The storyline of Kobe Bryant is, he cannot win over his critics and his haters.
If he shoots and his team loses then it's his fault, he shot too much. If he shoots too little and his team loses, then he needs to shoot more. Kobe's not a good teammate, he yells and insults his teammates, he demands to be traded away from his inferior teammates.
Frankly when I see Kobe Bryant, I see a man eternally damned for coming after Michael Jordan. How do you try to be the best? You study, you emulate and you practice what worked for the best that came before you. Bleacherreport.com has several talented writers, and it also has a bunch of dumb wanna-bes of which, I might make the cut!( I can't see why anyone thinks the Nuggets need another PF).
The fact is, to be a good writer you have to read a lot of material, and you usually read material that you find interesting, the next step is emulating that writing style.
Kobe Bryant is the same way. The man does his homework, he studies what works, and what he needs to improve. It is pretty safe to say Michael Jordan figured basketball out, scoring, passing, shooting, playing defense and most of all winning.
Why wouldn't Kobe Bryant study the greatest? You know what, I want to get to the NBA, and be really coachable and be a great point guard, so I'm going to study Smush Parker (can't believe that guy ever started for an NBA team). Pretty dumb in my opinion.
Watch anyone that plays, unless they grew up without ever seeing anyone else play basketball. Their game is going to be modeled after a player or combination of players, and if they never saw anyone else play basketball their game is going to be pretty ugly.
Rip Hamilton certainly watched Reggie Miller. You look at what works and you try to do that. You stick your tongue out when you play, you start playing intense defense, you want to take the game winning shot and it all comes down to you wanting to be like Mike.
Bryant is the greatest player in the game right now. Have you ever been involved with a team and been on the best on the team? I have, and it is frustrating at times when the rest of my teammates don't perform up to what I'm capable of.
I've certainly had the problem playing pickup ball. I know I could make the shot he just missed, or I know I could defend that player but if I do I'm probably going to lose when I run out of gas trying to do everything. Yet when I pass it to that teammate or let my teammate defend that other guy, we still lose. Can’t win either way.
Now try being the greatest basketball player on the planet. Kobe knows what he can do and he's trying to win with what's around him. I can’t blame the guy for being frustrated that his teammates can’t match his talent level or can’t hit that shot, grab that rebound, or catch that pass.
He has, in the past and still does, struggle to express to his teammates what they did wrong and what they need to improve. He is noted for berating them, making a mistake by holding them up to his standards. He has improved on it, but the guy flat out hates losing. He has improved how he treats his teammates and continues to get better as he matures.
This guy came onto a veteran team as a fresh out of high school kid, there were always veteran players above him that he didn't even need to be a leader and wasn't until all of a sudden Shaq is gone and it's his team. MJ was pretty much handed the reins to the Bulls from day one, and was the leader from day one.
Everyone talks about Michael Jordan and the '90s, but what year did he come into the league? 1984. Jordan was a very talented player both as a scorer and defender, but the one thing said about his early career is he had to eventually sacrifice the individual flat out dominance for a controlled dominance and team success.
Not to say he still didn't dominate, but he could have probably averaged in the mid-to-upper 30s for his career and in the 40s for a season or three, but he wouldn't have won six titles, and he learned that as he entered his prime.
Kobe is now learning that, as this YOUNG Lakers squad is his, and will go as far as he can lead it. How many teams are young and win it all without losing in the playoffs a few times? They lost in the first round twice and in the Finals now, after winning the deepest and most talented Western Conference in history.
Losing is not fun and that is something you could certainly accuse Kobe of: he does not do well with losing. When Kobe is losing, he often times tries to do too much to stop it and usually makes it worse. The markers of a sore loser are just the opposite of Kobe Bryant. A sore loser is a guy with a terrible attitude, who can never accept he was beaten by a better team or a better effort, “there was too much air in the ball, something is wrong with that rim, I didn’t get a good night’s sleep last night…”.
Whenever Kobe Bryant is beaten in a competition, he hates it, and immediately challenges his opponent to a rematch- that is the makings of a super competitive individual, no guy without the guts to win wants to play again after losing.
There were questions if this Laker team would make the playoffs this season, and until they lost to a dominant Celtics team in the Finals, the Lakers were tearing up the league. Next season they have the potential to be even better with the experience of losing in the Finals and having all of their players healthy.
Kobe Bryant's basketball skills are complete. He has likely reached or is very near to his ceiling. However, the rest of his abilities are still developing. Kobe is maturing into a leader, something he never was and never had to be before Shaq left town. His biggest flaw is an ultra-competitive guy that hates losing so much that he doesn't know how to control it.
Kobe Bryant is not Michael Jordan. He does not market himself as a brand. Kobe berates his teammates and then wraps his arm around them and then throws them back under the bus. Michael Jordan's Bulls team wasn't built on Kwame Brown, Smush Parker and Luke Walton (plus Lamar Odom and obviously Kobe, this was the starting lineup from the first round of the '06 playoffs), that Laker team overachieved. Kobe's scoring average has gone down as he has trusted his teammates more and more, he has demonstrated his leadership capabilities by seamlessly incorporating Pau Gasol into the Laker offense and by trusting him.
Michael probably wouldn't have blown an 18-point second half lead in the Finals. Michael would have won this, and won that. Michael would have blah, blah, blah, blah.
Well the guy we are talking about, his name is Kobe Bryant, so stop comparing him to Michael Jordan. He is going to win at least another ring, and he's going to do it by leading his team to victory.
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3 months ago
LBJ is the best player on the planet. He played a much better series against the Celtics, with less around him, than Kobe did. He plays on one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, and when we get to the elite three or four teams on either side, the West doesn't have an advantage over the East. I hope that "game" you all saw debunked any such claims to the contrary. The Cavs would have won that series too. LBJ would have outshined Kobe. Maybe next year, he will.
3 months ago
First of all i hate this talk about Kobe finally trusts his teammates. How can u not trust Pau Gasol? He is a proven star. Period..Thats like Garnett coming to Boston and Pierce needing to take time to trust him. Are you serious...lol. Gasol has been a 18 and 9 guy his whole career. Just like Garnett's been a 20-10 guy...Its what he does. When Gasol was coming to L.A there wasnt a doubt if he would produce because he's been consistent for 8 years. I mean, the guy averaged 18 and 9 as a rookie. And Kobe has to work to trust him. The Lakers picked up Gasol to take some of the load off of Kobe. How can he possibly do that seeing 9-10 shots a night. Thats how many shots your important bench players should see, not ur 2nd and 3rd option. During the season the Laker were blowing teams playing inside out...Having Gasol and Odom kill you then Kobe would just be Kobe and get his shots where he chose. In this series it looked like the 2005 team. U might as well have Kwame Brown still because Pau and Odom are nowhere near priorites in this offense. Gasol is a top 5 big man in the league, and Odom is one of the most versatile in the game, not under Bryant it seems though. Kobe took 131 shots this series, connecting on 51 of them while Gasol and Odom combined to go 64-122...Somethings wrong there. The Cavaliers all but hand delievered a template on how to beat the Boston Celtics with far less talent.. If you remember, while Kobe was with Shaq he always wanted to play the outside - inside game whereas Shaq demanded the ball due to his ability to draw defenders off the perimeter...Then u had Kobe jacking up well contested jumpers anyway...Now that Shaq's gone Kobe has the freedom to play this outside inside game that he loves because Pau wont argue...he's happy to be in a better place and defers to Kobe just as the entire team does.
3 months ago
Well said, but much of the hating and criticism he has brought on himself. He asked for a big market out of high school and got it. He asked for the Lakers to be his team, he got it. He put pressure on the front office to step up and he got it. When you constantly demand the spotlight you must understand that it will shine when you succeed and fail. If they had won the series do you think anyone would be giving credit to Lamor Odom or Soft Serve Gasol? As for the comparisons, Jordan and Kobe are different players, and Im not sure individually that Kobe doesn't have more overall skill. But Jordan did have a way of instilling confidence in his teammates night in and night out, the Bulls won win he scored 25 and when he scored 50. Kobe is still learning how and when to be a playmaker and when he needs to be an assassin. Unfortunatly, he is, as you point out 'Damned if he does and Damned if he doesn't.
3 months ago
This series was over when the Lakers lost a 24 point lead in game 4. Kobe trusted his teammates coming and going, I don't think he tightened up until the run in the 1st half of Game 6.
Very few teams win big time without a low post scoring presence and a baseline defense. Maybe Bynum will bring that next season, and it will be the Lakers who are celebrating.
3 months ago
Loved the premise of this article, particularly the beginning about being damned for trying to emulate MJ. However, I disagree with the end of your article where you state Kobe has matured into a leader. Right now, Kobe still reminds me of a young player who understands his strengths, but doesn't always play to them. Some young players are too unselfish and don't understand when to take over. It is not in Kobe's game to be unselfish because his game is scoring, not setting up his teammates. Kobe would never drive and kick to Sasha Vujacic for the game winner the way Michael would kick to Steve Kerr or even the way Lebron does to Gibson, or Wade did to Payton when the Heat won the title.
Having read my Kobe article you already know how I feel, I just wanted to let you know that I agree with the basic premise of this article and enjoyed reading it
from 3 months ago
I was originally writing a responding comment and ended up with this article... guess that's how it goes sometimes
3 months ago
That certainly is how it goes. People's responses here have given me the motivation to write any number of additional articles, but I will normally settle down haha. I appreciate you reading my article and I'm glad I could give you a little inspiration of your own. I look forward to reading your stuff
3 months ago
Mr Duderewicz, your article has thus far been the most sensible article written about Kobe Bryant since the Finals ended. 'Sensible', does not mean Kobe-lover, nor does it mean Kobe-apologist; I use it in this instance to mean balanced and 'fair'. And personally, many of the other 'talented' writers you mentioned... they're all over the internet, writing the most utterly nonsensical things about, not just Kobe Bryant, but of the game of Basketball in general. Maybe, more 'wanna-be's' such as yourself should fill up the internet with some balanced, and actually thought out material (by the way man, I think you're being far too humble about the whole 'wanne-be' thing... but then again, young Shakespeare must have known he was better than the other more 'talented' writers of the early Elizabethan era; and he would have probably complimented their 'talents'- like you did- while concealing a grin, and the knowledge that he was a better writer than them). I agree with your article entirely. The paradoxical nature of the game of basketball is reflected in the criticisms that Kobe Bryant receives. The 'talented' internet writers never seem to be satisfied with whether the man passes a ton, or scores a ton; or whether he yells a ton, or maintains silence; or whether he behaves like Divine Micheal, or Mortal Kobe...
Anyway, Boston played better... they won. Kudos to them for their effort. We'll see how the story unfolds next season. But once again, I really enjoyed the article. Who knows, study Shakespeare enough you just might... dare I say it... surpass him...(oops, was I not supposed to say that?).
3 months ago
Actually, there is a lot to question in this piece. For example, when Jordan cam into the league he didn't sacrifice his individual domination for team success; he exploded through individual domination, to the point that Larry Bird once thought it was God disguised as Michael Jordan.
Personally, I don't think Jordan "learned" about team success and began to "trust his teammates" once he found Pippen and Grant. Anyone playing for Dean Smith knows how to play as a team. I think what Jordan needed was a system and Jackson provided it. Once he had a system in a a coach that he could buy into to, Jordan did.
Moreover, the writer seems awfully sure Kobe's going to win another, and as the leader. If it were Dwyane Wade or Tm Duncan, guys that actually have done it once, I might share that optimism. But Kobe's acted as the man in the Finals twice now and twice got burned bad. What possible reason would you have for thinking otherwise? That he hates losing? How do you know that? Even if he does, how does that translate with certainty to a future win? I bet Shaq thought he was going to lead the Heat to the Finals, but was smart enough to sit back when someone else clearly had it under control. I wonder if in three years Kobe would be willing to do that for Bynum or some other young star on the way to the MVP?
By the way, writers have been studying Shakespeare for centuries now. I dare say no one else has really approached that level yet. Maybe it's better to stop looking.
from 3 months ago
You're correct that when he came into the league he flat out dominated, which I was saying, unfortunately it appeared like I was saying he sacrificed it right away, he didn't and that was my point.
So Michael Jordan didn't win because he's the greatest player ever, or was was surrounded by the correct players to maximize his strengths, but because he was in the right system?
Reasons why I feel Kobe Bryant will win again:
1. The team that reached the finals this year isn't the best it can be, they played half the season with one center and finished it with another.
2. Since you're familiar with the system that Jordan won with, you'll take note it is complex and it has been said it takes time to learn it. The Lakers had to incorporate Pau Gasol on the fly in the middle of the season. Next season they'll have their whole team for training camp.
3. The team will have experience (this was the 22nd youngest team in the league) and many of them have never been out of the first round, Pau Gasol, their second best player included. When the #2 guy to you gets his first playoff win, you know you're inexperienced. In fact, it took winning a game in the finals to bring Pau Gasol's personal playoff record above .500...
4. They'll have players for the whole season capable of playing defense, Trevor Ariza on the perimeter and Andrew Bynum helping Pau Gaosl clog up space in the paint. Bynum is a rebounder and shot blocker, something the Lakers desperately needed in the finals.
5. If something isn't working with Bynum, Gasol and Odom up front, Lamar Odom's contract will expire at the end of next season, they could move him at the deadline for teams looking for cap room.
If you take notice none of this is about Kobe Bryant and you're right, because frankly like you pointed out with Michael, it wasn't about him it was about the system (not sure I 100% buy into that one, but I'll use your reasoning here). Well, Kobe has been in the system for a while, but since Shaq left, he hasn't had the players around him. He does now, and I say he is going to win with them.
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