New Monday Morning Beef - #StayHome - Week 9

Courtesy: LA Times

My Monday Morning Beef…

Let’s just cut to the chase. Top NBA players of all time are as follows:

1. 1. 1. 1. Michael Jordan
        
        Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
        
        Kobe Bryant
        
        Magic Johnson
        
        LeBron James
        
        Shaquille Oneal
        
        Bill Russell
        
        Wilt Chamberlain
        
        Oscar Robertson
        
        Larry Bird

The shit I’ve seen floating around the net over the last week has been nothing short of blasphemous. Some “basketball fans” should have their fan cards revoked and banned from watching NBA basketball indefinitely for their ridiculous tirades on social media last week. This could only be more GREAT marketing by ESPN, right? They must be sitting in Bristol laughing at us on the verge of quarantine insanity, biting our nails for the gift and the curse that was the final episode of “The Last Dance.” More and more, I believe they click baited us with this so-called list. You can’t tell me that the people in charge over there didn’t hear it before we said it…

Kobe Bryant number NINE?????

At what???? I’m trying to think of when Kobe Bryant came in ninth in anything. Maybe those couple of years in the middle and end of his career when he had to go one on five or lose by 30? A potato sack race at his daughter’s school? I doubt it. Maybe the line at Whole Foods? I wouldn’t bet on that either. Yet, outside of the West Coast, the disrespect for the Mamba in the national basketball media persists more than ever. With every list, they seem to forget more and more the exploits of the Black One.

Even with the highest of litmus testing possible in play as we speak, reliving the GOAT every Sunday night, the pundits still don’t want to give the proper props to The Snake. If you are old enough to have watched them both play, nobody has ever thrilled you on the court like Michael Jordan. I hated the Bulls. I was glued to the TV rooting against him, KNOWING in my heart that he was about to break it. Period.

Ya’ll felt the same way. MJ’s fans knew he was gonna kick our asses, and we did too. That phenomenon only happened one other time, and everybody knows it. When Kobe came to your city, a fat ass “L” sat in your subconscious. You loved it. You hated it. We all had it stuck in our heads for better or worst: “Mama, there goes that man again!” You ever noticed how they light the Staples Center for the Lakers? It’s much different than a Clipper game.

It’s lit like that, so the real Los Angeles can watch outsiders get poisoned on live TV. It was created to be a glorified snake pit. The Forum was lit for a show. The Staples Center was lit for a massacre. Kobe Bryant was the second coming of Michael Jordan. He’s the closest thing we’ve seen across the board. Yet…

They put Tim Duncan and Larry Bird ahead of Kobe on an all-time list.

The other questionable names listed before the Mamba AT LEAST have some weight for debate depending on who you’re speaking to. When I talk to my dad and cats his age, no man has ever stood in the same room with Kareem. They think we’re idiots for even comparing anyone. The Capt. checks all the boxes. Stats. Rings. Skills. Offense. Defense. Longevity. He left a mark on the game. You name it. Across the board, it’s overwhelmingly Kareem, right?. I get it. He didn’t stop for two years to play baseball after three rings, then come back and win three more… straight. Come on, man.

I was talking to an old cat at the gym a while back. He was a really tall guy, so I asked him if he played ball back in the day. It ended up a 30-minute conversation about Oscar Robertson, and it wasn’t the first one I’d had. He swore by Robertson as the best thing since sliced bread, but that people my age will never get to see it. He assured me that if I were able to watch Oscar night in and night out, I’d be convinced that he was the best ever.

I get it. Everyone can have an opinion, and some of these opinions have some weight. Kobe Bryant at nine is not an opinion. That is a fairytale. That’s the worst shit I’ve heard since, “and the Raiders get nothing.” ????????

Now that the the bullshit is out of the way, let’s debate.

Who did Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain have to battle multiple times per year that was as good as they were? Naturally, I didn’t get to watch them, but my research tells me that they dominated everything but each other. Bill Russell has a ring for every finger. As much as that can be attributed to greatness, it could also be due to the lack of competition at the time. Chamberlain’s season averages were ridiculous some years, and a 100-point game is nothing to sneeze at, but you can’t have two rings and land on the all-time list ahead of Kobe Bryant.

Shaq at ten also bothers me, but that’s another conversation for another day. The names of the other centers mentioned on the list are some big ones. I believe Shaq will put them all above himself, but there’s something to be said about domination. I’ve never seen it like Shaq during that Laker 3-Peat. Shaq, as the 4th best center of all time, deserves some extensive banter.

Down to the nitty-gritty. MJ, Kobe, Magic, Kareem, and LeBron.

Here’s the real convo as far as I’m concerned. These are the guys that I was able to watch with my own eyes. There are no other players in this group. However you have these guys grouped; I’m not gonna argue with you about it. I am gonna put an asterisk by one LeBron James. Bron hasn’t finished yet. Pump your brakes. I’m SO tired of people calling the King the GOAT. You guys are little skeets. Slow your balls down. It ain’t that time yet. I, for one, believe in championship rings. Bron has at least two fewer chips than everybody on this list.

Damn the participation trophy shit. Call me a grumpy old Generation X’er, but the man is STILL PLAYING! How can a player still at his prime be considered as the 2nd greatest player of all time??? BELIEVE ME, I have more reasons than most people to root for Bron Bron to end up on the top of this list, but at the moment, LeBron James ain’t nowhere close to finished winning championships yet. Therefore he really shouldn’t be in this conversation, to be honest.

Come back to Bron in three years when he has another two rings. Then we figure out who to kick off the side of the mountain. Good luck with that.

Yeah I’m from LA. Yeah I’m a full-on Laker fan for life.

So? It ain’t my fault that we’ve got shit sowed up. Don’t be mad at me. The truth hurts sometimes. The Los Angeles Lakers piss greatness, and there’s not much you can do about it. We’ve manhandled the majority of your life watching basketball. The Lakers are basketball. The only thing that can compare to the mark left on the NBA by the Purple and Gold is a man, not a team.

If there was any doubt in my head about the real GOAT, it’s been shut off for me. Last night’s episode of “The Last Dance” reminded me of the day I bowed down to His Airness. The man was as sick as a dog in that Utah game. He was puffy-eyed and snotty, and he looked like shit. I thought it was the Flu. Food poisoning??? Bro that shit is the worst! If you’ve had it, you know you feel like you’re going to die! That was the heart of a champion. That was THE HEART of THE CHAMPION. Period. Michael Jordan was that guy, 100%.

When I look back on quarantine 2020, I’m gonna think about the NBA in the 90s. It was a helluva time to watch basketball. We all lost to the Bulls over and over again, and looking back on it; I’m happy I was alive to watch the greatest of all time. When Magic retired, it was painful. We don’t even have to talk about it.

The post-Magic Lakers were a mess for a while. I just had to root for whoever made it to the finals against the Bulls. I took the Ls. Jordan fans dogged me. I had to call a spade a spade, and I still do… That 98 season after they’d announced it would be their last, I went out and bout the black 23 jersey to go with my Thirteens.

Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time. Stop disrespecting Kobe though.

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Manda-TQ

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