NBA Finals: Game 7 Live Blog

@PAPALOUKAS, The Leader: Maybe I’ll try to petition for SLAM and it’s commenters to come up with a new nickcame that fits your liking. How about “The Teacher”?

@Dru ha – if the Celtics didn’t want to have so many fouls called them, there is a simple and effective solution … stop fouling so much, and fewer foul calls will be made on you.

* I just MJ would have had the humility to thank Scottie Pippen so graciously, and Shaq to Kobe.

i love that quote about all the beantown players crying and hugging each other! i thought they were the toughest guys in the league .. it kind of sucks for them,this is probably bostons last really intense run in the playoffs , i dont really see those geezers being able to get through all those teams again next year. i foresee a old school lakers finals with the lakers pounding whoever makes it out of the east.

For those of you that say that kobe had a bad game, or that he couldn’t win without gasol, or fish; We are Laker Fans. We don’t care if it’s kobe, artes, or fish who wins the game. We care that the Lakers won. We care that the Lakers beat the Celtics. Period.

Joey c did a masterful job helping the right team with no obvious calls down the stretch. Way to tow the company line

SUCH A PERFECT DAY !!!! After LAKERS winning and CELTICS losing,…after Artest giving a performance for the ages (especially after the game) and Gasol making me look like a prophet,…after Kobe getting to 5 (enough on this)and after the U.S. made a great comeback and the most overatted football nations in the world being humilated,after all this, JUST when you thought that it doesn’t get any better,…AT THIS EXACT MOMENT Associated Press goes on and gives us this (unintentional) comic statement of epic proportions from Anna’s personal manager: “Allen wants to come and help a team win a championship, which he’s completely capable of doing,” Gary Moore said. Come on SLAM, give us the story, make our day, one more year of the true KING and we are spending our time on loosy topics like kobe and NBA champions. Let’s get back to serious topics again, let’s talk shoe (and magazine) sales, let’s talk about ‘ANNA’ !!!!

my bad, he is already here, i’m going to honor him, thanks SLAM!!!!

To the Haters,

Michael Jordan could not guard Magic. Scottie had to against Lakers in ’91. When Michael had bad/weak moments in the Finals, Scottie always “covered” for him, like Pau and Artest did last night for Kobe. Kobe is 6’6 and wrestled with Carmelo Anthony, who is much stronger and plays forward, en route to last year’s championship.

Kobe was clearly nervous and tense. The only person who wouldn’t be is Jordan.

But know this haters, Kobe is breathing on MJ’s neck. Jordan too has been human:

1. John Paxson saved Michael’s bacon against the Lakers in ’91 with several clutch threes (go back and watch the tapes) — a la` Derek Fisher and Artest for Kobe.

2. John Paxson (like Fisher) won the game on a three in ’93 against Phoenix.

3. Jordan shot 5-19 and 6-19 against Seattle when guarded by 6’3 Gary Payton. GP had defensive skills, but Jordan should have used him.

4. Against Utah, at a stage in his career similar to Kobe’s, Michael shot 15-35 TWICE. 15-35 … that is a LOT of shots!

5. I give Michael a superior mid-range game, and larger hands, which would have helped him against Boston’s swarming defense last night. A 31, 32 year-old Jordan, with similar mileage as Kobe probably goes 9-24 last night, to Kobe’s 6-24. Not a huge difference.

6. People who say Kobe is not close, not even top 10 are being foolish, and are obviously pissed about something.

7. I would have loved to see if MJ had to share the ball with a dominant center. He probably would have only last through 2 rings before wreaking havoc with his massive ego.

8. MJ is the greediest player ever; he averaged 7-8 more shots per game than Kobe in the postseason, and yet NO ONE admits this in the media. Kobe does just as much, with less. If you think I’m lyin’ check out the Phoenix series in ’93 where even Barkley jokingly commented about Jordan’s arm being tired after hoisting some 41 shots.

Kobe is in MJ’s neighborhood, and has already passed Magic, Bird, and West, who couldn’t play defense (Kobe and Fish held Allen to 3-14 last night) and lack the will that MJ or Kobe possess.

Keep on hatin.’

I can’t believe this thread is still going….

Good point by s man. Those were put in so that nobody could touch or sneeze on kobe

Kobe had his worst game in these playoffs. (game 2 wasn’t that great either) Everyone expected more From him. Yet he outscored and Out rebounded Every player on the Celtics roster. The same guys that are killing Kobe for his poor play have seemingly overlooked gasols worst performance wich happened in a historically pivotal game 5. Had he played just a lil better along with perhaps 1 other laker, all of the sudden it’s Lakers in six behind an epic game from Kobe. But that’s why this is a team sport, and Gasol and Artest get to feel what it’s like to be the Heros. And no complaints from Kobe, on the contrary he has never been more honest and at the same time gracious & praisworthy of his teamates than he was last night. I challenge anyone to argue that. For those who suggest that any of this somehow hurt his legacy despite the fact that they won. I pose this question: Will u judge LeBron by that same logic? He did have a far worse game when his team needed him the most, in these same playoffs, vs these same Celtics…Myself I don’t buy it. Paul Pierce said if they didn’t win this chip he Wouldn’t b mentioned in the same manner as other Celtic greats. I don’t buy that either. He’s Had a great career and IMO he’s up there right below Larry Bird and Bill Russell, that’s nothing to be ashamed of. Ray Allen on the other hand is the only guy whom I feel has hurt his legacy, by being extremely inconsistant in the playoffs. Bill Simmons has him jumping over Reggie Miller on the all-time list, rediculous, even for a gigantic Homer like Bill. Rays game is 90% screen n’ roll open jumpers so to be considered a future hall of famer based on such a limited game u better do that one thing very damn well. You can’t say enough good things about Doc Rivers who after it’s all said n’ done is the real coach of the year. But I’ll say one bad thing, calling Fisher a “flopper” was below him, lacked class and showed desperation. In other words things Phil usually does. Lol. So I forgive him, but seriously say what u want about Fish, but he quietly won the battle verses Ray Allen playing relentless defense and still hitting BIG shots when it counts the most, the guy has ice in his viens, as classy and stand up a’ guy as thier has ever been in this leauge.

Since Michael, superstars are judged by not only how many championships they win, but with whom they win them. One of the greatest arguments for Michael’s supremacy is that, outside of Scottie Pippen, he built a dynasty with a roster full of role players (Dennis Rodman was a terrific one, to be sure, but still a role player). While guys like Ron Harper, Steve Kerr and Bill Cartwright deserve respect, they weren’t in the same class as the championship teammates of Magic and Bird.

So since Kobe came after Michael, he had to hear the “he’s never won it without Shaq” refrain earlier in his career. But Magic never heard “he never won it without Kareem.” Bird never heard “he never won it without Robert Parish and Kevin McHale.”

In each of Magic’s five championship seasons, he had a top-50 player of all time (Kareem). Granted, Kareem, although still a big-time scorer, was 38, 40 and 41 years old for the final three titles. But by then, Magic had been joined by another top-50 teammate in James Worthy, who played on the Lakers’ 1985, 1987 and 1988 title teams. That’s not to mention other great Magic teammates such as Byron Scott, Jamaal Wilkes, Norm Nixon and Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo.

Kobe obviously had an all-time superstar for his first three titles in Shaq. But for his past two rings, he’s had nothing close. Pau Gasol is a perennial All-Star, but he’s not going to make anyone’s top 50. If he and Kobe continue winning rings together, though, he’s got a shot at the Hall of Fame.

The significance of Kobe’s ability to start from scratch and build a second mini-dynasty with the Lakers can’t be overstated, and gives him an advantage over many all-time greats.