The Power of Competition

A few weeks ago LeBron James was named the 2009 NBA MVP.  He is the 2nd youngest person to ever win the award and only the 3rd to win the award while leading his team in points, assists, rebounds, steals, and blocks.  He was clearly the best player during the regular season this year and deserved the trophy and all of the praise that comes along with it.

In his acceptance speech he thanked his teammates, coaches, God, and of course his parents but there was one person he left out, Kobe Bryant.  If not for Kobe then LeBron would not have won the award and more than likely would not have raised his game to its current level so quickly.

To understand what I am talking about you need to go back to the summer and the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing.  It was here that LeBron learned why Kobe is so dominant and where he was taught the lessons on how to be great.

Both LeBron and Kobe were on the US Mens basketball team dubbed the "Redeem Team" and both were determined to bring a gold medal back to the US.  However it turns out that Kobe was a bit more determined than LeBron as Kobe was waking up every morning at 6am to get in morning workouts before the official team practices.

LeBron soon found out about this and decided that if he was ever going to take the next step in his career and become a truly great player that he would need to follow the example being set by Bryant.  

Over the next few weeks the two would train together and Kobe's intense work ethic would rub off on LeBron and the two would eventually carry the US all the way to the gold medal.

Fast forward to the start of the 2009 NBA season and LeBron still waking up everyday at 6am to get in those early morning workouts and make himself a better player.  It clearly worked as this year the NBA saw one of the most dominant seasons in league history as LeBron was possessed and led his Cleveland Cavaliers to a 66-16 record (40-2 at home). 

While LeBron has always been a gifted athlete and a great competitor it can be argued that to reach that next level he needed someone to challenege him.  Having to practice against the likes of Joe Smith and Wally Szczerbiak wasn't going to allow him to do that.  LeBron needed someone to challenge him and say, "people may say you're the next Jordan but you aren't on my level yet."  This is basically what Kobe did.  By getting up early and working harder than everybody else Bryant basically called out LeBron daring him to try and keep up and get to that next level.  

This form of competition not only helps Kobe and LeBron, D Wade can also be included in this discussion as well, but helps the league.  The league has always done well when there are rivalries to create buzz.  For instance the NBA enjoyed its greatest level of success during the Magic vs. Bird era as whenever those two played it was a national event.  A rivalry composed of two of the most dominant players of the generation.  Now the NBA has Kobe and LeBron to promote the game and to create debate.

This is what the NBA was missing during "Jordan era" when Michael Jordan dominated the game and had no one to challenge him and make him better.  The league would try to position guys like Clyde Drexler and Charles Barkley to be his rival but MJ would ruin them.  He was unmatched on the court almost his entire career and it leaves me wondering what could have been if either Kobe or LeBron was born 10 years earlier.

As for the present LeBron is the new MVP and has Kobe to thank for it.  He would have reached his current level of skill on his own but without Kobe as an example and an influence it would not have come nearly as soon. LeBron may win many more MVP awards but if he wants to get better as a player he will need someone to challenge him.  It is far too easy to reach a plateau and then have no real reason to go any further.  It is what happened to Jordan and what hopefully doesn't happen to LeBron.

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