afobisme

For me, it's clear as day - I'm a laker fan first. I like Kobe, but not as much as your regular Laker fan does. I do aknowledge that he's done a lot for the organization though.

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Kaas

I'm a Laker fan first, and an NBA fan second. Kobe isn't even my favorite player in the league (definitely not in the top 3--probably in the top 10 though).

Plastic Man

I guess I'm a Laker fan first, but since I started cheering for the Lakers when he first came to the league I have a strong affection for him as a player. I'll undoubtedly still pull for the Purple and Gold in the same way when he retires, but at the same time it's different for us Non-US residents. I'm not associated to the club and the organization the same way you Californians are and like I am to my own home club in Slovenia, so naturally favourite players weigh in a bit more compared to you who follow your team(s) from a relatively early age and went through a handful of franchise players. I've only been here for the Shaq/Kobe & Kobe ride, but I have no doubt I'll continue to follow the team in years to come.

peace

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Bobby Ray Phills (December 20 1969 - January 12 2000)
Malik Sealy (February 1 1970 - May 20 2000)

"Always in our hearts." Rest In Peace

afobisme

i guess nobody likes kobe

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Blue Magic

Wrong. Im not a laker fan, im more like a kobe fan/shaq hater....I like kobes game and dont like how shaq trashed kobe, the lakers, and every other organization that he has ever play'd for when he leaves, even though they never treadted him badly......basically i want kobe to win more rings then that bum, so that's the main reason i usually pull for LA. They got the best player in the league, so what's not to like...

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Blue & White Ignite!!! Let's Get It Baby!

Ghiman

I was a Laker fan before Kobe was born

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DANNY

how can you separate these two into catagories? if you were a laker fan for the past 3~4 years and havent found the love for kobe, the police might have to arrest you for a serious hate crime.

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Basel57

Lakers fan first, Kobe fan second. I love Mamba, but I was a Lakers fan before he ever got there, and I'll continue to be once he decides to hang 'em up. However, he probably is my favorite all-time player (or at least 1A, to the 1B and 1C that are Robert Horry and Nick Van Exel).

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“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion, spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never tasted victory or defeat.”

afobisme

i'll say that i am a kobe fan, but not much. i think he is what the haters think he is, and he's also what his fans think of him. he's a selfish primadonna but at the same time he does want to pass the ball and involve his teammates.

the things he says about the team, organization, and his teammates are things that he really does feel... but at the same time, he's also saying it for the PR. it's become apparent to me that what people think of kobe really does affect him.

he's a pretty complicated personality. a good example is last year when he iterated "i want to be traded. i'm sick of this organization" only to come back a few days later and say "i want to be a laker for the rest of my career." i think he was being honest in saying both things, the second comment wasn't just a PR stunt.

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Rentaponcho

laker fan first, but i know people who would stop pulling for the lakers if kobe left, and would follow whatever team kobe went too.

DaRizzle

Buh Bye Kobe...dont let the door hit you on the way out

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Owning Aznzen since 4/29/08

Bartholomew Hunt

CL and LG would go out of business. I am a huge fan of Kobe Bryant, but it's not even close. I am a Lakers fan and I still haven't forgotten taking a bunch of **** for calling Kobe out this summer. I think the reason so many people appear to love Kobe more than the Lakers is the fact that we had to seemingly stick up for him everyday since the Shaq trade, and most of the time we ended up being right. This blind hatred makes it almost habit to rush to Kobe's aid regardless of how wrong he is. Now you have blind haters and lovers. It is tough to be level-headed as a sports fan, specifically the Lakers. What scared me if that Kobe had almost gotten to the point where he was immune to criticism. That's a scary point for an athlete to get to for the fans. You have guys like Shaq who feel like they can show up fat and heal on company time because his past achievements state that he has a free pass for life. Granted, we know that Kobe will never loaf on us or anything like that, but you never know what he may feel that he has a free pass to do.

Say Kobe were traded? I would still be a diehard Lakers fan. I probably would not have booed Kobe for the fear of pissing him off.

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10.....

afobisme

i think the people who called kobe out were right in their own way. i msyelf.. wasn't mad or disturbed by the issue; but if kobe wanted to leave, i would have been okay with the organization trading him away.

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CDRacingZX6R