Dallas destroys the Lakers to move on to conference finals:

[mac]

Kobe also has a LONG history of cheap-shotting players with elbows, over and over again, among other things. It isn't an isolated incident. Yes, they play dirty.

I agree that Kobe has a history of being dirty. But people are saying "As if Kobe disapproves of it blablabla" ... It's kinda like what do you expect him to say? No matter what he says you're still not going to be happy, so why dwell on it or even criticize him for it? Lots of players have a history of being dirty. IMO a select few just get the reputations for it because they are in the spotlight more than others.

So because Kobe, Odom, Fisher and Bynum (and Artest, but Artest was like this way before he became a Laker) have taken some dirty shots, the whole team is dirty? That to me is a blanket statement. Call out the players who play dirty, but don't drag it on to the rest of the team. If there's something that I will agree on though, is that they showed a lot of mental weakness, that was surprising for a championship team.

I know this is the Lakers and that on a Kings board they deserve a lot more hate than they would otherwise receive. But as a fan, I don't think it's fair to say a whole team and organisation is dirty just because of a few players.

 

[Glenn]

Does anyone recall someone in a Kings jersey doing something like this? I remember Webber cold cocking Stockton in a playoff game and that's it. Pushing and shoving is not the issue.

It doesn't take 12 people being violent to blame a whole team. For example, if Joe Blow does something violent and the rest of the team chastises him for it, he won't do it again and others, hearing the criticism, are less inclined to be violent. It's the culture of the team. It starts with the coach I would guess. Did Artest play dirty when he was with the Kings? I don't think so. Besides, one incident is not the issue as how a team responds to one incident sets the stage for the future.

 

[IfAt1st]

Correct, Glenn.

Everytime I hear someone equivocate/rationalize "Oh, the Lakers aren't dirty - it's just 1 (or 2, or 3, or 4) guys" it's absurd to me.
How many times does something have to happen before people form and keep a negative opinion about athletes' dirty play and a team's sportsmanship?

Comparing to ALL the Kings players I know of, they simply have not done the things that happen with other teams ON THE COURT.

Why did Artest not play dirty when he was here?
Why did Matt Barnes not play dirty when he was here?

The EXACT SAME PLAYERS did not play dirty when they played for the Kings, yet they do when they go elsewhere (especially to LA).
Granted, they are at different stages in their careers, but at what point do you reach the logical conclusion, based on evidence, that other teams behave differently, are coached differently, and have a different set of values than other teams?

 

[IfAt1st]

Here's an example -

In general, I held high regard for the Spurs - I thought they were a quality organization, that played the right way.

But then they ALLOWED Bruce Bowen to play the way he did (willfully intending to injure many people) for years on end.
They could have put a stop to it, internally.
They could have made it clear that that type of play was not what they were about.

But they saw that it was effective, and so they turned a blind eye.

And so I lost respect for them.
Further, I don't forget about it when Tim Duncan gets older, or when he retires and they (hypothetically) get some other studs and go on to win a championship. Their approval of Bowen's method of play coats their entire organization to me - not as bad as the Lakers by a long shot, but I won't forget how they sacrificed their team's reputation and sportsmanship for the sake of winning.

To me, winning isn't worth sullying your organization's reputation with bush-league, harmful play.