Speaker 1: Welcome to Special Teams, a production of I Heart Radio
Speaker 1: Greetings and Welcome Inside Special Teams with Jason Smith and
Speaker 1: Mike Harmon, our weekly podcast that spotlights a big team,
Speaker 1: single season in sports history. Sometimes it's NFL, sometimes it's
Speaker 1: NBA Major League Baseball. This week we are looking back
Speaker 1: at the two thousand nine two thousand ten Los Angeles Lakers.
Speaker 1: In the wake of the tragic and sudden death of
Speaker 1: Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and seven others in helicopter accident,
Speaker 1: we wanted to spend some time looking back at the
Speaker 1: last championship won by Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, because
Speaker 1: this two thousand nine two thousand ten season was incredible.
Speaker 1: It was incredible for Kobe, it was incredible for the Acres.
Speaker 1: They beat the Celtics to win it all, getting revenge
Speaker 1: from losing two years before. It was their second straight
Speaker 1: NBA title. It was a magical time, especially for you
Speaker 1: and I living in Los Angeles. The Lakers beating the
Speaker 1: Celtics was it was sports nirvana. I mean, it's the
Speaker 1: Dodgers beating the Yankees in the World Series. It was
Speaker 1: as good as it got for l A and the
Speaker 1: Lakers of all the championships they had, the first one
Speaker 1: they win, yes, that special with Shack and Kobe, But
Speaker 1: this one, this was beating the Celtics. This was really
Speaker 1: really special Number sixteen. This is the rivalry that we
Speaker 1: grew up with, right, the Magic versus Bird and all
Speaker 1: those great teams and Hall of famers, all the video
Speaker 1: games you played based on them, and the highlight reel
Speaker 1: was always one or the other was in a title contention.
Speaker 1: Right the Lakers for all those years, it seemed like
Speaker 1: every other they were. They were battling for a title
Speaker 1: before the six year drought of playoff problems and and
Speaker 1: everything that we've seen. But you look at Kobe Bryant
Speaker 1: and what he means to the city and obviously exemplified
Speaker 1: in the tragic passing and all the heartfelt sentiments and gatherings.
Speaker 1: The city just got overrun. Everywhere you turn there was
Speaker 1: a Laker logo in your face. You speak of the
Speaker 1: city being overrun? Do I have a story about you?
Speaker 1: The night the Lakers won the title? About me? But no, no, no, yeah, yes,
Speaker 1: it's about you, said, man, I have a story for you.
Speaker 1: I was a little nervous for what do you know
Speaker 1: about a story for you. I'm talking to you. I'm
Speaker 1: here with you. I'm talking to you what you knew
Speaker 1: when I was doing that night. It's the fiftieth season
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles for the Lakers. They're coming off the
Speaker 1: NBA title after beating the Orlando Magic. And for Kobe Bryant,
Speaker 1: it was the cementing of his legacy because for Kobe
Speaker 1: it was him and Shack fighting for control of the Lakers.
Speaker 1: They win three championships. Shack and Kobe couldn't get along.
Speaker 1: Shack wasn't gonna get the maximum contract he wanted from
Speaker 1: Dr Jerry Buss. He said, trade me. They trade him
Speaker 1: away to Miami. The Lakers kind of stumbled around for
Speaker 1: a couple of years. Then they make the big trade
Speaker 1: for pal Gasol, and that's the trade that remade Los Angeles.
Speaker 1: The Lakers go, they go to the Finals and lose
Speaker 1: to the Celtics. They beat the Magic, and that was
Speaker 1: the coronation of Kobe Bryant, who then changed the image
Speaker 1: that he had, not quite overnight, but a very short
Speaker 1: period of time, because in early in his career he
Speaker 1: was the petulant, immature kid. And then Eagle Colorado happened,
Speaker 1: and no one really knew what to make of Kobe
Speaker 1: after the sexual assault allegations, and then after that case
Speaker 1: was settled, he's moved on. This is six years later,
Speaker 1: and the NBA sort of came around to Kobe Bryant,
Speaker 1: and Kobe became much more beloved. Why it wasn't so
Speaker 1: much that Kobe changed on the core, because he was
Speaker 1: still a guy that was gonna make his teammates cry
Speaker 1: and practice the famous story of making Sasha Willach Cryant
Speaker 1: practice for being hard on his teammates. He was still
Speaker 1: the same guy. But when Kobe came up, it was
Speaker 1: Kobe Bryant as a rookie. First couple of years in
Speaker 1: the NBA, you're talking about some of the most loved
Speaker 1: players of all time. But the best images you could
Speaker 1: possibly have Michael Jordan, Karl Alone, Shaquille O'Neil, Clyde Drexler,
Speaker 1: you know, Charles Barkley was, Oh my god, every time
Speaker 1: the guy opens his mouth, it's awesome. He so exciting,
Speaker 1: he says so many great things. So it's hard for Kobe,
Speaker 1: who looks like, oh, here's a young kid coming and
Speaker 1: he wants to be a star right away. But then
Speaker 1: all those guys go, all those guys retire, Gary Payton,
Speaker 1: they all retire, and then who is the NBA left with.
Speaker 1: It's Kobe, It's Lebron James, who hadn't won and it's
Speaker 1: very polarizing. And Tim Duncan, who was really boring. So
Speaker 1: here's Kobe who was as exciting as it is, still
Speaker 1: hitting game winning shots, reinventing himself as the Mamba. And
Speaker 1: suddenly it's okay. You know what, Kobe's basketball faults we
Speaker 1: can forgive now. The Eagle Colorado stuff is separate. But
Speaker 1: the basketball faults, well, maybe it wasn't so bad. Maybe
Speaker 1: we can now see him as a ladder day Jordan,
Speaker 1: where he always wanted to get more out of his
Speaker 1: teammates and co be became someone who was only about winning.
Speaker 1: You know, you can get lip service for that earlier
Speaker 1: in your career, but he was all about winning and
Speaker 1: in the league win. A lot of stars like the
Speaker 1: lifestyle because NBA stars like I like getting paid a
Speaker 1: lot of money. I'd like playing basketball every night and
Speaker 1: if the team is good, we're in the playoffs and winning, Hey,
Speaker 1: that's great, we can win a title. But it's not
Speaker 1: something that drives every player to say I want to
Speaker 1: win and win as much as possible. Kobe was not
Speaker 1: a guy for load maintenance. Kobe went, can met Kobe
Speaker 1: playing now load mainten? No, I'm playing. I'm gonna play
Speaker 1: on the score fifty. He was about winning. And when
Speaker 1: you're about winning, you are going to appeal to all
Speaker 1: of the fans because we don't care as much about
Speaker 1: load maintenance or hey, we have to tank this year
Speaker 1: to get better. Now, we want our teams to win.
Speaker 1: And Kobe, no matter what he did, he was about that,
Speaker 1: hitting free throws with a torn achilles and that's what
Speaker 1: brought fans back to Kobe Bryant well. And there were
Speaker 1: so many stories that came through right he became old
Speaker 1: school without changing, like just by default, as the world
Speaker 1: changed around him, and we we heard all these stories
Speaker 1: being told by the legends of the game, the folks
Speaker 1: around the Lakers, guys like James Worthy saying, hey, you
Speaker 1: know what, before you're seventeen, As his body was starting
Speaker 1: to break down a bit, hey teach me. Can you
Speaker 1: teach me how to work in the post? Better? Can
Speaker 1: you teach me how to douggie? Everybody loved have done
Speaker 1: that too. I didn't needed to learn how to dance.
Speaker 1: I mean better for footwork, right, but just the idea
Speaker 1: of all right, there's always something from somebody's game I
Speaker 1: can borrow and make my own and get back in
Speaker 1: the gym and work it out. You know. The final
Speaker 1: year I was frustrated. I had part of a season
Speaker 1: ticket package. You and I have talked about this on
Speaker 1: our show a Fox Sports Radio. You got to see
Speaker 1: Lou Williams a lot. That became my guy, became my guy.
Speaker 1: But at the time, you're frustrated because I'm trying to
Speaker 1: take my daughters and you're trying to teach them about
Speaker 1: work ethic. You're trying to teach them about you know,
Speaker 1: what it takes. And Kobe was the embodiment of that.
Speaker 1: But you knew his body was breaking. So in jest
Speaker 1: I always laughed, Hey, I started to love Lou Williams,
Speaker 1: but you recognize dude just wouldn't go yeah like he
Speaker 1: he would dunk. It was rare, you know, like and
Speaker 1: it wouldn't be a power dunk, it'd be one of those.
Speaker 1: All right. I got up enough and I get back
Speaker 1: on d and and move on. So Kobe who it
Speaker 1: was hard for the Lakers to get free agents to
Speaker 1: come play for for them? What did they want to
Speaker 1: come play with Kobe his very strong personality. It was
Speaker 1: very difficult. Also, he was at odds with the Lakers
Speaker 1: because they wouldn't go out and spend money on free agents.
Speaker 1: That year they spent the most money of any team
Speaker 1: on player salaries, over a hundred and twelve million dollars.
Speaker 1: They go out and they get Ron our tests to
Speaker 1: sign and Ron ar test before he became met a
Speaker 1: world peace picked his spots and he became so huge.
Speaker 1: We're gonna get to him later on in the podcast.
Speaker 1: But just a real quick story on Ron Artest who
Speaker 1: came in. Look, he had the reputation he was. He
Speaker 1: was out there, you know, the malice and the Palace,
Speaker 1: the brawl. What was Ron Artests gonna be Now he's
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles? My goodness, what are you gonna get
Speaker 1: from him? But the day he saw he came to
Speaker 1: do all kinds of interviews. Right, So he comes to
Speaker 1: do interviews to do anyways in all kinds of shows.
Speaker 1: And this is back when I was doing All night
Speaker 1: on ESPN Radio. And so where our radio station is
Speaker 1: located was at Staples Center, right next to where ESPN
Speaker 1: did does the Late Sports Center from so my producer
Speaker 1: because I'm in l A my producers in Connecticut. He says, Jason,
Speaker 1: go downstairs. Ron Artest is gonna meet you downstairs. Go
Speaker 1: get and bring him up. He's gonna you're gonna get
Speaker 1: to interview him for the show. I'm like, awesome, Like
Speaker 1: I shouldn't have to go down and get Ron our Test.
Speaker 1: But I'm by myself. Somebody else this talent. So I
Speaker 1: walk over the TV to I walk over the TV
Speaker 1: building right where where is the production assistant to go
Speaker 1: do this? So I walk over, I walk in and
Speaker 1: I'm gonna meet Ron our Test here. So I walked
Speaker 1: and I tell the security guards, Hey, I'm here to
Speaker 1: meet Ron our Test. I'm Jason Smith from ESPN Radio
Speaker 1: and I got run our Test coming. And they go,
Speaker 1: oh okay. So they call somebody. I'm figuring they're gonna
Speaker 1: bring Run our Test out and suddenly this guy comes out.
Speaker 1: I have no idea who he is. He says his
Speaker 1: name was Steve, and he's like the guy in charge
Speaker 1: of the billy security is I'm sorry, sir, what are
Speaker 1: you here for? You said, I'm here for Ron Artest
Speaker 1: I'm with ESPN. I'm supposed to meet him here to
Speaker 1: do an interview. Do you have any identification? I go, yeah,
Speaker 1: I have my I D so I show him my ID. Goes,
Speaker 1: this is an ABC identification. This is not an ESPN identification.
Speaker 1: I go, yeah, I work in the building here. I
Speaker 1: worked for seven ten We're in the ABC building. I
Speaker 1: don't work in this building. I work in the right
Speaker 1: right here at points it's right across the street. He goes, yeah, no,
Speaker 1: you can't come in here without this I D. I go, uh, okay,
Speaker 1: I'm supposed to be here. You can ask anybody up
Speaker 1: there producing who's there? He goes, well, who's there? Who
Speaker 1: can I call? And I say the name of the
Speaker 1: executive producer up there? Goes Nope, she's not here tonight.
Speaker 1: And I go, obviously I know who she is. If
Speaker 1: you could just call upstairs and tell them I'm here,
Speaker 1: they will bring him down. They know I'm coming. And
Speaker 1: the guy wouldn't do it. And I was so mad
Speaker 1: to get him fired. Well, you know what, I didn't
Speaker 1: get him fired, but he got a lot of trouble
Speaker 1: the next day because I went back and I called, uh,
Speaker 1: my manager, Scott Schapiro, who's now our manager here at
Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio, and I told her what happened. He
Speaker 1: got right on it, and he apologized and he felt
Speaker 1: bad about it, supposedly, and then he wound up quitting
Speaker 1: Slash getting fired like a few weeks later. Yeah, the
Speaker 1: writing was on the wall. I was. I was so
Speaker 1: mad with a little bit of power. He was, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, a ruler like I was a guy off
Speaker 1: the street. You know, I'm here. I'm here. Bring him
Speaker 1: to call upstairs, Call upstairs to sports Center. Call. Did
Speaker 1: the badge have a picture of you with Mitchell he's
Speaker 1: producing call. I gave him all the names. Nope, not here.
Speaker 1: It's like, nope, she's not here. Okay, you're just on
Speaker 1: a power trip. Man, You are just on a power trip.
Speaker 1: Sometimes you run into those obstacles. Man. Lamar Odom also left.
Speaker 1: He didn't blow me off an interviewer, have did you
Speaker 1: every fine metal world peace? Oh yeah, yeah, Well we've
Speaker 1: had him on the show. But I meant, but I
Speaker 1: meant that now he went up. He left. He thought
Speaker 1: he was doing a radio interview with that left. He
Speaker 1: had a great conversation. He was writing it a when
Speaker 1: we had met a world peace. In a year ago,
Speaker 1: he was writing an erotic novel, right erotic science fiction.
Speaker 1: Erotic science fiction. He was writing. Yes, he gave us
Speaker 1: a little bit of a sketch offer, and we looked
Speaker 1: at each other and said that's a little sketch. But
Speaker 1: he was very excited about. Yeah. We had fun. Uh
Speaker 1: so that was run our Test. Who comes in and
Speaker 1: lamar Odom almost left. Pat Riley brought him in. They
Speaker 1: want him to go sign with the Miami Heat. He
Speaker 1: almost did, but in the very end, cooler heads prevailed.
Speaker 1: He returned to the Lakers for thirty three million dollar contracts.
Speaker 1: So now they go out and they get run our Test.
Speaker 1: In the off season, lamar Odom is back and the
Speaker 1: Lakers are loaded up going for their second straight NBA title. Now,
Speaker 1: since it's the two thousand nine, two thousand ten Los
Speaker 1: Angeles Lakers, let's look it back a little bit at
Speaker 1: what happened in the magical year of two thousand and
Speaker 1: ten as the Lakers got set four back to back championships.
Speaker 1: It was the year in which Reggie Bush announced he
Speaker 1: would forfeit the Heisman Trophy, gonna get it back. So
Speaker 1: much lost, so dumb parents got a house. It's just
Speaker 1: it's a trophy that would be in the house. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's fine, take it. If only there were fewer zeros
Speaker 1: associated with the house, they would have just they wouldn't
Speaker 1: have cared. Do you think he gave back the real
Speaker 1: trophy or do you think that he had a had
Speaker 1: a double made and he switched it. I think it
Speaker 1: was a chocolate repless what are you doing? I'm eating
Speaker 1: Reggie Bush's eyes. When Trophy started knowing at it, they
Speaker 1: said it was Shockley. Hey, why is that guinea pig
Speaker 1: eating that trophy? I don't understand. Brett farve streak of
Speaker 1: two straight games started ended in Minnesota the week after
Speaker 1: the Metrodome collapsed. They had to move and play in
Speaker 1: Ford Field, and Brett Farve did not start that game,
Speaker 1: so his consecutive game streak was over. I remember the
Speaker 1: Metrodome collapsing. That video was so odd. I was here
Speaker 1: to see that. You see the snow and everything comes
Speaker 1: down here in Fox Sports Radio and it's like, wait
Speaker 1: a minute. What The Yukon women had their nine d
Speaker 1: game wind streak and after losing to Stanford, and I
Speaker 1: gotta be honest, if you were on that team, the
Speaker 1: people who came before. You are never gonna let you
Speaker 1: forget that you lave, you broke the ninety game wins.
Speaker 1: You don't get to go to any of the banquets.
Speaker 1: He get nothing. Yeah, but Gino Rim said I could go. No, sorry,
Speaker 1: you can't make it. You can't make it now you're
Speaker 1: out of the club. So that's where things stood for
Speaker 1: the Los Angeles Lakers, who look, this is a team
Speaker 1: that was returning a roster mainly of players who were
Speaker 1: absolute stars. Kobe Bryant was the captain, Derek Fisher was
Speaker 1: was still here, getting a little bit long in the tooth.
Speaker 1: But it was lamar Odom, it was pal Gasol, it
Speaker 1: was the Lakers front court throwing Andrew bind fantastic. He
Speaker 1: also brought in Shannon Brown who played a big role
Speaker 1: playing guard for them a little bit. Remember Adam Morrison
Speaker 1: was on this team. But the Lakers front court and
Speaker 1: Kobe Bryant dominated so many games. We look, there's a
Speaker 1: reason they're the defending champs, and and they brought back
Speaker 1: all of their strength and this season went on, it
Speaker 1: was the front court that really started to get things done.
Speaker 1: And it was okay that lamar Odom wasn't every other
Speaker 1: game guy because you had players who could fill in,
Speaker 1: and certainly Ron art Test was one of those players where, hey,
Speaker 1: if you're an every other game guy, lamar odom I
Speaker 1: could be in every other game guy. Together every night,
Speaker 1: we're great. It worked out pretty well in that regard.
Speaker 1: You forgot one huge loss as Kurt Rambis took his
Speaker 1: goggles to Minnesota. He did he did well, Kurt kept
Speaker 1: coming back Kurian. Kurt Rambis had his chance to coach
Speaker 1: the team, and then he came back under Phil Jackson
Speaker 1: and Phil Jackson one and when things worked out and
Speaker 1: forth exactly so. Coming up next, it was the regular
Speaker 1: season for the two thousand nine two thousand ten Los
Speaker 1: Angeles Lakers. As we celebrate Kobe Bryant's final championship with
Speaker 1: the Lakers all the drama of the NBA Finals still
Speaker 1: to come here Special Teams with Jason Smith and Mike
Speaker 1: Harmon Perfect Special Teams with Jason Smith and Mike Harmon
Speaker 1: our podcast this week looking back at the final championship
Speaker 1: of the career of Kobe Bryant as the Lakers win
Speaker 1: the NBA title in two thousand ten, defeating the Celtics
Speaker 1: in seven games. And one of the things the Lakers
Speaker 1: and Kobe dealt with this season were a lot of injuries.
Speaker 1: You know, right off the bat of this season, Pal
Speaker 1: Gasol gets hurt, lamar Odom has to come into the
Speaker 1: starting lineup, Gasol comes back, and the Lakers go on
Speaker 1: a big run. We'll have more in Gasol in the
Speaker 1: second but throughout the second half of the season, because
Speaker 1: the Lakers got out to a big start the first
Speaker 1: few months, they had to deal with injuries to Kobe,
Speaker 1: Bryant and lamar Odom and Andrew buying him and buying
Speaker 1: them even throughout the playoffs, Sashavulia, chich Bill Walton, They
Speaker 1: had to deal with that the second half, and they
Speaker 1: were in a great team. They still ended up with
Speaker 1: the top seed overall in the playoffs in the Western Conference.
Speaker 1: But this wasn't easy by any means. I mean, they
Speaker 1: had to have they had to patch work their team
Speaker 1: together all year. No, and that's that's what mulds you
Speaker 1: into a champion eventually, because you're gonna have to steal minutes.
Speaker 1: You and I talked about it all the time. When
Speaker 1: you look at NBA titles and the number of games
Speaker 1: and minutes that have to be played that you've got
Speaker 1: to find those one game, one or two games in
Speaker 1: each series where that third score, fourth score, whoever ever
Speaker 1: it is, comes off the bench, gives you some decent minutes.
Speaker 1: We talked about it in college buckets with the n
Speaker 1: C double a turn and look, you gotta win six times.
Speaker 1: Not often do you have one or two superstars carrying
Speaker 1: you through. And for this Lakers team, between the largest
Speaker 1: of the coaching staff and their histories and and pageantry
Speaker 1: of what they'd had, they knew what to do right
Speaker 1: because they've been through some of the grinds before, very
Speaker 1: long tenured trainer, all of those trying to figure out
Speaker 1: how to cobble together a team. And when you got
Speaker 1: a guy like Kobe, like you said, a guy that
Speaker 1: wouldn't sit down even with an injury, and how many
Speaker 1: guys outside of him or what are they missed in
Speaker 1: three weeks a month taking a nice ski vacation. Now
Speaker 1: he plays every down. Kobe actually did get hurt this year. Now,
Speaker 1: First he fractured his right index finger in December and
Speaker 1: didn't miss the game. First couple of months he hit
Speaker 1: three buzzer beaters, uh that won games for the Lakers.
Speaker 1: Finally he does succumb to an injury and sat out
Speaker 1: a game on February six for the first time since
Speaker 1: two thousand and seven. Right, and then the days of
Speaker 1: load maintenance. And that's one thing that you know, Kobe
Speaker 1: Bryant playing, You know, if he was playing now when
Speaker 1: load maintenance has never been any more important than it
Speaker 1: is now with Kawhi Leonard sitting out every other game
Speaker 1: in Lebron and business decisions. Kobe wasn't a load maintenance guy.
Speaker 1: If he could play, he was gonna play, and he
Speaker 1: played until physically he couldn't play anymore. I mean, would
Speaker 1: there be nights the Lakers say, hey, take tonight off,
Speaker 1: all right, but they'd be once in a while, once
Speaker 1: in a great while. We saw that in his final year.
Speaker 1: That's the only time you really physically but that was
Speaker 1: basically done. But in his prime, there's no way he'd
Speaker 1: be sitting out games. He might sit out. You know what, Kobe,
Speaker 1: you've played in the first twenty five games. We have
Speaker 1: three games and five nights. We're gonna sit you out
Speaker 1: the second the back to back here and then you're
Speaker 1: not gonna sit from the twenty five games. I mean
Speaker 1: That's something I could see him doing. But the blatant
Speaker 1: you know, hey, we're sitting out one game every couple
Speaker 1: of weeks like Hypa Zambia. Now, he would never do it. No,
Speaker 1: there would have to be some major considerations to allow
Speaker 1: for that, right, I mean in terms of looking at
Speaker 1: how the roster's constructed. Maybe in the gravest of circumstances,
Speaker 1: but just not the way he was dialed in. Now,
Speaker 1: while the bulk of this podcast, we're gonna talk about
Speaker 1: Kobe Bryant, Like I said, it was his last championship,
Speaker 1: and you know it's his second straight NBA Finals m
Speaker 1: v P. With time to look back at the greatness
Speaker 1: of the Lakers and this second coming of the Lakers,
Speaker 1: which was built around Kobe, whereas the first time when
Speaker 1: they won three championships in a row, was built around
Speaker 1: Shack and Kobe. Is that the acquisition of Pau Gasol
Speaker 1: immediately turned the Lakers into a championship caliber team. Immediately
Speaker 1: after getting Pau Gasol on a trade, they went on
Speaker 1: a big run and it was a different team. The
Speaker 1: contributions of Gasol and lamar Odom are not given enough
Speaker 1: credit because even though lamar Odom was an every other
Speaker 1: game guy for most of his career and the talent
Speaker 1: level head he was always one of the top three
Speaker 1: most talented players in the NBA because of what he
Speaker 1: could do his length. But every other game he was
Speaker 1: he you know, he was every other game guy. But
Speaker 1: as every other game was fantastic. It would be nights
Speaker 1: with fourteen assists for Lamar Odom. Here's a night with
Speaker 1: thirty five points. Here's a night where Lamar had ten
Speaker 1: points and twenty one rebounds. His every other game was amazing.
Speaker 1: And when you can build the depth from the front
Speaker 1: court the Lakers had, you can afford to have Lamar
Speaker 1: Odom play good every other game, especially this year, because
Speaker 1: you had run our Test. Who would be able to
Speaker 1: take up the slack. So this Lakers team, this front
Speaker 1: court was so deep, and it's not like you had
Speaker 1: to get it from one guy every night. You had
Speaker 1: the consistency of Kobe, the consistency of Pau Gasol buying
Speaker 1: him when he was in the lineup. You know, our
Speaker 1: test every other night owed him every other night. You
Speaker 1: had that and it worked well. It's funny because you
Speaker 1: mentioned those two guys in terms of Odom and run
Speaker 1: Our Test, Slash Metal World, Peace, slash Panda is your friend,
Speaker 1: all whatever, whatever you want to go by a guy
Speaker 1: who you know, as the tributes float out for Kobe
Speaker 1: Bryant was was prominent and just saying, hey, raise a
Speaker 1: glass and celebrate the greatness. But Andrew Binham is a
Speaker 1: guy that I think his career because of what it became, right,
Speaker 1: very short lived in terms of success and prominence. People
Speaker 1: forget him also as to exactly how important that was,
Speaker 1: because that was that was a career year. I mean
Speaker 1: fifteen and eight. Odom was at ten point eight, nine
Speaker 1: point eight, giving you three assists a game, good balance,
Speaker 1: and one of those guys watching games as we do
Speaker 1: and doing our show on five Sports Radio, it drove
Speaker 1: your nuts. And I think if he were, and he's
Speaker 1: been very honest in interviews that he's done. But there
Speaker 1: there was just wasted time, an awful lot of wasted
Speaker 1: time and opportunity along the way. But here he got
Speaker 1: five guys have finished in double digits averaging you know,
Speaker 1: at least ten point eight points per game, led by Bryant,
Speaker 1: So you always had someone to step up, and there
Speaker 1: were enough veteran voices in the room to make sure
Speaker 1: that you never got into a lull. So for the Lakers.
Speaker 1: The big highlight for Kobe this year was in Memphis,
Speaker 1: he passed Jerry West to become the Lakers all time
Speaker 1: leading score. A very big moment for him is now
Speaker 1: he's starting to hit the big milestone part of his career.
Speaker 1: With the Los Angeles Lakers, they finished with a fifty
Speaker 1: seven and twenty five record. They are first in the
Speaker 1: Pacific again. They kind of meander through the stretch run,
Speaker 1: but they just started out so hot and they won
Speaker 1: so many games that they kind of coasted in. They
Speaker 1: going to lose six of the their final nine, right,
Speaker 1: so at least raises an eyebrow of did they gas? Right?
Speaker 1: Are they done? They go into the playoffs and their
Speaker 1: first round was against the Oklahoma City Thunder. And this
Speaker 1: is Oklahoma who was becoming, Hey, we're gonna hit our
Speaker 1: peak very soon with Kde and Russell Westbrook and James Harden.
Speaker 1: But here they beat them in the first round. Oklahoma
Speaker 1: City's athleticism kept him in it. But the big game,
Speaker 1: pal Gasol hits a layup with one second left to
Speaker 1: win Game six and the series. This wasn't a Kobe series.
Speaker 1: This was a gasol Odom bind him series because what
Speaker 1: the Lakers front court was able to do, what these
Speaker 1: guys are able to do in beating Oklahoma City, it
Speaker 1: was their series. A. Kobe still had a good series,
Speaker 1: but this wasn't one where boy Kobe at five games
Speaker 1: of thirty or more points. It was those three guys
Speaker 1: getting it done. And they move on to the second round.
Speaker 1: Needed to be well rounded. I mean, and again goes
Speaker 1: back to the the veterans stepping up because you know
Speaker 1: the defense and as much as we much maligned defense
Speaker 1: of some of those young guys from Oklahoma City, let's
Speaker 1: face it, those are things that will they'll carry for
Speaker 1: their career. I mean, still collapsing on Kobe. Bryant finished
Speaker 1: with thirty two and that clincher, but you needed others
Speaker 1: to step in. Second round, they get the Utah Jazz
Speaker 1: and the Lakers front court was dominant. But as Utah adjusted,
Speaker 1: l A started hitting threes and it was a very
Speaker 1: quick series, and this was a Kobe series thirty points
Speaker 1: at least in all four games, and it was easy
Speaker 1: dispatching of the Jazz, moving on to the Western Conference
Speaker 1: Finals where they would meet the Phoenix Suns. Kobe scores
Speaker 1: forty in game one. He has thirteen assistant Game two,
Speaker 1: and this series is known for a very big play
Speaker 1: not involved in Kobe Bryant. It was a Kobe air
Speaker 1: ball in Game five, Ron our Test rebounds it puts
Speaker 1: in the game winner. And our Test had a great series.
Speaker 1: Here just for a second, on Ron our Test is
Speaker 1: that this air ball was Oh my god, the Lakers
Speaker 1: could be given away this series, but Ron Artest gets
Speaker 1: the rebound, hits a shot, and it's arguably his first
Speaker 1: or second best Laker moment. He had a big moment
Speaker 1: in the NBA Finals. We're gonna get to in a
Speaker 1: few minutes, but up in until this point, this was
Speaker 1: his signature moment. Here's run our Test hitting a shot
Speaker 1: where hey, Kobe air balded and now the Lakers looked
Speaker 1: like they're gonna move on because of him. Well that's
Speaker 1: for run our Test, right place, right time. And you
Speaker 1: always held your breath when he did shoot. Yes, it
Speaker 1: was no, no, no, no, no, oh good shot, good shot. Good.
Speaker 1: Even if he was early in the game, it would
Speaker 1: be like, all right, just stop because it's gonna the
Speaker 1: buckets are gonna run out. Start start, working the ball,
Speaker 1: and this was an opportunity of you know, Johnny on
Speaker 1: the spot. Lakers were the three games to to lead.
Speaker 1: They win Game six. Kobe Bryant leads the way thirty
Speaker 1: seven points. Roun Our Test had twenty five. So the
Speaker 1: Lakers get to the NBA Finals. Were awaiting them a
Speaker 1: rematch with the Boston Celtics, who had knocked them out
Speaker 1: and won the title two years before Kevin Garnett's big
Speaker 1: anything is possible? Or was I supposed to say nothing
Speaker 1: is impossible? What was the slogan I was supposed to
Speaker 1: say on national television to make money? I forget what?
Speaker 1: What did we trademark? This was such a big moment
Speaker 1: for Kobe in his NBA career because as much as
Speaker 1: he had won, he won three championships with Shack as
Speaker 1: a one A, and now he had won one as
Speaker 1: a one beating the Magic losing to the Celtics. If
Speaker 1: he lost to the Celtics again, that would really damage
Speaker 1: his legacy because hey, hey, Kobe was great, but you
Speaker 1: know what, Magic got the better the Celtics. Kareem got
Speaker 1: the better the Celtics. Worthy got the better. Celtics don't
Speaker 1: get the better of us. And so even though Kobe
Speaker 1: look right now, you could look back at him as
Speaker 1: the greatest Laker. I mean it's really he and Magic Johnson,
Speaker 1: and he won Magic and the the largesse of the tragedy.
Speaker 1: But also I would make that argument, yeah, look and
Speaker 1: Magic always one with Kareem you know, you know, Michael
Speaker 1: Cooper and go on down the list of Hall of famers,
Speaker 1: not to denigrate the career Magic Johnson, which was great.
Speaker 1: So we play that game of who did you play
Speaker 1: with to make you eight? Wakay, alright, but it's always
Speaker 1: he had shocks like well, I mean, go look at
Speaker 1: the laundry list of guys I had wrought our test.
Speaker 1: Oh alright, alright, alright, I mean really, because this is
Speaker 1: a moment where you think of him now, is the
Speaker 1: greatest Laker? Had he lost this second series to the Celtics,
Speaker 1: He's not the greatest Lakers. Boy, I love Kobe. Man,
Speaker 1: we lost to the Celtics twice. I mean that's what
Speaker 1: it would be. Man, We lost the Celtics twice well
Speaker 1: and at the time, and it still has its resonance,
Speaker 1: right because they don't get to get together very often.
Speaker 1: The way the schedules are worked. Eventually, the NBA will
Speaker 1: probably make some change to that and startain mixing it
Speaker 1: up more like Major League Baseball has. But you look
Speaker 1: at the Lakers and Celtics. I mean, that's our childhood, right,
Speaker 1: all those great teams and all of those Juggernauts and
Speaker 1: Hall of famers, And this was the last act of that,
Speaker 1: at least, as you and I sit together talking on
Speaker 1: this podcast. So the Lakers are set to meet the
Speaker 1: Celtics in the finals. It's seven games of blood on
Speaker 1: the floor and hair on the walls, heroics from Kobe,
Speaker 1: heroics from surprising places. As we continue here special teams
Speaker 1: with Jason Smith and Mike Harmon. So here we are
Speaker 1: Lakers Celtics, second final in three years. Kobe Bryant's career,
Speaker 1: defining legacy with the Lakers is up in this series.
Speaker 1: We all look forward to it again. It was all
Speaker 1: video of the series two years ago. But then they
Speaker 1: show you know, you've got magic and you have Larry
Speaker 1: and all the great video from the eighties and millennials
Speaker 1: are going. Who are these guys. I don't know who
Speaker 1: any of these players are. It begins in game one,
Speaker 1: goes to the Lakers co he scores thirty points and
Speaker 1: Boston never threatens. They looked horrendous in Game one and
Speaker 1: it was boy, the Lakers just that much better. Are
Speaker 1: they just gonna boat race the Celtics all the way through?
Speaker 1: I mean, they never threaten in Game one, and you're thinking,
Speaker 1: oh boy, this is just gonna be a Laker route.
Speaker 1: Game two was a different story. Boston is more aggressive.
Speaker 1: Ray Allen hits eight three pointers, region Rondo with a
Speaker 1: triple double. He scored ten points in the fourth quarter
Speaker 1: as the Celtics win Game two. I mean, Rajon Rondo
Speaker 1: not just a triple double, but back when he could
Speaker 1: score ten points in a quarter, You're like, come on, man,
Speaker 1: that's the way. That's what he could never score. You also,
Speaker 1: remember this is a decade ago. I mean, that's that's
Speaker 1: the other part of it. Even when he was at
Speaker 1: his best, he never was a big score ten points
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter. Everybody's got one or two barages
Speaker 1: in them. Uh. On the NBA level, right, we see
Speaker 1: it every night as we broadcast on Fox Sports radis
Speaker 1: like that guy did what seven including how many in
Speaker 1: the fourth like his career high twelve? You know, those
Speaker 1: kind of things. And for Rondo. He did come up
Speaker 1: big and big games. After the one oh win, the
Speaker 1: series shifts back to Boston for three games and the
Speaker 1: Lakers go out and they take Game three four. Derek
Speaker 1: Fisher played many more minutes than expected. Pal Gasol was
Speaker 1: not playing well. Fisher hits four straight shots. He scores
Speaker 1: eleven points in the fourth quarter. Kobe scores once in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter, but it's enough. He had twenty nine
Speaker 1: total for the game, and it was a night for him,
Speaker 1: and it was one. It was one of those games that, look,
Speaker 1: we're fond of saying this. Anytime you see a team
Speaker 1: winning a championship, there's always one or two games where
Speaker 1: the best player doesn't play at his best and the
Speaker 1: supporting cast carries him and it's unexpected. Sources, no one
Speaker 1: expected Derek Fisher to be a guy to go for
Speaker 1: sixteen points in this game. And yeah, I mean no
Speaker 1: one expected that, but it's the unexpected contribution. Derek Fisher
Speaker 1: won this game for the Acres. They take a two
Speaker 1: games to one lead. Yeah, just a tremendous game. Six
Speaker 1: or twelve from the field. For his sixteen points. You
Speaker 1: look at Gassol and buying them while they weren't huge offensively,
Speaker 1: they only combined for twenty two points. They they talied
Speaker 1: twenty rebounds, so helping push things get those extra opportunities.
Speaker 1: Game four, the Boston Celtics come back and they even
Speaker 1: the series of two games apiece. The Boston bench is fantastic,
Speaker 1: Andrew buying him misses the second half with a knee injury.
Speaker 1: So now we have a brand new series headed to
Speaker 1: Game five, and this injury would kind of dog buying
Speaker 1: him the rest of the series. He'd be in and
Speaker 1: out of the lineup. Well, I'd be remiss if I
Speaker 1: didn't talk about the eight team points off the bench
Speaker 1: in twenty three minutes from Glen Big Baby Davis. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, that's when I think back to those Celtics teams,
Speaker 1: that one that beat the Lakers and and the one
Speaker 1: that sent them to seven games, is I don't think
Speaker 1: of Pearson, Garnett, Ray Allen. I think of James Posey
Speaker 1: raining down threes, you know, two years before to win this,
Speaker 1: and I think of players like Glenn Davis and and
Speaker 1: Leon Leon Poe having big games. You know, for the Celtics,
Speaker 1: it was their supporting cast that really kept them afloat
Speaker 1: in a lot of games, one of the championship and
Speaker 1: nearly one of the second one. But look at this
Speaker 1: game four, right, Allan with twelve, Pierce leads them with nineteen,
Speaker 1: but then you have Davis with eighteen off the bench,
Speaker 1: and Nate Robinson one of the great stories of the
Speaker 1: last decade plus in the NBA. But you know he's
Speaker 1: got twelve points on four of eight shooting two or
Speaker 1: four from three point range and a plus eight, so
Speaker 1: valuable minutes off the benches. This series got extended. Game
Speaker 1: five goes to the Celtics as well, eighties six. Kobe
Speaker 1: scores thirty eight, but he was the only Laker with
Speaker 1: a big game. Boston's big three was Garnette Pierson, Rajean
Speaker 1: Rondo eighteen eight and five rebounds. Another big game from Rondo,
Speaker 1: and now the Celtics are one game away from the
Speaker 1: NBA title. But in the end, the Lakers did what
Speaker 1: they had to do. They went into Boston, they won
Speaker 1: one game and that was gonna send back to l
Speaker 1: A and the Lakers now have two chances. You gotta
Speaker 1: win both games to win the NBA type. Yeah, this
Speaker 1: game just a game of starters. The benches combined to
Speaker 1: score twenty seven points fourteen thirteen Lakers edge. Olthowise just
Speaker 1: starting five might as well have just sent everybody else home,
Speaker 1: uh and rolled it out. We can go back and
Speaker 1: watch some of the tapes of this and again it's
Speaker 1: Rondo eighteen and eight showing again on a big stage
Speaker 1: because ray Allen wasn't shooting particularly well, uh and and
Speaker 1: he wasn't taking a ton of shots, so someone else
Speaker 1: needed to step up. You know, this series now, when
Speaker 1: it gets back to l A, you could tell that
Speaker 1: both teams started to run out of gas because baskets
Speaker 1: were hard to come by, and these were two great
Speaker 1: offensive teams. When you look at the final scores in
Speaker 1: this series, you add the Lakers break a hundred points
Speaker 1: in game one, the Celtics break a hundred points in
Speaker 1: game two, and that's it, right, you know, that was
Speaker 1: it the end of the series. Even Kobe Bryant said
Speaker 1: following Game seven, I had nothing left because he had
Speaker 1: he didn't have a great shooting night in Game seven.
Speaker 1: And I remember when they asked him after the game, Kobe,
Speaker 1: you seem to struggle tonight. He said, I had nothing left.
Speaker 1: You I was going on guts and stamina and and
Speaker 1: I really have anything left. And you go to Game
Speaker 1: six and the Celtics clearly are deflated even further because
Speaker 1: this was Kendrick Perkins getting hurt early, suffering a torn
Speaker 1: PCL and m c L in the first quarter. Left
Speaker 1: a huge hole on defense, a huge hole on the boards,
Speaker 1: and the Lakers just blow the doors off of the
Speaker 1: Celtics seven their bench outscores the Celtics zero. Alright, Celtics
Speaker 1: did not get a point off the bench tonight again,
Speaker 1: buying him left with knee swelling. I mean, Boston's forever
Speaker 1: gonna say, if Perkins didn't get hurt, we would have
Speaker 1: won the NBA title. Doc Rivers has even said that
Speaker 1: many times the past couple of years. Well you know
Speaker 1: we're undefeated with Perkins running. Well, okay, well you still lost.
Speaker 1: You're not getting a title for that. But here's the thing.
Speaker 1: Perks more than capable of speaking up for himself and
Speaker 1: telling you how great. Yes he is, Yes he is,
Speaker 1: And I appreciate the hell out of him. Every time
Speaker 1: he opens his mouth. I lean forward in my chair
Speaker 1: because I don't know where the story is gonna go.
Speaker 1: And yeah, maybe that's true, it doesn't matter. We say
Speaker 1: that all the time. You can't take away the title
Speaker 1: and just caveat and out. If this guy got hurt, look,
Speaker 1: buying him missed the equivalent of a game and a half.
Speaker 1: You know, he look, you miss Kendrick Perkins. They're missing
Speaker 1: Andrew buying him, and he missed a lot of time
Speaker 1: to look. Like I said, this was a war of
Speaker 1: attrition these last couple of games of this series. You're
Speaker 1: talking about final scores of sixty seven in game six
Speaker 1: and eight three seventy nine in game seven. This is
Speaker 1: not gonna set the world on fire. Yeah, but I mean,
Speaker 1: just look at little contribution you're and what you're looking
Speaker 1: for from your benches. You're trying to eat some minutes,
Speaker 1: but they're not shooting the ball. It's just who's got
Speaker 1: a warm body that can steal three or four minutes
Speaker 1: to get your star, some gatorade, some whatever nutrients you
Speaker 1: need back in and get and roll them back out there. So,
Speaker 1: you know, leaving everything on the court for those forty
Speaker 1: eight there's nothing else but nothing left by time you
Speaker 1: get to the end of the series. So the Lakers
Speaker 1: had to Game seven tied with the Celtics, and it
Speaker 1: looked like the Celtics, we're gonna run them out of
Speaker 1: the gym. In the second half, they had a forty
Speaker 1: nine thirty six lead, and it was wow. The Celtics.
Speaker 1: Perkins is out there reeling. They're gonna find a way
Speaker 1: to beat the Lakers at Staples Center and win Game seven.
Speaker 1: Lakers call it twenty second time out. That was it,
Speaker 1: twenty second time out. Different team. When they got back
Speaker 1: on the floor, they started cutting into the lead. Derek
Speaker 1: Fisher hit some threes, Pal Gasol made some clutch plays.
Speaker 1: They come all the way back. They take the lead
Speaker 1: deep into the fourth quarter, and when it looks like
Speaker 1: the Lakers were at the point where they could salt
Speaker 1: the game away, Boston keeps chipping away. Now the Lakers lead,
Speaker 1: it's six, it's down to three, it's seven, it's down
Speaker 1: to four, it's six, it's down to three. There came
Speaker 1: to a point at the end of this game where
Speaker 1: it looked like the Lakers were gonna put the Celtics away,
Speaker 1: but the Celtics didn't go gentle into that good night.
Speaker 1: The Lakers would be up six, the Celtics would hit
Speaker 1: a three, they'd be up five. The Celtics would get
Speaker 1: a bucket. And it came to the point where the
Speaker 1: Lakers were protecting a three point lead with not much
Speaker 1: time left, and every point now it's this has gotta
Speaker 1: be Kobe, This has gotta be Kobe. Gotta be Kobe,
Speaker 1: and ron our Test hits the three to give the
Speaker 1: Lakers a six point lead, when every single Laker fan
Speaker 1: is going no, no, no, no, no again, ron Artest,
Speaker 1: no no, no, no, no oh, what a great shot.
Speaker 1: And you and I have talked to him before, and
Speaker 1: we've gone through these moments, and you when he tells
Speaker 1: stories of these games and I got the ball from
Speaker 1: Kobe and whatever else, his eyes get wide light saucers.
Speaker 1: They needed every bit of ron our Test in this game.
Speaker 1: I mean, who knew you need every bit of ron
Speaker 1: our Test that game? Right, It's it's just an insane
Speaker 1: box score. When you go through and watching the sequences.
Speaker 1: The benches have really no impact from a scoring perspective.
Speaker 1: It's nine six Odom and Vulla Chich total of nine
Speaker 1: against six for Big Baby Davis. The ben for the Celtics.
Speaker 1: Davis plays about twenty one minutes and that's it. Tony
Speaker 1: Allen five minutes, twenty seconds Nate Robinson three and a
Speaker 1: half minutes and Scalambreedy got in for fifty one seconds.
Speaker 1: That's it. But that's it. That's all you got from
Speaker 1: the bench. It's basically, hey guys, this is how far
Speaker 1: we got this game seven, you got it. Take care
Speaker 1: of it. Our test three comes with about a minute
Speaker 1: left to go, and okay, that turned out to be
Speaker 1: the big backbreaker, but the Celtics still hit a shot
Speaker 1: and they still cut the lead, and Kobe misses, but
Speaker 1: Pau Gasol gets the rebound, gets the ball back to Kobe.
Speaker 1: The Celtics have no choice but the foul Kobe Bryant.
Speaker 1: Kobe hits both free throws after Gasol rebounds Kobe's missed three,
Speaker 1: which is a really big deal because still even with
Speaker 1: that three from Ron Artest, the Celtics still had a chance.
Speaker 1: Boston then gets another bucket and it's like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: it's Boston ever gonna go away? What's gonna happen? And
Speaker 1: then Sasha willia Chich, who we talked about the very
Speaker 1: beginning of the podcast. It made a very quick reference
Speaker 1: to him. He was one player that Kobe Bryant made
Speaker 1: cry at practice because he was so tough on him,
Speaker 1: want him to tough enough. Volia Chich hits two big
Speaker 1: free throws with eleven seconds left to give the Lakers
Speaker 1: a four point lead. Rondo mss A three, Lakers get
Speaker 1: the rebound, they win eighty three seventy nine, and the
Speaker 1: Lakers are NBA champions. They withstand all the way to
Speaker 1: the buzzer. This was one of those where you want
Speaker 1: to stand up and applaud both teams after because you
Speaker 1: could tell none of them had anything left and it
Speaker 1: was just throwing. It's like the end of our You're
Speaker 1: throwing punches. It's like the second Rocky Apollo fight. They're
Speaker 1: just circling each other and throwing. Rocky's bleeding from his
Speaker 1: eye and Apollo you can't even see his eyes. They're
Speaker 1: just throwing punches and in back and punches. That's what
Speaker 1: the end of this was like three seventy nine. You
Speaker 1: know what the poison pens would be out for a
Speaker 1: finals game that ends Because if you told me that
Speaker 1: scoring game seven, what's your first thought, which which pistons tea? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was that was that? Oh that was when the
Speaker 1: first one, first time or when they were back, was
Speaker 1: that when they lost to the Spurs. It was seventy nine. Um,
Speaker 1: Kobe still wound up with a game high twenty three
Speaker 1: and still had ten in the fourth quarter, proving that
Speaker 1: even when Kobe would have moments like this, like you know,
Speaker 1: he misses the big three but Palgasol gets the rebound,
Speaker 1: he still was great. I mean, this is the game
Speaker 1: where if you said, hey, Kobe had ten in the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter, but because you expected him to make every
Speaker 1: big clutch shot, it would seem like, uh, Kobe didn't
Speaker 1: have a great game, no shooting, he didn't have a
Speaker 1: great game. But still he had high point total and
Speaker 1: he scored ten in the fourth quarter. When you know
Speaker 1: you're not scoring a lot of points there, three points
Speaker 1: won this game. That's a really big deal. Twenty three
Speaker 1: and fifteen on the night he was eleven and fifteen
Speaker 1: from the file line for the night six of twenty four.
Speaker 1: Pretty much anybody else, you'd take the ball from them
Speaker 1: after a while, But who else are you gonna get it?
Speaker 1: Like Kobe. Eventually you're gonna find your shot. No, no,
Speaker 1: the the legs were gone afterwards. I'll always remember ron
Speaker 1: our test and his and his press conference because this
Speaker 1: was when he brought his entire family to the press conference,
Speaker 1: and it was everybody had his kids, his wife, and
Speaker 1: he introducing everybody and he goes, hi, all right, this
Speaker 1: is my wife, and this is this and I'm ron
Speaker 1: and and he goes all the way through. He has
Speaker 1: his whole family up there. Phil Jackson talked about the
Speaker 1: role that ron Our Test played in winning the game.
Speaker 1: He called him like the most valuable player of the game,
Speaker 1: even though Kobe won his second straight NBA Finals m
Speaker 1: v P. But this goes to show you that as
Speaker 1: great a player as Kobe was, look, you need help
Speaker 1: to win, and he got to help the first time
Speaker 1: around with Pau Gasol. And it wasn't a great Magic
Speaker 1: team that they beat in the finals. This was a
Speaker 1: really great Celtics team, and he had all the help
Speaker 1: he needed with our Test and Odomankase. I mean, this
Speaker 1: was probably the best of all of those Laker teams,
Speaker 1: even though it was only together for a very short
Speaker 1: period of time. Because eventually Lamar Odom he gets sick
Speaker 1: and tired of his act and they move on and
Speaker 1: Palgosol gets older and ron our Tests, you know, only
Speaker 1: has so much time before he turns into some Okay,
Speaker 1: he's not quite the player he used to be, but
Speaker 1: this moment in time, this was that best Laker team. Right,
Speaker 1: Derek Fisher was getting older, and you look at just
Speaker 1: on down the line, right Andrew by Him had his flash.
Speaker 1: Jordan's farm are guys that you had some quality minutes
Speaker 1: from through the regular season. They weren't long for being
Speaker 1: with the team. And just for the Ron artests that
Speaker 1: he he averaged eleven points per game during the regular
Speaker 1: season clincher, he's the guy making the difference scoring twenty.
Speaker 1: So I mean it's just a strange game and an
Speaker 1: EBB and flow, but also a testament to the way
Speaker 1: those teams both were constructed. Yeah, Kobe was the only
Speaker 1: player to average more than twenty points a game in
Speaker 1: the series. He averaged a game high point high man
Speaker 1: for the Celtics, and in that series was Paul Pierce
Speaker 1: with eight. Team. I mean, look look at what the
Speaker 1: Lakers did. You had Kobe with twenty eight. Then it
Speaker 1: was Pal Gasol who was eighteen and eleven. Then you
Speaker 1: had our test with ten, Andrew by Him had seven,
Speaker 1: Derek Fisher was eight. Lamar Odom only average seven points
Speaker 1: a game in this series. You know he he had
Speaker 1: a rougher NBA Finals than anybody else did, but look,
Speaker 1: it's that was it across the board. This this was hey,
Speaker 1: we are we are throwing all kinds of haymakers at
Speaker 1: each other, and clearly Kobe Bryant stood head and shoulders
Speaker 1: above everybody else because without Kobe's ability to put the
Speaker 1: ball in the basket when points were at a premium,
Speaker 1: this is the Celtics winning another title. Instead, it cements
Speaker 1: the legend you put the five up, five greater than
Speaker 1: Shaquille's four. And you know, even you heard Shack say
Speaker 1: that after uh Kobe passed. He was very emotional on
Speaker 1: T and T in the in the nights following the
Speaker 1: fatal h helicopter accident, where Shack was saying, you know,
Speaker 1: we're not gonna be able to joke around that his
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame induction where he would say five is
Speaker 1: greater than four because Shaq would always say I won
Speaker 1: the battle with Kobe because I won the first title.
Speaker 1: But then Kobe could say, yeah, but I won two
Speaker 1: and I stayed and so now my five is greater
Speaker 1: than your four. And you know that's that's been That's
Speaker 1: a big debate to this Shack Kobe debate, that's always
Speaker 1: gonna live. Look, that's part of the emotions that come
Speaker 1: out of Shaquille O'Neal to of what his career became. Right,
Speaker 1: he got that title and he's revered, and he's gone
Speaker 1: on to great success as a commentator. I don't know
Speaker 1: that there's anything more entertaining on television. You got Fox
Speaker 1: NFL Sunday and you got Inside the NBA. Those are
Speaker 1: the two. Those are the two hallmarks to everything. But
Speaker 1: with Shaquille O'Neal, there's gotta there's gonna be regret. Whether
Speaker 1: he's he's really expressed it yet, I've heard it in
Speaker 1: bits and pieces. Right when you start talking about what
Speaker 1: the end of his career became, leaves Los Angeles, goes
Speaker 1: to Miami, great, but then you have stops in Cleveland
Speaker 1: and Boston and all these other things. You know, dancing
Speaker 1: with the Jabberwocky's is great, But you talk about Kobe
Speaker 1: being able to finish twenty years in the Laker uniform
Speaker 1: versus moving and bouncing around and trying to find fits,
Speaker 1: fighting health issues, some of which was caused by not
Speaker 1: taking care of your body early. For Shaquille O'Neill, So
Speaker 1: I mean there's beyond the personal rift, there also had
Speaker 1: to be some personal jealousy of how he was able
Speaker 1: to stay on a straight path instead of the hop
Speaker 1: scotch that Shaquille O'Neil played. And this was the title
Speaker 1: that cemented all of that well, and that's the thing
Speaker 1: for Kobe. And you know, let's let's let's end here
Speaker 1: with this with Kobe because the one thing about him
Speaker 1: that endeared him defans through everything throughout his life. And
Speaker 1: you've heard so many different tributes to Kobe over the
Speaker 1: course of the past a few days, and you're gonna
Speaker 1: continue to hear of the coming weeks and months, is that.
Speaker 1: You know, Shaq was always about fun. He knew he
Speaker 1: needed to win any one. Did Shaq really try to
Speaker 1: get better every day? No, because he would have developed
Speaker 1: more than one post movie, would have developed a way
Speaker 1: to dominate the games as he got older, would have
Speaker 1: taken care of his body a little bit more. Kobe
Speaker 1: always wanted to get better. He was always about winning.
Speaker 1: He was always about the edge over my opponent. In
Speaker 1: that way, he was the most like Michael Jordan that
Speaker 1: we had seen, because that's what he wanted and that's
Speaker 1: what fans come to games for. Because while fans understand
Speaker 1: we have to tank to get better, they understand we
Speaker 1: have to trade this player because he makes too much money.
Speaker 1: We gotta get into the salary cap. Whatever sport we're
Speaker 1: talking about, the one thing that always brings you back
Speaker 1: is I want my team to win. And Kobe wanted
Speaker 1: to win. Body be damned, everything else be damned. I
Speaker 1: want to win. That's why I'm shooting free throws with
Speaker 1: a torn achilles. That's why I'm I'm trying to score
Speaker 1: sixty and win my final game in the NBA. He
Speaker 1: was always about winning and there was nothing else about it.
Speaker 1: And in a league where a lot of players enjoy
Speaker 1: the lifestyle of the NBA and look, not that they
Speaker 1: don't want to win, but how many players are obsessed
Speaker 1: with winning like Kobe Bryant, Lebron James for a long
Speaker 1: time in his career, it's making business decision after business decision.
Speaker 1: Kobe just wanted to go out and win. There are
Speaker 1: a few players like that, but no one like him.
Speaker 1: And while players enjoy the lifestyle, they enjoy being stars,
Speaker 1: they enjoy playing. They get to the playoffs. Now we're
Speaker 1: trying to win. Kobe was obsessed with that every single day,
Speaker 1: well all the way through the twenty years, and he
Speaker 1: into when the body was starting to betray him. It
Speaker 1: became all right, how do I become a more affected
Speaker 1: player in my final years? Right? More jump shots, the
Speaker 1: fade away, the footwork on the post. We talked a
Speaker 1: little bit earlier about the James Worthy conversation, you know
Speaker 1: that he called him, going, hey, help me work work
Speaker 1: down on the knock. It was like, what do you
Speaker 1: mean You're you're going into your seventeen What am I
Speaker 1: going to teach you? I? Yeah, It's like you're Kobe Bryant,
Speaker 1: what do you what do you want? But still trying
Speaker 1: to pick people's brains, And it's it's as a fan
Speaker 1: of sport, and that's what gets us all behind the microphone,
Speaker 1: keeps us paying for different packages, whether it's the ticket
Speaker 1: or whatever else and going through if you buy jerseys
Speaker 1: and everything else is you're you're a fan of the
Speaker 1: sport and you appreciate greatness. And even if you were
Speaker 1: in a Laker fan, you appreciated Kobe Bryant. Right. I
Speaker 1: grew up in Chicago Bears fan, Bulls fan, everything but
Speaker 1: the Cubs and Southside, what do you want? But it
Speaker 1: was you still appreciated the guys that gutted you. You
Speaker 1: hated to play brat Farve, but every time you just went,
Speaker 1: oh man, and you shake your head and you'd watch
Speaker 1: him do something crazy in the final minutes of a
Speaker 1: game to beat you, and it's like, all right, here
Speaker 1: we go again. Same thing later on with Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: for Laker. You know, detractors, they still had to just
Speaker 1: shake their head and go, yep, we got Kobe again. Right.
Speaker 1: He had another one of those signature nights and made
Speaker 1: us all look silly and we couldn't defend him, or
Speaker 1: we kept single guarding him when obviously we shouldn't have.
Speaker 1: Schell Michell, I led you to the water and you drank.
Speaker 1: But just that idea of and that was the appreciation
Speaker 1: of him. And I think you see that across all sports,
Speaker 1: and we've seen that, and that will just continue to flow.
Speaker 1: So that's how I look back at the final NBA
Speaker 1: Championship for Kobe Bryant. Here on Special Teams You want
Speaker 1: more Kobe content, check out Special Teams Are podcast. We
Speaker 1: look back at the first NBA title for Kobe Bryant
Speaker 1: and the Lakers as the Lakers beat the Indiana Pacers
Speaker 1: to win the NBA title. Check that out as well.
Speaker 1: From Mike, I'm Jason. You have an idea of who
Speaker 1: you want to see or hear us talk about on
Speaker 1: future episodes and podcasts of Special Teams. Twitter at how
Speaker 1: about a fresca? Mike is at Swollen Dome. We'll talk
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