this is similar to what he did to Shaq except

a) Kobe was much younger
and
b) Shaq isnt a crazy weirdo that cant make up his mind like Dwight
c) Shaq was also a lot tougher than Dwight, Dwight would sit out of games with a hangnail if he could wear his stupid outfits and thick rimmed glasses and not give a rats ass whether the team wins or loses

So at least Shaq shared the same goal as Kobe at that was Championships

Shaq won shit and dominated the NBA for over a decade like few ever have. Dwight has done none of those things. He won't win this PR battle.

Shaq also is a clever guy. His humor or subtle jabs hit hard when he wanted them too. Howard's crap with the questions the other day was a joke. I love when players try to play dumb and return questions at the reporter, thinking they are pulling something off. Or maybe they don't give a **** whether we believe it or not.

Nobody wins the PR battle between those two childish locker room cancers.

If Kobe is a locker room cancer than most NBA teams could use that cancer to help fill their trophy cases. I wasn't a fan of Kobe early in his career but Kobe's goal in starting this stuff is to get the team to win. Not the same with Dwight.

Kobe is absolutely a locker room cancer. Just read Phil's book "The Last Season," which is full of examples of just how paranoid and obsessive Kobe really is. He's lucky he's almost ALWAYS had either a once-in-a-generation big man or the league's deepest and best big man rotation to carry him, because the period of time between Shaq and Pau exposed Kobe.

For the record, I think most NBA teams would much rather have a non-cancer who can win rings without having an overinflated ego and throwing coaches and teammates under the bus, i.e. Tim Duncan.

And Kobe's reason for starting this stuff is to deflect blame for the team's losing ways onto someone else (after he insisted all summer that the Lakers were "still his team"). That's it, that's all.

There is no question Kobe has always had tools around him. He has also done more than his fair share in claiming those titles. Cancer is way too strong a word for Kobe and I just don't agree at all with putting him and Dwight on the same level. Putting him below a guy like Duncan isn't exactly an insult either. That guy is another one in a million.

I don't agree that he's "always done more than his fair share" in winning his rings. Shaq was the uncontested Finals MVP for the threepeat and Pau led the last two title teams in win shares. I distinctly recall the likes of Austin Croshere and Tayshaun Prince outplaying Kobe in the earlier Finals series in his career. He did more in the last two titles (the 6-24 catastrophe notwithstanding) but was the CLEAR sidekick for at least three of them.

He wasn't a sidekick to Pau. A team doesn't win as many titles as L.A. did with Kobe if he was that big a cancer. Not in the term that I think of when I think of it relating to sports. Not when he was either the #1 or side kick to Shaq, which I am fine with hearing. Even as a side kick to Shaq I don't see how he didn't do his fair share.

Cavaliers will be offering Greg Oden a two year contract with a third year option right after the trade deadline. I think they might be looking to make one more trade first.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/..._top_10_p.html

Pau Gasol was a pretty huge piece of those last few Laker championship teams (and yes, so was Kobe).

ROFLROFLROFL

I was never trying to argue that Pau and especially Shaq did not play a very large role. I was just arguing that Kobe was way too important to that roster to have been a cancer. If he was a cancer they wouldn't have won as much as they did, not with as big a role that he played.

The second title Pau was the best player on the team IMO. Kobe has had plenty of help in his career, but he's still one of the best players to lace them up.

Yeah, cancers generally don't win 5 titles with the same organization.