Leading up the All Star Break, the Lakers left Laker Nation in complete disarray with an inconceivable defeat to the worse team in the league, the Cavs, which had just lost an NBA record 26 games in a row. Prior to that game the season wasn’t exactly going as a championship run would be expected; however, coming off a road win in Boston and the chance of finishing up a 7 game road trip at 5 and 2, the Lakers had a chance to build some momentum going into the break.
Instead they finished the road trip at 4-3 and on a three game losing streak heading into the break. The devastating loss to the Cavs and disappointing end to the road trip in conjunction with the uninspiring performance up to that point in the season created a perfect storm of doubt for the Lakers.
Questions begin to surface about the make up of the team and the viability of the Lakers chances to win it all this season.
It’s expected that with losing comes questions.
One of the most troubling of those questions centered on Kobe Bryant and whether his abilities have greatly diminished. So far this season, the flashes of the Kobe of old have been few and far between, while an old Kobe has made regular appearances.
We have seen that Kobe is just not getting the same lift on his jump shot which causes him to take more shots with hands in his face.
It has appeared that Kobe has lost a little on that first step which hasn’t allowed him the ability to get past defenders as easily or often as before.
We haven’t seen Kobe lay one of those nasty dunks down on some poor soul this season like he had routinely in the past to the likes of Yao Ming, Dwight Howard and Steve Nash.
While just looking at his numbers this season it would appear that all is well with Kobe. Prior to Tuesday’s Atlanta game, he was 7th in the league in scoring at 25.1 and shooting at .460 which is higher than his career average. Kobe has also been producing right around his career averages in both assists and rebounds despite playing the lowest minutes per game (33.9) since his sophomore season in the league.
Still, Laker fans this season have regularly found themselves prefacing their comments about Kobe with “I remember when” or “back in the day he would’ve.”
So can it be that Kobe’s days above the rim and ankle breaking moves are completely over?
Will Kobe now be relegated to mid range jumpers and getting to the line on crafty veteran moves?
Then about three minutes into the first quarter of Sunday’s All Star game we got our answer…
Next: Positive signs of life in those legs
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr74EVxHCFQ
I wonder if Derrick Rose would agree that Kobe has lost a step, being it was Kobe’s first step that blew by him liked he was nailed to the Staples Center newly stained cherry oak hardwood floor.
Kobe’s lift was enough to have him start on one side of the rim and end on the other with an authoritative two handed slam.
This particular dunk looked eerily similar to those dunks from Kobe back in a time where the ‘fro was flowing and he sported a single digit on his jersey.
Eerily similar might be a stretch, but Kobe’s moment of renewed athletic ability wasn’t too far off.
Kobe wasn’t done putting on a show this past Sunday.
Next: In case you thought it was a fluke…
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBJrjGSG2pw
LeBron probably chased Kobe down the court thinking about how the old man can’t get up anymore and was already counting how many rows up the stands the ball would end up after one of his patented tomahawk swats.
What actually transpired is a two handed flush by Kobe, a full hand of air by LeBron, and a lifetime parting gift in the form of a poster starring James as the posterizee.
So what did we learn this past Sunday about Kobe?
Kobe was in a position to really look old in comparison this past All-Star game when playing along the young, exuberant, and explosive athletes like Russell Westbrook and Derrick Rose. Also, he was going to be playing an up and down exhibition game at a frenetic pace with a guy on his team that the night before jumped a four door sedan. This distressing thought coming in seemed to inspire Kobe.
Bryant stated after that the game that he was fired up by the infusion of all of the young and athletic talent that surrounded him in at the All-Star game. Kobe was quoted as saying, “Just being around so many young players gave me so much energy to see them bouncing around and all that sort of stuff.”
The Kobe we saw this past Sunday was an energized and motivated player that showed that while he might not be the high flying Kobe of yesteryear, he can still dig deep and bring something pretty close in explosiveness when needed.
There is no doubt that in order for the Lakers to have a chance at a third straight championship they will need to have the Kobe of this past Sunday and not the one that we have seen this season thus far. What we learned this Sunday is that Kobe can still get up and has a lot remaining in his tank. We now know that he is merely keeping it in reserve for the right moments, like the long and brutal grind of the post-season when the Lakers will make their historic run at a third straight championship.