Only haters would even suggest the ludicrous notion that Kobe is minutely afraid of the new “Voltron” team in the East. There’s a reason why Mamba would never even consider hopping aboard some super team to win a championship.
He is the ultimate competitor.
I have the utmost confidence that if anything, Kobe is salivating at the new challenge that has now been ushered his way. Since Shaq’s departure, the challenge was to win a title as the leader of the Lakers. Last year, the task was to repeat by defeating our arch rival, the Boston Celtics. This year, if the chips fall into place and if it is dictated by the basketball gods as such, he will have to lead his defending champion squad to victory over the Miami Heat and of course, cement his legacy against MJ’s.
That’s what makes players like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant a once-in-a-lifetime type of player. They both relish constant challenges on the road to winning multiple titles. It’s what drives them, keeps their hunger fresh and vociferous year in and year out. It’s not about their dazzling talent and skill level, but that unrelenting inferno of desire that burns within them to be the best.
While many consider Mamba’s persona on camera to be crafted and a false representation of who he “really is”, he does not play into war of words and mind games because he knows that the only thing that means anything is what happens on the court.
You could even say that Kobe is more so the one issuing a challenge along the lines of, “come and get me… if you can”. Obviously, every year is different and the Lakers are by no means, a complete lock to come out of the West because that is the nature of the game of basketball. There is far too much work to be done before all is said and done and with upstart threats like the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team that required a buzzer beating tip-in by Pau for us to defeat, anything can happen, good or bad.
Still, the potential scenario of a Lakers-Heat matchup in the NBA Finals is not only going to be for Mamba’s sixth ring, but also, a chance to make an early case for putting his legacy one notch ahead of MJ’s.
I’m never one to mince words so I’m not going to start now. If the mega matchup between Kobe’s Lakers and the Super Trio’s Heat actually does occur and we come out on top, The Black Mamba surpasses MJ in my book, without question.
Beating a team that has LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, all of whom are perennial All-Stars in their prime, is more than enough to give Kobe that oh so very slight edge over Jordan.
But like I said, we can only wait and see if it is the will of the basketball gods for such an NBA Finals to transpire next June.
For now, everyone is looking up at Kobe Bryant.
