On Sunday evening, Russell Westbrook had himself a night to remember in a season full of nights to remember (and afternoons to forget).
Westbrook dropped 54 on the Indiana Pacers in a loss, as his Oklahoma City Thunder fell out of the playoff bracket. In an age of heightened attention to the usefulness of a fine free throw stroke and the ability to rack up points from long range, Westbrook’s 43 shot attempts stood out. He didn’t seem to be any hotter from the floor than he usually is, he just shot a lot more, so some probably took to radio or cable TV to complain. We wouldn’t know.
Kobe Bryant, apparently, had both the radio receiver and cable setup blaring at full volume. As such, a ticked-off Bryant decided to meme it up on Monday in Westbrook’s defense:
The internet, rightfully, agreed with Kobe – despite Bryant not always being known for his tact. Westbrook has been in desperation all season trying to save OKC’s playoff hopes. He made nearly half his shots and he’s a guard, so let the man shoot.
Buoyed by this, and out for the Lakers’ season, Bryant decided to dig in a little deeper on Tuesday.
Considering the timeliness of the Tina Fey meme, we’re surprised Kobe the Dad didn’t go full 2007 on us and drop in a “Leave Britney Alone!” image into any of these. That’s the year this very popular blog was created, by the way, eight years before a podcast sharing a similar name debuted.
Almost immediately everyone was like, wait:
Kobe’s not exactly wrong, in this instance, and some of the media-inspired halos and devil horns usually aren’t on point as well.
[Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball]
Magic Johnson essentially forced Paul Westhead out of a job midway through the 1981-82 season, but that doesn’t mean the coach thrashing in this instance was necessarily a bad thing. Westhead was never hired by Lakers owner Jerry Buss, who didn’t like the group’s offense and wanted either Jerry West or Laker assistant Pat Riley to run the team. Magic and Westhead may have been combatants, but the Lakers thrived after replacing him, and he was on his way out anyway even if Magic hadn’t played his juice card.
Also:
If anything, Bryant should rip on the media referring to Magic as “Tragic Johnson” after a series of missed free throws and unfortunate turnovers contributed to Los Angeles’ 1984 NBA Finals’ loss. Those writers completely forgot about the time a 20-year old Johnson acted as the driving force behind Los Angeles’ title in 1980.
Michael Jordan was a gunner, but as is the case with Westbrook this season, it was because he had to be.
Jordan’s best teammates in his final Finals-less years were the very raw Scottie Pippen, the slowly emerging Horace Grant and a past his prime (though this isn’t to say he wasn’t a significant contributor) Bill Cartwright. A 1986 draft pick had been used on an ineffective forward in Brad Sellers, and the Bulls also whiffed on a series of late 1980s draft picks save for the selection of B.J. Armstrong. Adding to the noise was the fact that Bulls coach Doug Collins, in a bid to save his job, effectively made Jordan his point guard midway through 1988-89 – giving Jordan the chance to rack up the consecutive triple-doubles that Westbrook approximated earlier this season.
Jordan was up against history in trying to an NBA team to a title from the swingman position, something that no recent NBA team had ever accomplished. That was the basis of any “criticism,” if you can call it that, that Jordan’s biggest opponent wasn’t himself or the Detroit Pistons, but orthodoxy.
LeBron James? His teammates stunk for years, a win in Cleveland should have been no sure thing in his final two seasons there, and that’s hardly his fault. He should rightfully be criticized for his poor decision making and ineffectual play late in his final 2010 and 2011 playoff games, but one could also counter those performances with the way he carried a terrible Cavaliers team on his back past what was thought to be a dynastic Detroit Pistons team in 2007, or when he played a historically-great Boston Celtics team to a near draw the year after.
Shaq? For every season save for one, Shaquille O’Neal did not play to his potential. That lone season, 1999-00, O’Neal led the Lakers to a title with Kobe and earned his only MVP award. It’s true that O’Neal should have also won the award the next season (played 74 games at 39 minutes a clip, 28.7 points, 12.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.7 blocks; lost the award because sportswriters liked Allen Iverson’s story better), but for O’Neal not to fully take advantage of his gifts is significant.
Kobe’s relayed as much, even recently! It's true that failing to be "serious" (O'Neal was mocked for his musical and acting career) is not necessarily the same as being "lazy," but come on, Kobester.
And the Spurs?
(Yeah, well, kind of. I wrote as much at least, back then, because look at this roster.)
Twitter allows for one-note takes, devoid of nuance, which is why it’s both tempting to want to make black or white statements, and why it’s usually wrong to. Especially if you decide to throw in the probably-inaccurate “before rings” hashtag.
This won’t stop Kobe, though. As if anything ever could.
- - - - - - -
Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
from Yahoo Sports http://ift.tt/1JHUhEz
