Player of the D.A.Y.
I wonder who it could be?
I’ve already mentioned this in passing, but I will tell the whole story. On Saturday morning I was made aware of the Kobe Bryant 65 point outburst against Portland and my immediate thought was to make him Player of the D.A.Y. in this spot no matter what happened on Sunday (yesterday). Then he scored 50 more yesterday to erase any competition.
The two biggest flukes of the Player of the D.A.Y. this season have been how many times Baron Davis has won and how many Kobe missed out on. It seems like Baron saved his best games for nights when there wasn’t much action or other standout perfromances. Kobe kept playing his best on Friday and Saturday nights. If you look at his splits, it says Kobe has his best scoring nights on Thursday, but he shoots threes best on Friday. I don’t have any counter evidence other than to say I remember things differently or maybe he had one bad game on a Friday night that threw everything off. 65 points to end a 7 game losing streak in double OT deserves an exception.
But he wins today based on yesterday. That would mean the 65 point game had no bearing on today’s Player of the D.A.Y. I have a solution for this. Tonight there are two games on the NBA schedule, and neither one is anything to write home about. Kobe is going to win Player of the D.A.Y. tomorrow for a game that happened 4 days before the award is announced. I think that begins to make up for the flukiness of his weekend warriorness.
If you are looking for deeper meaning in this Kobe eruption, that he is overshooting to avenge the “witch hunt”, or that the return of Odom and Walton has boosted him, feel free. There are always underlying psychological issues with Kobe. Or over analyzation. Or something in between. He’s always fun to talk about. On Friday night after scoring 65, he talked about how his daughter didn’t care, and she was more interested in Care Bears. If that’s true, I’ve got to get back into Care Bears - although I saw those Baby Einstein videos for the first time at a recent hang out session with my 2 year-old nephew, and they are crack in every sense of the word.
Kobe Bryant, obvious Player of the D.A.Y.
22 Responses to “Player of the D.A.Y.”
Mar.19 at 4:59 pm
jbn74sb says:
I doubt many readers actually saw Friday night’s game live, as it ended well past midnight on the Least Coast and is probably totally unavailable outside of the L.A. area unless you have league pass. As someone who watched them both live, Kobe’s performance on Friday was more impressive than the 81. Watching the highlights just doesn’t do justice as to how much he took over the game and hit impossible shot after impossible shot, singlehandedly ending the 7 game losing streak. In the 81 point game, during the 4th quarter the game became about how many points Kobe would score, as the Lakers had taken control of that game. On Friday, every single one of his buckets during the 4th quarter and OT were absolutely essential to the win. And I’ll say it again: whatever the non-Wilt scoring record is over 3 consecutive games (probably about 150), it is in serious danger when Kobe faces the Baroney version of the Grizzlies. And I would love if somebody could figure out what the NON-WILT record is for highest scoring total in 3 consecutive games. Google, yahoo, and nba.com have been no help.
Mar.19 at 5:12 pm
Sherri says:
i love reading SAM write about KOBE, matter of fact only 2 guy tht i enjoy the most frm slam is Khalid and Sam [SCOOP is ma all time fav. though ;] , KOBE deserves all the props you gve him and even more.
Mar.19 at 5:17 pm
Sam Rubenstein says:
I assume that espn will have one of those ELIAS graphics about the most points over three games. Kobe has a great chance, not only because its Memphis, but because the Lakers are still just not that good enough to not blow out Memphis and force Phil to let Kobe stay in the game for 40 minutes.
Mar.19 at 5:22 pm
desi says:
if lebron or wade had done this it would have been on the front page of everyyyy website. What else does this guy have to do?
Mar.19 at 6:09 pm
DP says:
When it is all said and done, Kobe might be the best ever to suit up in an NBA jersey. My friends tell me that Kobe is just an arrogant ballhog who cares only about himself. Well, when Kobe actually cares about his team, they freeze up like little bitches(with exception to Luke and Lamar(sometimes)). They play like they have never touched a basketball in their career. The only way the lakers can win is if Kobe is dropping 50 and 65. Kobe has done enough of the babysitting for the his little baby teammates. It is now his time to take off their damn diapers and become the old Kobe. play wit it.
Mar.19 at 6:14 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Has there ever been a better athlete with the middle name of “Bean”?
Mar.19 at 6:19 pm
Drolfe says:
Kobe’s the only player that makes me tell people who dont care one bit about basketball about things he does. I’m down in Australia and there is a bunch of them all over the place. I was gushing yesterday to my idiot friends at work about his last two games. They didn’t care. And I couldn’t stop.
Mar.19 at 6:22 pm
jbn74sb says:
Russ - Does Butterbean count?
Mar.19 at 6:43 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Even if he did, I don’t think he makes it.
Mar.19 at 7:49 pm
BUM says:
Fuck dem haters, man. Kobe is the fuckin’ MVP no matter what they say. Steve Nash ain’t got shit on Kobe. Nash stole the award from Shaq because the Suns won more than the heat. The voters said it was because Nash’s team won more not because statistics. Last season, Chancey and Dirk won more games but since Steve Nash had better numbers than on his previous season so he won based on statistics. If the voters were gonna vote based on stats, then Kobe should have won. This season Nash will take the award again. Again not deserving it.
Mar.19 at 8:12 pm
Darksaber says:
Mambiatch, Mambiatch.. tss tss. why do you make it so hard for me to detest your guts? 115 in two games? respect Kobs (u still are an arse though.. in my humble opinion)
Mar.19 at 8:43 pm
jbn74sb says:
And perhaps 160 in 3 games?
Mar.19 at 10:41 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
More Kobe jumpers = more flayling elbows = more upset, swollen faced europeans(no tyler hansburough)
Mar.19 at 10:42 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
why do i feel like tyler hansburough is just a more chemically balanced chris humphries?
Mar.19 at 11:28 pm
Vanilla Thunder says:
A rather astute comparison of Hansbrough, I dont see him having much success in the NBA as an undersized post player who seems to float a lot of his baskets in after contact, perhaps like a Diet Sean May is doing.
Mar.20 at 1:27 am
Tom Jackson says:
Sam woulda been sick if Pdouble had put up 60 and 10 tonight. Which he could do.
Mar.20 at 2:45 am
thesubwayconnection says:
“if lebron or wade had done this it would have been on the front page of everyyyy website. What else does this guy have to do?”
Talk to the media and act like he’s not from Mars, to start. I think Hansbrough’s better than Joakim Noah offensively, so why is Noah a lottery pick?
Mar.20 at 8:17 am
Ryan Jones says:
Joakim Noah is Marcus Camby 2.0. And barring injuries, Camby’s had a really good career. That’s why Noah is a lottery pick.
Mar.20 at 12:45 pm
Nathan Gonzales says:
Of Course, You have to make him player of D.A.Y
I mean he has been passing and getting other people open to score it not just him doing it all like last year but there is still one to consider if the team is in trouble in a game who do they look to lean on on of the most dominant players in the game today. Kobe Bryant they lean on him like a drunk. But seriously he should have won more than Baron Davis, Kobe plays hard everynight does B-Davis? Nope
Mar.20 at 11:45 pm
Ryan Z says:
Is Kobe human? The guy is so good I think all of his haters are Kobe’s fuel for greatness. So keep hating cause we all just get to watch Kobe make history. Good point from “thesubwayconnection” if Lebron or Wade did that they would crown them and drown us in even more of their damn comercials. Remember how good Kobe’s old Sprite comercial was with him watching film and working-out. Then jogging out the tunnel with the flash bulbs from the cameras. It was real, like Wade’s really gonna drive out to the playround give an SUV to some guy and then leave on a bicycle. I mean I’m sure he’s a good guy but please! He isn’t a saint. Just a man overmarketed.
Mar.21 at 4:40 pm
MagicChicken says:
just to add to the props: Kobe scored 65 on a back-to-back with Denver. The team landed in LA at 7AM, and he dropped 65 half a day later!
Mar.21 at 5:12 pm
sizzle kobe says:
im predicting kobe goes for 38 in a blow out against the grizz.