During the 2009 NBA playoffs, Shane Battier, one of the top defenders in the league was given the task of bringing Bryant’s offense to a screeching halt. The Houston Rockets staff presented Battier with a 40-page manual on how to guard Kobe Bryant that according to Inside the NBA’s Craig Sager, he spent all of his Cinco de Mayo holiday studying in order to decipher every move the Black Mamba had in his arsenal.
In case you’re wondering, Bryant scored 40 points that night.
With all the fuss surrounding Battier’s alleged ability to defend Bryant and possibly limit his damage against the Rockets, what ensued seemed inevitable. How could Kobe back down from that challenge? Perhaps the advanced scouts should’ve added page 41 and suggested Battier be better off indulging in a shot of Patron at El Coyote and calling it a night.
Clearly, Charles Barkley put it best when he said the only person who had a shot at guarding Bryant was “the person you talk to when you get on your damn knees at night.”
Adding insult to injury was Bryant, re-iterating the fact that his familiar foe Battier obviously wasn’t receiving any divine intervention that night and shouted, “He can’t guard me,” to TNT broadcaster Doug Collins during the third quarter.
It’s that attitude that has rubbed people the wrong way throughout Kobe’s career. At times he lacks regard for human feelings and emotions, is often surely and abrasive, even towards his teammates and his manner sometimes arrogant and cocky. Kobe’s killer instincts have made him all the rage among Lakers fans, the envy of opposing fans and the vain in many a team’s existence.
Next: Different than the Rest
Guys like Bryant, you know, the one’s that harness a competitive fire 24/7, are unapologetic when it comes to their decisions and want to know everything about the opposition—including what they had for breakfast—are few and far between.
Think of the other guys in the NBA right now. If more carried even a smidgen of Kobe’s killer instinct DNA, you’d have LeBron James going over the game plan with Derrick Rose in Chicago, instead of shutting down the Miami nightlife and Dwight Howard would be in the gym until the wee hours of the morning learning how to effectively control blocked shots.
Every near impossible shot that Bryant puts up on a nightly basis, falling away, face-guarded and the like he makes not because he’s lucky; at least not entirely. He makes them because of the countless hours he’s put into perfecting every jump shot, spin move, post-up move and crossover. His talent honed and perfected on the hardwood, driven by confidence and fearlessness.
His attention to detail is the reason he enlisted the help of Hakeem Olajuwon last summer to help him develop his game in the post as if his already lethal perimeter game wasn’t enough. In Bryant’s eyes, why be good when you can be great?
Last season the Lakers met young Kevin Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder squad in round one of the playoffs. After sending the series into a two-all tie in game four, basketball analysts quickly proclaimed the Thunder as potential threats to the Lakers back-to-back title hopes.
Not so fast.
All Bryant needed in order to respond to that assumption, was a trip to get excess fluids removed from his knee and it was ready-set-go to take the wind out of Durant’s sails. Don’t even bother watching the whole series, Kobe goes after the Durantula in the third quarter of game six. Knowing the opponent’s weaknesses, as well as their strengths opens up a variety of attack angles for Bryant. Instead of bogging him down defensively, Bryant showed an impressive display of shots around the perimeter that seemingly lulled Durant to sleep, allowing him to go off for 16 of his 32 points in that quarter alone. Really who could blame the then 21-year-old forward for becoming mesmerized by Bryant?
In the end Bryant launched a last-second game-winning shot that sent Oklahoma City packing after an admirably fought first round series. Well, that’s not quite what happened. Bryant did take the last shot, but it rimmed out right into Pau Gasol’s hands for the put back, putting the Lakers up one point with a fraction of a second left to play.
Yes, there are times when Bryant shows flashes of why his name was once synonymous with the verb that’s defined as manifesting concern or care only for oneself, but for the most he’s come to realize the players surrounding him are there to benefit him. Bryant’s new-found willingness to dish the ball to his teammates is a small component of the killer instinct equation. Deliver and you’re in Bryant’s good graces, fail and face the music.
Next: Tough Love
Of course, if you come to play alongside Bryant, don’t forget to wear your thick-skin.
“Kobe jokingly refers to it as Malcom X and Martin Luther King in terms of how we go about balancing [constructive criticism],” said Derek Fisher. “I don’t think it’s necessarily him tearing guys up in a way that’s demeaning or belittling to our guys…just a different style of communicating it.”
If Kobe didn’t attempt to make shots with three defenders running towards him, it wouldn’t be right. Even the absence of Phil Jackson’s, “is he really going to take that shot,” face and subsequent glare towards Bryant after his failed heroic circus-shot, would be missed. Dare to dream that every shot Bryant takes is one aimed at efficiency.
Although he won the 2010 Finals MVP, his abysmal 6-for-24 shooting night is semi-eclipsed by the 15 boards he collected and his aggressiveness going to the basket allowing him to make several trips to the charity stripe.
“Whatever it takes, to win the game, you got to do whatever it takes,” said Bryant after game seven of the 2010 NBA finals. “That’s my job. Sometimes shots aren’t going to fall, but you have to figure something out to try to help your team win.”
Bryant’s love of the game, ambition, relentlessness when it comes to winning is evident when you realize he played 235 straight games, not counting the 2008 Olympic Games, before taking the night off to rest a sore left ankle. Not to mention, he won his fourth championship with a torn ligament in his pinky and his fifth with a broken finger and a bum knee.
It may take a little longer for us all to witness Kobe’s 2010-11 season go underway while he continues to allow his body to heal from knee surgery performed over the summer. When it does happen, he’ll be back in the swing of things, proving his knee did little to hamper his quest at ring number six. Just don’t expect him to admit it.
“I don’t really need any outside motivation to get me going,” Bryant told ESPN.com’s J.A. Adande. “I’m just wired that way…I’m here to win, I’m here to focus and do my job. That’s what I’m going to do.”