I'm giving up basketball

[gunshrink]

I know the deal with Arenas was way over the top on this part but the latest goes with the "wimping" of professional sports. Never did understand the "taunting" penalty that the NFL has - heck when I played football that was half the fun. Now the lastst on the advertisement with Kobe and Labron for Nike - "Prepare for Combat."

----------------------------
Kobe-LeBron Nike Ad Features Gun Language


Jan 30, 12:05 AM (ET)

By BRIAN MAHONEY
NEW YORK (AP) - An advertisement featuring the NBA's two biggest superstars includes a gun reference, the same week two players were suspended for carrying firearms to the locker room.

The Nike ad, which appears in several publications including Sports Illustrated and ESPN The Magazine, has LeBron James on one page and Kobe Bryant on the other. Along with the slogan, "Prepare For Combat," is a quote from each player showing how tough he is.

Bryant's blurb says: "I'll do whatever it takes to win games. I don't leave anything in the chamber."

The chamber in a gun is the compartment that holds the bullet before it is fired.

"The Nike print ad featuring Kobe Bryant was intended to illustrate his all out play and commitment on the basketball court," Nike said in a statement. "It is a commonly used reference for shooting the basketball and no offense was intended."


NBA commissioner David Stern is sensitive to the issue of gun violence, and the NBA criticized the ad.

"We had no prior notice of this ad," spokesman Tim Frank said. "We think it is inappropriate."

Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton were suspended for the remainder of the season Wednesday by Stern for having guns in the Washington Wizards' locker room.

Bryant agreed with the league's stance on the advertisement.

"That ad was done months ago, prior to anything that came out," Bryant said after the Lakers beat the 76ers on Friday night. "Obviously, we're very sensitive toward that considering the current time and everything that happened since then. It's definitely inappropriate. I advised my business partners of that."

James defended Bryant, saying the words were taken out of context.

"That has nothing, zero, to do with guns," James said, raising his voice at reporters. "At all. At all. Zero. That's very simple. For somebody to even say that - that's a basketball term. To try to highlight Kobe and say that he was referencing guns is totally ridiculous."

James said such slang is common among his peers.

"We say a lot of things as basketball players that make a reference to guns and violence, but it's really not guns and violence," he said.

Indiana Pacers coach Jim O'Brien used similar language after James' Cleveland Cavaliers beat his team 94-73 on Friday. The Pacers had lost to Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday by 22 points, and O'Brien was unhappy with his team's poor shooting.

"We played two championship contenders, and they played like it against us," he said. "We did not have enough bullets in our gun to make games of it. That's about it."

Stern said during a conference call Wednesday that he and players' association executive director Billy Hunter would discuss a stronger gun policy than the one currently in the collective bargaining agreement, which prohibits players from having firearms on team property or business.

The wording under the photo of a shirtless James reads: "Opposing teams don't realize I was a football player first. I can take those hits and give a few back too."

The ad features a far different look - the athletes' skin transformed to scaly armor - than Nike's spots featuring puppets in the likenesses of James and Bryant.

The current campaign was too much for Cleveland city officials, who rejected a proposal by Nike to erect a 10-story tall mural of a bare-chested James. Over his left shoulder would have been the words "Prepare for Combat," topped by the Nike trademark swoosh.

The city wanted the display to project a more positive tone and have a Cleveland reference.

--------------------------------

More positive Cleveland reference - Isn't that the town they call "The Mistake on a Lake?"

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[maddyfish]

Well, the NBA as well as David Stern the commissioner are very anti-freedom and have been for years.

[Blue Jacket]

I've never been a 'who has the most tattoo's' NBA fan. Seems like those guys are taking four steps to the basket. What happened to the traveling call's or no side to side movement when your pivot foot is planted? Bunch of immature adult cry babies. They're all about me, me and more me. Ever heard the term, there is no "I" in TEAM?

[goldshellback]

You can take a playa' outta da' hood.....but you'd never take the hood out of the player.

Having said that......the NBA,like many BIG corporations, businesses, goverment, etc. is run by people who do not like guns ANYWHERE or carried by ANYBODY. They, like most anyone, want to FEEL safe.


Idiots all around me thinks.

[jahwarrior72]

the whole thing is one big, retarded mess. i'm still going to watch hoops, though; i'm not going to let the idiocy of a few sports businessmen ruin i sport i love. i watch basketball, whether it's NBA, high school, Olympic, or a three-on-three street jam. i'm just sickened by how my sport is turning out to be as bad as baseball or football.

[cvhoss]

I guess from now on, they'll have to "direct the ball at the basket" as they won't be able to use the term "shoot" anymore.

Hoss

[gunshrink]

I've never been a 'who has the most tattoo's' NBA fan. Seems like those guys are taking four steps to the basket. What happened to the traveling call's or no side to side movement when your pivot foot is planted? Bunch of immature adult cry babies. They're all about me, me and more me. Ever heard the term, there is no "I" in TEAM?

But there is an I in Idiot

[gunshrink]

I guess from now on, they'll have to "direct the ball at the basket" as they won't be able to use the term "shoot" anymore.

Hoss

Heck Hoss that could start a whole new thread - words we can't use because they could have a "gun" conotation and the new form. The libs would love it.

[dsee11789]

"I'll do whatever it takes to win games. I don't leave anything in the chamber."

If he doesn't have one in the chamber... then He's not prepared for Combat.

[cvhoss]

Heck Hoss that could start a whole new thread - words we can't use because they could have a "gun" conotation and the new form. The libs would love it.

Let's see. They can't:

Shoot the ball or take a Shot.
Aim or take Aim.
Fire the ball down the court, at the basket or (Heaven forbid) at a teammate.
"Hit the mark" or say bullseye.

How many more? PC makes my head hurt.

Hoss

[Anubis]

And why do these professional sportsmen always commit their gun sins in the worst possible places? Arenas & Crittendon in DC, Burress in NYC, Tank Johnson in Chicago...

[Majorlk]

And why do these professional sportsmen always commit their gun sins in the worst possible places? Arenas & Crittendon in DC, Burress in NYC, Tank Johnson in Chicago...

If they were football players you could blame it on brain damage caused by frequent concussions; baseball players, blame it on steroids; basketball players ...

[wvshooter]

My favorite player of all time is Shaq.

Why? Because since Kobe and Shaq parted ways Shaq has shown that he, (Shaq), and not Kobe is responsible for the ring on Kobe's finger. Kobe will never get another championship ring on his finger. Shaq has a good chance of getting another one this year.

Edit: I'm wiping egg off my face now. How quickly I forgot Kobe won it last year. Darn!

[Patti]

I guess from now on, they'll have to "direct the ball at the basket" as they won't be able to use the term "shoot" anymore.

Hoss