Goeiedag, enchantée and welcome to this bonus episode of Eight 2 Four presents: All-NBA Team of the Week. I can’t believe it’s already been 3 years since that fatal day when we lost Kobe, I’m still struggling to give it a place. Kobe was my introduction to the NBA, his battle with Allen Iverson in the NBA Finals of 2001. I was only 13, couldn’t watch the games live because they were in the middle of the night, but my basketball coach at the time recorded the games and we watched them instead of training. Since then I’ve learned to enjoy the qualities of a lot of different players, but I will always have a soft spot for Kobe. In this special episode I want to share some of my Kobe memories with you through 5 of his teammates. A special mention goes to DJ Mbenga, who didn’t make my list. Even though he was born in Congo, he is classed as the first Belgian to ever play in the NBA. Coming from Belgium, that was quite an impressive feat. The 5 guys that did make my list are there because I have great memories of them, all thanks to the Black Mamba. I’m Peter Peake and this is your All-NBA Team of the Week!
PICK #1
Our first pick is Steve Nash. As much as I wanted to be Kobe, I modelled my own game after Nash. A quick point guard, who always looked to pass first. I wish I could say that my shot was as great as MVSteve’s but, unfortunately, my three-point shot was almost as good as that other Phoenix great, Charles Barkley. Obviously, Steve Nash is not really remembered for his time at the Lakers, because, let’s face it, it was an absolute nightmare and a very sad ending to Nash’s career. He played only 65 games over 2 seasons in LA, he couldn’t stay on the court due to injuries, especially in that last season.
I picked Nash over other legendary point guards like Derek Fisher and Gary Payton because of my excitement when I found out he was moving to LA. I believed in the golden trio Bryant, Nash and Dwight Howard. This was going to be the last highlight of Kobe’s career and his chance to win more rings than MJ. Of course, it didn’t pan out that way, and the whole trade failed miserably but the anticipation of the potential is what really made me want to follow them as closely as I could. I still reminisce over this period in Lakers history and wonder what could have been.
PICK #2
Our second pick is Jordan Clarkson. I picked Jordan, not so much because of the player he was in those 2 years he played with Kobe, but because of the player that he is now. Clarkson has really grown into a player Kobe would be proud of. Especially in his time with Utah, he has really profiled himself as a scorer. First as one of the best Sixth Men in the league, coming off the bench and lighting up the competition and this season, with next to no competition on the roster, he is proving to be a more than reliable starter, still scoring at will and barely missing any games, only 1 so far this season. When the Jazz are ready to tank, they’re going to make a contender really happy with Clarkson.
Of course, it was written in the stars that Clarkson would become this player. He was drafted by the Lakers before Kobe’s penultimate season and we all know that those last ones were painful to watch. One of the few highlights for the Lakers was young Clarkson, who made an impression early on. When Kobe’s season was finished in January because of a shoulder injury, Clarkson took his place on the court and did really well, especially for a late second round pick rookie. He played himself into the starting five for the following season, scoring himself a front row season for Kobe’s 20th and final season. He was playing alongside Kobe in that final game against Utah, witnessing Kobe’s greatness for the last time. Sixty points and Mamba out.
PICK #3
Our third pick is Robert Horry. Big Shot Rob has his own place in NBA history. He is the only NBA player to ever win more than 6 titles without playing for the Boston Celtics. In total he won 7: 2 with the Rockets, 3 with LA and another 2 with the Spurs. There are only 3 other players in NBA history, besides Horry, to win titles with 3 teams. Nobody’s done it with 4 teams yet. Those players are Horry, John Salley who won 4 titles throughout the 90’s, LeBron who’s up to 4 after winning 2 in Miami and 1 each in Cleveland and LA. And lastly Danny Green, who won 1 each in San Antonio, Toronto and LA. These are quite the accomplishments.
The funny thing about Horry was that he was not an incredible player, he wasn’t even a great shooter. In his 7 years in LA, he averaged 2 shots from deep per game, making about 1 every second game or less than 33%. But Horry was there when it counted, he played more minutes during Playoff runs and he wasn’t scared of stepping up in the big moments, even when it wasn’t exactly his time to do so. In Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals 2002, when both Kobe and Shaq failed to tie the game up on the last possession, Horry made a clutch 3 to put the Lakers up by 1, win the game and tie the series. The rest is history. Robert Horry arrived in LA at the same time as Kobe, and played a big part in winning those 3 titles.
PICK #4
Our fourth pick is Lamar Odom. This is a personal pick more than anything else. Around Easter 2005, my parents took my brother and me on a family trip to LA. It had been the first season of Odom playing in LA for the Lakers and he was brought in to be Kobe’s right hand man in search of that 4th title. Eventually they’d get there, with Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum on the roster, but that particular year was a disaster for the Lakers. They didn’t even make it to the Playoffs. Anyway, back to my story, we were in LA and my parents had promised me and my brother that we could buy a jersey. Obviously we both wanted Kobe’s, he was still playing with number 8 back then. Me, being the kind older brother, talked my little brother into buying Lamar’s jersey, who was clearly just as important on the Lakers team. My brother never was a big basketball fan, and I think that me fooling him like that, didn’t help the situation.
Odom was ok for the Lakers, averaging just about a double double in his time there, but he never managed to really be that right hand man for Kobe. He did ok as the third guy behind Kobe and Pau but really, Odom’s best years in the league were his first ones, in LA but for the Clippers. He was part of that Knuckleheads team with Elton Brand, Corey Maggette, Quentin Richardson, Darius Miles, you know. Those guys were the hottest thing in the NBA in the early 2000’s but the Clippers wouldn’t be the Clippers if they hadn’t completely ruined this exciting roster within a year or two. I think most people these days know Lamar as the ex of Khloe Kardashian, the two even had their own reality show, but that didn’t end well for Lamar.
PICK #5
Our fifth pick is Shaquille O’Neal. Shaq is without a doubt the most famous teammate Kobe has ever had. They won 3 rings together, in consecutive seasons between 2000 and 2002. It took a few years and Bulls-coach Phil Jackson to finally get all the pieces to click, but when it did, the Lakers were unstoppable. In those 3 years they were 12 and 3 in NBA Finals games. In the 2001 Playoffs they even swept the entire Western Conference, only losing 1 game throughout the whole Playoffs, in the Finals against Philly. The only blemish on their championships together was the Western Conference Finals in 2002 against the Sacramento Kings, where the Lakers had the assistance of the referees to win that series.
Shaq played 19 seasons in the NBA, playing over 1200 games in his career, placing him in the top 50 of most NBA games played in a career. He averaged a double double over his career with 23 points per game and 10 rebounds per game. Shaq was an incredible basketball player and yet it took me until after his career to realise it. I always viewed Shaq as Kobe’s nemesis, holding him back from greatness early on. Obviously, I now know that Kobe needed Shaq and listening to Diesel talk about Kobe brings tears in my eyes. Of all the teammates Kobe ever had, Shaq was my favourite.
This is our All-NBA team of the Week. Please share our podcast and give us 5 stars. If you have any questions, you can contact the show on eight2fouroffice@gmail.com. Thank you for listening, ballers out!
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