The Masked Mamba

Posted by Dan Dragicevich.

After Kobe Bryant broke his nose in the all-star game, he seems to be once again on a mission to prove himself.

Once the all-star break ended and the regular season picked back up again, Kobe Bryant told the media that he had no enemies or rivalries in the league. Although he may not show his aggression toward other players, he sure uses it for determination.

In the three games after his injury in the all-star game, Bryant has posted tremendous numbers by scoring more than 30 points in all three games. He has posted scores of 31, 38, and 33 while shooting at a percentage of over .450 from the field. In the pre-game interview before Sunday night’s game against the Miami Heat, Bryant expressed how he had no animosity towards Dwayne Wade after the aggressive foul Wade had on Bryant in the all-star game. This is a perfect example of how Bryant is one of the more wise veterans playing the game.

For someone to say that they are not upset at someone for breaking their nose and giving them a mild concussion in an exhibition match is obviously lying. Bryant never said this, but how could he not be pissed off at Wade for that? Although what Wade did wasn’t a cheap shot; there is still no reason why someone should be playing that aggressive of defense in an all-star game. In my opinion, Bryant is playing this off perfectly because by saying he isn’t mad he can pretty much do what he wants. In last night’s game against the Heat, Bryant could have taken advantage of the situation and fouled Wade as hard as he wanted and it wouldn’t have been known as a “revenge” hit because he said he wasn’t mad. Although Bryant didn’t actually foul him hard in that game, he metaphorically did by posting up 20 points on Wade in the first quarter and then methodically winning the game for the Lakers by hitting timely shots. Bryant ended the game with 33 points and a Laker win and to him that is the most important thing.

As I said before, Kobe has been an unstoppable force these past three games and it seems like if he wants to score 30 in a given night then he will. Kobe is that kind of special player that can almost do what he pleases on the court. Of course he wants to make his team better and to win games, but if he wants to prove a point and post up 30 points in 3 straight games then that is exactly what he will do.

Lebron 'Villain' James

Posted by Dan Dragicevich.

Lebron James went from savor of Cleveland basketball to Villain of the entire NBA when he decided to “take his talents to South Beach” and play for the Miami Heat.

When people hear Lebron James’ name in the media what do they think of? My guess is that they remember when he so arrogantly decided to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team he was drafted by, and go play for the Miami Heat. This was a big deal because of the way he did it and the fact that he let a lot of people down who brought him into this league.

Lebron James came into the league fresh out of high school as one of the most anticipated players the sport has ever seen. With his body structure, skill, speed and overall athleticism, people knew he was destined for greatness and that is exactly what he started out as. James was drafted by a horrendous Cleveland team and while he was there he managed to bring attendance up, jersey sales up and the overall hype of Cleveland basketball up. He even managed to help out the economy of the city because people from all over wanted to see him play which created a boom in other businesses such as restaurants and bars. In a nut shell, Lebron James was God in Cleveland, Ohio.

Then in one full swoop his status as God came crashing down. His existing contract was up and free agency suddenly became imminent for James as every team was bidding on him to bring him to their city. Blah, Blah, Blah, we all know how this ended up. The Media made a free agency deal into a huge production and probably about 50% of why Lebron James is hated is because of the media. We all know about “The Decision” that took place on air and how ridiculous that whole thing was. We also know about how when he arrived at Miami with Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, and company, that they basically had a fashion show showcasing themselves in their uniforms and where Lebron so foolishly predicted that they will win “not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, but seven NBA titles.”

So OK, we know about how much of a jerk he is for what he did two years back but that’s not why I’m writing about this. I am writing about this because of something he said a few days ago. Lebron James is under contract with the Heat for two more years with the option of extending his contract for two more and after coming back to Cleveland for the third time to play against his old team, he was asked a very interesting question. When asked if he would ever return to Cleveland he said, “I am open to anything, I don’t know what the future holds but as long as I am healthy I wouldn’t mind coming back.” He also added that he had a lot of good times playing there and that it could be fun coming back. I’m sorry but is he serious? The arrogance of this guy is unbelievable and the fact that he would say that coming back to Cleveland would be fun is ridiculous. I don’t know what the loyalty is like in Cleveland but if the fans have any self-dignity they should openly come out and say, for lack of better words, "go screw yourself Lebron". What he did was the lowest of the low in sports especially the way he did it and to say those things is like a slap in the face to Cleveland fans.

I’m sorry Cleveland but what you have going on now with the young talent of Kyrie Irving and some of the supporting cast around him they can make some noise themselves. Give them a few more years to build and they will be in the playoff race every year.

This is just another example of why Lebron James keeps digging himself into deeper and deeper holes with people around the league, and unless he starts winning to silence some of the critics, he will be one of the most hated players ever outside of South Beach.