Lakers vs. Celtics Game Five: Most Important Game of Kobe Bryant's Career
Kobe has done it all. He has answered all his doubters and haters throughout his career, he is a four-time NBA champion, a MVP, a Finals MVP, a two-time scoring champion, a 12-time All-Star (three times the MVP), he has an amazing career average of 25.3 ppg, he has 25,790 career points, he scored 81 points in a game!
When he had to, he scored 50 points in his sleep. He is the most clutch player in the history of the game. Yes, Kobe Bryant has done it all and if he retires today is arguably one of the five greatest players to ever play the game. But when you are Kobe Bryant that is not enough.
When he was a skinny, cocky, young kid, people said he could never be a star. He proved the world wrong by becoming one of the greatest. When they said he was a ball hog who couldn't win, he played Robin to Shaq's Batman and won three championships. When they said he ran Shaq out and could never win without him, he proved the world wrong by leading the Lakers to the 2009 title and winning his first Finals MVP.
But after getting destroyed by the Celtics in the 2008 Finals, people insulted Bryant saying things like the Black Mamba was a garden snake for the C's. He was bashed for it and even after he won the 2009 title the Bryant haters said he couldn't beat the Celtics.
Bryant has done everything the world said he couldn't. He has proved his critics wrong time and time again, but there is one thing he has to prove and that is he can get past the Celtics.
If Bryant's legacy was going to be looked at differently if he hadn't won without Shaq, then there will be some that view him differently if he can't get past the Celtics. It would be that one thing Bryant was not able to accomplish, and as sad as it is, since he is Kobe Bryant the media would bash him for it.
So far in this series, Bryant is shooting just 40 percent. At times he has struggled against Tony Allen though and people think it's 2008 all over again. The series is tied 2-2 and Bryant does not want the Celtics to gain a 3-2 lead over the Lakers at all.
This is the Celtics' last chance to win a title for a long time because after this the Big Three may be split up, and even if they aren't they are going to be a year older next season and there is no way they are getting to the Finals after this.
So Kobe cannot let this happened, he cannot let the Celtics be the one foe he could not defeat—and he knows this. That is why we can expect Bryant to come out very aggressive in Game Five, and I wouldn't be surprised if he turns in one of the greatest Finals performances in history.
If Bryant has a 45- or 50-point game, it will give the Lakers a comfortable 3-2 series lead. Once Kobe sucks the hearts out of the Celtics in Game Five, the Big Three era in Boston will be over. But there is a big if in there.
He may have to turn in a legendary performance like the one Allen Iverson did in 2001, where he scored 48 points against the tough defense of Tyronn Lue and shocked the world by taking Game One against the Lakers.
Bryant may have to have a 45-point game like Michael did in his final game as a Bull. Doc Rivers will probably put in Tony Allen earlier than usual and Bryant is going to have to get him in foul trouble. He is going to have to get a rhythm going early so he can dominate the game. Once the Celtics realize Bryant is taking over, they will have to double or adjust their defense in some way but that is when Bryant's supporting cast will have to step up.
Game Five is indeed the most important game of Bryant's career because the winner of this game is going to go on to win the series, and if Bryant wins this series he will not only prove he can do it without Shaq twice, but he can also beat the Celtics. It will put Bryant into that top three or four conversation and some will even argue that he is second to only Mike.
Bryant still may have nightmares about what the Celtics did to him in '08, and he sure as hell doesn't want that feeling of walking off the court with teared eyes while the Celtics celebrate. Bryant is going to have to turn in a performance that can take the Celtics out of this series.
If he does, he will have truly done it all, he will have nothing left to accomplish. But again this is Kobe Bryant; once he gets past the Celtics there will be one more thing left to do for him and he will be very close to doing it. That will be to surpass Michael Jordan as the greatest of all time.
Michael Jordan was the first chapter in Bryant's career, and ironically it may just be the last. But before Bryant can get to that chapter, he will have to beat the Celtics because if he doesn't, who knows what's going to happen next season? Would another Finals loss to the Celtics break the Lakers hearts and prevent them from getting to the top ever again?
The Celtics will never meet Bryant in the Finals again after this, so this is his last chance and he knows it. Game Five of the 2010 NBA Finals will go down as the most important game in Kobe Bryant's career.
