The next semi-final was a basketball topic. The question was: Who would you rather have on your team, Kobe Bryant or Dwyane Wade. Once again formatting was a nightmare with this one, so please do not hold that against the writers. SSigman had some solid stats to back up his points, but I could not get them to post clearly here. This was a very good battle.
SSigman chose: Dwyane Wade
“Lakers Need To Do Us All A Favor: Just Trade Kobe “ - San Jose Mercury
“Leader or Not?” - Riverside Press Enterprise
“Bryant Eager to Return” – Orange County Register
“Bryant Unlikely to Play” – Orange County Register
Michael Jordan retiring left a huge void for the NBA. They needed a new face, the man that would carry the “torch” and lead the NBA not only by his playing abilities but his cross-market appeal. Is Kobe Bryant the answer?? Most people would say he was the answer until his recent troubles on and off the court. The question posed is whom would you rather start your brand new team with. Take into account how much goes into owning a team, you have payroll, arena upkeep, marketing, advertising, satisfying your fans, etc. Between Kobe Bryant and Dwayne Wade, I chose Dwayne Wade and I’ll explain why.
I would like to keep this short and to the point so not to bore everyone but I don’t think I can. Off the court, Dwayne Wade is a model citizen who’s married and has one child. He has never been publicly accused of cheating on his wife. He went to college at Marquette, where he led his team to their first Final Four since 1977. He was named to the Sporting News Good Guy list in July 2004. He provides 20 tickets to every home game to needy groups and donated 10% of his 2.6 million dollar contract to his hometown church in Illinois. His image is spotless and as a face of a franchise, that’s what you need. While his performance on the court is growing, his off the court appeal is skyrocketing. Sean “P-Diddy” Combs recently signed Wade up to model his new line of clothing. He was also recently named to the 50 Most Beautiful People’s list, a list I just missed out on I believe. The off court image is important to your franchise, but what really matters to an owner is his on-court image.
So lets get down to the most important part and bore everyone with detailed information. As a rookie in 2004, Wade was selected to represent his country at the Olympic Games. To me, that’s a big honor to be selected and for the people who turned down that offer, they are making a big mistake. Kobe Bryant, on the other hand, wasn’t on the 2004 Olympic team because he was in the middle of some court case that I think made headlines once or twice. I forget what that was all about, maybe in my rebuttal I’ll remember. Wade has been given other honors in his 2 year career; All-Rookie Team, he made the All-Star Team this year and 2nd Team All NBA. Those honors are great you say; but what else has he done?
Dwayne Wade stays healthy. He missed only 5 regular season games, four due to injury. His health is important to the Heat as it was shown in the playoffs this year. When Shaquille O’Neal was hurt, Wade stepped up his performances and carried the Heat. Against the Pistons with Wade out, the “heat’”was to much for them, and they crumbled. An injured Wade gave a valiant performance in game 7 and scored 20+ points keeping the Heat in the game to the very end. He led the Heat in the playoffs with averages of 28 points, 6.8 assists and 6.1 rebounds. In just his second season, he has joined Bob Cousy, Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan as the only players to average at least 25 points, eight dimes and six boards while shooting 50 percent from the floor in a playoff series. When Wade gave the Wizards 31, 15 and 5 in Game 2, he became only the fifth player ever to post 30 points, 15 assists and five rebounds in the postseason and the first since 1989. Oscar, Clyde Frazier, Jerry West and Magic did it, too. Michael never did. What else did he do in the playoffs?
[STATS TO SUPPORT POINT]
Are you still awake? I got more numbers and facts to throw at you. D-Wade scored 20+ points in 67 games to Kobe’s 53 times. When “The Flash” had 39+ minutes, the Heat went 43-18, with 25+ points, they were 39-9, with 7+ assists, the record was 39-8, 2+ steals, it was at 31-9, and with 8+ free throws they were 35-9. You still want more? I got more; how about we compare the stats of the two players in question. The positive numbers indicate Wade was better and vice versa. Looks like Wade outdoes Kobe in most categories.
[STATS TO SUPPORT POINT]
Finally, I’ll leave you with this. The winner of this year’s MVP award was Steve Nash. The man had a spectacular year, so why not compare the MVP to my pick.
[STATS TO SUPPORT POINT]
Dave M. chose Kobe Bryant:
Dwayne Wade or Kobe Bryant? A tough topic indeed. There has been a lot written by Wade lately, especially given the fact that he and his Miami Heat were battling it out in the 2005 NBA Playoffs. People like his quickness. They like his aggressive play. He is often compared to Kobe Bryant…but ya see, that’s the key right there. HE is compared to Kobe; Kobe isn’t compared to him. If I had a choice between the two, I would definitely take Kobe Bryant on my team over Dwayne Wade.
Some people reading this might question why I would take Kobe over Wade, especially since I’ve written in The Weekly Rant how Kobe single-handedly brought down the LA Lakers this past year. Yes, Kobe has made some bad choices in his life, with the worst one obviously being his having committed adultery. Ironically, however, his adultery and what happened afterwards is one of the reasons why I would choose to keep him. Crazy as it sounds, I do have a valid reason.
Let me first begin by saying that I do not condone what he did. To cheat on his wife, especially as fine as she is, is wrong, terrible, (fill in the blank). But this was a guy who was on top of the world until this happened and his world all came to a halt over night. You have to remember, this was a kid who was being compared to Michael Jordan, undeniably the best NBA player ever. When you’re put on a pedestal as high as the Jordan pedestal, it’s a long way down to the bottom. Kobe crashed to the bottom at top speed.
Kobe had a choice to make. He could of easily continued the downward spiral, taken the easy way out and ran from his problems and mistakes. He chose to rise to the occasion, amongst his adversity and over come them. And for that, I admire him. This is a guy that was flying back and forth to Colorado for court proceedings during the season, sometimes arriving back in LA just before tip-off, and STILL would perform masterfully. He had to be strongest during a time when he was most vulnerable and he pulled it off.
But what about the fact that he destroyed a dynasty? Well, let’s discuss that for a minute. In the Lakers organization, there were an abundance of egotistical men, from the Owner, GM all the way down to the players. Phil Jackson, Shaq and Kobe won 3 NBA titles together. All three of these men have ego problems. Each of them wanted to be “the guy”. It’s hard to have this many egos in the same building. It’s similar to having your wife and your mother in the same kitchen. Have you ever noticed that women don’t like having other women in their kitchen? It’s very similar. In this case, they all want people to think of them when they think of the Los Angeles Lakers. And to some extent, they all have rights to that. Jackson is a genius. Shaq is the best center in the league, a powerful force. Kobe is one of the best players in the league and has worked hard and has performed consistently throughout his career. He’s about to enter the prime of his career. He knows that Shaq’s days are numbered and in his mind, it’s now his time. Shaq should be familiar w/ the concept since he’s experienced it himself during his career.
But the bottom line is this, while Kobe was an integral part of the Lakers dismantling, it wasn’t all his fault. Can you blame him for wanting Shaq to report to camp in shape? Especially at his age, lugging around that weight can hurt the team. Kobe’s a competitor. He wants to win. You know what you’re going to get everyday from Kobe. He’s a multi-year All-Star, he’s been selected to the All-Defensive Team a couple of times, the list goes on and on. I don’t care what anybody says, if it weren’t for Kobe, Shaq wouldn’t have the three rings he has now. Obviously, Dwayne wasn’t enough to win Shaq a fourth. Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle agrees:
Team spirit (in reference to the recent Dwayne Craze) doesn't win titles. The accomplishment comes from a long, hard grind of clutch performances, night after night. During the Lakers' run of three world championships, Bryant was incomparable on that score. We forget, having watched him almost single-handedly bring down the franchise, but Kobe used to be Michael Jordan. He played all-world defense, penetrated the lane at will, hit the important free throws and nailed crunch-time jumpers as if he was a modern-day Jerry West. He did it routinely, in the biggest games, against the toughest opponents. Replace Kobe with any other player in the league during those three seasons, and Shaq has one ring, tops. Maybe none.
Kobe’s had a history of playing big in clutch time. How many times have we seen him sink the winning shot at the buzzer? We’ve seen him make big play after big play. Players rally around a player like Kobe. Kobe makes them better. That’s not to say that Dwayne doesn’t. But the fact remains; Kobe has been in this league longer and has played at a high level every single year. The jury, in my mind, is still out in regards to Dwayne. Here’s the scary thing, though. Kobe had a humbling experience this year. The Lakers were terrible and he knows it. As I said earlier, Kobe has the ability to bounce back from adversity. He knows that running Jackson out of town was a big mistake, so much so that he recently talked to Jackson to heal any wounds that remained open. There now is talk of Jackson returning to coach the Lakers. That may or may not happen. But the thing is, Kobe is only going to get better from all of this. He’s been up, he’s been down, and now he’s about to go up again. He’s learned from his mistakes; he’s growing up not only as a player, but also as a man. I expect him to rise higher than he ever has before and if so, it only means good thing for the Lakers and their fans. This is why I’d take him on my team, anytime, any day.
Sigman's Rebuttal:
Kobe Bryant a team player? This is a guy who started his NBA career by forcing the Charlotte Hornets to trade him to the Lakers because he didn’t feel Charlotte had a chance to win. Does that make him competitive or selfish? That’s an opinion you have to make. I have to say the whole article written by my competitor is based on opinions and lacks solid proof as to why Kobe would be a better choice to start up a team with. He says, “HE is compared to Kobe; Kobe isn’t compared to him” and my question to you sir is, who said this? I have to say I’ve never heard, read or saw anyone say that. You also go on to say, “You have to remember, this was a kid who was being compared to Michael Jordan, undeniably the best NBA player ever.” It’s simple, every legitimate prospect that does something good in 1 year of basketball gets compared to MJ. How many people have had that rap put on them?? We should make that a question on the trivia quiz. Remember how Harold “Baby Jordan” Minor, Jerry Stackhouse and Penny Hardaway; they all had that label placed on them.
As I read over this article, I saw things that stood out, things that needed to be questioned. Kobe, a proven cheater and liar is the face you want representing your franchise? He lied to police, his wife, his team and his fans at first by saying he was innocent, yet later he reversed his story and said the sex was consensual. “Kobe had a choice to make. He could of easily continued the downward spiral, taken the easy way out and ran from his problems and mistakes. He chose to rise to the occasion, amongst his adversity and over come them(
MESSAGE: Thanks to millions of dollars given to the woman who accused him and to the top lawyers who defended him). And for that, I admire him.” For that you admire him? Do you also admire Rae Carruth?
You go on to talk about the dynasty and why it ended saying it was egos that did them in. “He knows that Shaq’s days are numbered and in his mind, it’s now his time.”
That quote shows Kobe is selfish in his desires to be known as the “greatest” because if he really cared about winning, he knows Shaq would’ve helped him win a few more, but he chose to do it on his own: translation: Selfish. Also you say Shaq’s days are numbered yet the second the Heat trade for him they become a power in the East. The day Shaq leaves L.A., people like Stephen A. Smith question if the Lakers can even make it to the playoffs. “I don’t care what anybody says, if it weren’t for Kobe, Shaq wouldn’t have the three rings he has now (
MESSAGE: that’s strictly opinion, not fact, and by this past year’s performance, it showed that Kobe can’t win w/o Shaq). Obviously, Dwayne wasn’t enough to win Shaq a fourth. (MESSAGE:
while they didn’t win it, making it to the Eastern Conference finals compared to not making the playoffs.
If we look at it through an owner’s perspective, playoffs = more money and so going through 3 rounds is better than playing golf with Kobe)
“Kobe’s had a history of playing big in clutch time. How many times have we seen him sink the winning shot at the buzzer?” I simply come back with the fact that Wade has stepped his game up in the postseason in his 2 year career and the numbers to prove that are in my first article. “We’ve seen him make big play after big play. Players rally around a player like Kobe” Rally around Kobe?? How about his teammate Chucky Atkins calling Kobe out last year saying he was the “General Manager.” Kobe makes them better(Lakers 34-48) “That’s not to say that Dwayne doesn’t. But the fact remains; Kobe has been in this league longer and has played at a high level every single year.
(MESSAGE: according to the stats in my previous article, Wade outplayed Kobe in most categories and honestly who’s fault is it Wade is younger than Kobe?) “He knows that running Jackson out of town was a big mistake, so much so that he recently talked to Jackson to heal any wounds that remained open. There now is talk of Jackson returning to coach the Lakers.
Jackson Wanted Kobe Traded Prior to 2003-2004 Season
12th October, 2004 - 8:28 pm
BBC - According to a new book by Phil Jackson, 'The Last Season,' the former Laker coach asked GM Mitch Kupchak to trade
Kobe Bryant prior to the start of the 2003-2004 season.
"A major confrontation between us seems unavoidable," the Times reported Jackson as saying.
"I won't coach this team next year if he is still here. He won't listen to anyone. I've had it with this kid."
Jackson also claims that the rivalry between Bryant and O'Neal was, at times, "unbelievably juvenile."
Of course Jackson, O'Neal and Bryant played out the entire season, reaching the Finals before being upset by the
Detroit Pistons .
Heading into the 2004-2005 season only Bryant remains, as Jackson was replaced by Rudy Tomjanovich and O'Neal was traded to the
Miami Heat .
[READ]
A few more reasons to show Kobe is not the face of your new team start with the salary difference. Wade - $2,834,160 Kobe - $14,175,000
How about Kobe’s marketability? His endorsement deals used to be in the $40 million range but after his court case, he was dumped by McDonald’s in favor of Yao Ming, Sprite let Kobe go in favor of Lebron James and Ferrero’s Nutella, the Italian chocolate company let Kobe go. I think my case has been shown on and off the court as to why you should choose Dwayne Wade to be the face of your new franchise.
One quick last thing, if your interested in the Kobe Bryant case, check out this site for the transcripts
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0924041kobea1.html
Dave M. Rebuttal:
My opponent started off his piece by saying that he wanted to “keep this short and to the point so not to bore everyone but I don’t think I can.” He was able to accomplish one his goals. His piece was short, but it wasn’t to the point and it was about the most boring thing I’ve read in a while. On top of it all, he made some glaring errors that I am going to enjoy pointing out to you all. So sit back and relax as I dissect his piece just like I did to that frog in my 7th grade Science class.
My opponent’s first paragraph takes on the issue of image. He wrote, “what really matters to an owner is a player’s on-court image.” He mentions, among other things, that Dwayne Wade is a model citizen, husband and father, having never being publicly accused of cheating on his wife. He was selected to the Good Guy list and let’s not forget the fact that People Magazine named him one of the 50th Most Beautiful People. Wow. That’s pretty amazing. And I’m sure that all of these traits help him form a better jump shot, right? He then mentions that his image is spotless, yet in the same breath, states that he’s now modeling “P Diddly’s” clothing line. If that is not an oxymoron in itself, I don’t know what is.
Let me first begin with the Sean Puffy P Diddly Squat topic. Wade’s “image” might be spotless now, but if he’s not careful, hanging out w/ Diddly and his thugs will make Wade’s image more spotty than Michael Jackson’s face without the makeup. I worked security for the half-time entertainers at the Super Bowl in Houston two years ago, the one where Miss Jackson had her wardrobe malfunction. Having been primarily assigned to Janet and Diddy, I had the “joy” of getting in several heated discussions with Diddy and his people because we wouldn’t allow them to bring their guns into the stadium. “The Principal (that’s what they called him) got beef with Scarface”, is what I was told by his security guards. I couldn’t help but recall how well Diddy and guns mix. I’m sure that’s the kind of image that Sigman, as owner, would like his players to portray.
The funny thing about this whole image thing, however, is that it’s a bogus argument by Sigman. We’re talking about the NBA here. This is a league where the average player has two kids they don’t even know by women they don’t even know. The NBA owners don’t give a rat’s ass about a player’s image. In fact, the current NBA WANTS players who have questionable images because that’s what draws this younger generation that they’re targeting. Look at Philadelphia, for example. Allen Iverson is the poster child for poor image of a basketball player. Do you think the 76ers owners are concerned with his image? They most certainly are not. They proved a good image is not important when they went and traded for the biggest crybaby in the league, Chris Webber. Let’s not forget the troubles he had at the airport when he got busted with weed in his bag. Mark Cuban is an owner that spits a good image in the face. For all intents and purposes, he’s a jackass, but we love to watch him and his antics because it’s funny. We don’t want to watch him because he speaks highly of officials. We love him because he doesn’t care about his image or that of his players; he’ll say whatever he wants whenever he wants. Image? The very player that Sigman is criticizing for poor image, Kobe Bryant, signed a $136 million (or somewhere in the neighborhood) contract to stay with the Lakers, this despite the rape allegation and adultery. The Clippers were rumored to offer him close to what the Lakers offered. Do you think the owners of any of those two teams care about his image? What about the Knicks? They signed a guy, Spreewell, who choked his coach. He has a GREAT image. And what about all of the teams that Jason Kidd plays for? Don’t they care about the image of him smacking his wife around? I can go on for days talking about NBA owners and their players’ images. Yet, all of these guys continue to make huge amounts of money. I think you know where I’m going with this. Owners don’t care about image at all. They don’t care if a guy is a Sporting News Good Guy, or if he’s good looking or faithful to his wife. All they care about is money! They care about winning championships. That’s why Kobe gets paid the way he does…because he’s a winner. And he has the three rings to prove it. Wade, on the other hand, hasn’t won a thing. As an owner, I’m not going to sign a player based on potential. I’m going to take the guy who is a proven winner. The only proven winner here is Kobe.
Let’s move on to the Olympics. Sure, Wade was on the 2004 Olympic team and it is a great honor. But let’s not mislead people here. It wasn’t like he was a first choice to be on the team. I’m sure he wasn’t even a second choice. He was selected when USA Basketball officially confirmed that five previously named USA Team members, Mike Bibby (Sacramento Kings), Jason Kidd (New Jersey Nets), Karl Malone (Los Angeles Lakers), Tracy McGrady (Houston Rockets), and Jermaine O'Neal (Indiana Pacers), have withdrawn from the '04 team because of injuries or personal reasons. You have to remember that the war in Iraq was still relatively new and most people did not want to go to the Olympics because the feared for their lives. Bibby was quoted as saying so. It’s no coincidence that there were more rookies on that team than any other time in history. Why do you think that is? Rookies are so bright-eyed and bushy tailed that they’d jump at the chance, that’s why. So while it’s still a great honor, know that for certain Wade would not have been chosen under normal circumstances. Even still, being the 2nd or 3rd choice is like being an alternate in the NFL Pro Bowl. You’re nothing more than an place holder.
Now the most boring part of Sigman’s article. Stats. Hey, I can cut and paste a bunch of useless stats, too, but if all you’re going to do is paste them and not analyze them, what’s the point? What’s funny about this is that Kobe’s and Wade’s stats are not strikingly different. They’re close in a lot of categories. Wade did better than Kobe in certain areas and vice versa. What he fails to mention is that Kobe had better stats where it matters. He had a higher points per game percentage (27.6/24.1), he had a higher rebounds per game percentage (5.9/5.2), he had a higher 3 point percentage (.339/.289) and he had a higher minutes per game percentage (40.7/38.6). What’s even funnier is that Sigman then went on to compare Wade’s stats with Steve Nash’s. And one could say that Wade’s were considerably better than Nash’s, this year’s MVP. I’m wondering if Sigman, by comparing Wade’s stats to Nash’s, is making a case that Wade could have been considered an MVP, based on stats alone. Well, if that’s the case, seeing that Kobe’s and Wade’s stats are fairly close to one another, with Kobe having better stats in most of the more important categories, isn’t he basically proving my point that Kobe is the obvious choice over Wade?
Lastly, I think it only necessary to point out that my opponent once again has tripped all over himself. He is quoted as saying, “Dwayne Wade stays healthy. His health is important to the Heat as it was shown in the playoffs this year. Against the Pistons with Wade out, the “heat’” was too much for them, and they crumbled. An injured Wade gave a valiant performance in game 7 and scored 20+ points keeping the Heat in the game to the very end.” These are HIS WORDS, not mine! As confusing as this statement is, I find it to be hilarious. He makes an argument that Wade is a better choice than Kobe by using health as a reason and how he stays healthy, yet in the playoffs, his being injured contributed to the team’s demise. I hope the judges don’t think that Sigman is throwing this bout because I still want credit for the knock-out!
Truly great players are able to play through pain and injury and still take their team to the title. Kobe’s played hurt several times and wound up with three rings. And we all remember Michael Jordan collapsing from being sick after leading the Bulls to a much needed playoff victory. The fact remains that Kobe is the better choice and my opponent failed to prove otherwise. Think about it. When the Lakers and Heat played each other this year, who was all the talk about? Who did people pay to come see? Who did those of us who didn’t have tickets glue our faces to the TV to see? Kobe and Shaq. Not Kobe and Wade. Like I said earlier, I’ll take a proven winner over potential. Kobe has already done so much in his young career that will take Wade years to accomplish. All of this Wade hype is just that – hype. It’s very similar to the Kurt Warner hysteria that came and went so quickly. Kobe’s a proven vet and Wade is just a pup. Maybe a few years from now we can revisit this topic and see where it goes. But for now, the obvious choice is Kobe Bryant.