Kobe Bryant: Killer Instinct Dethrones Akron's King

Kobe Bryant: The Black Mamba; the unstoppable force in today's NBA. Kobe Bryant is a monster, a machine, and a titan on the hardwood. Kobe Bryant shuns everyone that comes in his way and ameliorates everyone with him to his journey, whether it be a Gold Medal or an NBA Championship, Kobe Bryant is ready to compete.

He is a creature among people; sometimes you just have to look at his game and wonder if this guy is real. I have had to pinch myself several times to wonder how? How is he so good? A question that every basketball player can answer but only a few can take baby steps to do what he does on a regular basis.

His work ethic, desire, and willingness to win by any means necessary is only outmatched by one other player, Michael Jeffery Jordan.

Kobe makes everyone around him better. I hear that the Lakers are the best team throughout all 12 guys, true. Take Kobe Bryant away from the Lakers, I can guarantee you that the Los Angeles Lakers' work ethic will not be as good and their willingness to win would not be as strong. Their willingness to never give up wouldn't exist and the level that a lot of these Laker players are playing at would be substantially lower.

Kobe has literally shaped Trevor Ariza, from a good defensive player and not being a threat on the offensive end to a great defensive player and very big offensive threat and a huge role player on a championship team.

Kobe Bryant is a coach on the floor and off the floor in timeouts, before games, and after games. He is both a motivator and and "I am going to tell it how it is" type of guy. The Black Mamba has no problem doing whatever it takes to win, saying whatever he needs to say to win. People never believe this kind of stuff, it's all hyperbole's many say. On the contrary, it is all under-statements if anything, do you believe me?

Here are some examples of Kobe coaching.

In the Denver series of the 2009 Western Conference Finals, Kobe Bryant literally grabbed the whiteboard and coached a play to perfection in the fourth quarter. In the Orlando Magic series of the 2009 NBA Finals, Andrew Bynum made a foolish foul. Kobe was shouting at him to go straight up instead of ramming into your man.

In Game Four of the 2009 NBA Finals, Derek Fisher made a three, Kobe was yelling "Yeah Boy" and then encouraged him to take another one in crunch time to win the game. Derek Fisher hit the three-pointer.

Now that's called trusting your teammates. Kobe Bryant, in Michael Jordan's foot steps, has now become the emblem of a leader.

The Great Debate:

Who's better, Kobe Bryant or LeBron James? Well, your majesty, can you throw away your crown? Thanks.

The skill set of Kobe Bryant and the skill set of LeBron James aren't even comparable. Kobe Bryant is a titan amongst humans. LeBron James is an athletic freak of nature. Which one do you prefer? Out of a survey of 100 people, 81 of the 100 people would rather have a player that is clutch with a killer's instinct than a raw, athletic freak of nature.

The survey didn't refer to LeBron James or Kobe Bryant to the people that were surveyed, but we can see that Kobe Bryant is the player that everyone would want on their team, because with Kobe Bryant, you get every player wanting to win more and more. It's like the influence he had on the USA team all year round; that influence makes good payer to great players.

Let's see what the two tremendous talents possess in their arsenal of skills, and you tell me, which one is better:

Kobe Bryant:

• Long range jumper
• Mid range jumper
• Jumper in the paint
• Long range fade away
• Mid range fade away
• Fade away in the paint
• Unstoppable drive to the basket
• Amazing body control
• Amazing hang time and ability to change shot in the air
• Great court vision
• Great rebounding guard
• Pump fake-leaner jumper
• Jumper off of the spin move
• Top three all time in foot work
• Outstanding handles
• Great ability to split double teams
• Ability to shoot over double or triple teams
• And much, much more
• Ability to finish on the fast break

LeBron James:

• Decent long range jumper
• Decent mid range jumper
• Great step back in mid range
• Amazing drive to the basket
• Amazing body control in the air
• Great court vision
• Great rebounding
• Amazing ability to finish the fast break
• Very good handles for a small forward

Even when Kobe was the age of LeBron James, he was more skilled because he could do everything he can do right now. Kobe just wasn't smart about what he did and the athleticism was substantially more when Kobe Bryant was younger. Take that into effect, and Kobe is still more skilled than LeBron James.

Something that I hear when I say this and it bugs me is that Kobe wasn't as valuable as LeBron James and Kobe wasn't as valuable as Shaq. I laugh to tell you the truth. Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant played an equal role in the three-peat. Kobe Bryant played a huge role in the triangle offense as did Shaquille O'Neal. So to be as arrogant as to say Kobe didn't play a big role in the three-peat is utter blasphemy.

That raw determination is something that LeBron James lacks. The will to make people better, sure eight assists looks good on the stat sheet for LeBron James but his passing doesn't make his team better; he just gives them the ball in places and areas that they are established from. He doesn't expand their game at all, where as Kobe Bryant expands his teammates' games and increases their will to win, ultimately making a very mentally tough team that doesn't go out without a fight.

You have to earn a victory against the Lakers, you aren't going to easily get a victory as long as Kobe Bryant is in the arena.

LeBron James sometimes lacks trust in his teammates, which is a huge characteristic that he needs to conquer in order to be mentioned with Kobe Bryant. The difference between Kobe Bryant isn't the numbers, because I would be kidding myself by thinking that LeBron James can't put up numbers.

It is the intangibles that they harness. Kobe Bryant's killer instinct is something to be reckoned with, because even when your team is up 20 points, you can never say "this game is done, let's pack up and leave," because Kobe Bryant will encourage the Lakers to come back strong as a rock and as flawless as a diamond.

If you beat the Cavaliers, LeBron James is going to moan about it, and the team reflects their leader so they will moan about too. The Lakers would want to comeback strong where as the Cavs would get a day off.

Another quality that I feel LeBron James lacks is the ability to keep the tempo or rhythm of a game where he prefers it to be. LeBron James lets the rhythm of the game escape him. We saw this in the Orlando series. LeBron James, in my opinion, should have trusted his teammates in the whole series, rather then the sixth game only.

That ability to control the tempo of the game is what makes Kobe Bryant the greatest player in the NBA today and that same inability makes LeBron James less valuable then he is portrayed to be by the media.

The debate is done and over with in my mind because it is quite evident that as of now, Kobe Bryant is the better player, maybe in the near future LeBron will pass him but the great debate is decided in my mind. Hopefully, I shaped some thoughts into your mind from a different perspective, the perspective of a Non-Lakers/Kobe Bryant fan and a Non-Cavs/LeBron James fan.

Some Final thoughts:

Kobe Bryant has proved everything that he's needed to prove ever since Shaquille O'Neal left. He has needed to prove that he can be successful. He did that with tremendous fashion considering that he has won two scoring titles, one MVP, and now expect a Finals MVP and a championship without Shaquille O'Neal. Yes, that is a guarantee. Kobe Bryant's legacy will be remembered as the legacy of a great player and a rock of winning.

We can all say that LeBron is the best because he got the MVP trophy this year, but who will be holding the NBA Championship trophy and the Finals MVP, walking around with the pride of knowing that he's the best? I bet LeBron would trade his MVP trophy for that and Cavaliers fans around the world would trade LeBron's MVP trophy for that.

All in all, Kobe Bryant is a monster and a goon. He depicts why we watch basketball, the intensity of basketball, and the shifts in emotions. Kobe Bryant depicts a superstar. Kobe Bryant—where greatness happens.

Article Credit due to Fwarr03 at RealSportsTalk.