Kobe Bean Jordan

I haven't been that emotional about a game, since Kobe hit the game winner over Raja "I got so abused last night that they had to put in Darryl Strawberry's kid" Bell in game 4 of the '06 Playoffs. And we're still in the regular season! Anyway, im feeling the love for our man flynt and in a continuing effort to unify the Laker nation, here are some thoughts on The Black Mamba...

Ask any NBA fan who the greatest play ever is or was, and unless they were born pre-1950, they'll tell you Michael Jordan. He is the greatest. He was the greatest. Six finals. Six championships. Six MVP's. No one has elevated their sport to the level that Jordan has, with the possible exception of Mr. Tiger Woods. You can argue over whom the best center is or what team is the greatest ever, but you absolutely cannot under any circumstance even entertain the possibility that anyone played the game of basketball better, harder or more intensely than Michael Jordan. Why not?

I haven't been that emotional about a game, since Kobe hit the game winner over Raja "I got so abused last night that they had to put in Darryl Strawberry's kid" Bell in game 4 of the '06 Playoffs. And we're still in the regular season! Anyway, im feeling the love for our man flynt and in a continuing effort to unify the Laker nation, here are some thoughts on The Black Mamba...

Ask any NBA fan who the greatest play ever is or was, and unless they were born pre-1950, they'll tell you Michael Jordan. He is the greatest. He was the greatest. Six finals. Six championships. Six MVP's. No one has elevated their sport to the level that Jordan has, with the possible exception of Mr. Tiger Woods. You can argue over whom the best center is or what team is the greatest ever, but you absolutely cannot under any circumstance even entertain the possibility that anyone played the game of basketball better, harder or more intensely than Michael Jordan. Why not?

There have been plenty of people who have been dubbed "The Next Michael Jordan." That's just unfair to begin with. But someone has to have the ability to become greater than the next guy. That's what sport is all about. Athletes become bigger, faster and stronger. As training, equipment and technology improves so do athletes. But one thing cannot be learned or taught or acquired. It's the one thing that separated Jordan from everyone else and everyone since. That insatiable hunger to absolutely destroy the other guy. Kobe Bryant has it. He's always had it. Now he's instilled that attitude into his team. It's what Jordan did so well in his hey day. Convincing everyone around him that if they work as hard as he does, he will make them better. He will hit that shot when they can't. He will carry them when times are rough. He will play with the flu. He will be their leader. Kobe is more like Jordan than ever before, but he has the potential for something that Jordan never had. A rival.

Lebron can be to Kobe, what Larry Legend was to Magic. Lebron can push Kobe to become the greatest player ever. The Cav's just picked up a young PG, spot up shooter and banger in the paint; exactly what they needed. The league is now set-up for its dream match up for years to come; Kobe vs. Bron, on the biggest stage possible. This would become Celtics vs. Lakers. The gold standard of NBA Finals that the rest will have to live up to. The level of play that they could push each other to achieve is beyond my comprehension. What if Kobe beats Bron in a couple of NBA finals? What if those finals are the most in your face, superstar vs. superstar, all out kill or be killed series that the league has ever seen? Kobe hits a game winner or two. One series goes to game 7. How would we remember Kobe then? That's five rings for Black Mamba. What if he gets six or seven when it's all said and done? Could Jordan then truly and without argument be the better player?

Here's what I know about Kobe Bryant. He is the best offensive player ever. He is playing with 9 fingers. He is making "The Machine" look like Steve Kerr and Bruce Bowen had a baby named Sasha. He is making Lamar Odom just want to play basketball. He is making people re-consider how good Pau "Shadaye" Gasol can become. He is the leader of the best basketball team in the Association. He is…The Black Mamba. And the Black Mamba will strike without remorse. It will shimmy through areas you never suspected it to be in or could possibly fit into. It can contort its body to fill any space. It will not let down. It will kill everyone in its path. And it will hunt you down, rip out your heart, stomp on it, put your heart back in your chest and then pull it out again and stomp on it just because it wants to make sure your dead.Look out NBA, Jordan's back.

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The blog that started it all

Had to get this off my chest...

Now that the Superbowl is over, its all NBA until June. And the Lakers just swindled a 7ft., 19 and 9, 27 year old former all star for a pupu platter and a bag of chips. It really got me thinking about being a fan. How spoiled are we as Laker fans? In our lifetime, the Lakers have failed to make the playoffs only twice. TWO TIMES in soon to be 28 years!! What do we ever have to complain about? Seriously. Let's compare the Lakers to say, The Clippers. They've made the playoffs FOUR times in 28 years. After winning as many championships as we have, most teams suffer the inevitable hangover and stink for years or even decades (see post '98 Chicago Bulls). And when i say stink, its full on rebuilding mode with no end in sight and a crap shoot navigating the turbulent waters known as the NBA draft where GM's careers are based on deciding which 18 year old, spoon fed since he was 12 years old kid, may have an ounce of maturity to even sit on an NBA bench, let alone become the next Dwight Howard or Dwayne Wade. The Lakers have been in the lottery exactly twice and pulled these names: Eddie Jones and Andrew Bynum. And you know what the constant was for both picks? Mitch "Don't call me Jerry West" Kupchak. What gets me is not how much everyone doubted his ability, but what everyone was really doubting was Jerry West's ability. West tutored Mitch. West believed in Mitch. West lined up Kupchak to take over for him. West in some shape or form was responsible for 9 championships...and we doubted him? Im personally angry at myself for being a non-believer and not giving a guy a chance after being FORCED to trade one of the 10 best players ever and almost having to do that a second time around in the span of 3 years. The guy has balls.
"Trade Bynum" the fans yell. "Win now." Kupchak waits. "Trade for Kidd; ship out Farmar." Kupchak waits. "Kobe doesnt want to be here, he'll never change his mind. Trade him while you can still get value." And Kupchak continues to wait. We wont know if waiting on Kobe will pay off until next summer. But we know Kupchak has put the Lakers in the best possible position to win for the next 5-10 years. No other team in the league is as poised to go on a run like the Lakers are.. Out of absolutely no where, the Lakers have positioned themselves with the best starting five (when healthy), the deepest bench, the best roster of point guards, the best front court anywhere and still have the best player in the league. But maybe it wasn't out of nowhere. Maybe the guy with the monotone voice who were not really sure is human after all and may just be an android built by Jerry West, had this planned the entire time.

Trading for P-Gauz (temporary nickname until an appropriate one can be established) may or may not turn out well. Who knows if Bynum and Gasol can play together. Maybe Odom once and for all disappears all together as he is so good at doing at times. Maybe there aren't enough basketballs to go around. BUT maybe there are. Maybe Gasol and Bynum become "The Twin Towers West." Maybe Kobe starts shooting at a 50% clip because double teaming the guy may hurt you more than help. Maybe Odom relishes in the fact that he does not have to score 20 a game and becomes the rebounding assist machine that he wants to be.

The one thing that this all hinges upon is that guy with the 24 jersey. Kobe started this. Kobe begged and pleaded for this, and Buss and Kupchak answered. They've assembled the best overall team in the league, regardless of what happens in June. So, your move Kob. Will you sign an extension? Will you prove that all your bitching and complaining was serving a purpose? Will you end what you started? Every single person has answered your call. Bynum, Kupchak, Farmar, Sasha "The Slovenian Sharp Shooter" for christs sake. What will you do? If Kobe doesnt sign an extension with the Lakers next summer, than we'll know all we'll ever need to know about him. That it was always just business. And as a fan, this is what we always forget. For us its life and death, for the player, it's a career.

I don't know what the future holds for this team, but im 100% sure of one thing, as long as were the Lakers, we'll never be the Clippers. And damn does that make me happy.

This was inpsired by Adande's article which is a great read: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=adande_ja&page=Lakers-080203

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