Kobe Bryant Expects to Get Back to the NBA Finals
October 12, 2009 – 9:15 am by Jimmy Shapiro
This post was written by Chris Fedor of WKNR in Cleveland. After losing in the NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics in the 2007-2008 season, all the Kobe Bryant doubters came out again with their ridiculous “Kobe can’t win without Shaq” arguments. The Finals loss against the Celtics made the Lakers and Kobe Bryant hungrier at the beginning of the 2008-2009 season. Not only did they finish with the best record in the Western Conference a season ago, not only did they defend their Western Conference crown in the playoffs, but they finished their journey with an NBA title, the fourth title on the already impressive resume of Kobe Bryant. Despite his individual and team success people still wondered if he could win a championship as the centerpiece of the team. People wondered if he could win a title without Shaquille O’Neal. Well, Kobe proved his doubters wrong, captured ring number four and continued to cement his legacy as one of the best players in NBA history.
After a number of teams got better this offseason, the Lakers went out and did the same by bringing in Ron Artest to try and take a run at back-to-back NBA Championships. While it remains to be seen what kind of impact Ron Artest will have on Los Angeles, I know this; as long as Kobe Bryant is in a Lakers uniform and the Larry O’Brien Trophy is still with the Lakers, the NBA Championship runs through L.A.
Kobe Bryant joined The Dan Patrick Show to talk about his offseason, the offseason around the NBA, the addition of Ron Artest, and the Lakers coming back to defend their title.
On the replacement refs:
“No, I don’t think it’s a big deal. You just kind of get used to it. You just have to understand the position they’re in. On the big stage, (they’re) obviously a little jittery, a little nervous and you just have to make your adjustments, that’s all.”
On whether or not he thinks he gets preferential treatment from the refs:
“No, I don’t think that happens at all.”
On the addition of Ron Artest:
“I love Ron. I’ve known Ron for years. I’m happy that he’s here.”
On what’s going to happen defensively with Ron Artest now on the court with him:
“You just got to go to each other’s strengths. He’s obviously stronger than I am, has a bigger body. I’m quicker, so we will just kind of mix our game plan up accordingly and play to each other’s strengths.”
On the offseason move that made him take notice:
“Sheed (Rasheed Wallace) to Boston. I thought that was a great pickup for them.”
The under-the-radar move that made him take notice:
“Anthony Parker. Anthony Parker to Cleveland I think is going to be a big move for them. (Host: The Shaq move got all the headlines though?) Yeah, but it’s always the glue guys though. Those are the moves that win championships. It’s always those pieces that you kind of plug in. For example, last year us picking up Trevor Ariza and Shannon Brown, those acquisitions made a huge difference for us.”
On who they think they’ll see in the Finals:
“Man, I just hope we get to the Finals. (Host: Well you expect to get there.) Yeah we do, but in the Western Conference, you can’t take that too lightly. The team that we faced in the first round last year could be in the Western Conference Finals in Utah. That’s how stacked the Western Conference is. We’ll be very fortunate to get an opportunity to defend our title and hopefully we will.”
Listen to Kobe Bryant on The Dan Patrick Show
Tags: Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA Champions, Ron Artest
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