He has never admitted it, but I’ve always felt that Kobe Bryant switched his uniform to No. 24 so he could be, if you will, one “above” Michael Jordan.
No. 23 has six NBA titles, of course, and Bryant now has five after Thursday’s thrilling Game 7 win against those hated Celtics. But the where-does-Kobe-rank debate is a multifaceted one; this ain’t Ginger or Mary Anne.
For one, with the five rings, Kobe has now tied Magic Johnson. Is Bryant the greatest Laker of all time?
And while that debate simmers, let’s assume that the 2010-11 Lakers win the championship again. With six rings, is Kobe the greatest NBA player of all time? Is he “tied” with Jordan? Or — and this where it gets tricky — does Shaquille O’Neal’s presence on the first three Kobe title teams decrease the weight of Kobe’s first three rings?
Jordan had Scottie Pippen, a legendary player in his own right, but there was never any question whose team it was, Jud Buechler notwithstanding.
And for the Lakers in the early 2000s, Shaq was at his best, dominating the opposing posts as if they were Emily Post. The Shaq-Kobe Lakers won the title in 1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2001-02, and in those three seasons, Shaq won the MVP once and twice finished third. So, yeah, we’ll acknowledge Bryant as playing the “Robin” role, sure. But as time has elapsed, I think some sports fans have forgotten Kobe’s role on those title teams.
In the postseason in 2000, the 21-year-old Bryant averaged 21.1 points, along with 4.5 rebounds and 4.4 assists. Not “Batman,” but not bad at all.
And then the next postseason, “Robin” averaged 29.4 points per game. Oh, and also 7.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists. No, he might not have been the best player on his team, but consider that the current Lakers have Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Ron Artest, Andrew Bynum and Derek Fisher, and on that 2000-01 Lakers team the third-leading scorer was, yep, Derek Fisher. In other words, Kobe didn’t just stumble into any rings.
For good measure, Kobe averaged 26.6 points in the playoffs for that third title team, the one that swept New Jersey in 2002 (and in the “true” title game that season — Game 7 of the conference finals against stacked Sacramento — Kobe had 30 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and nary a turnover).
Debating sports greats makes sports great. And when it comes to Kobe-Michael, there is so much to fuel the fire.
• If Jordan didn’t leave to play baseball, would he have won eight titles?
• If he didn’t leave to play baseball, would the Bulls have been able to shut down Hakeem Olajuwon in the low post?
• Jordan was 6-0 in NBA Finals, whereas Bryant has already lost in 2004 (Pistons) and 2008 (Celtics).
• Kobe got a “head start” because he came out of high school. So what if player development also happened faster back in Jordan’s day — and he went pro earlier?
• On the flip side, could Kobe’s body break down sooner than Jordan’s did?
But when debating No. 23 and No. 24, don’t forget that Kobe’s previous No. 8 was pretty darn good too.
Nuggets update.
Denver doesn’t have a pick in Thursday’s NBA draft, but the team is preparing as if it does, with Mark Warkentien and Rex Chapman analyzing players and making trips this last month to scout amateur talent. Both front-office folks have contracts up at the end of the summer, and it appears both will be on board through the draft at least. Executives from Kroenke Sports Enterprises have the difficult task of determining if both — or only one — will be retained for next season.
The Nuggets are bringing in draft prospects for workouts Monday, and it’s possible Denver could try to make a move into this draft. Coach George Karl has previously said he would like to see Denver get another low-post player, and there is some good talent in the top of this draft. But the Nuggets don’t have many commodities to trade, and to get a lottery pick, they might have to deal Ty Lawson or J.R. Smith, two key rotation players on last season’s squad. Should be an interesting week.
