Ummmm…yeah…where to begin?
Colin Cowherd has been called many things over the years. The ESPN blowhard is always a sparkplug for controversy. Whether it’s his asinine arguments or his quasi-racist rants, Cowherd has a knack for inserting his foot into mouth often. One thing he’s not ever going to be called is hoops aficionado.
This morning, for whatever reason, Cowherd was arguing that Kobe Bryant had a better supporting cast in 2006 than LeBron James in Cleveland around the same time.
What was the lynchpin to Cowherd’s argument, you may ask? That Lamar Odom is a Hall of Famer…no really!
Look, I’m as big an Odom fan as there is. I’ve followed him since he was in high school, was exited that he was drafted by the Clippers as I’d get a chance to watch him ball here in L.A. and couldn’t have been happier when he finally became a Laker.
However, there is really no way to make an argument for LO to be in the Hall. Cowherd has confused Odom’s game with his resume. LO is a freak. No doubt about it. And when he’s on there is really no man on the planet capable of defending him. But that’s when he’s on. Odom’s production is about as consistent as your local weatherman’s forecast. Off hand, I don’t know how many guys are in the Hall that never played in an All-Star game. And with all due respect, having a couple rings isn’t enough unto itself. If that were the case, Jack Haley should be expecting a Hall call too. But what do I know?
Now for the really sad and cringe inducing part of Cowherd’s misguided argument.
He had the wrong roster.
Cowherd somehow confused the ’05 Lakers with the ’06 team that went down in 7 against Phoenix in the first round. Colin thought KB24 had LO and Caron Butler by his side. Fact of the matter is the ’06 team was considerably worse from a talent perspective. Need I say more than Smush Parker and Kwame Brown in the starting five?
Fans in the know remember Phil Jackson squeezing every ounce of talent out of that team. While I can appreciate the need to stir the pot in order to keep listeners tuned in, this is an argument Cowherd should really sit out.
By his argument, Byron Scott should be in the Hall too. But knowing Cowherd, he’d try and make a case for Michael Cooper before B-Scott in attempts to show his savvy. The same savvy that had him saying Kobe got Paul Westhead fired. Yeah…I think he meant Magic Johnson but what do I know?