Official Los Angeles Lakers Thread

[minew_m]

Originally posted by podstock
I do not believe JaRon was drafted; instead he became a free agent, was given a tryout, but I do not believe he ever played in an NBA game

Kareem's defense was about as good as JaRon's. The biggest difference was that Kareem had a somewhat more reliable perimeter shot.

There's another difference too, his heart. Kareem seems to love the game for all the right reasons. Unlike his brother who was just in it for the money. There was always questions about Jaron's heart when he left the team for a while due to "sickness" during his freshman year. And then there was the problems with his coach and his agent.

He never was drafted in the NBA. He did play for the Knights, I believe it was, in the ABA but was soon dropped in 2002 (I think it was then). The Sonics even wanted to give him a try but he couldn't even make their practice roster. I think now he is trying to make a comeback and trying to get into the NBADL.

[podstock]

JaRon, at this point in his life, probably couldn't make any WNBA team

[minew_m]

Lol, have to agree with that statement.

[podstock]

well, Shaq just put up his $7.5M mansion in Bel Air up for sale

that ad is in the Real Estate section of the Sunday newspaper this past week

what with him bad-mouthing the Lakers and now putting his house for sale, looks like this is it.

what a shame and what a hypocrite.

Shaq cries about not getting a $150M extension for 5 more years, then talks about how the Lakers are not committed to winning

lololol

1. Lakers have won 14-15 titles in their history
2. Lakers just won 3 during Shaq/Kobe era
3. Lakers have most wins in post-season history (even more than the Celtics)
4. Lakers have the most wins in regular season (even more than the Celtics)
5. Lakers have played in more Finals than any other basketball organization.

Shaq is sour at the fact the Lakers are too smart to give a far, out-of-shape ex-superstar $30-35M a year for the next 5 years (and that's after 2 MORE years -- 2004 and 2005 - in which Shaq will get $27.7M and $30M GUARANTEED)

lololololol..... good bye to Shaq, whose best years are BEHIND him

gee, Kevin Garnett is entering the prime of his career, is about 28-29 years old, and TOOK A PAYCUT from $30M to about $22M for the next 4-5 years

and Malone came here for $1M

lololol.....we'll see if the team that has Shaq makes it to the Finals.

Shaq has claimed he's good for 55 wins a season............

[minew_m]

I think the whole reason Shaq left is because of how the Lakers treated him. They basically put him on hold and said they were trying to work out things with Kobe first. Only after that broke out is when we heard about the money situation. He knows the Lakers can't afford it so the only thing for them to do is trade him. I wouldn't be surprised if he signed an extension for less with another team who was more respecting of him.

[podstock]

it's ALWAYS about MONEY

Once in 20 years, you get a Karl Malone who plays for $1M a year (but reemmber that he's got over $150M in his career, so he's not exactly poor)

if owner Jerry Buss came back from his vacation in Italy today and offered Shaq a 5- year contract (good until 2010 when it expires) at $30M a year, with 10% increases annually,

do you not think Shaq will sign?

lolololol....if you are a businessman, you do what the Lakers are doing right now

Shaq has his time....Shaq mis-used it (making bull™™™™ moves like Kazaam), and now is paying for being out-of-shape and overweight. He's slow, he's lost lateral movement, and he can't play well on back-to-back games.

it's Kobe time

This is a business, and what the Lakers are doing is the right thing.

Spurs proved that you could beat Shaq and Kobe last year
Pistons proved that you could beat Shaq and Kobe this year

we need other players, and to get other good players, you need to spend the money.

good riddance to Shaq, who can take his 4-18 free throw shooting to Dallas, or where ever the hell he's going!

Once again, I'll reiterate: How you can be the Most Dominant Ever, and NOT WIN ONE SINGLE NBA Defensive player of the year??

Dennis Rodman won it a few times
Alonzo Mourning won it
Tim Duncan won it
Ben Wallace
Ron Artest
David Robinson

Shaq could've been the greatest ever, but like the majority of athletes who make $100M before they could drink alcohol, Shaq never improved his game.

1. He couldn't shoot outside 10-foot when he came in as a rookie.. he still can't
2. He couldn't shoot free throws when he came in as a rookie... now, he's even worse than the 51% he shot as a rookie

(hell, Magic Johnson was a 79% free throw shooter in his rookie year, and got to the point where he shot 90.5% one year, and spent the majority of his years in the mid 80%)

3. He never developed a post-op move (bull-rushing your way over smaller players isn't a skill ... if it were, then I, too, am very talented and deserve to make millions - b/c if you put me up against someone 3-4 inches smaller than me, and 100 lbs lighter than me, I too could ram my way in for dunks).

The answer is simple: Shaq was given all his money, and never had to earn it, thus, he never needed to develop his game.

You look at the great players -- Jordan, Magic, Bird, Kobe, Dr. J,

All these players were of average size and weight...what made them different was that they improved on their game summer after summer.

And that's why the Lakers are letting Shaq leave. He played well, He helped us win 3 titles, and we paid him over $130M to do it.

good riddance to the self-proclaimed Most Dominant Ever, and don't the the door hit your fat ™™™™™ on the way out!

[minew_m]

Originally posted by podstock

Once again, I'll reiterate: How you can be the Most Dominant Ever, and NOT WIN ONE SINGLE NBA Defensive player of the year??

Dennis Rodman won it a few times
Alonzo Mourning won it
Tim Duncan won it
Ben Wallace
Ron Artest
David Robinson

Those guys are basically purely defense. You aren't going to sit there and tell me that one of those guy are "more dominant" than Shaq!

I also have a question for you, have you ever played competitive basketball? It's one thing to just shoot over one person when they are guarding you (like Kobe does) but it's another when you are double or triple teamed in the post. It is almost impossible to put up a good shot but Shaq seems to make over 60% of those. How many of the guys on your list on top were that effective shooting or playing in the post?

I'm really anxious for Dallas to get Shaq. It's time for them to win their championship!

[podstock]

Minew,

No, I've never played competitively...the most I've done is playground ball with my buddies.

I am too short to play...and I am not at all talented.

But that doesn't mean I can't recognize when someone is half-assing their performance, like Shaq does.

And Shaq even admitted he doesn't work out when he's not on "company time".

It will be fun next year........

[minew_m]

Your right about one thing, next season will be fun.

[stalking_WOLF_21]

yeah it well be cool to see the lakers but kicked against the t-wolves