As Lamar Odom said, who would dare speak of even gunning for the spot that Michael Jordan erected over 15 grueling years of greatness?
Clearly, no player would ever say it, but Kobe intends on letting his rings do all the talking for him. The Mamba cares no longer for regular season recognition and accolades. This man is even so good that he has cultivated his innate ability to pace his game throughout the season, reserving his energy and dominance for the most critical games in the playoffs. Wasn’t it just a few weeks ago that Kobe admitted to “playing on one leg”? He subsequently played the best basketball of his career in this year’s Western Conferene Finals.
That is by no means to say that the Mamba does not play at his absolute best or give his best effort all season long, but rather, he has reached a point in his career where he is able to harness the best out of his teammates. He does not have to score 30 to 40 points every night for his team to win games.
As Phil Jackson stated during The Association, “Leaders have to be able to serve and that’s one of the things Kobe has learned. That’s always been the mark of a star, how much better can he make his other players, not how great he is himself.”
The Great One has realized full well that he cannot achieve the level of greatness that he so voraciously seeks, without pushing his teammates to join him in their own chase for supremacy.
NBA championships will always be won by the better team in the final series and it’s not always about talent or skill, but rather the will to win. If a player cannot be inspired by the intensity and heart of a Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan, they have no business sharing the court with them in the same jersey.
Kobe’s path to authoring another historic chapter in his individual and team legacy will have to run through the 2008 champion Boston Celtics – as he says, “They’re in the way.” They are the road block to his fifth NBA championship, the Lakers’ 16th and his first against the franchise’s most loathed opponent. As much as this Finals represents his own individual destiny towards basketball immortality, it’s also very much about determining his final place in Lakers history as his career crawls ever so closer to the sunset.
The shoes that most would cower away from walking within, have never been too big for Kobe Bryant.