The Perpetual NBA Thread

**kimpOy** · January 12th, 2005 01:14 PM

ESPN's Bill Simmons

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...simmons/050111
15. Baron Davis
Busts his butt for a 26-10-17 against the Kings on Sunday night, singlehandedly carrying the Hornets from 2-29 to 3-29. Now that's how a franchise player should carry himself -- nobody wants to hear that you're unhappy when you're making $14 million a year to do what you love to do. Davis asked for a trade, nothing happened, so he's busting his butt before the deadline to increase his value. Good job by him. As opposed to these two guys ...

14. Vince and T-Mac
Only in the NBA could you have two superstars, both of whom were making $14 million a year at the time, admit after the fact that they didn't give their best in losing situations: Vince in Toronto, T-Mac in Orlando. Good work, fellas. So why would that be one of my 33 favorite things? Because hearing T-Mac and Vince say "You know what? I slacked a little bit on my last team" is a little like hearing Gene Hackman say, "You know what? When I was filming 'The Replacements', I kinda stopped caring there once I saw that Keanu couldn't act."

(In other words, you didn't need to tell us. We have eyes.)

**baiskee** · January 12th, 2005 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by M54 Powered

heh, nakita mo lang ang 1st quarter score, no? 40-25 suns ;)

nope...phoenix talaga ako ser m54, di ako naniniwala sa brick wall eh

Davis asked for a trade, nothing happened, so he's busting his butt before the deadline to increase his value.

yan ang professional. ;)

**ssaloon** · January 12th, 2005 02:34 PM

1. LeBron James
In my opinion, this isn't even a debate right now: He's headed for 55 wins on a team with an overmatched coach, two decent starters, three role players and a bunch of stiffs. More importantly, he's reached "There's nothing on right now, maybe I'll flick on The Package and see if LeBron is playing" status -- which hasn't happened since MJ was playing in Chicago. Not only is LeBron the most talented young player since MJ 20 years ago, he's going to average a triple-double within the next 5 years. And he just turned 20. This is unbelievable.

Two questions remain ...

A. Over the past three months, have you seen anything to make you think that we're NOT watching someone in the early stages of becoming the greatest basketball player ever?

(Um ... no.)

B. And did you ever think we would see a player who combined the best qualities of a Young MJ and a Young Magic?

(Me neither.)

**baiskee** · January 12th, 2005 02:39 PM

wasak pa mukha nyan ha.

**theveed** · January 12th, 2005 06:38 PM

LeBron is a gift to the NBA's image, so is Yao financially...

**ssaloon** · January 14th, 2005 05:16 PM

kobe severely sprains right ankle. sayang yung comeback ng cavs, kinapos sa dulo.

**ILuvDetailing** · January 14th, 2005 05:23 PM

ouch!!!

**empy** · January 14th, 2005 05:24 PM

Originally Posted by ssaloon

kobe severely sprains right ankle. sayang yung comeback ng cavs, kinapos sa dulo.

baiskee, patay tayo

**ssaloon** · January 14th, 2005 05:26 PM

Plot twist
Bryant injures ankle to derail showdown against LeBron
Posted: Thursday January 13, 2005 11:30PM; Updated: Friday January 14, 2005 2:28AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Lakers won without Kobe Bryant, and it might be quite a while before they'll get their next chance to win with him.

Bryant sustained a severely sprained right ankle and had to be helped off the court early in a 98-94 victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night.

"I'm guessing it might be weeks, it just doesn't feel like a day-to-day thing," Bryant said afterward when asked how long he thinks he'll be sidelined.

"It hurts, it hurts a lot," Bryant said. "It's the worst one I've had -- I am in a lot of pain right now. I am just trying to stay off of it right now."

On crutches with his ankle wrapped, Bryant said he felt "crunching and instant throbbing" when he went down.

X-rays were negative, but Bryant will have an MRI on Friday.

Lamar Odom had 24 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and Caron Butler added 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who won for the third time in four games.

James led Cleveland with 28 points, a season-high 13 rebounds and nine assists to just miss his first career triple-double. Jeff McInnis added 20 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 13 points and 15 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who had their four-game winning streak snapped.

Bryant, the NBA's second-leading scorer with a 28.2-point average, was injured when he landed on Ira Newble's right foot while going for a rebound under the Cavaliers' basket with 5:39 left in the first quarter. Newble was called for a foul on the play.

"He went up for a the rebound and I kind of nudged him a little bit by mistake and basically fell into him as my momentum was going that way," Newble said. "I was trying to catch myself and he came down on his ankle funny. It's just an accident."

Bryant immediately grabbed his ankle before teammate Brian Grant and trainer Gary Vitti helped him off the court and into the Staples Center tunnel, where Grant and injured Los Angeles forward Devean George carried him into the locker room.

Bryant had two points and three assists before leaving with the game tied at 15.

"There's no fracture, I'm happy about that," Bryant said. "I'll just rest, guys will hold down the fort no doubt and I will come back ready to play."

Bryant injured his right shoulder late in the first quarter of a game against the Cavaliers last January at Staples Center when he collided with former Cleveland guard Kedrick Brown, causing him to miss six games.

James visited the Lakers' locker room at halftime to check on Bryant.

"I just went in there to see how he was doing," James said. "He told me that he was likely going to be out for a little bit, but I hope he gets well soon. [He's] like an idol to me."

Eric Snow's 3-pointer -- his only points of the game -- gave the Cavaliers an 87-86 lead with 2:41 to play. But a basket by Odom and two free throws by Chucky Atkins put the Lakers on top 90-87 with 1:38 left.

Ilgauskas made a free throw to draw the Cavaliers within two points, but Atkins and Butler made two foul shots each to put the Lakers ahead 94-88 with 22.4 seconds remaining.

McInnis and James made 3-pointers to move the Cavaliers within one point with 9.8 seconds to go. Butler made a foul shot before James missed a 3-pointer that could have given Cleveland the lead.

"All the shots I took tonight felt pretty good -- especially that one," James said.

Odom's two free throws with 1.8 seconds to play completed the scoring.

"We played without the best player in the league and still won," Odom said. "We'll be waiting for him. This team has guys who can play."

Butler said when Bryant was injured, his teammates simply competed harder.

"You felt it -- guys just took the challenge," Butler said. "The second he went down, everybody knew they had to take their game up another notch."

Robert Traylor scored his first four points of the game during a 10-3 run that gave the Cavaliers a 67-61 lead. Atkins then got his first seven during a 10-4 Los Angeles spurt to finish the third quarter that tied the game 71-all.

After a basket by James gave Cleveland a 32-24 lead -- largest of the game for either team -- the Lakers went on a 16-5 run to put them ahead 40-37, and they led 49-47 at halftime.