NBA Finals indict Kobe
These NBA Finals were supposed to be Kobe Bryant’s finest hour. Instead, they have indicted him. He’s not the superstar we thought he was.
That’s harsh, but true. Kobe was a bust in Game 1, the Lakers’ a 98-88 loss, and an even bigger bust in Game 4 Thursday night, a 97-91 defeat in which LA blew a 21-point first-quarter lead, a 24-point second-quarter lead, an 18-point halftime lead and a 20-point lead midway through the third quarter.
At halftime, Kobe had three points and Boston trailed 58-40. But when the other Lakers finally cooled off, Kobe did not rise to fill the gap. He finished with 17 points on 6-of-19 shooting as the Celtics completed perhaps the greatest single-game comeback in NBA history.
Now the Lakers have to win three straight to secure the NBA title; no team ever has recovered from a 3-games-to-1 deficit in the Finals. And Kobe still searches for confirmation as a transcendent superstar. He’s won three NBA titles, but all with Shaq by his side, and when they split acrimonously, it was Shaq who departed and won another NBA crown.
Down the stretch Thursday night, Kobe took bad shots. Some of that was his fault, some was his teammates, who didn’t exactly create great shots of their own. At some point, somebody has to shoot. But this series is not complicated. The Celtics are getting better shots than the Lakers. Part of that is superior defense — so much for the coaching mismatch between Phil Jackson and Doc Rivers — and part of that is superior offensive players. But part of it is the Kobe culture, which is stand around and let Kobe do it.
That’s part the responsibility of the Lakers’ supporting cast. Jackson’s, too. But Kobe wanted this stage and this scene. The NBA Finals, with everything on his shoulders, and he hasn’t delivered.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
kobe is the best player on the court everytime he has taken the floor in the nba finals. hoops is a team game.
the whole rationale of “kobe hasn’t won a title since parting ways with shaq” is very flawed. like people who doubted scottie pippen. people said “scottie never won a title without mike.” well, mike never won a title without scottie, either.
point is, team games require teams. tell me you wouldn’t want kobe on your favorite team.
I agree with Berry, Kobe is flawed. I thought he was the greatest player of his time. Maybe he is, but it just shows what the rest of these overpaid players are made of, that he is matched with. They are all flawed, or faux would be a better word. The NBA is flawed, run by a commisssioner who closes his eyes to cheating refs, becasue he likes it that way!
It is boring basketball played by overhyped stringbeans, making too much money!
“The NBA is flawed, run by a commisssioner who closes his eyes to cheating refs, becasue he likes it that way!
It is boring basketball played by overhyped stringbeans, making too much money!”
I couldn’t agree more. I’ll add that nobody in the NBA enforces the basic rules of basketball except at random intervals. Players routinely carry the ball when “dribbling” down court. Players routinely travel when driving to the hoop. Then, every once in awhile, when it’s least expected, a ref will whistle one of these routine violations that he’s been letting slide all night, and it changes the course of the game.
Bah! Humbug! I’d rather watch something that admits it’s rigged, like “rasslin’.”
Berry,
It appears that your prediction of the Lakers in 5 like you thought last friday has gone up in flames. I don’t know what it is but the Celtics have the Lakers number. I’m not going to guarantee a win for the C’s on Sunday but this series will not go beyond 6.