piratebg
11-05-2007, 05:47 AM
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=An1vcpfbj5zuF3a8X_6h8CW8vLYF?slug=aw-lastshot110207&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
The Last Shot: NBA's Anti-Kobe
By Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports
November 2, 2007
Adrian Wojnarowski
Yahoo! Sports
Kobe Bryant is always talking about how no one wants to win more than him, about how all his angst and acrimony comes out of an unparalleled devotion to victory. Well, three years ago, he had a chance to make it so the Los Angeles Lakers wouldn't have to choose between paying Shaquille O'Neal or paying him to keep the championship core together. He never did open his mind to a creative solution.
What Bryant wanted is what he has: All the money and all the shots.
The San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan passed Bryant with his fourth title last season, and he could catch Michael Jordan's six championships before his career is over. Now, Duncan has taken a two-year contract extension for $40 million, leaving $11 million more on the table. This assures the Spurs some salary cap room in the summer of 2010 when Duncan will be closing on his 35th birthday.
But Bryant isn't alone. In sports, many players talk about winning as the ultimate priority, but few are willing to back it with deed. Recently, Kevin Garnett did with the Boston Celtics. His $60 million extension was below the max-out level because he understood that his original $126 million contract bought him everything but satisfaction in Minnesota.
Duncan recently told Spurs owner Peter Holt that he wants to go out like David Robinson.
"Tim has said to all of us that he wants to go out a winner here, and he understands that he can't do that by himself, especially (in his mid-30s)," Holt told me this week. "But David Robinson did the same thing for us (took less money), and helped us win the 2003 title with Tim.
"I think Tim hopes there will be potential for us in the summer of 2010 to help us find a player who can complement him, and maybe help him go out with a ring."
The best player in the sport is still Tim Duncan, because everything he's ever done has been with winning as his motivation. There's never a peep out of his locker room about who's getting the most shots, getting plays run for them, nothing of the sort. The Spurs talk about one thing in San Antonio, and that's winning, because Duncan makes sure of it.
The Last Shot: NBA's Anti-Kobe
By Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports
November 2, 2007
Adrian Wojnarowski
Yahoo! Sports
Kobe Bryant is always talking about how no one wants to win more than him, about how all his angst and acrimony comes out of an unparalleled devotion to victory. Well, three years ago, he had a chance to make it so the Los Angeles Lakers wouldn't have to choose between paying Shaquille O'Neal or paying him to keep the championship core together. He never did open his mind to a creative solution.
What Bryant wanted is what he has: All the money and all the shots.
The San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan passed Bryant with his fourth title last season, and he could catch Michael Jordan's six championships before his career is over. Now, Duncan has taken a two-year contract extension for $40 million, leaving $11 million more on the table. This assures the Spurs some salary cap room in the summer of 2010 when Duncan will be closing on his 35th birthday.
But Bryant isn't alone. In sports, many players talk about winning as the ultimate priority, but few are willing to back it with deed. Recently, Kevin Garnett did with the Boston Celtics. His $60 million extension was below the max-out level because he understood that his original $126 million contract bought him everything but satisfaction in Minnesota.
Duncan recently told Spurs owner Peter Holt that he wants to go out like David Robinson.
"Tim has said to all of us that he wants to go out a winner here, and he understands that he can't do that by himself, especially (in his mid-30s)," Holt told me this week. "But David Robinson did the same thing for us (took less money), and helped us win the 2003 title with Tim.
"I think Tim hopes there will be potential for us in the summer of 2010 to help us find a player who can complement him, and maybe help him go out with a ring."
The best player in the sport is still Tim Duncan, because everything he's ever done has been with winning as his motivation. There's never a peep out of his locker room about who's getting the most shots, getting plays run for them, nothing of the sort. The Spurs talk about one thing in San Antonio, and that's winning, because Duncan makes sure of it.