Skip to main content

Slimy Kobe Trying to Rip People off

I have been a fan of Kobe Bryant's game ever since I saw him in the 1999 playoff loss to the San Antonio Spurs. While I have always enjoyed his creativity, skill and finesse, my perception of the man has never been glamourous. He is selfish and narcisstic beyond I can defend, even though I have for many many years. Almost everything he does on the court has a certain motive which is rarely wholesome.

What ticks me off about Kobe now is his latest marketing ploy for his Nike shoes. His official website claims that he wore his Nike Hyperdunks (which came out in the middle of 2008) until December 16, 2008. At that point, he switched to the new (and not-yet-released) Nike ZKIVs.

Here are his stats with the Hyperdunks and ZKIVs.

24 GAMES WITH HYPERDUNK: OCTOBER 28 – DECEMBER 16
PPG: 25.0
FG%: 46.1
3-PT%: 29.5

12 GAMES WITH ZKIV: DECEMBER 19 – JANUARY 11
PPG: 30.8
FG%: 52.0
3-PT%: 48.9

They go on to say:
His game has been elevated to amazing new heights over the past month, and the increased production corresponds exactly with the introduction of his new sneaker.

Coincidence? Obviously there are a variety of factors that play into statistical trends, but you simply can’t deny the staggering numbers Kobe has generated over the past 12 games while wearing the Nike Zoom Kobe IVs.
To attribute the vast difference in his stats to the kind of shoes he wore is so dishonest and crude it makes me very angry. There is little cause and effect relationship between shoes and efficiency, yet Kobe and Nike have no problem trying to profit from an artificial correlation. I pity the sucker who would spend (or cost his Mommy) $150 on a pair of ZKIVs expecting his game to improve vastly.

There is no way in hell a $100-$150 pair of shoes improve the efficiency of a $20-million-making NBA star by 20%!! The stats have a lot more to do with his shot selection, the quality of Lakers opponents during each span, Lakers home-heavy schedule in the 12 games with the ZKIV. It would not surprise me one bit if Kobe sabotaged some games to skew his stats such that they point to a correlation between his shoes and scoring efficiency.

Another reason the correlation between Kobe's shoes and scoring efficiency is fake is that he has had so many stretches in his career where his efficiency is high for extended periods of time and low for others. The one consistent stat is that he shoots 45+/-2% from the field every year. Whether he is wearing Addidas or Nike, latest Hyperdunks or Zooms, Kobe is bound to take bad shots, make some incredible ones and miss some easy ones.

So, for Kobe and Nike to exploit the fake correlation between Kobe's shoes and scoring is as disingenous and fake as Kobe himself. That is why, while I have been enamored by Kobe's game, I have never trusted or put much passion on the man and what he represents.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Distribution of Wealth in the US

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I heard this statement quite a bit lately particularly in light of the sub-prime mortgage and general housing crisis in the US. The country has enjoyed significant economic prosperity and both Clinton and Bush boasted economic growth under their reign. Unfortunately, the beneficiaries of the economic boom are not people from all economic backgrounds, but rather the top 10%. To make things worse, Bush gave tax cuts mainly targeting the top 10%. Being more of a numbers guy, I always wanted showing the validity of the-rich-get-richer-n-the-poor-get-poorer statement. Thanks to Wikipedia , I have finally found it!! Both the mean and median net worth of families for the bottom 50% of the population has remained absolutely flat while the 75th-90th percentile see a decent growth and the top 10% enjoy the most appreciation on their net worth. So, if you factor in inflation, the-rich-get-richer-n-the-poor-get-poorer probably holds true. The g...
1 comment
Read more

Online Storage Solutions

Problem: I often need to have some files readily available online so that I can access them from any computer. There are many ways to go about solving this problem and each comes with its set of shortcomings: Yahoo! Briefcase - 30MB limit Online storage services like Box.net, Xdrive, MediaMax - usually cost money; signing up is cumbersome Email to myself as an attachment - enough said there It's time to find a home-made solution. The solution I am about to suggest is intended for -- A *NIX user someone with access to a *NIX web server Solution: I am a linux user and I have user level access to a web server. The web server is configured such that the public does not have access to directory structure. So, I would need to write a script that copies my files to the web server and creates an index listing my files. Password protection of the storage would follow after that. Client Side: Use the following script to transfer file to server, make the file readable by public and execu...
Post a Comment
Read more

VP Picks and Chances of a President Dying in Office

After McCain picked a relatively unqualified and inexperienced Sarah Palin, many people gasped at the possibility of Palin having to take over the presidency in case something happens to McCain. I think McCain dying in office is overstated considering he appears healthy and fit despite the recurrence of a malignant melanoma. Plus, he has been getting great healthcare due to his status and will continue to do so whether or not he wins the presidency. That said, it would be nice to get numbers on chances of McCain's survival as a function of his age. Thankfully, that information was provided by Alex Burns at Politico . The odds of a 72-year-old man living four more years, or one full White House term, are better. But for a man who has lived 72 years and 67 days (McCain’s age on Election Day this year), there is between a 14.2 and 15.1 percent chance of dying before Inauguration Day 2013 , according to the Social Security Administration’s 2004 actuarial tables and the authoritati...
Post a Comment
Read more