KWAME BROWN’S LESBIAN BAR REHAB

**UPDATE. YBB HAS MOVED. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE NEW SITE OR GO TO YOUBEENBLINDED.COM**

5 weeks after reconstructive surgery on his left ankle and 1 week since surgery on his right shoulder, Kwame Brown looks good to go.. To the club. He was spotted at the Here Lounge in West Hollywood last Thursday, enjoying himself to the fullest. While primarily a gay men’s bar, Thursday nights at the Here Lounge is for the ladies.

Here are 2 pieces of good news for Laker fans. Good News#1: Kwame wasn’t bouncing around on the ankle. He was playing the wall and dancing with two ladies at the same time. He wasn’t raisin’ the roof or walkin it out, just gettin’ his freak on. Good News#2: This happened after Kobe’s shopping center video rant. KB24 woulda had another reason to talk about “fucked up situations”.

I’m a fan of the girls that like to party with girls so I’m not knockin’ the former #1 overall pick for this. I’m sayin though, if you mix Kwame Brown, scoring problems, lesbian bar, Michael Jordan allegedly calling Brown a flaming faggot, and Phil Jackson’s comments together, you get one helluva punchline.

**Shout out to Bad Gyrl for the tip**

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KOBE VIDEO RELEASED.. PART 2?

The fellas over at The Big Lead have the whole Kobe video up and a link to the guys behind the video. Little did I know, Kobe Bryant sounded off on more than the state of the Lakers. **Contains some NSFW language**

Who knew Kobe could think of anybody other than himself? I think KB24’s on to something with the JT for gm campaign. Timberlake works well with black people, he’s more respected around the league than Mitch Kupchak and Johnny Buss combined, and he served Kenny Smith. Plus, if Justin’s tied up with a day job maybe there’ll be some women left over for the rest of us.

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TRADE LAMAR ODOM NOW

It’s time to trade Lamar Odom. Get his ass on the first thing smoking. Destination: Anywhere but here. There’s no other way to put this.. Lamar, GET OUT.

Think about it.. Do the Lakers really want to saddle themselves with this guy? This is the same guy that we haven’t heard a peep from the whole offseason. He hasn’t criticized management, he hasn’t demanded a trade. All he’s done is sit back and hear his name in trade rumor after trade rumor, and he’s still acting like a gentleman? Bullshit!! Get his ass outta here.

How quickly we all forget. Lamar Odom is the dude that tore the labrum in his left shoulder, missed 5 games, and then returned to the line-up. He even had surgery AFTER the season. That’s garbage. He averaged 19 points and 13 boards in the playoffs against Phoenix. Who the hell does he think he is? And why isn’t he helping the team? When Kobe’s scoring 40, 50, or 60, all Lamar’s doing is passing the ball or trying to stay active in the offense while Kobe’s dribbling the 24 second clock down. When Kobe called damn near every radio station in the country, how many did Lamar call? Zero. He made Kobe carry the load again. That’s unacceptable.

What has Lamar Odom done to prove that he’s worthy of staying in Los Angeles? He hasn’t chased the owner of the team, Jerry Buss, halfway around the world to bitch and moan. He hasn’t been leaking his discontent to Ric Bucher or Stephen A. Smith. Hell, he hasn’t even been caught on tape, by a camera phone at a strip mall, berating Andrew Bynum and Mitch Kupchak. It seems like he wants out of here to me, and I think the Lakers should grant him his wish.

 Have you seen Lamar Odom’s website, http://www.lamarodom.com/? What the hell is that? Where’s the trade demand, where are the goodbyes? Lamar, my man, what’s the point in having the website if you’re not using it to talk shit? Odom can’t do anything right. It’s like he’s daring the team to trade him. The Los Angeles Lakers can not stand for this.

The Lakers need to go ahead, cut their losses, and move on. Who knows if Odom’s going to Indiana or Minnesota? He has the gall not to speak on it. I’d like to hear Lamar speak on how he was a key piece in Miami’s trade offer that forced Shaq out of Los Angeles.. He’s playing his “good soldier” role to perfection, and this is Hollywood, but the team can’t have him not acting out… The fact that Lamar Odom puts the team ahead of himself intentionally is selfish, and the Lakers should trade him now.

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BLOGGAS BE TYPIN

Harold Reynolds talks about his departure from ESPN. Courtesy of DeadSpin

A new Tupac documentary. Courtesy of Nah Right

Elijah Dukes’ ex-wife airs him out. **YBB UPDATE**Elijah Dukes goes batshit crazy**END UPDATE** Courtesy of The Big Lead

Hillary and Barack don’t care about Hip Hop. Courtesy of Dallas Penn

Here’s what Lakers management and David Stern are thinking. Courtesy of The Starting Five

Nothing good happens on a date to the strip club. Courtesy of Leave The Man Alone

Would you do…Serena Williams? Courtesy of The Big Picture

What the hell is Chris Cooley wearing? Courtesy of Mr. Irrelevant

Why are rap sales falling? Courtesy of Oh Word

A 70’s tv/today’s NBA mash-up. Courtesy of With Malice

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ATTENTION LAKERS AND KOBE: BREAK UP ALREADY

How much longer do we have to go through this. I mean we, the people, the sports fans. Even the casual sports fan is tired of it. Lakers management and Kobe Bryant, if you two love each other as much as you say you do, work it out. If the love is gone you have to end it, and you have to set the public free.

Where are you two going with this? Look, we haven’t wanted to say anything because it’s none of our business, but you’re making it our business, so just break up. End it. Walk away from each other. You had some good times but all of this back and forth is wearing everybody down.

Lakers, we know that Kobe can be whiny and difficult to work with. You’re probably right when you say Kobe would never be happy. Kobe, we hear you when you say the Lakers make promises that they never keep. You’ve asked them to make some simple changes from your standpoint but they won’t do it.

You two are at a stalemate, and a fork in the road. Is this a spat or are you for real? Either way, make up your minds and move on. We’re tired of watching you two argue. We’re tired of listening to both Kobe’s side of the story. Hug, cry, say goodbye to one another, make it official, and then never look back. We’ll all be better for it.

**YBB UPDATE** I found this website, http://www.thekobevideo.com/, last night but now it looks a little different. Most noticeably, they didn’t have the video clip on there, and I’m pretty sure it said something like “special thanks to Matt and Petros of AM570” instead of “special thanks to AM570” but whatever.  **END UPDATE**

Here’s a snippet of the clip of Kobe going off on the Lakers:

Marcel Mutoni and crew at AOL’s FanHouse had this video up before me and give their opinions here. Marcel’s going with “clinical insanity”.

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THE BIG THREE

MLB

Bud Selig wants Jason Giambi to talk to the MLB steroid busters “or else”. Or else what Bud? You’re gonna suspend Jason Giambi for talking about something that happened in the past, that he already kinda admitted to, for what? I’m not even sure where this steroid scandal investigation is going. If every player that ever used steroids came forward today and admitted it, then what? Nobody is gonna shutdown MLB.. And MLB officials might not have been doing the roids, but they were well aware of what was going on. The new rules are in place, so it’s time to focus on current steroid users, the dummies that slip up now. Threatening punishment for Giambi is lip service that really serves no purpose. Let’s look forward instead of living in the past.

Selig may reportedly suspend Yank’s slugger Giambi. Courtesy of ESPN.com 

NBA

Baseball is known as the “numbers” sport but Jason over at Ball Hype has picked up where Bill Simmons and John Hollinger left off for basketball statistical analysis. Breaking down who was the best player for every ten year period of the league from ’51-’61 to ’97-’07 was a great idea and produced some interesting results. The rankings are based on Hollinger’s PER formula and most of the names you would expect to see there are there. If you take a look at the total number of ten year spans dominated by MJ, only centers Chamberlain, Jabbar, and O’neal are in his class. Guys like Olajuwon, Malone, and Garnett have the misfortune of playing in eras dominated by bigger stars.

Passing the torch: From Dolph to Duncan. Courtesy of Ball Hype 

NFL

Pacman Jones’ ill-fated trip and “rain making” at a strip club during the NBA All-Star weekend was one of the reasons he ended up being suspended for the season by new NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Yesterday the news broke that Jones’ DNA tested negative, twice, when compared to DNA obtained from a stripper that was bitten during the February fracas. So the DNA doesn’t match and you have Lt. George Castro saying that the police still have not connected what happened inside the club to the shooting that took place outside of the club. If Adam Jones is cleared of everything except for being a 81k idiot, will/should the NFL reduce his suspension?

Agent: Pacman samples come back negative. Courtesy of ABC 7

2ND THOUGHTS

The Wild Wild Central. Courtesy of The Houston Chronicle

Robert Horry says 2007 Spurs better than 80s Lakers, Celtics. Courtesy of Larry Brown Sports

Jet: Dog fights equal horse races. Courtesy of the NY Daily News

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BLOGGAS BE TYPIN

Genarlow Wilson’s case hit Dwil deep. Courtesy of The Starting Five

The Buss Family saying good bye to Kobe. Courtesy of Marcel Mutoni at AOL Fanhouse

Larry Merchant to split ringside duties with Max Kellerman. Courtesy of Max Boxing

A good piece on the skater Stevie Williams. Courtesy of Stoop Talk

Nice ass or fat? Bol weighs in.. Courtesy of XXL

The Shaq helping kids slim down hypocrisy. Courtesy of The Serious Tip

Straight men and gay women agree on one thing. Courtesy of Too Sense

You never wanna celebrate too early. Courtesy of Josh Q. Public

Murder was not the case. Courtesy of With Leather

The U.S. Government thought about a “Gay Bomb”?  Courtesy of Barstool Sports

RAPPING UP SPORTS IN THE LATE SIXTIES

In the wrong hands, rap is a bad and dangerous thing. If you don’t know anything about sports in the late 60s and you don’t mind lyrics being completely offbeat then this is the video for you.

They’ve got 99 problems and knowing how to rap is about 98 of ’em.

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KOBE SPEAKS, LAYS GROUNDWORK FOR L.A. EXODUS

The will Kobe go, will Kobe stay talks continue. I wrote a post some time ago where I quoted Stephen A. Smith talking about Kobe Bryant’s feelings towards the Lakers “He has absolutely no problem leaving if the Los Angeles Lakers, specifically owner Jerry Buss doesn’t get his act together. Do not be surprised at all if this stuff continues if Kobe Bryant some time around next year is asking to be traded.”

Ric Bucher reported that Kobe said he would demand a trade if Jerry West wasn’t brought back to L.A… A report that Kobe quickly denied. Well, now “Bean” is sounding off on his website:

Was up again, y’all. I saw an article this AM in the LA Timeswhich said a Lakers’ “insider” noted that my wanting to “get away from Shaq” is what created this whole “mess” the Laker’s currently find themselves in. Man, hearing something like that, which is not true, and which comes from the “inside” is totally frustrating. The fact of the matter is that many people don’t know what really went down when I was approaching free agency because I have stayed quiet about it this whole time. The real facts are that Dr. Buss requested a meeting with me during the 04 season long before I opted out of my contract, and he told me he had already decided to not extend Shaq, as he was concerned about Shaq’s age, fitness and contract demands. Dr. Buss thought it was best for the Lakers to make a trade to get value for Shaq while they could.

Kobe goes on to say:

“when stuff like this is coming from the “inside” all I can do is hope that someone from the “inside” comes forward to support me and set straight the facts of what really happened.” 

You can read all of Kobe’s post here, including yesterday’s entry about not wanting to be traded…KB24 can claim that he doesn’t want to be traded or he’s a Laker for life, but his words seem to say otherwise. I doubt that Ric Bucher made up the Kobe quotes so there’s the first hint. His beef with “the insider” is just another part of the “I want to be traded” foundation, but the biggest hint, the best clue, is when Kobe said

 “Dr. Buss called me from his Vacation in Italy on the eve of my decision and promised me that the Lakers would do everything to build a contender NOW. I told him at that time that my fear was the Lakers waiting to save Cap Room to sign a top notch free agent in 3 or 4 years, so that was why I was leaning towards other teams like the Clips and Bulls, both of who had a cast of good young players.”

If you don’t understand what he’s saying allow me to translate: “Dr. Buss said he was gonna get some real players in here and I believed him, but now, have you seen this @#$% roster? Get me the hell outta here.”

I find it hard to believe that this current Laker regime wants to go down in history for losing Shaq and Kobe. Kobe’s recent outbursts are his way of trying to force the team to do something big… If they can’t get Jerry West back in the fold they need to try to pull off a Jerry West type of deal. You know, try to fleece a team in a trade, land a GOOD free agent, make something happen, make the team relevant. If not, we’ll be hearing Kobe’s (non) trade demands all of next season.

**YBB UPDATE**

Kobe spoke to John Ireland and Steve Mason from The Big Show on ESPN 710 in Los Angeles. The interview is 15 minutes long and Kobe discusses his feelings towards the Lakers organization, the Ric Bucher article, and the Lakes failure to sign Baron Davis, Carlos Boozer, and Ron Artest. Listen here

Kobe spoke to Petros Papadakis and Matt “Money” Smith from PMS on AM570 in Los Angeles. The interview is 23 minutes long and covers a lot of the same topics as the first interview. Kobe comes across more frustrated in this conversation. He’s not only talking hoops as he covers the Wiggles, Barney, and his daughter dancing like Shakira.  Listen here

Again, Kobe can say he’s not demanding a trade but if you listen to what he’s saying it sounds like the Lakers are one misstep away from losing #24.

All of the “Kobe demanding a trade” talk is apparently taking its toll on Lakers’ owner Jerry Buss. Jerry Buss arrested on suspicion of DUI courtesy of the L.A. Times

**END UPDATE**

Kobe wants West to return to Lakers with full authority. Courtesy of ESPN.com

Kobe says he’s just suggesting West’s return, not demanding it. Courtesy of ESPN.com

The Truth: Lakers “insiders” all wrong. Courtesy of KB 24

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KOBE BRYANT LEAVING LOS ANGELES?

I was watching NBA Shootaround on Friday night while waiting for the Warriors/Jazz game to get started. Stephen A. Smith dropped some interesting information:

I’ve spoke to several people in the league, believe it or not Kobe does have an abundance of friends in this league contrary to popular belief and they all said to me, you know what, he is completely disgusted and you can’t even measure the level of hostility he’s feeling towards the Lakers organization right now.

Go on…..

Listen to this.. Kobe Bryant, ever since he resigned with the Los Angeles Lakers, according to everything that I’ve heard he wanted Baron Davis before he got traded to Golden State. They didn’t get him. He had an opportunity to, they didn’t get him. He wanted Carlos Boozer because Larry Miller, the owner of the Utah Jazz, was on the outs with Carlos Boozer, they wanted to move him, the Lakers didn’t get him. He wanted Ron Artest, they didn’t get him. And then even when Kwaaameee Broooown was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for his best friend on the team at the time, Caron Butler, he didn’t learn about it until after the trade was consumated. Having spoken to Mitch Kupchak, the general manager for the Los Angeles Lakers in fairness to him, couldn’t reach Kobe earlier in the day, but I’m telling you everything that I’ve been hearing, if you think for one second that he is in love with Los Angeles, he loves winning more than he loves Southern California. He almost went to Chicago in a sign and trade, tried to force a sign and trade before he signed. You understand? He has absolutely no problem leaving if the Los Angeles Lakers, specifically owner Jerry Buss doesn’t get his act together. Do not be surprised at all if this stuff continues if Kobe Bryant some time around next year is asking to be traded.

 Now let’s be real.. Kobe’s not leaving the Lakers. Mitch Kupchak won’t let that happen. Not that he couldn’t let it happen, he has turned the Lakers  from contenders to first round whipping boys of the West elite, but he’s not gonna let Kobe get away. This has all the makings of a well timed leak of information from the Kobe camp. Like Stephen A. said, Kobe did talk about going to Chicago, and there were also the Suns and Clippers rumors when Kobe was a free agent. He didn’t leave then and he’s not leaving now.

The heir apparent to the Laker ownership throne, Jim Buss (son of Jerry) was on AM570 in Los Angeles this week and said not so fast on the Kobe trade talk:

Bryant needs to be aware that any trade involving him would require the other team to surrender its best player. For example, trading Bryant to Cleveland would cost the Cavaliers LeBron James. Any trade would markedly weaken Bryant’s new team, giving him no greater guarantee of a championship than he has with the Lakers.

Well.. That seems to take a little steam out of the Kobe trade talks, but KB can opt out of his deal in two years. He was asked about that in this exit interview and had this to say:

I’ve been a Laker fan my whole life. I hate to even think about me going someplace else.”

Notice he didn’t say “I won’t go someplace else”, he said he would hate to think about it. If the Lakers front office sits on their hands this offseason, I’m sure Kobe won’t mind entertaining the idea of bouncing.

I would bet the house that L.A. is gonna go out this summer and make a huge deal. Jerry West is no longer with Memphis so maybe he can do some consulting.. Teach Mitch how to pull off some of those miracle deals. I don’t know if it’ll be K.G., Jermaine O’neal, Jason Kidd, or any other name we’ve heard over the past few years but something is gonna happen. I would try to hold on to Lamar and Luke Walton (free agent), but I would trade anybody, ANYBODY, anybody else on the roster to become an elite team. Yes even Andrew Bynum. The young fella has shown some flashes but by the time he’s fulfiling his potential (if ever) Kobe will have some serious miles on his body. Mitch Kupchak and the Lakers don’t have that kind of time.

**YBB Kobe Update 5-29-07**

Meet the new Buss. Courtesy of the LA Times

Report Card/Exit Interview: Kobe Bryant. Courtesy of the LA Times

Listen to Kobe’s Exit Interview here.

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