Interesting Article On Kobe (I'm not kidding, it is mildly entertaining)

[indeedproceed]

Kelly Dwyer-http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Stephen-Jackson-and-Kobe-Bryant-mix-it-up?urn=nba,195635

First, he quotes his colleague Adrian Wojono...well "Wojo"

Jackson flipped on Friday night in Los Angeles when Nellie let him stay on the floor to pick up five fouls and a technical inside of 10 minutes. Jax was at wit’s end when he started clinging close to Kobe Bryant. One source on the court says Kobe addressed Jax as “Young Fella,” and for some odd reason that pushed Jackson over the edge. Soon, Jackson was cursing Nellie and storming to the locker room on his way to a two-game preseason suspension.

Then, Dwyer goes on to put his own take on it.

Oh, Kobe.

I'm sorry, that's such a jerk move, but I can't help but love it.

Bird would have done that. Magic would have done that, Michael Jordan probably did that, and each of the members of the "done that" community would have known exactly what they were doing.

Known that the "young fella" in question was actually the same age, or older. And yes, you guessed it, Jackson has four months on Kobe.

Don't blame this on Kobe missing the transactions wire. Missing the news that sent Jackson to a community college while Kobe went straight to the pros, or forgetting that he bounced around, played in New Jersey, suffered with the Spurs, before showing up to guard Bryant in the 2003 playoffs.

A playoff turn that, if you'll remember, saw the Spurs bounce the Lakers. Ah.

Kobe remembers this stuff. Just as he remembered that Raja Bell(notes) was an integral late-season addition for the 2001 Philadelphia 76ers, a team that gave Kobe and his Lakers fits in that year's Finals. And that Bell played tough D on Kobe for years, over several different teams, before Kobe called him "kid" while talking about Bell to the media in 2006.

Bell is, of course, two years older than Kobe Bryant.

No, this isn't Kobe Bryant acting as a fair-weather fan, unaware of Jackson and Bell's presence until recently, thinking them some up-and-comer. He knows exactly what's going on, and how to get them off their game.

I kinda like that. Like Bird, or Magic, or Jordan. Like Woody Harrelson in "Semi-Pro", or like Rick Barry when he is yelling at his kids of undercutting Brent on his way to a layup just because this is going to be the first time Rick loses to one of his own spawn. A competitive, unyielding, and above all jerkish zeal that the best used to have.

Don't get me wrong, I love our guys, but none of them would do that. Kevin Garnett's Intensity (it has to be capitalized) isn't focused like that. Paul Pierce is too cool to be like that. Ray Allen is too classy, Rasheed just can't be bothered because he knows it's just a game he gets paid millions of dollars to play. But Kobe, he'll rattle you in a preseason game just to get to you. Not for later, not for some strategy, but just because he can. Dwyer says it better:

Does Bryant need to do this? Hell no.

Are the Warriors any threat to come near the playoffs this year? Of course not. Does he need to plant that seed in Jackson and Golden State now, in order to take advantage of that frustration in the spring? No way. Even if Jackson were shipped to a Western contender, does he need that edge on Jackson? Not even close.

He's just that much of a competitor. Some might think, "get a life," and I wouldn't blame them. But I'm thinking that this is a guy that reminds of a player who played in an era before elaborate pregame kiss and hug sessions before the game.

I'm not saying this is a good thing. Not telling you that the game is worse these days, now that most players are able to chill out and actually make a clear distinction between proper adult tact and competitive zeal, with that distinction shifting once the opening jump ball goes up.

What I am saying is that Kobe is one of the last of a rare breed, and that I can't help but love it when he pulls junk like this.

Ah, I miss old basketball. I wonder what Anthony Mason and Dale Davis are doing right now.......

Probably setting hard picks and taking cheap shots on some sixth graders. That's just what people did back then.

[Roy Hobbs]

I'm not sure that none of our guys would do that.  Paul Pierce, especially, is known to talk and to get under opponent's skin.  Pierce is, in his own way, just as cocky as Kobe.

KG and Rasheed talk all kinds of trash, too, although I get the impression that it's not as subtle as this.

[indeedproceed]

I'm not sure that none of our guys would do that.  Paul Pierce, especially, is known to talk and to get under opponent's skin.  Pierce is, in his own way, just as cocky as Kobe.

But in a preseason game? Paul isn't like that. He'll talk trash in the playoffs, sure...maybe even in the late regular season and against the Knicks for some reason, but against the Warriors in a preseason game? He just seems like he'd be beyond that.

KG and Rasheed talk all kinds of trash, too, although I get the impression that it's not as subtle as this.

KG's trash talking reminds me more of the bum on the street screaming that we should repent because the rapture is upon us. He's intense, he's screaming, but why, and at who..those are to be determined. it is best, probably, not to speculate.