.....23, 24

There are few players in today’s NBA that I would confidently label as “winners.” The type of player that thrives off success, and has a level of focus above and beyond. The type of drive that Mike had, and the focus that fuels Tiger on the fairway. Such players are few and far between. In a league dominated by money and a win-now-or-never attitude, such a player is able to rise above the distractions and concentrate solely on winning. These players have an insatiable drive to succeed, and such a drive has not been seen since number 23 hung up his Bulls jersey for good (Let’s not talk about those seasons in Washington). Well, a player who exemplifies all of the qualities that Mike embodied has finally emerged, after being on the brink of legendary status for the better part of the past decade. Consider this article my apology to Kobe Bryant, and my reluctant acceptance of him as the closest thing we may ever see to Mike, and as one of the all-time greats.

Sure, I knew Kobe was good, and I accepted the fact that he was a future hall-of-famer, but I never agreed with the crowd who seemed so ready and willing to anoint him as the next great basketball God. I quickly pointed to his lack of trophies without Shaq, or his paltry collection of MVP awards, or even the fact that he molded so much of his game after Jordan, but would always just be a shadow on the ground cast by the great one. As soon as he leads a team to a title, I said, then I would be willing to discuss 24’s place behind his predecessor, both in number and legacy. I felt that Kobe’s window had passed, and that the League now belonged to a new number 23, one oft-referred to as “The King.” I believed that Kobe would take his three rings and begin to fade into the basketball history books like the rest of his contemporaries from the 90’s. However, just as I began to embrace this year’s postseason as LeBron’s coming out party and a golden-paved road to his first championship, something strange happened; Kobe wasn’t ready to give up. He wasn’t ready to hand the keys to the League over to his Nike commercial puppet pal just yet. Simply, he would not accept his legacy as reading, “an all-time great.” He wanted to make sure directly under his name it would say, “the all-time great,” and by showing a focus and determination not seen by basketball fans since MJ hit that jumper over Byron Russell, he did exactly that by leading the Lakers to another NBA Championship. He put on an unparalleled performance throughout the playoffs, not showing the slightest bit of satisfaction until the trophy, his trophy, was placed in his hands. Although other players might rejoice after gaining a 3-1 edge in the Finals, Kobe saw no reason to celebrate as he worked tirelessly to achieve his goal. He became an island; no phone calls, no socializing, nothing. Not until his job was done. And only once he had completed his goal, once he put the Lakers 2009 Champions hat on after game 5, did he allow a smile to creep onto his face, a face that had been largely occupied by a piercing-eyed scowl since mid-April.

The joy of winning was never clearer to me than it was as I watched Kobe jump up and down, carelessly grabbing teammates and screaming at the top of his lungs at the end of game 5. He looked as though the weight of the world had just been lifted off of his shoulders, and in a way, as he addressed in a later interview; it was. “It feels like I got a big old monkey off my back,” Kobe chuckled in response to a question asking how it felt to finally win a title without his old seven-foot running-mate. Winning four titles puts you in rare-air in the basketball world, and it is safe to say no one worked harder to achieve a title, and there is no more deserving player in the NBA to hoist this year’s Championship trophy, just as there is no player more deserving to have his name mentioned in the same sentence as Michael, Magic, and Larry. But, if this year’s playoffs were any indication, Kobe is far from done writing his legacy, and we can be sure that he won’t spend too much time celebrating this victory, before he begins preparation to do it all again next season.