Kobe Bean Bryant is, without a doubt, one of the top-10 players in the history of the National Basketball Association. Even his most vehement haters must concede this point. There is a very real possibility that he will end his career in the top-5 of this list. Hell, if things fall into place for him and his Laker teammates the next couple of years (a possibility that seems less and less likely by the day, unfortunately) he could have a legitimate claim to MJ’s throne as the greatest player of all-time. Now this may seem sacrilegious (it sure does seem wrong to type that), but the stats don’t lie. Kobe and Michael already have the same number of All-Star appearances (13), and Kobe will surely pass MJ Thursday when this year’s All-Star starters are announced. Kobe has more All-Star game MVP’s than Jordan (4 for Kobe, 3 for MJ). Now many will dismiss that stat, claiming All-Star games are simply exhibitions for the fans that don’t matter, and this may be true to the majority of players and fans. However, that overlooks the competitive nature of both Jordan and Kobe that makes them who they are. Sure, guys like LeBron, Dwight Howard, and Blake Griffin might treat these games like a show more than an actual competition, but that doesn’t mean that Kobe does. If you think Jordan, Kobe, and other players wired like them (Magic Johnson) don’t go into each of those games with the intention of being the best player on the court and taking home the MVP, then you simply do not understand just how much winning matters to them. The All-Star game is a dick-swinging contest to these guys (the best players in the world at the same place showing off just how good they are), and you better believe Kobe and Jordan both want everyone to know that theirs is the biggest. As far as All-NBA selections, a slightly more reliable measurement of a player’s performance, Kobe already has as many first-team selections (10) as MJ, and one more second-team selection than Jordan. And Kobe is still going!
Statistically, Kobe is closing in on Jordan’s career numbers as well. He is within two-thousand points of Jordan’s career total now (that works out to 25 points per game, for 80 games. That means he can take the rest of this year off, come back next year and put up 25 a night- something he’s done every year since ’03-’04- then retire and still pass MJ. So I’d say there’s a pretty good chance of that happening). In terms of playoff numbers, he needs just one or two decent playoff series to pass Jordan in career playoff points and rebounds and, get this, he already has more playoff assists than MJ! (Not too shabby for a guy widely regarded as a ball-hog) Lastly, as everyone knows by now, Kobe needs just one more NBA championship to tie Jordan, and that’s where the rest of his legacy remains to be written in the next few years.
(To be fair to his Airness, Jordan’s career averages in points, rebounds, assists, field goal percentage, and total Finals and regular season MVP awards are significantly greater than Bryant’s. Will Kobe surpass MJ for the G.O.A.T. title? Highly doubtful, but he has a chance to join the conversation at least.)
(There can only be one G.O.A.T. Does Kobe have what it takes to challenge Jordan for the throne?
http://blacksportsonline.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Kobe-Jordan.jpg)
Now that I’ve thrown a ton of stats at you, it is important to remember that stats don’t always tell the entire story. Wilt Chamberlain was statistically far superior to Bill Russell, yet every time they met in the playoffs Russell seemed to have Chamberlain’s number. That’s why Russell has eleven championships to Wilt’s two. As far as Kobe’s image is concerned, he has both positive and negative feats going for him. First, he is unquestionably the most competitive player since Jordan. No player dedicates his entire life to the game of basketball as much as Kobe Bryant. He is, almost literally, psychotic in his approach to the game. I am fairly certain he would dunk on his own mother if it meant he could win another championship (this is where Kobe and MJ differ, as I believe that is as far as Kobe would go, while I think Jordan might have at least considered slitting someone’s throat in order to win- and if that someone was Isiah Thomas I think he would’ve done it in a heartbeat). Maybe as a result of this competitiveness, and maybe completely unrelated, is the fact that Kobe has hit more clutch shots than I can count. Again, he is definitely the most clutch player since MJ. It doesn’t matter what the situation is, Kobe wants the ball in his hands, and he’s going to shoot it. Here’s the thing about Kobe’s clutch factor: it doesn’t matter that he’ll miss it as much as he makes it. When the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA Finals two years ago, they faced Kobe and the Lakers in the second round. The series turned into a sweep, but early on it was a tightly contested match-up. I vividly remember Game 1 coming down to the final seconds, with the Mavs up by 2 and possession belonging to the Lakers. The Lakers ran an inbounds play setting up Kobe for a fade-away, contested 3-pointer. It was defended well and the shot ended up missing- as it probably would have nine times out of ten due to the degree of difficulty. As a Mavs fan, I had never been so relieved in my life. This is what makes Kobe so incredible- no matter how many times he misses, when he’s playing your team you are always sure it’s going to go in. I remember talking myself into the game being a moral victory for the Mavs- a close loss on the road, it’s only Game 1, etc.- before they even inbounded the ball! Other players might have better percentages or even be more ‘clutch’ than Kobe based on someone’s definition of the word. But there is one fact that I think we can all agree on: no one else is as FEARED in the final seconds with the game on the line as Kobe Bryant. He is the first and only player that I can think of since Jordan to have this effect. Durant is on his way, and may well get there one day, but as of right now Kobe is in a class of his own.
So what’s the knock on Kobe that the stats don’t show? Many people would say his defense, and if I had to answer in one word that is what I would say, too. But this answer is far too simple, I believe, because the fact is Kobe is not a bad defender, necessarily. He made multiple All-Defensive Teams earlier in his career (even though some of those may not have been warranted, you can’t get on those teams as a truly bad defender). No, it has never been his ability on that end that has held him back. Instead, it is Kobe’s approach that limits him. Kobe decided, pretty early on, that he was going to do what he does (score points) at an elite level and that it was up to his teammates to do the rest of the things that good teams need to win games and championships (i.e. rebound, pass, play defense, etc.). This is not to say that Kobe doesn’t do any of these things (he is actually a fairly good rebounder for his position, a better-than-advertised passer, and an above-average defender [for most of his career]), but he has seemed resistant to sacrifice his scoring in order to put extra effort into any of these other areas. This is what makes guys like Jordan and LeBron so special: they have the ability to be the best player on BOTH ends of the floor, every night. When they need to score 30 to get the victory they can. If they need to lock down the opponent’s best player the next night, they can do that too! Kobe has never been this player; every night his goal is to score as many points as it takes for his team to win. This has been his tendency for his entire career. This season is the perfect example of this tendency: Kobe decided he was going to go out and drop 30 a night, and if they lost, well, you couldn’t say he wasn’t doing his part. Classic Kobe.
Then, less than a week ago, something miraculous happened: Kobe decided to take it upon himself to guard the other teams best player, regardless of position. He limited Kyrie Irving to 15 points and 7 assists in his first game as a defensive specialist. Then, he held Brandon Jennings to 12 points, on 4 of 14 shooting, with just one assist. Meanwhile, Kobe still managed to score 23 on 9 of 14 shooting against the Cavs and 31 on 12 of 19 versus the Bucks. Oh, and the Lakers won both of those games by double figures (not a small feat as they were on a 6-game losing streak heading into the Cavs game). This marked, as far as I can tell, the first time Kobe has sacrificed shots in favor of playing defense. And guess what?! He still put up 54 points in two games! And he made over two-thirds of his shots! By sacrificing his offensive game, he made his team better defensively (much needed) AND allowed his teammates to become more involved on offense. All of a sudden, we are seeing the Steve Nash we saw in Phoenix and the Dwight Howard from Orlando. This takes the pressure off Kobe on the offensive end and has allowed him to get more open looks and score at a frighteningly efficient rate.
This change in mentality has opened the door for Kobe to climb the ranks on the All-time list. Playing the way he always had would have allowed him to be a top-5 player ever. He could’ve won a scoring title at 34 years old (insane) and maybe lead this Laker team to a first round upset, if they made the playoffs. But that was about their peak if they stayed the course. By making this little sacrifice, he has made the Lakers a dangerous team again. Am I overreacting to a two game stretch against bad teams? Possibly. But I know one thing: they weren’t winning a title the way things were going. Now, I’m scared of them again, and that starts with Kobe Bryant.
At his age, with as many miles as his body has on it already, can he keep this up night after night? I guess we’ll have to wait and see. But if he can, the Lakers can contend. That’s the only way they can win a title this year, with this roster. Kobe knows this. He also knows that if he wants to challenge Michael, he needs at least one more ‘ship. And as competitive as he is, you can bet he’ll do whatever it takes to get it. If I know one thing about number 24 it is this: never count out Kobe Bean Bryant.
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I hope you enjoyed reading! If you have any questions, comments, or other suggestions on how to improve the column or any other topic feel free to contact me at my email address [email protected], on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/adam.colman.9 or on Twitter @AdamRColman.
Thanks for the support!
Statistically, Kobe is closing in on Jordan’s career numbers as well. He is within two-thousand points of Jordan’s career total now (that works out to 25 points per game, for 80 games. That means he can take the rest of this year off, come back next year and put up 25 a night- something he’s done every year since ’03-’04- then retire and still pass MJ. So I’d say there’s a pretty good chance of that happening). In terms of playoff numbers, he needs just one or two decent playoff series to pass Jordan in career playoff points and rebounds and, get this, he already has more playoff assists than MJ! (Not too shabby for a guy widely regarded as a ball-hog) Lastly, as everyone knows by now, Kobe needs just one more NBA championship to tie Jordan, and that’s where the rest of his legacy remains to be written in the next few years.
(To be fair to his Airness, Jordan’s career averages in points, rebounds, assists, field goal percentage, and total Finals and regular season MVP awards are significantly greater than Bryant’s. Will Kobe surpass MJ for the G.O.A.T. title? Highly doubtful, but he has a chance to join the conversation at least.)
(There can only be one G.O.A.T. Does Kobe have what it takes to challenge Jordan for the throne?
http://blacksportsonline.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Kobe-Jordan.jpg)
Now that I’ve thrown a ton of stats at you, it is important to remember that stats don’t always tell the entire story. Wilt Chamberlain was statistically far superior to Bill Russell, yet every time they met in the playoffs Russell seemed to have Chamberlain’s number. That’s why Russell has eleven championships to Wilt’s two. As far as Kobe’s image is concerned, he has both positive and negative feats going for him. First, he is unquestionably the most competitive player since Jordan. No player dedicates his entire life to the game of basketball as much as Kobe Bryant. He is, almost literally, psychotic in his approach to the game. I am fairly certain he would dunk on his own mother if it meant he could win another championship (this is where Kobe and MJ differ, as I believe that is as far as Kobe would go, while I think Jordan might have at least considered slitting someone’s throat in order to win- and if that someone was Isiah Thomas I think he would’ve done it in a heartbeat). Maybe as a result of this competitiveness, and maybe completely unrelated, is the fact that Kobe has hit more clutch shots than I can count. Again, he is definitely the most clutch player since MJ. It doesn’t matter what the situation is, Kobe wants the ball in his hands, and he’s going to shoot it. Here’s the thing about Kobe’s clutch factor: it doesn’t matter that he’ll miss it as much as he makes it. When the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA Finals two years ago, they faced Kobe and the Lakers in the second round. The series turned into a sweep, but early on it was a tightly contested match-up. I vividly remember Game 1 coming down to the final seconds, with the Mavs up by 2 and possession belonging to the Lakers. The Lakers ran an inbounds play setting up Kobe for a fade-away, contested 3-pointer. It was defended well and the shot ended up missing- as it probably would have nine times out of ten due to the degree of difficulty. As a Mavs fan, I had never been so relieved in my life. This is what makes Kobe so incredible- no matter how many times he misses, when he’s playing your team you are always sure it’s going to go in. I remember talking myself into the game being a moral victory for the Mavs- a close loss on the road, it’s only Game 1, etc.- before they even inbounded the ball! Other players might have better percentages or even be more ‘clutch’ than Kobe based on someone’s definition of the word. But there is one fact that I think we can all agree on: no one else is as FEARED in the final seconds with the game on the line as Kobe Bryant. He is the first and only player that I can think of since Jordan to have this effect. Durant is on his way, and may well get there one day, but as of right now Kobe is in a class of his own.
So what’s the knock on Kobe that the stats don’t show? Many people would say his defense, and if I had to answer in one word that is what I would say, too. But this answer is far too simple, I believe, because the fact is Kobe is not a bad defender, necessarily. He made multiple All-Defensive Teams earlier in his career (even though some of those may not have been warranted, you can’t get on those teams as a truly bad defender). No, it has never been his ability on that end that has held him back. Instead, it is Kobe’s approach that limits him. Kobe decided, pretty early on, that he was going to do what he does (score points) at an elite level and that it was up to his teammates to do the rest of the things that good teams need to win games and championships (i.e. rebound, pass, play defense, etc.). This is not to say that Kobe doesn’t do any of these things (he is actually a fairly good rebounder for his position, a better-than-advertised passer, and an above-average defender [for most of his career]), but he has seemed resistant to sacrifice his scoring in order to put extra effort into any of these other areas. This is what makes guys like Jordan and LeBron so special: they have the ability to be the best player on BOTH ends of the floor, every night. When they need to score 30 to get the victory they can. If they need to lock down the opponent’s best player the next night, they can do that too! Kobe has never been this player; every night his goal is to score as many points as it takes for his team to win. This has been his tendency for his entire career. This season is the perfect example of this tendency: Kobe decided he was going to go out and drop 30 a night, and if they lost, well, you couldn’t say he wasn’t doing his part. Classic Kobe.
Then, less than a week ago, something miraculous happened: Kobe decided to take it upon himself to guard the other teams best player, regardless of position. He limited Kyrie Irving to 15 points and 7 assists in his first game as a defensive specialist. Then, he held Brandon Jennings to 12 points, on 4 of 14 shooting, with just one assist. Meanwhile, Kobe still managed to score 23 on 9 of 14 shooting against the Cavs and 31 on 12 of 19 versus the Bucks. Oh, and the Lakers won both of those games by double figures (not a small feat as they were on a 6-game losing streak heading into the Cavs game). This marked, as far as I can tell, the first time Kobe has sacrificed shots in favor of playing defense. And guess what?! He still put up 54 points in two games! And he made over two-thirds of his shots! By sacrificing his offensive game, he made his team better defensively (much needed) AND allowed his teammates to become more involved on offense. All of a sudden, we are seeing the Steve Nash we saw in Phoenix and the Dwight Howard from Orlando. This takes the pressure off Kobe on the offensive end and has allowed him to get more open looks and score at a frighteningly efficient rate.
This change in mentality has opened the door for Kobe to climb the ranks on the All-time list. Playing the way he always had would have allowed him to be a top-5 player ever. He could’ve won a scoring title at 34 years old (insane) and maybe lead this Laker team to a first round upset, if they made the playoffs. But that was about their peak if they stayed the course. By making this little sacrifice, he has made the Lakers a dangerous team again. Am I overreacting to a two game stretch against bad teams? Possibly. But I know one thing: they weren’t winning a title the way things were going. Now, I’m scared of them again, and that starts with Kobe Bryant.
At his age, with as many miles as his body has on it already, can he keep this up night after night? I guess we’ll have to wait and see. But if he can, the Lakers can contend. That’s the only way they can win a title this year, with this roster. Kobe knows this. He also knows that if he wants to challenge Michael, he needs at least one more ‘ship. And as competitive as he is, you can bet he’ll do whatever it takes to get it. If I know one thing about number 24 it is this: never count out Kobe Bean Bryant.
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I hope you enjoyed reading! If you have any questions, comments, or other suggestions on how to improve the column or any other topic feel free to contact me at my email address [email protected], on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/adam.colman.9 or on Twitter @AdamRColman.
Thanks for the support!
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