Kobe Bryant is a heck of a basketball player, there is no denying that. He can get his shot off at will and he converts a good percentage. In a recent interview, coach Brown said he encourages Kobe to take as many shots as he needs to get himself going. A superstar taking the majority of the shots for his squad has been done before, enter Michael Jordan, also known as his airness. MJ shot threes, dished game winning assists, and even developed his game with his back to the basket to facilitate all that scoring. History tells us MJ’s biggest strength was scoring the ball, or at least that seems to be a common perception. After all, he had 50 plus games so often we gave one of his 50+ efforts its own nickname – the double nickel.
Now, with apologies to Laker fans, the black Mamba is no Air Jordan. Now, I realize that’s not saying a lot since it’s obvious at this point in Kobe’s career that he will never approach MJ’s greatness, but I mention it because there is a contrast between these two gifted scorers that seems to go unnoticed by the current generation of basketball fans. Part of what made Jordan so good was that he made his team better – not by scoring a lot of points, though that is something he certainly did; or by making the game a pleasure to watch (he did that best); but rather it was by getting the most out of the players around him. Now, if your definition of “making the team better” is scoring in bunches and winning games – then I guess Kobe does that too. But making your teammates better is about far more than just winning games, it’s about winning titles. You win titles by finding a way to bring the best out of the people you go to war with on a daily basis. Give me the best sharpshooter in an army and he will get you but so far, but combine that with pieces that effectively draw in the enemy, and you have yourself a deadly combination; one that highlights the ability of said sharpshooter in ways he cannot do on his own. You get the analogy.
Over the years, it seems that every time the Lakers hit a rough patch, the blame always goes to someone not named Kobe Bryant. Who can forget the “let’s trade a promising big man for an aging guard” debacle? We all know how that turned out: Bynum is finally at the cusp of fulfilling his potential and although Jason Kidd finally got his ring, most will agree he was not the defining piece on that Dallas team. This year, it appears that the sacrificial lambs for the Lakers’ failures were Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol. Yes Odom demanded a trade, but that was only after the Lakers made it painfully clear that he was dispensable following the failed Chris Paul trade. It seems that Kobe avoided criticism simply because for a very long time, he was the face of the league. Nowadays that’s not the case, Bryant is criticized, but every time you hear whispers that he’s in fact slowing down, Kobe pumps 30+ shots a game until they start falling, and of course eventually they do. The man is clearly a talented scorer with a good deal of defensive ability.
Still, if you take Shaquille O’Neal out of the picture, the trade for Pau Gasol at a time when the NBA was going through a transition in talent, and one of the best coaches of all time to keep him in check, Mr. Bryant ends up no different than some of the great scorers to never get a ring. Enter Tracy McGrady – one of the most talented scorers we’ve ever seen play, but he never came close to having a good playoff run, much less winning a ring. That said, put TMAC in Kobe’s shoes at a time when the Lakers had one of the most dominating big men of all time – one that refused to defer when it was obvious he could help the team out more than any wing player or slasher could – and maybe we’re calling Tmac the black Mamba. Granted, Kobe’s is clearly a better overall player than the aforementioned TMac, but you get the picture.
Which brings us to this year, and by my estimation the combination of Gasol and Bynum on the same squad with say, a DWade or an LBJ, is an instant championship. Put the Laker big men with Deron Williams or a Chris Paul and again, a championship is likely . That’s what all the fuss is about when it comes to Dwight Howard – talented, athletic big men are rare. Now, you may be asking yourself why I seemingly give Gasol, Bynum, and big men in general so much credit, but I’m just stating what any basketball fan already knows, the combination of athleticism and size is unmatched, in particular when you combine two such pieces with a profilic scorer that gels well with them. Gasol and Bynum may not be superstars but they give you something the rest of the league lacks: size combined with well, more size – a priceless combination – when used properly, that is.
Kobe Bryant dropped 48 points the other night and all is right with the world in Lakerland, right? He took 31 shots, and “proved” that he can still score. Gasol and Bynum combined for a fraction of those shots, but the Lakers won, right? Well that depends on what you consider winning. They may have won the game but this season’s Lakers, sans Lamar Odom, look a lot like the team that failed to reach the finals last year. That Kobe can score is something everyone’s well aware of, but can he truly make these two big men better? Can Kobe Bryant bring his teammates games along with his in such a way that if Bryant’s scoring binges turn to bricks when he’s doubled and tripled teamed in the playoffs, they will know where to look for the ball? Will Kobe dumping the ball to either Gasol or Bynum in some random spot on the block as the clock shot expires be enough? probably not, but at least Kobe can still drop 48 points during the regular season, and that says a lot: that he’s still just a top 10 guard on the all time lists. I heard that from a legitimate source, and until further notice, I’m afraid I have to agree.