OT: Kobe

[LA_Mustang]

It's slow on the b-ball front and I have to post about what I saw last night:

First, let me say that I idolized Michael Jordan when I was a kid/teenager. He was and still is my favorite athlete ever. The greatest basketball player to ever play the game, but Kobe is getting dangerously close to MJ. Talent wise, he’s already there. The thing that separated MJ from the other greats was his refusal to lose, and his ability to completely take over a game in the 4th quarter. Late in games, everybody knew he was going to take the shot and no one could do a thing to stop him. He knew it, the other teams knew it and the fans knew it. Kobe has reached that level. Going into this series I thought SA would win, but after seeing Kobe pull a Jordan late in that game last night.....against the league's best defensive team and a team that has won three titles with this core, I realized that Kobe has become MJ or Tiger Woods great. He’s well on the way to his 4th title before the age of 30.....and becoming the greatest.

[bradwells01]

I totally agree with you.

[MustangFan]

He’s well on the way to his 4th title before the age of 30.....and becoming the greatest.

I've never been a big Kobe guy, but I hope you're right. Partially because I can't stand Boston, and I'm sort of lukewarm on Detroit and San Antonio, but also because it's always been thought of as nothing short of blaspheme to suggest that Michael Jordan might not be the greatest player who ever lived. Maybe he is (although, for the record, my votes go to Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson), maybe he's not. But the "Jordan walks on water" folks chastise anyone who happens to think it's even possible that anyone else could be the best ever. If L.A. wins it this year, it will put a serious dent in that theory, because as great as MJ was (as a player, of course, not as a trainwreck of a GM), he never won squat without Scottie Pippen — an all-time top-50 player in his own right — at his side. Bryant won his first three with Shaquille O'Neal, and while Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom are terrific players, they're not Pippen or O'Neal. This would be a title that Bryant wins with a good surrounding cast, but without another clear-cut star. Jordan got so annoying in his later playing days (even before he crashed and burned in Washington), it's just nice to see someone step up and challenge his questionable status as the so-called "greatest ever."

[bradwells01]

Great points.......Also I'm with you on Chamberlin and Magic Johnson........I once heard a story that Jordan was riding Bill Cartwrght so hard one day in practice that he threw a ball at him. Things got heated and Cartwright walked away. Ten minutes later when Jordan came over to apologize Bill told him..

"If you ever do that again I will break both of your f#c**** legs."

Thats just awesome..

[MustangFan]

He should have done it, too. There were horror stories about his ego in Chicago, and even more in Washington, when his body couldn't do the things he once did, but still acted like he invented the wheel. That was such a young team that he could have impacted in such a positive manner, but instead it was hell-bent on proving to the world that he was the greatest shooter, the greatest scorer, the greatest talent evaluater (can you say KWAME BROWN?) No player in any sport has had more preferential treatment than he did. When he whined to the refs, he was a "fierce competitor" or a "savvy leader." When anyone else does it (see Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan, etc.), they're lambasted as whiners. When he smacked someone across the arm, he was a "tough defender" — others committed the same fouls and got thrown out of games. Think Allen Iverson or Dennis Rodman or some other "bad boy" could gamble like Jordan and quietly disappear to minor league baseball? Of course not. But Jordan was deemed the Golden Child as soon as he hit the league, and was therefore bulletproof for his entire career. He was a great player — obviously — but the whole "bigger than the game" attitude shown by him, the media and the league was nauseating. Nice to see him screwing up another team (I'll see your Kwame Brown and raise you a couple of Adam Morrisons). I don't like Bryant much, but here's hoping he wins one one his own this season.