When I was entering the sixth grade, Kobe Bryant was entering the NBA. Coming off of a hallowed high school career at Lower Merion High School (punctuated by taking Moesha to the prom), Bryant was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets and was subsequently traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. It took him a few years to get his feet wet, but once Kobe got his shot, he never looked back. He usurped Eddie Jones’ spot in the Laker lineup and grew into an All-Star, and before long, the superstar you see before you today.
When Afro Kobe was rocking #8 with horrifically ugly Adidas’ and running around in Sprite commercials, I was in high school slandering him on almost a daily basis. My best friends who LOVED Kobe (and still do) called me a “Kobe hater” (and still do). #TruthSerum: Personally, Kobe’s game never spoke to me as a fan. Sure I get excited to see him perform at his best; I enjoy a good Kobe clinic as much as the next basketball aficionado. But despite being possibly the most skilled player to ever grace the hardwood, I always wrestled with his selfishness (taking hero-ball to superhuman heights), his unhealthy obsession with wanting to Be Like Mike, his aforementioned wack ass sneakers, snitching on Shaq, his finest attempt at spitting in the face of hip-hop and a host of other issues too long to even list.
From strictly a basketball standpoint though, I could never understand why everyone was falling all over a guy who never even shot .470 in any season in his career, is a career .337 three-point shooter, and has a career .412 field goal percentage and .314 three-point percentage in the NBA Finals. Furthermore, he’s been an overrated defender ever since Shaq left L.A. (great in small spurts, but doesn’t bring it every night; however not necessarily his fault since he took over the scoring load), he is overrated in the clutch and has an overrated basketball I.Q.
Sidebar: Basketball I.Q. is subjective and can be measured in several ways. To me, one of the best and easiest ways to gauge bball I.Q. is shot selection. And while I’ve always compared Kobe to Vlad Guerrero (the best bad-shot maker of his time, just as Vlad was the best bad-ball hitter of the last decade), his ability to make tough shots cursed him with the license to take thousands of terrible shots in his career. Everybody knows this, yet everybody continues to ignore it when speaking of his exceptionally high bball I.Q. And please observe and understand the word overrated. It doesn’t mean he’s not clutch at all or does not have a great basketball I.Q.
Now, I know what you’re probably thinking…”Man, this dude is a MASSIVE KOBE HATER!”
Not true. I just don’t see him as teflon, unlike his legions of Stans, of which I’m praying haven’t already stopped reading.
Despite all this, there are two things that separate Kobe Bean Bryant from 98% of the players to ever play in the NBA:
1) His skill. As I stated earlier, Kobe might be the most skilled basketball player ever, at any position. He is more skilled than Michael Jordan. At his peak, he had no weaknesses. There was nothing he couldn’t do on the court. His range is out to 26 feet and his Hakeem-like footwork on the block puts every current center in the league to shame. He once hit a turnaround three out of the corner…left handed! I think I’ll just let Weezy sum it up.
And…
2) His resume´. Five NBA titles, two Finals MVPs, seven Conference Championships, one regular season MVP, more All-NBA First teams and Defensive First Teams than 2 Chainz has features, multiple scoring titles, multiple All-Star game MVPs, 2 Olympic gold medals, fifth all-time in NBA history in scoring, an 81 point game and a plethora of breathtaking performances.
Even I cannot argue against Bryant’s legacy as it stands today. In fact, his many career accomplishments simply beat me into submission of the utmost respect. I respect the hell out of Kobe Bryant. The man is a winner and makes winning plays all the time. And while I don’t view him as the greatest player ever, Dwight Howard’s arrival in L.A. could change all that.
He drops 40 on your double-team, then he drop 81 on another team.
With Howard (and Steve Nash) now donning purple and gold, Bryant now has a (very) legitimate shot at winning one or more championships. The best part for Kobe is that it doesn’t even matter if he is the best player on the team if they win it all once again. Kobe is the unquestioned lead dog of the Lakers, and therefore, they will be viewed as “Kobe’s rings”. Just as the first three Laker titles at the beginning of the last decade were “Shaq’s rings”, Kobe can add to his championship total as THE guy, of which he currently has two.
Imagine for a moment L.A.’s new super duper team wins the title in 2013; who will receive the lion’s share of the credit? Kobe. If they fall short and Bryant performs below expectations, his legacy will remain intact. He has already accomplished so much, it would be virtually impossible for anyone to downgrade his rank in the pantheon of all-time greats.
No. If the Lakers don’t get it done, the blame will fall squarely on Nash and Howard. The point guard who inexplicably has more MVPs than Kobe, but never won anything despite BOATLOADS of talent around him his entire career (Dirk, Finley, Amar’e, Marion, Joe Johnson, Shaq, Kidd, Kevin Johnson, Antoine Walker, Antawn Jamison, Grant Hill, Jason Richardson, this current Laker team…I could go on. Seriously, considering he’s played his whole career until now for 2 teams not historically known for having shrewd front offices, Nash has played with more All-Stars & solid role players than just about anybody), and the self proclaimed “Superman” who is in his prime years, playing in an era where there are as many dominant centers as there have been Outkast albums in the last decade, would bear the brunt of the criticism (and possibly Mike Brown).
Basically, Kobe is in a no-lose situation.
While the West is no cakewalk, the odds of the Lakers playing through June is pretty strong at this point. And of course with one more ring, Kobe would OFFICIALLY step into Michael Jordan Territory.
Michael Jordan Territory. Population: Bill Russell and Michael Jordan. Scottie Pippen works the coat check area and Robert Horry has a season pass and comes 2-3 times a summer.
Given the fact that Howard is just now ENTERING his prime at 26, Nash seems like he could play well into his 50s, Pau Gasol is coming off a dominant Olympic run, thus proving he still has plenty left in the tank, and Kobe (despite having more miles on him than The DeLorean) will only be 34 at the start of the season, is it inconceivable to think this team could win at least back-to-back titles? If Dwight Howard continues on the Shaquille O’Neal career trajectory, which he has absolutely NAILED to this point, he can certainly win a couple of rings with the Lakers in the coming years, giving Bryant a total of seven titles (assuming he re-ups next summer, but c’mon. Who doesn’t see him resigning to play for Jack Nicholson?).
Seven rings. More rings than Jordan, which when added to all the accolades referenced earlier, makes for a pretty stellar portfolio. In this era of collusion, backdoor deals, “basketball reasons” and Worldwide Wes’, I don’t care if he is doing it on the Lakers. Kobe Bryant’s resume would put him in a class where Jordan, Kareem, Magic and Russell are the only players even remotely close to HIM.
We appear to be headed this way. Sure the Durant’s and LeBron’s of the world will have something to say about this before it’s all said and done. But the clock is ticking on Bryant. He wants to play beat-the-clock one more time before the sun sets on his career and he’s smart enough to know he cannot carry a team to a championship anymore. By agreeing to be traded to The Lake Show, Dwight Howard has already given Kobe Bryant a third life in the world of championship relevancy.
Dwight Howard’s mission now, should he choose to accept it, is deliver Kobe Bryant basketball immortality.