And because of the nature of the game, the NBA will never have competitive balance like the NFL. One great player tilts the scales in the NBA in a way it does not in the NFL (or really baseball or anything but a goalie in hockey).

Information is not knowledge….Albert Einstein

Howard surrounded by the like of Bryant, Nash, Gasol, etc., will equal much better stats than he’s ever had and certainly better than what Bynum will put up in Philly. Bynum won’t have Gasol and Bryant taking the attention of the defense away. In the coming season there WILL be a huge gap.

…and don’t call me Shirley.

Howard a future hall of famer?

Shirley you jest

Jerry Krause

my bad.

mille pardons

And I’m a HUGE MJ fan…but nobody, NOBODY, has ever won a championship alone. It hasn’t happened and will never happen.

1.) You need to finish the thought of a statement before reacting to it, friend-o. Kobe and Shaq weren’t too fond of each other. I’m not sure if you recall this, but they tended to butt heads quite a bit. To the point where Kobe demanded Shaq be dealt elsewhere shortly after the season because they could not co-exist as two alpha’s in the prime of their career.

2.) I never said Dwight Howard was as good as or better then Shaq. That would be ridiculous. But he is the best big man playing in an era where skilled bigs are rare.

3.) The Lakers were not winning “championship after championship” at that point. They had been knocked out in the semi’s the year before, which was the catalyst for acquiring Payton and Malone.

4.) Of course Kobe today is not Kobe from nine years ago. And? He’s still one of the top shooting guards in the league. Actually, he averaged four more points per game last year then he did in 03-04. That’s not to say he’s better now, but he’s certainly not an 03-04 Karl Malone. Speaking of which..

5.) Saying Gasol today is more effective then Malone in 03-04 isn’t ignoring numbers or giving any excuses. It’s true. Look at the numbers. Gasol’s 17 and 10 is better then Malone’s 13 and 9. The broken down Malone also missed forty games during the regular season, as well as game 5 of the finals.

6.) I agree. Nash is atrocious defensively. Again..so what? It’s a good thing he has a three time defensive player of the year to help erase those mistakes. His job isn’t to be a defensive stopper, it’s to facilitate. Something he continues to excel at.

Will they get along? Will they be able to keep egos in check? Each of them will get less points and touches. Will they be happy with that? They will want the ball. How well they play together remains to be seen.

I do NOT expect them to make the Finals this year. Maybe next year.

Looking forward to the Trailblazers spoiling any hopes for kope’s sixth ring.

scoring avg. DH 20.6 AB 18.4
shots per gm DH 13.5 AB 13.3
blocks per gm DH 2.1 AB 1.9
def.rebounds. DH 10.8 AB 8.6

Looks like virtually the same player to me.
1 more basket a game, 2 more boards, virtually even on blocks. Same amount of shots, that nullifies both your fitting into the offense and Bynum demanding the ball nonsense.
There is A wealth of knowledge on the interwebs, you should use it.
Howard is better infinitesimally. You try to make it sound like there is this huge gap.

I bet you’re a Laker fan- over the top- not a subjective bone in your body.

I totally agree with you. I’m just poking fun at the LeBron-haters that were saying that about him the past 2 years. Those are the same people who said Kobe was better because he had more rings.