What Title Number Five Means For Kobe
How is it possible for Ron Ron's first ring to do way more for his image than Kobe's fifth?
- Kobe Bryant is not the greatest Laker of all-time. No way. No how. Being tied with Magic Johnson in titles looks great on a resume, but the reality is Magic still wears that crown. That’s not a slight to Kobe, who I think is the best player on the planet today. It’s a testament to Magic, who earned his five titles by doing it all on the court and being the unquestioned leader against more talented teams in a more physical league. Magic was tested more against mightier men and never abandoned his teammates in times of adversity. And for the very same reasons, Bryant will not succeed Michael Jordan as the greatest of all time if, and likely when, he ties Jordan with title number six.
- People always will have something negative to say about Bryant. He is forever tarnished to many. And when discussing his legacy, naysayers always will point to the fact that three of his titles came as Shaquille O’Neal’s sidekick. And his most recent two have come alongside Pau Gasol, arguably the best offensive big man in the game today. To an extent, the argument is valid. But mostly, it’s baloney. Every multiple champion has had another big-time sidekick. Discrediting Bryant’s greatness because of the greatness of his teams is silly.
- In a Finals series billed as one that would mold legacies, Bryant built on his even after laboring through a bad shooting night. Worse than Bryant’s shooting was his poor decision-making. From the opening tip, Bryant dribbled the air out of the rock and stopped only when he saw an opening for yet another doubly-contested, low-percentage shot. He admitted after the game that he lost himself in the moment, wanting this year’s ‘ship so bad that he pressed. It’s called competitiveness. And that’s about as close as Bryant belongs in any conversation with Jordan. That drive, that kill-at-will mentality, was on display even in his postgame interviews, when he told ESPN’s Hannah Storm and the postgame media mob on separate occasions that this ring is sweet because it gives him one more than O’Neal. Calling out an old nemesis in such a classless way will only fuel detractors’ animosity for Bryant. But it was reminiscent of Jordan’s highly-criticized Hall of Fame speech, when he singled out everyone who ever slighted him. But it’s that attitude that made Jordan the greatest. And it’s what now has Bryant in the same conversation.
- Game 7 was an absolute classic. Sure, it wasn’t pretty basketball. And there’s no doubt the 83-79 final felt more like the 5A state championship than the world championship. But give me an intense, grind-it-out, rough-and-tough slugfest between two heavyweights refusing to relinquish an inch any day of the week over a defenseless, high-scoring, layup drill and dunk fest. Both teams wanted this title bad. And they proved it by laying everything they had on the line and leaving it all on the court. The Celtics have nothing to be ashamed of.
- My only qualm is I wish Kendrick Perkins was available. In a series in which each game was won by the team that won the rebounding battle, the Lakers stole Game 7 in part by bullying Boston on the boards. L.A. won the rebound game 53-40 and watched its 23 offensive rebounds help it overcome a horrid 32.5 percent shooting. But even that storyline contributed to a sensational Game 7, because despite those jaw-dropping digits the Cs still managed to build a 13-point lead, adding suspense to this season’s final chapter.
- Boston was a scrappy bunch playing inspired ball in the absence of Perkins. Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace did an excellent job defensively on Pau Gasol early, making his shots tough all night and eventually blocking at least three of Gasol’s shots. Ray Allen played some of the best defense of his life against Bryant, and Boston had a terrific game plan to throw second and third defenders Bryant’s way so he couldn’t get a clean look at the basket. Between Boston’s defense and Bryant’s impatience the Celtics got more than even they perhaps thought possible — a 6-for-24 shooting performance. At the start of the fourth quarter, analyst Mark Jackson said he was betting on greatness and it was only a matter of time before Bryant got it going. I never saw it that way. Boston’s D was smothering.
- Suddenly, Ron Artest is a fun-loving, family man. And the player Phil Jackson called the MVP of the clinching game. After a roller-coaster regular season in his first year in L.A., Artest earned his first title by digging in on defense, securing several steals and breaking out of his offensive funk with big buckets. When Bryant bricked shot after shot, it was Artest who picked up the slack. When the Lakers needed a stop, Artest provided it. Artest finished with 20 points, five rebounds and five steals, and somehow that whole malice in The Palace is slipping into distant memory territory.
- Score one for Gasol’s legacy, too. When the Lakers lost the title in 2008, many blamed it on the 7-footer and labeled him soft only before writing him off. Even an inspired showing in last year’s Finals against Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic didn’t exonerate Gasol. He would have to rise to the occasion against the big, bad Celtics. And that he did, shaking off his own poor shooting night to net 19 points while pulling down 15 rebounds Thursday’s title clincher.
- Now somebody on that Lakers staff spend some time with Gasol about forcing his man middle instead of providing a direct lane to the basket on baseline drives. How many times did KG blow by him baseline? Three? Four? I understand using the end line as another defender, but Gasol never forced Garnett that direction.
- For all the talk from Boston about how one title doesn’t get you mentioned among the great Celtics teams, this loss is devastating for Boston. It appears this was this group’s last shot at a title. Allen is a free agent this summer and Wallace could retire. Garnett and Pierce naturally will lose another step next season and become more ineffective as they accumulate more miles. This three-year Celtics run puts into perspective how elusive a championship can be. Just think, we could be talking about three straight titles for Boston and the latest Celtics dynasty. And all that prevented it was an ailing Garnett in 2009 and a fluke injury to Perkins in Game 6 in this year’s Finals. As Celtics coach Doc Rivers said, “We’ve still never really gotten a chance to defend our title.”
- There were three huge plays down the stretch that helped the Lakers seal the win, and Gasol’s offensive rebound of Bryant’s missed 3-pointer was one of them. It was strangely similar to the offensive board he corralled to close out the Thunder in Game 6 inside the Ford Center, only a putback wasn’t needed Thursday. The other two moments were Artest’s 3-pointer with a minute remaining and Sasha Vujacic’s two free throws inside the final 15 seconds.
- Rivers said that Game 7 would come down to trust and execution and the team that questioned those two keys at some point in the game would lose. Give Derek Fisher the award for delivering the blow that first put doubt into the Cs’ minds. Fisher’s left-wing, high-arching, game-tying 3-pointer midway through the fourth gave L.A. new life. That shot capped a 19-10 run, and the Lakers never lost the lead after going ahead 66-64 on a pair of free throws by Bryant.
-DM-
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Comments
When you say talent is spread out, you are incorrect, not all teams can spend above the luxury tax line. Every year there are only few teams with championship roster, rest of the league is overmatched. In early days there were fewer teams and players salary were lower percentage of cash flow so teams were talented and more competitive. Is it not correct that lakers spent 100 million for this roster, most in the league. It is called professional sports for a reason, check into how yankees are the biggest winner in professional sports, now the college sports is going the same way. One thing is for sure, not all money is made equal and lakers and celtics use smart money, in some ways it is similar to the game of monopoly.
Congrats to lakers, specially ron artest on his long wait and sweet success. Congrats to Boston for their teamwork and fight against overmatched opponents, specially doc rivers who out coached his smug opponent, biggest front runner of them all. As for the fans, shed some tears for the best player from los angeles, paul pierce. Kobe was great through playoffs, congrats on five.
One thing I hate about media coverage is that inordinate amount of time is spent on one person instead of the team and how the game was played, I guess it is the force of the casual fan which is forcing their hand. NBA is probably the best at showcasing the one when the parts make it oh so fun! I always want to know if the one himself is caught in his own hype to the extent of the fans, who are victims of their own fanaticism, as is their fate accompli. In the end these mercenaries for hire are brothers to the end,
game will miss you rasheed, don’t retire.
To the nba, pass the new cba, may we see more cities enjoy a championship.
It will also reduce the ticket price for the lakers games and nba as obama suggested. I heard average seats were for 2 grand. Given that per capita income of LA is less than that of oklahoma city, it is criminal.
To finish , if you can’t tell who I support, then you get my point. End to the rioting going on in east LA.
[...] Darnell Mayberry on Kobe’s new legacy: “People always will have something negative to say about Bryant. He is forever tarnished to many. And when discussing his legacy, naysayers always will point to the fact that three of his titles came as Shaquille O’Neal’s sidekick. And his most recent two have come alongside Pau Gasol, arguably the best offensive big man in the game today. To an extent, the argument is valid. But mostly, it’s baloney. Every multiple champion has had another big-time sidekick. Discrediting Bryant’s greatness because of the greatness of his teams is silly.” [...]
In Kobe’s first 3 titles, Shaquille O’Neal was indeed the franchise player of the team, and Kobe Bryant was just Shaq’s sidekick, there is no getting around it. In the 2000, 2001, and 2002 NBA Finals, the Lakers were the champs, and Shaq was the MVP. There is nothing to say otherwise. Scottie Pippen doesn’t brag that he was a 6-championship winner, and neither does Kobe.
Couple of things: 1)I agree that Magic is still the greatest Laker, and that he won his championships against better competition in the Finals (the Sixers, Celtics, & Pistons of the 80s) than Kobe has the past decade. I disagree that the league was more physical in the 80s. There weren’t any 83-79 games between Magic’s Lakers and Bird’s Celtics, and good shots were much easier to come by for each team back then. Partially because they were more skilled offensively than today’s versions? Yes. But partially because they didn’t pound away at each other on the defensive end like today’s counterparts do.
2) The Perkins excuse is bogus. The Lakers haven’t had the luxury of a playing with a healthy starting center in so much as a SINGLE PLAYOFF GAME over the past THREE SEASONS, because Andrew Bynum has either been hobbling around on a bum knee or not available at all at the end of each year. Give Boston a healthy Perkins in Game Seven, and give L.A. the healthy version of Bynum that averaged 15 & 8 during the regular season, and the Lakers win going away.
Mike M., Perkins excuse is not entirely off base. I agree that bynum is better than perkins. The best benefit with perkins is not perkins himself so much, but the fact that you can give more rest to your aging and injured frontline. We saw how talented kg and rasheed are, rasheed took pau’s lunch money in the first half. But between extended minutes of play and rasheed’s back and kgs knee they didn’t have enough left defensively to clog the lanes to stop lakers march to the free throw. nba playoffs are like war of attrition, and the healthiest team wins out in the end.
[...] from ’96 to ’98, tallying six rings. Not to be out-done, Bryant led the Lake show to one three-peat (2000-2002), and then back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010, chalking up five rings. The advantage here goes to Michael again, but this category is the only [...]
Kobe will be the greatest laker when it’s all said and done. Magic knows it as well. Magic played against better teams, but he also played with a roster full of hall of famers who you can easily trust. It’s very easy to lead when you are running an all-star roster. Different times.. now, it’s a salary cap forced league with talent spread out.. Talent wise, work ethic wise, Kobe is there. Just needs a few more accomplishments to his resume..