The Legend of Kobe

Note: I have been wanting to write about the Stanley Cup Finals for the past week but I just can't find an interesting story line.  I mean yeah it's the Penguins against the Red Wings again but what can you really say about that?  The lack of parity could be discussed but it has been beaten to death on TSN and Sportsnet so I am going to stay away for awhile unless something interesting happens. Don't get me wrong the series has been great but not as it pertains to what I enjoy writing about.

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Kobe Bryant has a very unique opportunity coming up with the NBA Finals, which start on Thursday night, as with a win he can permanently put himself into the pantheon of excellence and call himself the third best guard of all-time.  The win would put him ahead of both Oscar Robinson and Jerry West and would put him behind only Michael Jordan (1st) and Magic Johnson (2nd).

So far in his career Kobe has all the stats and awards anyone could ever want as he has won 3 NBA titles (2000, 2001, 2002), an MVP award (2008), is an 11x All-star, 2x NBA scoring champion, and has earned countless other awards and achievements.

What he hasn't done however is win an NBA Championship while being the best player on his team. The Championships Kobe won with the Lakers are due in majority to Shaq as he was without question the best player on those teams averaging 31-15 in 2001 and 2002 while putting up just as impressive numbers in 2000. For proof of Kobe's need of Shaq look at the Lakers success since the Big Aristotle left town.  Kobe has 0 championships while Shaq went to Miami and won a title with Dwyane Wade.

Kobe has come close to winning a title without Shaq on two separate occasions.  The first was in 2004 against the Detroit Pistons and the second was last year in 2008 against the Boston Celtics.  Both times Kobe was the best player on the team and both times his Lakers fell short as the supporting cast around Kobe was piss poor at best.

In both situations Bryant had a chance to prove all the critics wrong and prove he could win a Championship without Shaq but in both cases he played poorly, by his standards, and was unsuccessful.   In 2004 he was (23-4-3, 38 percent FG, 17 percent 3-point FG) and in 2008 (26-5-5, 40.5 percent FG, 32 percent 3-point FG, 4.7 TOs).  Also in the two deciding games of those years, the Lakers lost by 13 points and 39 points. 

If Kobe can't win this year then he may not ever get the chance again as his window is rapidly closing.  This is his 13th season in the league and he has played over 1,100 games and 203 (not including the 2009 NBA playoffs) over the past 19 months.  

Aside from Kobe's personal health there is also the issue of his teammates.  Trevor Ariza is going demand some big money to stay in LA after this season as is Shannon Brown who is having a great playoffs coming off the bench.  How long can the nucleus of the team stay together if the Lakers don't win this year?

I have been reading a bunch of different articles and everyone that has talked to Kobe this week is saying that they have never seen him so focused or determined before...ever.  

In a recent article for ESPN JA Adande wrote, "This was a different Kobe. Not the jubilant kid with the afro who made his first NBA Finals appearance in 2000 or the one clashing with his coach, or the one basking in the adulation of an MVP award before the start of last year's Finals. This was Kobe Bryant as I've never seen him before, so intense that he almost came off as subdued, the flames gone, leaving the glowing white briquettes."

Clearly Kobe is taking this years Finals very seriously as he wants to prove to everyone out there that he is a champion and that he wasn't carried by Shaq for those 3 titles.  I mean Shaq had a freestyle at a NY club where he called out Kobe and it was played all across the country for weeks.  That has to eat at a guy like Bryant and make him want to go take over this series and show everyone he is not just good, but great.

Even Shaq wants Kobe to win as on his Twitter account today he wrote, ""I am saying it today and today only, I want kobe bryant to get number four, spread da word." By the way ESPN reported this Twitter update as well making my prediction in yesterdays update 100% correct.

This year though Kobe has a chance to prove that he deserves to be in the top 3 best guards of all time and without LeBron and the Cavs out of the way it should be pretty easy for him.  The Lakers are a better team than the Orlando Magic especially with the Magic missing Jameer Nelson.  

It seems all set up for Kobe to come in and close out the playoffs and cement his legacy.  Now all he needs to do is show up and preform.

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