify, my friend didn't say anything about contact between KG and Thibs this summer. He only talked about how strained the relationship is currently, and that the Wolves are actively working on a buyout.

I was wrong when I said KG hasn't had any contact with his teammates since the season ended, because I was told later yesterday that he and KAT text and talk on the phone frequently. Sounds like the two of them really developed a great relationship last year, and it's not unlikely that KG had a lot to do with KAT's smooth transition to the NBA. That said, I think most of us believe KAT will excel this season whether KG comes back or not.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Sorta related...

I heard Roy Hibbert on a podcast. He had this story to share...

The Lakers were all on the plane ready to leave for a road trip at 2:00. But Kobe Bryant wasn't there. Now, if it was anybody else, the flight would have taken off and the player fined. But this was a star player in his farewell season. So they waited. 10 minutes. 20 minutes...

Suddenly, a helicopter showed up next to the plane at 2:30. Bryant got out. But he didn't walk to the plane. He waited for the people on the helicopter to grab his bags and put them in one of those golf cart things. Then, they drove him to the plane about 50 yards away.

When Bryant got on, the team clapped. Bryant wondered why... and somebody said something about how glad they were he could make it. That's when Bryant lowered his shades to say "You mfers are lucky I showed up at all."

The final season of a legendary HOF career can get dicey...


[Note: The other funny part was when he was talking about fans yelling at Lakers players for not helping Kobe in the final game. "He's doing it all out there. Help him!!!" Apparently, the fact that the entire team strategy was to give Bryant the ball and set picks for him was completely lost on the clueless fans.]

Unbelievable....well, not really.

Yeah, I really felt bad for the young dudes on the Lakers. Byron Scott and Co. set their development back a year catering to Kobe's self-centered farewell chucking tour. He led the team in field goal attempts despite only playing 66 games. He shot 35.8%. What a troll.

Meanwhile, the Wolves have spent the last two seasons making sure the likes of Wiggins, LaVine, and KAT were given tons of starts and shots. Yes, the LaVine situation was handled poorly when Mitchell flip-flopped early in the season and tried to make him a PG (again). But that eventually was course-corrected.

At least KG knows his role. In the limited time we saw him play last season, he was extremely helpful, playing good defense while deferring to his younger team mates on offense. The issue with him has to do with the cascading effects of Flip's death.

The sad thing and entire season of Kobe's excess and embarrassment will only be remembered for "greatness" because he scored 60 in his final game.

That is so Kobe Bryant...


Quick tangent. I had a proud dad moment over the weekend. We were at a friend's house and my son was trading basketball cards with the other boy. He came running up to me... "Dad, Dad, I just traded a Kobe Bryant card for a Larry Bird card. I did good, right?"

You did good, boy. You're now my favorite child. (I almost teared up... it felt like all my work as a parent is actually working!)

[Shumway]

Quick tangent. I had a proud dad moment over the weekend. We were at a friend's house and my son was trading basketball cards with the other boy. He came running up to me... "Dad, Dad, I just traded a Kobe Bryant card for a Larry Bird card. I did good, right?"

You did good, boy. You're now my favorite child. (I almost teared up... it felt like all my work as a parent is actually working!)

That is a genuinely cool story Abe. Nice job with the parental skills.

[Monster]

Sorta related...

I heard Roy Hibbert on a podcast. He had this story to share...

The Lakers were all on the plane ready to leave for a road trip at 2:00. But Kobe Bryant wasn't there. Now, if it was anybody else, the flight would have taken off and the player fined. But this was a star player in his farewell season. So they waited. 10 minutes. 20 minutes...

Suddenly, a helicopter showed up next to the plane at 2:30. Bryant got out. But he didn't walk to the plane. He waited for the people on the helicopter to grab his bags and put them in one of those golf cart things. Then, they drove him to the plane about 50 yards away.

When Bryant got on, the team clapped. Bryant wondered why... and somebody said something about how glad they were he could make it. That's when Bryant lowered his shades to say "You mfers are lucky I showed up at all."

The final season of a legendary HOF career can get dicey...


[Note: The other funny part was when he was talking about fans yelling at Lakers players for not helping Kobe in the final game. "He's doing it all out there. Help him!!!" Apparently, the fact that the entire team strategy was to give Bryant the ball and set picks for him was completely lost on the clueless fans.]

Unbelievable....well, not really.

Yeah, I really felt bad for the young dudes on the Lakers. Byron Scott and Co. set their development back a year catering to Kobe's self-centered farewell chucking tour. He led the team in field goal attempts despite only playing 66 games. He shot 35.8%. What a troll.

Meanwhile, the Wolves have spent the last two seasons making sure the likes of Wiggins, LaVine, and KAT were given tons of starts and shots. Yes, the LaVine situation was handled poorly when Mitchell flip-flopped early in the season and tried to make him a PG (again). But that eventually was course-corrected.

At least KG knows his role. In the limited time we saw him play last season, he was extremely helpful, playing good defense while deferring to his younger team mates on offense. The issue with him has to do with the cascading effects of Flip's death.

The sad thing and entire season of Kobe's excess and embarrassment will only be remembered for "greatness" because he scored 60 in his final game.

That is so Kobe Bryant...


Quick tangent. I had a proud dad moment over the weekend. We were at a friend's house and my son was trading basketball cards with the other boy. He came running up to me... "Dad, Dad, I just traded a Kobe Bryant card for a Larry Bird card. I did good, right?"

You did good, boy. You're now my favorite child. (I almost teared up... it felt like all my work as a parent is actually working!)

That's a great story Abe. I feel proud for both you and your son. Now don't let this one event allow both of you to coast through the next few years keep up your process.

A have a decent chunk of friends many of them I play ball with that are Lakers fans. All of them were giddy over his 60 point game and many are fans of Kobe's ability but They seemed all well aware of Kobe's farewell tour being well a less than positive. Maybe they are not a good representation of Lakers fans in general but I appreciate that they have reasonable perspective. That sorta goes against the stereotype of fans from a franchise like that I think. Overall though yeah Kobe's last year will be remembered more good than bad because of that 60. In some ways that's fine I guess. He was a great player and while I never liked the guy I respected a lot of his game.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Quick tangent. I had a proud dad moment over the weekend. We were at a friend's house and my son was trading basketball cards with the other boy. He came running up to me... "Dad, Dad, I just traded a Kobe Bryant card for a Larry Bird card. I did good, right?"

You did good, boy. You're now my favorite child. (I almost teared up... it felt like all my work as a parent is actually working!)

That is a genuinely cool story Abe. Nice job with the parental skills.

Whenever Larry Bird's name is invoked by a younger person, it gives one hope about the future of this country!

[Monster]

Last night a good friend texted me that Prince Fielder (he is a vegetarian) was retiring. We chatted back and forth about that and joked about our own retirement. I decided I would mention some of the info we have been discussing here to him that its not looking good between KG and the Wolves. Here was his reply.

"Does anything ever end good with the Wolves and their players?"

What a tough and true question. I can't really think of a Wolves player having a good end with the Wolves.

[Lipoli390]

Sorta related...

I heard Roy Hibbert on a podcast. He had this story to share...

The Lakers were all on the plane ready to leave for a road trip at 2:00. But Kobe Bryant wasn't there. Now, if it was anybody else, the flight would have taken off and the player fined. But this was a star player in his farewell season. So they waited. 10 minutes. 20 minutes...

Suddenly, a helicopter showed up next to the plane at 2:30. Bryant got out. But he didn't walk to the plane. He waited for the people on the helicopter to grab his bags and put them in one of those golf cart things. Then, they drove him to the plane about 50 yards away.

When Bryant got on, the team clapped. Bryant wondered why... and somebody said something about how glad they were he could make it. That's when Bryant lowered his shades to say "You mfers are lucky I showed up at all."

The final season of a legendary HOF career can get dicey...


[Note: The other funny part was when he was talking about fans yelling at Lakers players for not helping Kobe in the final game. "He's doing it all out there. Help him!!!" Apparently, the fact that the entire team strategy was to give Bryant the ball and set picks for him was completely lost on the clueless fans.]

Unbelievable....well, not really.

Yeah, I really felt bad for the young dudes on the Lakers. Byron Scott and Co. set their development back a year catering to Kobe's self-centered farewell chucking tour. He led the team in field goal attempts despite only playing 66 games. He shot 35.8%. What a troll.

Meanwhile, the Wolves have spent the last two seasons making sure the likes of Wiggins, LaVine, and KAT were given tons of starts and shots. Yes, the LaVine situation was handled poorly when Mitchell flip-flopped early in the season and tried to make him a PG (again). But that eventually was course-corrected.

At least KG knows his role. In the limited time we saw him play last season, he was extremely helpful, playing good defense while deferring to his younger team mates on offense. The issue with him has to do with the cascading effects of Flip's death.

The sad thing and entire season of Kobe's excess and embarrassment will only be remembered for "greatness" because he scored 60 in his final game.

That is so Kobe Bryant...


Quick tangent. I had a proud dad moment over the weekend. We were at a friend's house and my son was trading basketball cards with the other boy. He came running up to me... "Dad, Dad, I just traded a Kobe Bryant card for a Larry Bird card. I did good, right?"

You did good, boy. You're now my favorite child. (I almost teared up... it felt like all my work as a parent is actually working!)

Love this story, Abe! You can truly claim success as a parent. :)

[bleedspeed]

Who is Larry Bird? He a relative to Big Bird?