The Takeover: The Curious Case Of Kobe Bean Bryant

The Takeover:  The Curious Case of Kobe “Bean” Bryant

It wasn’t supposed to happen this way, if at all.

No one was supposed to be able to approach Mike as the GOAT, let alone be in the same breath.  But comparisons are only going to grow more intense between the two, especially if the self-styled Black Mamba gets at least one more ring after just obtaining No.4. 

Conventional wisdom has been that Michael Jordan had no one to pass the torch to when he left the game in the way that he so eagerly received it from Magic and Bird.  Sure, there was Tim Duncan, Shaq, and Steve Nash but “the next” … Kobe, didn’t always measure up.  Heck, for one infamous night in Colorado he couldn’t even seem to get out of his own way.  Although, to be fair, in the realm of public perception Michael Jordan has had his share of infidelities and was not nearly a warm teammate.

But flash-forward five years and a fourth ring later, and it is Mr. Bryant that can now exhale with a large measure of vindication.  At 30, he now possesses the chance to forge his own legacy as he ambitiously set out to do as a brash youngster, fresh out of high school some 13 years ago.

No, the author has surely not dismissed LeBron James.  Oh no, Jordan himself was correct in his estimation recently that James has the potential to be the best ever simply because of his unique blend of athleticism, strength, power, and speed.  According to the script, we were all supposed to witness the proper passing of the torch with a league approved James victory in June.

And who would argue with such a sentiment.  James is a gift from basketball heaven.  He is the gift to the NBA that Len Bias, lost all too soon, should have been.  Bias, hailed as a combination of Jordan, Barkley, Magic, and Bird, tragically died of a cocaine overdose one fateful day in June 19, 1986.  It is our good fortune as fans, and fitting, that we are able to witness James’ ability and skill, to really appreciate what it would have been like to behold the court majesty of the great Len Bias.  We can only ponder how things might have been for lovers of the game if Jordan had a true rival in Bias to contend with for supremacy, to test himself by fully.

But it remains to be seen just when Mr. James will earn the title of The King.  Questions linger about his mental game and outside shooting.  Does he have the drive and focus of Jordan, Kobe, or Magic?  There is ample time for James to quiet his critics just as Bryant has begun to silence his own, and while James is well on his way, the moment belongs to the Mamba, who I will argue is at least as good as the True King:  Michael Jeffrey Jordan.

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