Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Anybody watch the redeem team documentary?
Look - LeBron is a better player than Kobe. More versatile and simply more physically gifted.
But Kobe's ferocity and focus is just unreal. And that guy took so much shit for being a poor leader because A) he was a baby when it started and B) his teammates were absolute shattered ass (James squad looked like the dream team in comparison at times) when it really become the common statement.
But his leadership on that olympic team was so critical and just so good. And he was a killer out there; an absolute savage. And his focus was so single-minded that the 'kids' on the team had to follow suit or get eaten alive.
Say LeBron was a better player if you want - that's fine. Pretty easy argument to make from a lot of different directions. But would there's only been one guy to ever match Kobe in terms of sheer pathological drive to win and that's MJ. I think I'm still starting a team with Kobe over LeBron.
LeBron can do more to make a bad team good. But Kobe can do more to turn a good team into a champion, IMO.
Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins:
It's too bad there isn't a prime version of Charles Oakley running around the league just so he could stomp the dog piss out of Draymond. I can't think of a more detestable mother****er on the court. A bully in every sense.
I always thought Anthony Mason was scarier than Oakley. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Gary Cooper:
LOL. Those guys were teammates once. John Starks too. They would have scared the Bad Boys.
I don't remember Ben Wallace doing anything crazy, even though he was partly responsible for the brawl at the Palace.
I also wonder how many "accidental" elbows Karl Malone would have fed to Draymond.
That was the thing with Wallace - he didn't lose his cool. And part of that was that I think people just didn't fuck with him.
It was just the way he carried himself out there. He didn't feel some need to bark all the time - he just sauntered around, let 'sheed do the talking but he had a presence that let you know that he could kill you with his bare hands if he felt so inclined... [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Ben Wallace was always the monster under the bed for me.
Oak, Mason, Xavier McDaniels, Bill Lambier - the NBA has plenty of psychos to be sure.
But fucking Wallace was a tank and just seemed to have blind rage constantly simmering just below the surface.
Wallace got off really lucky in the aftermath of the Malice in the Palace. He's the one that lit that fuse.
That said, I have no doubt Charles Oakley would have been an ATG heavyweight fighter. No one was willing to mix it up with him. The story of him bitch-slapping Barkley is nightmare fuel. [Reply]
Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins:
It's too bad there isn't a prime version of Charles Oakley running around the league just so he could stomp the dog piss out of Draymond. I can't think of a more detestable mother****er on the court. A bully in every sense.
It is looking unlikely Warriors forward Draymond Green will be suspended for Game 3 vs. Kings after stepping on Domantas Sabonis when Sabonis grabbed his leg on Monday night, sources tell @TheAthletic@Stadium.
Not surprising unfortunately. The NBA under Adam Silver has routinely appeased the Warriors and it appears this will be no different.
Remember that Draymond only got suspended back in 2016 because he had accumulated enough "flagrant foul points" throughout the playoffs. Up until then, when they had no choice by their own rules to suspend, they just let him freely kick/punch players in the balls all postseason. [Reply]
The John Shaft Award
This goes to Oakley. One of the networks needs to have a "Coolest guy on the planet" contest because Oakley would absolutely win. You know those "Road House" scenes in which Swayze just stands in the bar, surveying the scene with a thin smile on his face, barely moving a fingernail and meanwhile, 10 drunk guys are brawling a few feet away from him? That's what Oakley is like. You could hire some extras to play gang members at one of these parties, then have them fire blanks at each other 10 feet from Oakley and I'm not even sure he would flinch. The great thing about him: He served as MJ's enforcer in Chicago, and now they're both retired ... and from what I could tell, he's still Jordan's enforcer. Could there be a greater tribute in life to someone's kickassability than Michael Jordan himself deciding, "You know what? I need to make sure he's still on my side. I don't care if we're in our 40s."
Personally, I think Oak could do more. Why couldn't he become the next great action hero? He's got the looks, the size, the swagger ... at the very least, he could mumble through his lines and become the black Steven Seagal. For God's sake, everyone in the league is still afraid of him, personified by the one-sided Tyrone Hill/Oakley and Jeff McInnis/Oakley feuds, as well as the famous story of Oak slapping Barkley hard across the face during a '99 lockout players-only meeting, which became his signature "Here's why you don't mess with Oakley" moment
Anyway, on Thursday night, I asked one relatively famous current player who knows him, "What makes Oakley more intimidating than everyone else?"
His answer: "There's a lotta tough guys in the league, but Oak don't give a f---."
Well, then. Should there be reality TV cameras following Oak around at all times? Sure, I think so. But what do I know? By the way, we're not done with him yet, either. [Reply]
It is looking unlikely Warriors forward Draymond Green will be suspended for Game 3 vs. Kings after stepping on Domantas Sabonis when Sabonis grabbed his leg on Monday night, sources tell @TheAthletic@Stadium.
Not surprising unfortunately. The NBA under Adam Silver has routinely appeased the Warriors and it appears this will be no different.
Remember that Draymond only got suspended back in 2016 because he had accumulated enough "flagrant foul points." Up until then, they just let him kick/punch players in the balls all postseason.
I am surprised it isn't at least 1 game but I didn't think it would be more than that. Jokic got suspended 1 game for that brutal behind the back hit on Morris that pretty much ended his season. [Reply]