First of all, download this new mix. It's all one MP3 file, so you won't need to unlock it or anything. Just download it and play it--good times. It's rap/hip hop/whatever, and I originally did it because I was asked to put together a mixtape by Kickballers in DC, so I did...and decided to share it here as well. Magnanamous (bsto) is also credited--it's the JJ Collective..haha. I did two mixes, so I'll put the first up now and get the second up in a bit. JJ Records is different from our film score, ambient department---just a heads up.
JJ Records Volume One
Tracklist:
Volume I
Common “The Food”
Gangstarr “Mass Appeal”
MF Doom “Raid”
Pharrell “Frontin’”
Kurtis Blow “The Breaks”
Air “La Femme d’Argent”
Latyrx “Lady Don’t Tek No”
Dead Prez “Hip Hop”
A Tribe Called Quest “Jazz”
Kidz in the Hall “Wheels Fall Off”
Blackstar “Respiration”
Grandmaster Flash “The Message”
Mos Def “What’s Beef?” (Magnanamous remix)
Felt (Murs and Slug) “Early Mornin’ Tony”
Gorillaz “Rock the House”
Aesop Rock “Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives”
The Pharcyde “Passin’ Me By”
Prefuse 73 “One Word Extinguisher”
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ESPN has all this crap about how Kobe needs this and that and how Kobe is going to leave if they don't get marquee players. I can't believe that--Kobe knows damn well he could have joined any other team when he re-signed a few years back. Some have said that the Clippers would have been a championship contender this year if Kobe would have signed with them.
The fact of the matter is that the only teams that could afford Kobe are the ones who wouldn't contend. Why would Kobe leave a team like the Lakers for a team like the Grizzlies? Yeah, I don't know either.
Kobe has a legacy with the Lakers--he knows that. He is showtime. The Staples Center has its lights turned down low during games--and the spectacle that is Kobe and Co come off as a show. Rightfully so--Kobe is the best player in the NBA right now and has been for the last few years. He will continue to be the best player for the next two or three years, and then, well, it's downhill.
He knows that he's the best player in the league, and, accordingly, he knows no one can afford him other than non-contenders. He won't leave LA for Seattle, Portland, Memphis, New Orleans or Charlotte--all teams that could afford him. Where's the only other city that anyone can see him in? Not Philadelphia, his hometown, where he is hated--no, it has to be New York City. Could anyone turn down seeing America's best player in America's most famous arena?
With all this being said, I don't know how much having another star would help Kobe. Jason Kidd could get Kobe the rock, but could he be the second scorer that the Lakers so desperately need (mind you, the Lakers would have to give up Odom for any of these stars--thus, any star coming in would have to become the team's second scorer)?
The Nuggets have two HUGE stars (well, one's not very tall) and they bombed out of the play-offs just as badly as the Lakers did. It appears that it's all about one star, backed by solid role players--Baron Davis and the Yay Area Warriors, anyone? And, does anyone remember how stacked the Lakers were when they had Kobe, Shaq, Gary Payton and Karl Malone? And, do you remember how badly they got bombed in the finals by the Pistons--who really have a bunch of glorified role players (with MAYBE the exception of Rasheed Wallace)? OK, then.
Kevin Garnett and Kobe could be the most athletic duo the NBA has ever seen--and if the Lakers could pull this off, they should...at whatever cost. If Lamar has to go, Lamar has to go--and send Kwame's expiring contract with him. Team's have also wanted Andrew Bynum included in deals--which may be a sticky point to some, but not to me. Teams have been excelling lately without a huge force in the center. The Lakers undoubtedly think that Bynum will become the next Shaq--except that he won't feud with golden boy Kobe, because Bynum is a lot younger and thus has less baggage and will defer to Kobe. Bynum needs to put on a lot of weight in order to become the wrecking ball that Shaq was--and even if he does, how many years will he have before the enormous toil of extra weight takes his knees out (as it has to Shaq)?
Teams have been successful thus far without centers--the Warriors, the Wizards (earlier in the season, when they were cleaning up). The game is getting faster, so if the Lakers eschew size for extreme speed and athleticism, they'll be in a much better spot. Bynum may be a bust--I'd definitely trade him for KG if it meant that we'd win one next year.
Contrary to popular belief, Coach Phil Jackson is not going to be around forever. The time to trade for KG, Jason Kidd or Jermaine O'Neal is now. All three have been enthusiastic about possibly playing with Kobe--it's time to get the deal done, Mr. Kupchak. I'll be a Lakers fan forever, so I can wait--but Kobe and Kevin Garnett are getting old. What an amazing team that would be--regardless of who else was on the squad.
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I never pick up the newspaper on the top of the stack in the newspaper vending machine, because the one time I did, it was missing the sports section, and I never want to be without the sports section again.
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