NBA Offseason Thread.

[The Third Man]

"Enema" is a great typo in that context.

[Centreville]

NSFW(and for kids who frequent this site)

http://kissmyasslebron.bigcartel.com/

[Dillagii]

I can't wait for NBA season to start. I love Kobe even more after all this!! LeMe can never be as competitive as Kobe. LeHelpMe will never be said in same breathe as Jordan, Bird, Kobe, Magic (fair or not).

Lets go Kobe! Lets show them who the boss is!!

Yo LeCopeout, ever hold these two together?

[Dillagii]

He's 25 and no longer wants to play for a [expletive] franchise that has only brought in [expletive] talent to surround him with. I really don't understand why he's supposed to be "loyal" to the Cavs, whatever that means. Again, he played there for 7 years and they surrounded him with [expletive]. Why should he just stick around hoping things will change? Because they drafted him?

Because the legacy he could have left there would have been among the greatest ever. Now, it will never happen. Again, he could have hitched onto a championship wagon later in his career......... he didn't have to do it in his prime. Now we will never know if he could have taken a team on his back and carried them to a championship.

He chose championships over legacy. That's his choice. Maybe he'll never regret it. Nobody respects him for it. Maybe he's OK with that, too.

Thanks for all your posts Socnorb. I agree with all your points 100%.

Do you think Denver will resign Melo?

[Dillagii]

I'm guessing World Wide West is sitting somewhere smiling that he got pushed out of the LBJ circle. He can now go to the young players and say "see what happens when you push me out....you make image killing decisions".

It's been one day. If he goes on to win a few rings nobody is going to give a [expletive]. Look at Shaq. He bolts to LA wins some rings and nobody cares. His "legacy" isn't going to be that he couldn't get it done with Orlando so he cowardly signed with LA when he was a free agent. He's going to be a 4 time NBA Champion and one of the best big men to ever play the game.

Exactly. LeCrap's fate will be same as Shaq's. Have you ever heard people saying Jordan, Bird, Magic, Kobe, Shaq in same breath?

[Socnorb11]

I have this image of Kobe walking around for the past few days with his Kobe-smirk on his face 24/7 and it's making me laugh. I'm one of like seven people alive that was a legitimate Kobe fan without being a Laker fan (or bandwagoner) before this whole mess went down and it's only making me want him to trash the Heat even harder.

I had the exact same thought... Kobe is quietly laughing and enjoying all this..

And I never knew you were a Kobe fan.. Welcome, my friend!!!!

Count me among the seven people alive, as well. Kobe has to love this. He has absolutely no pressure now. If the Heat win the championship, everone will be "meh". If Kobe and the Lakers take them down, it's going to go down at Kobe's greatest accoplishment yet (and he's done some things, unlike Lebron!).

And yes, I think Carmelo will ultimately sign an extension with the Nuggets. Right now, he's simply using leverage to get some commitments from the front office to put some players around him. I can't blame him for that.

[Dillagii]

I have this image of Kobe walking around for the past few days with his Kobe-smirk on his face 24/7 and it's making me laugh. I'm one of like seven people alive that was a legitimate Kobe fan without being a Laker fan (or bandwagoner) before this whole mess went down and it's only making me want him to trash the Heat even harder.

I had the exact same thought... Kobe is quietly laughing and enjoying all this..

And I never knew you were a Kobe fan.. Welcome, my friend!!!!

Count me among the seven people alive, as well. Kobe has to love this. He has absolutely no pressure now. If the Heat win the championship, everone will be "meh". If Kobe and the Lakers take them down, it's going to go down at Kobe's greatest accoplishment yet (and he's done some things, unlike Lebron!).

And yes, I think Carmelo will ultimately sign an extension with the Nuggets. Right now, he's simply using leverage to get some commitments from the front office to put some players around him. I can't blame him for that.

Yeah.. I can't wait!!!

Hope Melo signs with Nuggets.. I fear Spurs and Nuggets the most in West. Nuggets are well coached team. I hope we square up in Western Conference Finals next season and hope Lakers win (If Nuggets take down Lakers, I'll root for them whoever is in the Finals)

[Dillagii]

GREENWICH, Conn., July 8, 1990 -- Michael Jordan announced on national television he's leaving Chicago to join the Detroit Pistons. Jordan said it was tough to bolt Chicago, where he was the most popular athlete in many years, because he thinks he has a better chance to win a championship if he plays with Pistons star Isiah Thomas. Jordan said by playing together, he and Thomas "won't have the pressure of going out and scoring 30 every night."

[lukethedrifter]

Dill, you and Kobe need to get a room.

[JackofDiamonds]

Normally I would just sit back and laugh at all this but it's getting completely out of hand.

Yeah, he went about this in about as selfish a way as possible, but some of the stuff people are saying here and everywhere else is just absurd. Suddenly everyone has an opinion about the NBA and a strong one at that. Lebron is somehow going to go from the most popular player in the NBA to the most hated? And now people like Kobe? Am I taking crazy pills?

Last I checked, every team that ever won a championship was loaded with talent. Cleveland wasn't going to be able to make that happen anytime soon. He doesn't owe them anything. He made that franchise. The question of what his legacy is/will be that socnorb has posed 40 times: what if he never won one in Cleveland because he never got the help he needed? What's his legacy then? Even if he did win one there no one would really draw any different conclusions. Kobe is starting to be mentioned in the same breath as the all time greats when everyone forgets that he had Shaq in his absolute prime and later Gasol and did jack [expletive] in between. Every one of the guys you threw out as examples had tons of talent around them and really only Jordan can claim to have made a franchise in his image. There will never be another Jordan and the sooner people figure that out, the better.

Wherever he chose to go, he was going to have a great team around him where he didn't have to always be the man. That's what it takes to win championships these days. It says nothing about him as a player. Kobe didn't carry the Lakers every night, nor did any of the "alpha dogs" on the last however many champions. All that matters is how many rings he wins. And no one can argue he doesn't want to win. When is the last time any NBA superstar in their prime left contract money on the table, let alone three of them? He also left money on the table in terms of marketing by not choosing NY or CHI. He's also sacrificing chances to set individual statistical records.

He decided Miami was the best place for him to try to win and everyone thinking they know better than him what's best for Lebron needs to step back and respect his decision. Those three guys know basketball better than any of us and if they think they can make it work then they're probably right. You can talk about playing styles and fit all you want but I guarantee you no one would put their money where their mouth is against that team right now.

Also, Dan Gilbert, maybe I could take anything you said seriously if you hadn't just done everything in your power to bring that same awful person you described back on your team.

Like I said, feel free to hate on him for all the events of the past few weeks culminating in last night's infomercial. I personally enjoyed the hell out of it from a comedy standpoint. But I have a feeling once he gets back to throwing down sick dunks and steamrolling the league most people will be back on board and the rest of the people spewing this vitriol will fade back into the woodwork because they don't care about the NBA anyway. The rest is sour grapes from people who either wanted him to come to their team or just realized they're playing for second place for the foreseeable future. Me? I'm just going to sit back and enjoy watching him play.

Perfect.