The Grip -- Wed, 12.20.17

Let’s remember all of Kobe

December 20, 2017

12.20.17

LAST NIGHT'S SCORES

Kings 101, 76ers 95Wizards 116, Pelicans 106Bucks 119, Cavaliers 116

 There will always be a before and after with Kobe  

So, no one’s going to say it, huh?

On Monday, the L.A. Lakers retired both of Kobe Bryant’s numbers, and the entire NBA world -- players, coaches, fans -- fawned over one of the game’s undeniable greats. The heavens practically opened up.

It was so…..Kobe.

Media outlets from the Ringer to the L.A. Times to Bleacher Report covered it with enthusiasm.

Of course, one thing from the mid-2000s was left out in the summation of his illustrious career. The details, lest we forget, are out there for all to see: 

The accuser said that, with one arm still around her neck, Bryant “would lean his face real close to me and ask me questions.” The question: “You’re not gonna tell anybody right.” “I said no. And he didn’t hear me or asked me to say it louder. Wanted me to turn around and look at him while I said it,” she told police. She said that Bryant asked her the question “three or four” times, and her response every time was “no” because “I was scared that if I told him yes, I’m gonna tell somebody, I’m gonna get out of here now, that he would become more physical with me. Or try harder to keep me in there.” “And then,” she said, “he lifted up my skirt, took off my underwear and, and came inside me.” She continued: “That’s when he kept coming inside me and then he leaned his face toward mine and asked me if I liked it when a guy came on my face, I said no. Then he was like what did you say. Grabbed and like tightened his hold on my neck, I said no. He said he was gonna do it anyway. And then at that point I got a little bit more aggressive with him and tried to release his hands from my neck. And he was still behind me and at that point he’s still choking me, I was not trying as hard as I could of to get away, but I was still trying...Afterwards, she told officers that Bryant issued her a warning. “[This] is just between the two, the two of us nobody is gonna know about this, you’re not going to tell anybody. Not asking me just telling me.”

Kobe Bryant is a lot of things, and America is built on second chances. And due process is a thing, and it is possible that his accuser was lying. But also more than likely she wasn’t. She wasn’t looking for money, she came from a wealthy family. Kobe Bryant is not a hero.

 Chicago is suddenly unbeatable and that’s not good  

There is no value in an NBA team that is slightly above or below average, we know that. You either have a shot or you’re trying to bottom out.

That’s easy, conventional wisdom, but coaches and front office members of bad teams can’t exactly tell their players that. Many times, the players on these teams are fringe guys with no future with the team, mercenaries picked to (hopefully) lose games fighting for a new contract.

This is the problem growing in Chicago, winners of six straight after a 3-20 start, and it might cost them a blue-chipper in the draft like Duke’s Marvin Bagley or Missouri’s Michael Porter.  

The weirdest part is Chicago is beating good teams, including Boston, Milwaukee and Philadelphia, making them now only the third worst team in the NBA.

It may just be that each player on the team is trying their hardest to be valuable and get sent to a contender, or it could just be that their awful start is not accurate to what the team’s potential is. Unlikely, but Niko Mirotic and Kris Dunn suddenly look like valuable players.

Regardless, finishing a season anywhere between ninth and 14th place isn’t going to help a team get out of the mess they’re in. They need the next Ben Simmons, not the next Marcus Smart.

  • Yesterday was Arvydas Sabonis’s 53rd birthday. Sabonis is regarded as one the best big men ever, but spent his prime playing in his native Russia and other European leagues mostly due to weird Cold War sanctions. Sabonis’s lore remains covered in myth, but he finally came to the Trail Blazers as a 31-year-old in the mid-90s, playing seven seasons in the league for some great Portland teams. Watch his NBA highlights and you’ll understand his talent.

  • In front of Kobe, Kevin Durant played the most Kobe-like game on Monday. He started the night shooting 5-23, then closed the game going 5-6 to force overtime, where he scored 12 points including the game winning basket.

  • Someone yelled anti-gay slurs at Lillard after the yesterday’s game and when he approached them they got scared and apologized. All talk. Don’t mess with Dame.

  • A Giannis fastbreak is when you run half of the court with one dribble and dunk:

  • The Embiid-less 76ers (14-16) somehow lost to Sacramento last night. Embiid missed the game with a “sore back”, probably had something to do with playing 50 minutes against Oklahoma City last week.

  • Anthony Davis on being the forgotten young star, his will to win, him and Demarcus Cousins’ relationship, Boston’s obsession with him and what he wants from the New Orleans front office.“There's a large photo in the Pelicans' practice facility of a scene from Game 3 of the Golden State Warriors-Pelicans playoff series in 2015, and Cousins has repeatedly studied the texture of it all -- the ferocity on the floor, the tense faces in the stands.” " He'll ask me, 'That's how packed it was? Was it crazy in here?'" Davis said. "He wants to win."To read more, Tap Here.

  • Read this 2004 piece on post-sexual assault Kobe Bryant, written by Elizabeth Kaye for the L.A. Times Magazine. It goes into his childhood in Italy, his high school isolation, his rookie season and the fallout from his rape case. It’s one of the better things ever written about him. [Tap Here]

  • How the Warriors have destroyed the art of setting lines, and why Las Vegas has all but given up on trying to temper them. [Tap Here]

  • James Andrew Miller, creator of the podcast Origins, delves into the fascinating history of ESPN’s creation. Linked is part one, but there’s going to be 25 episodes in the series. [Tap Here]

A LOOK AHEAD

The Jazz (14-17) visit Oklahoma City (15-15) in what should be a tight game.8PM EST

The Trailblazers (16-14) try to bounce back from a tough loss against Minnesota as they host the third place Spurs (21-10).10 PM EST