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Re: Selfish, self-centered, and really, really dumb

At 12:42 AM 11/21/2002 -0500, you wrote:

I may not like Walkers shot selection, and lately, Pierce has been
sputtering on offense.  But they're better, and more dedicated, players
than Shaq will EVER be
Snoopy, I think you're getting carried away here. Shaq is merely the most important player in the NBA in the last decade.

Since several people ranted today about Shaq, Phil and the Lakers, I'll say this: I don't think things regarding the other team are as simple as they appear to be. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I think ol' Phil is just playing mind games again. He knows who the MVP of the team is, and it ain't Kobe. I'm not saying he's deliberately sabotaging games, but letting Kobe try to lead the team "his way" and fall flat on his face is not out of the question. If they lose a few more games than they should, so what? It's more important to let Kobe see for himself that he's not The Man, that he needs to get with the program. It's good for the team, it's good for Shaq, who can use the rest. That isn't dumb, that's smart. They're basically doing with him what Portland is doing with Sabonis - saving him for the really important games. Are they cheating the fans? Sure, but what do we care, we're not Lakers fans. We already got one W out of this, which may come very handy in April.

As for Phil Jackson not winning anything without Shaq or Jordan, sure. You need the players to win. You have to be good AND lucky. What would Auerbach have won without Russell or Cousy? The thing is, other coaches don't win even when they have the players. I mean, look at the job George Karl has done with the Bucks and Team USA. But both Jordan and Shaq have said they won't play for another coach. Shaq views Jackson as his second father. They didn't say that about Collins, or Brian Hill, or Del Harris, or Mike Dunleavy. Such statements from the game's highest profile players have to mean something, even if Jordan broke his promise.
Kestas