Kobe versus Jordan

I've been here, I really have. It's just that I've been working on this post about al-Qaeda for a few days and I'm struggling to actually add any real insight to it. I have a solid idea I'm working with, but I'm trying to whittle down the nasty tangents I have such a tendancy to go off on.

Speaking of tangents...

I want to talk about hoops for a few minutes. Sunday night, Kobe Bryant exploded and scored 81 point against the Raptors the other night. I usually don't care much for the NBA, but this has set off a number of basketball debates about Kobe's standing amoung the All-Time Greats.

This conversation is hard for me to have any objective opinion on, firstly because opinions on subjective matters in sports are hyperbolic by nature, and secondly because I actually remember Kobe as a young high school kid. See, I'm only a year older than this guy and went to a rival high school.

When I mean "rival," I mean geographically close, not rival as in "one that equals or almost equals another in a particular respect." I didn't play hoops for our high school, but I did frequently play pick-up games at several local parks where Kobe and his crew would frequent.

And, the guy was really good. My claim to fame goes like this: naturally we were playing against him in a game of pick-up and were getting mauled (forget the fact that even though there were 4 other teammates on his team, they only touched the basketball by accident). We took the ball out of bounds after Kobe did some double-pump reverse-layup thing that had all the girls cooing, and pushed it up the court. Clearly out of the game, a teammate of mine threw an ill-advised pass was picked off by one of the phatom-four. I sprinted back (ha Kobe, I'm faster than you!) just in time for Kobe to take a chest pass at the three-point line in full stride. I knew I was in trouble, but there was no way in hell I was going to step aside. I decided no matter how far he knocked me into the stands, I would take the charge.

I stood and watched him bound towards me. The entire park stopped and knew that nothing but death was in my future.

Kobe kept charging...

I closed my eyes...

Nothing happened.

I opened my eyes and the only thing I saw were a pair of blue mesh shorts.

The mother-f&^@er jumped over me and was now hanging on the rim with his crotch in my face.

I think they were blue mesh shorts, or at least they tasted like blue mesh shorts.

I feel your pain buddy...

So, yeah, Kobe was really good. But he was playing against medium-sized white kids from the suburbs. Imagine my shock when I found out that he was going into the NBA. He might be able to stick his crotch in my face, but he has to play against Jordan now? Ha!

Well, in a sense I was right--in the short-term. He didn't see significant playing time for a while and Jordan was still dominating during his second coming. However, the sports world knew that Jordan would be ending his career soon, and they were desperate to find a successor. Jordan was a spectacle unrivaled anywhere; he sold out visiting teams stadiums that were normally a quarter full just because he was in town. Every basketball player with a shred of talent would immediately invite comparisons to Jordan, because without a successor, the NBA would lose the biggest draw they've ever had.

Kobe was being groomed to do just that. He was extremely gifted, incredibly athletic and had the potential to portray that clean-cut, nice-guy image that pushed Jordan from superstar to World-wide Ambassador. But, he would fail initial expectations despite being on three championship teams. His career would be marred by claims of general selfishness, the inability to get along with teammates and coaches, and of course the rape accusations.

How quickly we forget. After all the well-deserved criticsms of his game, people are talking again the possibility of another Jordan 81-points later. But is he really better?

I still say, with out a doubt, no. I'm not here to make a judgement on character specifically because the righteous indignation that inevitably creeps into every sports conversations is as tiring as it is loathesome. Plus, although Kobe has had problems, Jordan had some skeletons in the closet that belied the angelic image he carried with him through his career. In the end, these guys are basketball players, not men I care to model my life after...and shut up about the roll-model to kids stuff already! Be a parent!

As it stands, Jordan is carrying 6 rings on his fingers. Not only were the Bulls dominant, players who came and played for Chicago all played their best as a teammate of Michael Jordan (see Paxon, Cartwright, Kerr, Grant, Armstrong, Rodman, etc.). Specifically, and more to the point, there is debate right now about Scotty Pippen, whose play was so elevated by Jordan, we are wondering how much of his Hall of Fame credentials were really as a direct result of playing with number 23.

In Kobe's case, we haven't seen that...yet. The only teammate he's had that is even remotely close to the Hall of Fame right now is Shaq, and it is a dubious argument to think that Kobe had anything to do with that. Other than that, most players have come in and out of LA with little more than a ring that was provided by the play of Kobe AND Shaq. Neither of those guys found ways to make their teammates much better than they were.

We'll see. Kobe has a lot of basketball left in him. He's still a selfish player, but he does seem to be slowly learning. 81 points is no fluke, but it still doesn't compare with Jordan's career legacy.

Then again, if Lamar Odom is someday considered one of the greats, not only will I eat my words, I'll eat a Buick...

Posted by 10 fingers 6 strings at January 24, 2006 01:07 PM | TrackBack