While the NBA Finals were not nearly as entertaining as the conference finals, I think you may have seen a shift.
There have been many knocks on Kobe (this is the best breakdown of most anti-Kobe sentiment) but my main one has been the fact that Jordan had that sense of inevitability that he was going to win. You didn't know how he was going to do it - whether he would drive to the bucket and pull up, pass to a wide open white guy or make the defensive play to seal the game. You just knew that he was going to do it.
Kobe may finally developed this quality. I say may, because he needs to do it again next year to prove the point. Most of the sports cogniscenti has Kobe in the Top 15, best ever. Obviously, he needs to get six rings to even be in the conversation with MJ. He needs one more to tie him with Magic, and he squandered two good shots to get rings in 04 vs. the Pistons and last year when they cakewalked to the Finals and got ambushed by the Celtics.
The other quality Jordan had, that no one else in the league may ever get, is the fact that he didn't let anyone else win. All time great players lack rings purely because of him. Patrick Ewing, Gary Payton, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton. He never let anyone else win. Kobe let Chauncey out-big shot him in 2004, he let KG and Paul Pierce run roughshod over his group. (By the way, wouldn't be fun to see this year's Lakers vs. last year's healthy Celtics - I'll take the Lake Show in seven, brutal games). Once Jordan figured out how to win - he did. He never let go, never let up. Except for that foray into baseball. Can you really blame him for that, though? He had truly mastered his craft, defeated the best athletes in the game, why wouldn't he go see if he can't dominate another sport? After he realized that choice was a mistake, he came back for a late season run with his former team and rebuilt the dynasty with Luc Longley at center.
Michael never let anyone else win. Magic and Bird traded titles throughout the eighties. His dominance over the sport is something we probably never will see again.
Kobe may not dominate the league as MJ did. The best athletes in the world play basketball. When MJ played, it was not as world wide as the NBA is now. I think if Kobe can muster up two more titles, his name belongs in the conversation with Jordan, simply because he will have to be Jordan-esque to accomplish the feat. Keep in mind, that as it stands now, Kobe is doing it without a Hall of Fame running mate. I don't know if Gasol will develop into a true Hall of Fame center and the jury is still out on what Bynum is even capable of. You could argue that Kobe's crew is less talented than any of Jordan's teams. But Jordan always had Pippen alongside him. It's clear Odom will not be Kobe's Pippen. While his Lakers are definitely more athletic than most of MJ's title teams, he is playing against a tougher field of candidates and in a much more closely watched fishbowl than even the Beatles-esque Bulls teams existed in. It is amazing, but I can't wait to see how much more amazing Kobe can be.
laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
