“I thought we did a great job defensively,” said Lamar Odom, who had eight points and 10 rebounds. “It was fun. We have to load up on (James). There’s no way we’re going to leave our best player on an island with him. Kobe did a great job of denying him the ball.”

Lamar Odom said that….

The thing thats getting played up is that Kobe told Phil Jackson that he wanted LeBron. But Kobe didn’t do it alone. He had a lot of help from his teammates and the refs. Now granted, Kobe did guard Lebron at times on the perimeter BUT as soon as Lebron took a step towards the basket there was another 1 or 2 Lakers there with the help. It was far from a one man effort on Kobe’s part.

Lebron also played into the Lakers’ scheme because when he would dribble the ball, he wasn’t given any room to create(as mentioned by KevDog). So, the Lakers’ objective was to funnel him away from the basket. Couple that with the fact the Lebron had an off night shooting the ball as did the rest of the Cavs. They missed too many “open” shots.

Lebron was also not looking for his shooters like he normally does, which resulted in him forcing a lot of shots. He also didn’t get some calls that I thought he should’ve gotten.

But anyone who says Kobe shut down LeBron 1 on 1 is either a Laker fan or listens to too much ESPN. (no offense KevDog)

Wade can score on Kobe just like he scores on everyone else. I’ve seen these two play over the years and Wade has beaten him off the dribble, on a screen, face-to-face on a mid-range “J” and handled him in the post. Don’t let Wade’s height fool you. Dude is one of the strongest two guards in the league. Also, denying Wade the ball is not the same as guarding him.

I agree w/ Mizz….Kobe cannot guard Lebron. It may have only seemed like he could on Monday night due to Lebron having an off night shooting the rock. You brought up a good point about the spacing but Lebron also forced a lot of shots and didn’t let the game come to him. Hey, it happens to the best of them, even Kobe.

Don’t get me wrong. LeBron is already an all-time great and he has the potential to be GOAT such is his athleticism and youth. But we’ll see if he has the real commitment to pull it off.

Kobe was spotted in the gym at 7:30 the morning after the Cleveland game. Hand wrapped, working on his lower body.

Dude is a beast.

Kobe’s just not strong enough.

He’s the best player in the game and also the best defender of the three who are the most scrutinized currently, but LeBron’s learning curve is expanding rapidly.

Mizzo-I absolutely disagree with what you just wrote. Did you see the game Monday? Kobe absolutely took it to LeBron and played him absolutely the way he needs to be played. That’s what people don’t understand about NBA basketball. On D, you take away what the other guy does. LeBron’s game needs space and facing the basket and a full head of steam. Kobe simply took it to him without the ball, made catching the ball difficult generally, impossible with any space. Once he did that, LeBron was left with an inadequate post and mid-range game.

Did you read the article I posted about exactlyhow Kobe took it to James defensively? And he did this with his ring finger on his dominant hand having been dislocated DURING THE GAME.

Nah bruh, Kobe can definitely guard LeBron.

No one can guard Kobe.

My question is whether or not Kobe can guard Wade in a scenario where he doesn’t have the luxury of superior teammates and reduced duties. In other words, if these two were playing in an All-Star Game or a playoff series where both either had highly skilled, veteran teammates OR both had to carry the entire load — what would the outcomes be? I know you know — I don’t know. Based on what I’ve seen of Wade at different stages of his career, I’d say in either of those scenarios, he holds his own – on both ends of the floor. We won’t see that scenario for years outside an All-Star game context.

As for LeBron, I think we agree.

B. Kobe can guard both Wade and LeBron, neither of them can guard Kobe.

C. The Cav’s did beat the Lakers 5 times in a row. Now go back and see how many of those games Kobe played heathy and then go back and youtube the ends of those games and see how the refs literally stole most of them fro the Lakers.

please excuse the typo.

LeBron never said that but…

Man show me the money…

Big ups for helping us make an noticeable impact on the game people. We couldn’t do it here without you.