Well Since My Lakers Are Now Champs...

I thought I'd post up some pics of my boy Kobe with his fam! Enjoy!






http://hater site.files.wordpress.com/kobefamilybday.jpg

 

Them girls are just too pretty, hard to tell who they look
like more, it's a mix of both of them.

 

I saw some others online:

 

Gotta ask...did he spawn any children with that teenager in that Colorado hotel too?

"Oh no he didn't!"

 

I say Vanessa is the lucky one. The guy is an all around guy. He is smart (scored high on SAT), Champion, speaks couple of romantic languages, fashionista, not bad lookin, tons of money, and generous. He could have any class A super model lady if he wanted too. Look at Seal with Heidi Klum......

 

They are cute girls, aren't they? They remind me of my cousin's two daughters in Cali. He married a mexican woman and share several kids between them.

 

And a cheater and liar. What else could a girl ask for?

 

He admitted that he was wrong and has apologized to his wife publicly. The guy was in his early 20's when he made that mistake, give him a break. Haven't you made any mistakes in your life? Show me Perfect and I will show you Christ.

 

Congratulations to you and your team my brother Nobledruali !..... Always enjoy your crystal clear pictures and informative illustrations.

 

Surprised by this comment from you GZ. Maybe it's more that he was bright enough to chose the woman he loved for all the right reasons? And excuse me, she's stunning.

Beautiful family. And hopefully it's much more than skin deep.

Mostly though....lets hope that now there is some maturity, the priorities are straight, and hope the best for them.

(BTW Im thinking that Seal probably saw much more to Heidi than the surface)

 

Christ wasn't perfect either. Only silly Christians (especially of the American variety) of the past 50 or 60 years push that view of him.

But getting back to Kobe....there are all sorts of mistakes you can brush off as just being a product of youth. But for a man of his stature and fame and assumed maturity (a characteristic which Kobe himself tried to sell the public on repeatedly through the media) banging some possibly wacko teenager who worked for a hotel that you were staying in for your out-of-town vist to see a specialist regarding your injury was just ridiculously dumb. It didn't help that he was married already to Vanessa (who was hotter) and that the girl at the hotel accused him of rape (and one could make an argument he got away with the crime). This was to say tat least a contradiction for a media savvy kid who tried to present himself as a clean cut All American boy who was cut from the same cloth as Michael Jordan (indeed ironically he was considering MJ too slept around).

To make it worse at that same time Kobe started getting into a riidiculous verbal war with Shaq, a battle of words that was played out through the media. And while Shaq (forever insecure) was partly to blame, it was eye-opening that Kobe, the guy who claimed he wanted to desperately win 8 championships, would put WINNING in jeopardy because he started to feel constrained being the Robin to Shaq's Batman. Kobe wanted to be MJ and put up MJ-like numbers. He didn't want to be Pippen. But with Shaq winning all the Finals MVPs that is exactly what Kobe was being viewed as by many in the media as well as many fans, the Pippen to Shaq's Jordan. And Kobe wanted to be The Man. Even Phil Jackson claimed this was the case and he left after Shaq was traded away from the Lakers because he thought dealing with Kobe was too big of a headache. He came back and he and Kobe repaired their relationship and, to Kobe's credit, Kobe did mature. But Phil would have never come back in the first place if it wasn't for his relationship with Jeanie Buss (a situation that was recently explored in a Washington Post column).

I was never a fan of Kobe. Not from day one when as a kid coming out of high school he made it clear to teams like Charlotte that only certain teams in certain cities were worthy of his talent (which is why Charlotte traded him). I always hated athletes who pulled that move including dudes like John Elway and Steve Francis. I respect Kobe's game but never liked the man. And I never liked Shaq or Phil either. So I pretty much didn't care for the Lakers this decade. I loved Magic's Showtime Lakers but not the current bunch. Still I knew the Lakers were going to beat the Orlando Magic and that Kobe would be series MVP. I have no problem with that. Both the Lakers and Kobe deserve their just awards. Although if Memphis hadn't given away Gasol for nothing Kobe would still be losing in the first round as he had done after Shaq was traded away. Its funny how teams keep handing the Lakers great players for almost nothing in return.

Bill Simmons of ESPN is arguably a Kobe basher even though he too acknowledges Kobe's talent and greatness. Anyway the following particular passage from a writeup he did of Game 2 of the Finals is on the money in explaining not only Kobe's flaws as a player but it also shows why some of us are nonetheless less impress with him than perhaps we should be considering his achievements:


***********810081]http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090608&sportCat=nba[/COLOR]


0:01: Fascinating last play -- Orlando defends Kobe with its slowest defender (Turkoglu), gambling that his length will bother Kobe's jumpshot, and if Kobe drives, Hedo's teammates will jump in to help and Kobe will shoot, anyway. So what happens? Kobe beats Hedo off the dribble, Redick, Lewis and Howard all collapse on Kobe, Kobe ignores Odom (wide-open, left corner), Ariza (wide-open, top of key) and Fisher (wide-open, right corner) and shoots with two seconds left, anyway ... and Hedo blocks him from behind. Sorry, that's just a terrible offensive play. I would hope even the Lakers fans would admit that.

Important note: Kobe's reputation as a "killer" at the end of games remains overblown. The site ***********810081]www.82games.com[/COLOR] just posted a study of game-winning shots from the last five-plus seasons (regular seasons and playoffs since the 2003-04 season) that revealed Kobe was shooting 14-for-56 (25 percent) with one assist and five turnovers, and made 12 of 15 free throws. So let's say that was 70 possessions total, including Sunday night. ... He only had one assist in nearly six years??? That's why Orlando quadruple-teamed him in that spot. Kobe is a phenomenal streak shooter, and he has a real talent for catching fire with a lead and closing games out ... but you can stop him in one-shot situations simply because he's his own worst enemy. He wants to be a hero, he's shooting it, and that's that.

0:00.6: Funniest moment of the game: Kobe storms back to the bench, whacks the chair in disgust and sits down as Phil Jackson (already sitting) looks at him with a bemused, "Should I point out to him that MJ absolutely would have passed there?" smile on his face. Classic.


Classic indeed. And I'll add that Kobe had one good half in Game 3 (actually one great quarter) before disappearing and missing a bunch of unnecessary jump shots and that he wasn't that impressive in Game 4 either. But that's the difference between the Lakers and say that franchise in Cleveland. The Lakers actually have other legit All Stars other than Mr Brant as well as a couple of potential young stars. The Cavs on the other hand have one dude who you truly have to worry about in the post season.

 

What Green Zorro said is exactly right. Sure as you say Kobe probably "choose the woman he loved for the right reasons" but that still doesn't take away from anything GZ said. Venessa Bryants aren't that rare or special. A fairly good looking hispanic lady with the best clothes and the best make-up that money (Kobes) can buy. Probably a decent personality too. Thats not overwhlemingly hard to find in the first place-- especially if you are Kobe Bryant.

Kobe Bryant (and i'm not even a fan of the guy) is not a dime a dozen. I don't mean this to devalue Vanessa as a person either but Vanessa catching kobe is more impressive than Kobe getting a Vanessa.

That being said-- they actually met back in high school and they look like a happy and satisfied family and thats all that matters.

 

You know me, I'm just being ignorant. Someone has to provide ignorance around here, and it might as well be me.

 

Vanessa is a 10. Kobe has good taste.

 

Ohhkay. If Christ was not perfect, the entire Christian faith would go up in smoke. None of what we believe would make sense if Christ was not perfect and without sin. Just wanted to clear that up. Carry on.

 

I beg to differ, but carry on

 

haha....it's all good. different strokes for different folks.

 

Naw, not really. He was into his second or possibly third year as an NBA pro when he met her during casting for a video. He was a couple of years removed from high school at least I believe but she was still in high school at the time. No big deal though. Obviously their relationship has lasted a long time. When he first got married I was happy to see a young black amle of his stardom actually take the hard and more mature route of settling down and marrying the woman he loved rather than playing the playboy bachelor role for the next decade.

 

Christ's imperfections is exactly what many people think Christianity has been trying to cover up for thousands of years. Just because you believe in Christ and worship him does not mean you have to think he was perfect. God sent his son down in the form of man which meant he would have to battle the same temptations, the same vices., etc. To me what sense would it make to lead men to the right path by sending your son to Earth when your son would not have the same capability of being tempted by evil like other men were? How could folks ever relate to such a guy and therefore how could they ever hope to think they could match his example if he was given, by birthright, such a major advantage like that? Folks could brush it off by coming to their own conclusion that the only way to always stay on the straight and narrow path was to be the spawn of the Almighty.


Sunday Bible classes would teach us that Christ never committed a sin from his time of birth to his death as a relative young man even though some historians and theoligians would argue earlier teachings of Christianity never tried to go that route in Disney-fying the man's life. But obviously Sunday Bible teachings often tried to break things down to a childlike view of history and society. But as adults doesn't that seem simplistic? Even if Christ wound up being the most perfect human being in history doesn't mean that he did not succumb to anger, hostility, jealousy, arrogance, etc at some time throughout his life. It just meant he overcame it during those times he had faltered or was close to faltering. At least that's how some people feel. You don't even need to read a Dan Brown novel to come across those who insist that Jesus had in fact taken a wife or a lover too. However the vast majority of Christians these days are intolerant even over the suggestion of this. But what else can you expect when the Bible presents everything in the world as being black and white when we ourselves know the world is and always has been a lot grayer.

So should it be hard to believe that folks who were running or promoting Christianity also tried to simplify how Christ lived his life? Your argument further backs me up when you suggest the Christian faith would go up in smoke if there wasn’t a belief by so many Christians that Jesus represented perfection. That implies that people of faith need its center “heroes” to be at an even more extreme level of nobility than the last son of Krypton. Anything less and their apparently fragile beliefs are crushed under a weight of uncertainty and despair. That’s sad. I would think a Christian (like myself) would be even more impressed and inspired by Christ if he at times did stumble and did display flaws but ultimately kept true to God’s ideals and died for his fellow flawed human beings regardless. Even as a Catholic in high school I was told to try to detect what may be bs in Christian teaching (like the ancient, male-centric concept that women were basically property of their husbands). Hell, I had enough common sense to not buy into the physical presentation of Christ as a pale, blond, blue-eyed hippie either. Nonetheless that image of Christ has been sold to the public for hundreds of years even though the idea of a "white" Christ was never presented to society until Michelangelo. Yet if you told many so-called Christians that Jesus may not have been white I believe their faith would erode just as quickly (if not more so) than if you told them he was not perfect and perhaps had felt lust for a woman or two.

Eh. I guess I'm taking this thread way off topic. This belongs in a religion thread.

 

Jamal, it pretty much boils down to this. If Christ had in fact sinned during his lifetime, God would not accept him as a perfect sacrifice. How can a man who has sinned, also atone for the sin of others? How can Jesus himself say to someone "your sins are forgiven" yet he sins himself? If Jesus is the one who has the power to forgive sins (this is scriptural), who then was responsible for forgiving his sins? How can God forgive the sins of himself? Jesus is the son of God, but he is God himself. God is a triumvirate. Jesus had to go sinless in order to atone for the sins of mankind. If he himself sinned, then someone else would have to come along who "hadn't sinned" and sacrifice themself for mankind instead.