Kobe Bryant Has Grown Up...But Is He Better Than Michael Jordan?

There was a time that I was an avid NBA fan. I loved it, especially when the playoffs rolled around. This was when the games mattered most, and the players left everything they had on the court.

When I grew up I had the chance to watch the greatest player to come out of the Atlantic Coast Conference and his name was not Jordan. This guy was better than Jordan in college and might have been better than Jordan as a pro. His name was Len Bias.

Len Bias did things on the court that I have never seen before. I remember seeing him score 6 points in less than 5 seconds to tie a game against North Carolina. One coast to coast and two stolen inbounds passes later, the Terps sent it to overtime. Then Lenny died. A tragedy, not really because he created it. A waste of talent, definitely.

So I started following the career of the skinny guard from North Carolina. I watched him turn into an NBA scoring machine his first few years in the league. He would score, the team would lose. He would lead the league, the team would lose. He would win slam dunk contests and the team would lose.

Enter Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, BJ Armstrong, John Paxon, Bill Cartwright and of course Phil Jackson.

Then Michael grew up, and grow up he did.

He realized that to win, he needed a team. He was beyond a doubt the best player of his generation. Magic Johnson passed the reigns to him in the NBA finals. Using the Triangle offense, the Bulls rattled off three straight NBA Championships from 1991 - 1993 with the help of Jordan's leadership.

Then Michael's father was murdered and he retired from the NBA.

When Michael returned to the Bulls in 1995 it was a team with a different look. Pippen was still there, but the rest had departed. They were replaced by Rodman, Kerr, Kukoc, Harper, and Longley. Phil Jackson still coached the Bulls.

The Bulls went on to another three-peat, Michael won MVP Finals MVP awards 4, 5, and 6. His legacy was solidified. Gone was Air Jordan, the high flying, hand changing, tongue hanging player of old. Now he used his smarts. Developed a deadly fade away jumper, and he dominated just the same.

I used to joke that the Bulls has a formula to winning. Michael Jordan, the best all-around player in the game (Pippen), the good re-bounder (Grant and Rodman), the sub par center (Longley and Cartwright), and the white boy who could shoot three pointers (Paxon and Kerr).

Then he retired.

Then the NBA lockout.

I lost interest when they showed me they had no interest in settling quickly. Weeks would go by and nothing would be heard except they may meet next month.  So I said heck with them and stopped watching, focusing instead on college basketball. At least they played like they still loved the game. Even Michael's comeback with my (almost) home team Wizards could not bring me back. It just wasn't right, Michael was a Bull.

I remembered watching another skinny kid from Philly once or twice around that time and quickly realized he had game. He was a high flying scoring machine like Michael was in his early days. I used to say this kid could be the torch bearer when Michael finally retires for good if he would get the mental part of the game down.

His name was Kobe Bryant.

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