I’m really almost speechless right now. The Lakers have defeated the Spurs tonight 100-92, and in doing so have advanced to the NBA Finals. Looking back six months, this moment is almost unbelievable.
It’s been such a wacky season for LA, starting with all the Kobe trade talk, there were points there when I thought Kobe would be gone. I was as shocked as anyone when the Lakers went on that great run to start the season with Andrew Bynum stepping up his game. Bynum had become the point of a lot of contention with the Lakers last year when upper management refused to package him in a deal for Jason Kidd, something Kobe was not happy about at all Andrew did a fantastic job of working on his game in the off season and was a steady 10 and 10 guy for LA early in the season. When Bynum went down I thought the season was over for the Lakers, but then Mitch Kupchick pulled off what could go down as the greatest steal in NBA history when he was able to get Pau Gasol in a deal with Memphis for: Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie’s contract , the draft rights to Marc Gasol and first round picks in 2008 and 2010.
I can’t stress enough how much Pau Gasol has helped the Lakers this season. I know Kobe is the MVP, but he should really let that trophy stay at Pau’s house for a couple of months this off season. Just ask Lamar Odom how important Gasol has been to this team. With Pau in town, the Lamar Odom has thrived as the third option. I’ve written about this before but when Odom can roam around the court and get offensive rebounds and easy dunks the Lakers are just unbeatable. Kobe’s game has also been helped out by Gasol, not only does Bryant face less double teams now with Pau on the court, but Kobe can also play more aggresive defense with Gasol under the basket to block shots. Then there are the three point shooters, Sasha Vujacic and Vladimir Radmanovic have become deadly on the perimeter because of the inside out game that they can play with Gasol. The only person who has really done a good job on Gasol all year has been Tim Duncan, and he’s probably going to go down as the greatest power forward in NBA history.
As for Kobe, what else can be said?
Actually, I do have a story to tell…
I was at my brother’s baseball game the other day and I couldn’t help but to listen in to a conversation that two guys were having about Kobe Bryant. These gentlemen were obviously Bulls fans, and it was interesting to hear what they had to say about Kobe when it came to comparing him to Michael Jordan. One guy kept talking about how Jordan was much more competitivethan Kobe is. Which just isn’t true. How can anyone give more than 100% Yes, I know that Michael Jordan is one of the most competitive athletes in the history of sports, but so is Kobe. Just ask anyone who follows the NBA closely and they will tell you some crazy stories of how driven Kobe is. Just like Jordan worked on something every off season, Kobe does the same, and do you remember that fade away jump shot that Jordan developed midway through his career? Kobe has the same kind of unblockable shot, we saw it on multiple occasions tonight!
Then the conversation turned to how Michael Jordan was a better teammate than Kobe is, specifically how Jordan did a better job of making his teammates better than Kobe does. At this point I wanted to ask these gentlemen if they had a television, because if they did, they’d notice how Kobe deferred to his teammates time after time this season, at the detriment of his own numbers. Kobe has also become one of the best defenders in the game, and does whatever it takes to get wins. Yes, Kobe did demand a trade before the season, but he only did so because he felt like the team was not doing all it could to win. You know what happened when Jordan got fed up with the Bulls front office? He retired… twice.
I actually chimed in when the two local yokels started rambling on about who is the better clutch performer. I conceded that Michael has had more “big moment shots” than Kobe, but Kobe still has a long time to add onto his already illustrious resume. Take tonights game for example, there was just no way Kobe was going to let that lead slip away in the fourth quarter. Forget about it, it’s over. When it comes down to closing out an athletic competition you have Tiger Woods and Kobe Bryant as the mark of excellence right now, and just like what Tiger Woods is doing in golf, it’s only a matter of time before Kobe starts getting to Jordan’s numbers when it comes to “big moment shots.”
Finally the conversation devolved into how much better of a man Michael is. This is the point where I got up and walked away from the two gentleman, because if I would have stuck around, I would have said something that I probably would have regretted. I’m not sure why, but somehow Michael Jordan get’s a pass on his personal life because of how good he was on the court, a luxury that Kobe didn’t get because of what happened in Colorado. I’m not condoning what Kobe may or may not have done, because at the very least he was cheating on his wife, but it’s not as if Jordan is a saint. When it comes to gambling and whore-mongering, Jordan is a titan. There are all kinds of stories about how Jordan would stay up partying all night, then play great in a game the next day. Which to me seems pretty cool, in the same way that Babe Ruth’s antics were pretty cool, but it still doesn’t make what he did right. To be honest, I don’t even care what athletes do with their spare time, and I’ve written about this before at length, but I’ll say it again. These guys are entertainers, not role models, and Jordan belongs in this same boat. No one is perfect, not even the great MJ.
What made me so angry about the conversation that these two Jordan fanboys had is that they didn’t concede that Kobe was an all-time great player on the same level as Michael Jordan. Yeah, Michael Jordan has more titles, MVPs and points, but like I mentioned before, Kobe’s not done yet. Let time decide how the numbers will shake out, because when you watch Kobe play, the numbers don’t matter. All I see when I watched Bryant carry the Lakers into the NBA Finals tonight, against a team that has won five of the last nine NBA championships no-less, is one of the greatest players of all time.
The next test for Bryant and the Lakers lies in the NBA Finals; where they will play either the Detroit Pistons or the Boston Celtics. While the thought of a Lakers/Celtics Finals makes me all giddy inside, it’s enough to know that Kobe has a chance to get one step closer to shutting up the sports retarded. That’s really all the build-up I need. Yes, Kobe Bryant is that good. Yes, he deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Michael Jordan. Some people are just going to have to get used to the truth, because this Lakers team is loaded for the future.
…and what a bright future they have to look forward to.
I, for one, can’t wait.
