22 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 4 turnovers. That was it. No awe-inspiring dunks, no crowd-quieting fadeaways, no last-second jumpers, and no patented one-man scoring runs. Just referee complaints, utter disbelief, and visible disappointment. On a Boston night when his team could most use the killer instinct from the self-proclaimed “Black Mamba”, it was left out in L.A, probably somewhere near the Lakers’ pride, heart, and defense they forgot to pack. There was a title on the line last night and the Celtics knew it, but somehow the Lakers never got the memo. After every “expert” picked Kobe to propel his team to their first post-Shaq championship, here we are, 2 weeks later, and into another offseason 24 goes, missing that same Shaq whose flight out of L.A.X his black card probably paid for.
Remember all the pre-Finals talk about which iconic shooting guard was better – Kobe or Jordan? Well that’s died down a bit over the last 12 hours, but, don’t worry, soon enough some journalist, trying to get attention, will claim that 24 is indeed better than 23. Do me a favor- when that article comes out, don’t even read it. Last night, Kobe’s Lakers lost by 39 points in a decisive NBA Finals game. 39 points! That was, as it turns out, the 2nd worse loss in Finals history (of course, the largest was given by Jordan to the '98 Jazz), making even more history for the team whose Game 4 efforts already gave them ownership of the record for biggest blown-lead in Finals history.
Can you imagine Michael Jordan sitting on the sidelines, towel over his head, watching a Gatorade shower for the opposing coach? Can you imagine his Airness scoring only 3 points on 3 technical free throws in 20 minutes because James Posey’s defense was too good? Neither can I.
Don’t get me wrong. Kobe’s the best player on Earth and it’s not even close. He’s an all-time great and, far and away, the best player SINCE Jordan. But can we stop the Kobe/MJ talk now? Forever?
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4 comments:
Jamal Salmon phrases his insightful comments in clever and interesting ways reminiscent of Robert "Scoop" Jackson from SLAM Magazine
Good Writing, Kobe let me down=/, accually he was a huge dissapointment. . . I guess we all have off days, and in his case off weeks lmao. This is one if the finals that will never be forgotten.
I liked it--except for the Kobe hating. But some of the sentences were a little awkward. Try to avoid the adverb phrases because they kind of make it hard to read. Other than that, I found it interesting. Didn't know you were trying to be the next Stephen A. Smith.
well lids, i thought we were commenting on the content, not on the grammar, syntax, and sentence structure. but what could you expect from a die-hard kobe fan. kobe indeed was the let down of the series, along with the tissue paper soft play of Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol. It seems playing well alongside kobe is a talent only one man possesses. more importantly, kobe, the greatest player of this decade, does pale in comparison to the greatest player of the last. jordan had kobes talent, shaqs dominance, and lebron's stats. please, respect the predecessors and don't compare the rest to best
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