NBA Finals 2010: Is Kobe Bryant's Legacy on the Line Heading into Game Seven?

Thursday night, Kobe Bryant will be center stage in arguably the biggest moment of his career.

After being compared to Michael Jordan for 13 years, Bryant will finally get the opportunity to separate himself in the historic NBA rankings and silence every doubter that ever doubted the Black Mamba.

This morning I watched Skip Bayless as he completely discredited Bryant's championship win from just one year ago. He spoke about how Bryant has not won a championship on his own and that Orlando's head coach Stan Van Gundy was the reason for LA's victory.

After tuning into that, I listened in to "The Herd" on ESPN Radio, where I got the chance to hear Bill Simmons voice his opinion on Bryant and the Finals.

Simmons said how if Michael Jordan was in Kobe Bryant's shoes right now, there would be no doubt in anyone's mind that MJ would win Game Seven; but because it's Kobe Bryant, there is doubt.

Are you kidding me?

(Not to mention, Simmons continued his rant stating how Kobe Bryant is a "weird" guy with no entourage and no hobbies other than playing basketball. I won't get into that.)

Bryant is clearly the athlete of the decade and has continually proven to the sports world that he possesses exactly what it takes to win, so why all the hatred towards the guy?

While I hate to say it, Bryant will never receive the credit that he so rightfully deserves, unless he comes out victorious in Game Seven this Thursday night.

Winning the game will once again solidify that Bryant can indeed win a championship "Shaq-less," this time against a championship-caliber team that won a championship just two years ago.

Kobe Bryant's legacy is certainly on the line, and if the Black Mamba can rise up to the challenge and capture his fifth NBA championship, the argument for Bryant being the NBA's best player ever will only grow stronger.

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