For as much flak as LeBron James has endured in the last few months, the picture that has been painted by his decision to take his talent to South Beach is glaringly clear: the Miami Heat’s Super Trio is looking to dethrone The Black Mamba from his perch atop the NBA because as things stand, the Lakers are still the team to beat.
We all know that Kobe often petrifies his opponents with his killer instinct in crunch time, but that fear is only magnified tenfold if you surround him with an abundance of talent as is the current state of the 2010-2011 Lakers team.
It’s not completely ridiculous to think that Kobe’s resurgence to the “top of the mountain” as he likes to call it, didn’t make the prospect of winning a title that much more daunting for James, Wade and Bosh, as the lone superstars of the Cavs, Heat and Raptors, respectively.
While there are other legitimate title contenders such as the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic, the fact of the matter is that the members of Beantown’s Big Three are playing through the twilight of their careers and Orlando still has much to prove in order to reach the Larry O’Brien summit.
My point is, the Lakers are not going to back down whatsoever with back-to-back titles in tow and a potential dynasty at stake. Oh and by the way, repeating as NBA champs is a feat that has not been achieved since 2001, when it was… well, the Lakers.
All great players in professional sports understand that the key to untouchable and immortal legacies are built on the number of titles won during their careers. Kobe is one away from tying Michael Jordan’s six rings while the Super Trio in Miami has one combined championship on their resumes.
Having teamed up now though, James, Wade and Bosh are all in a much stronger position to add the hardware that matters most to their mantels and take down The Black Mamba.
Now all that remains to be seen is how far they can go together.
NEXT: Kobe at the top
Kobe’s rise to greatness obviously began very early on with three consecutive championships all before the age of 25. Bear in mind that Michael Jordan didn’t win his first ring until the age of 29 and he won his sixth at 35 years old. So here we are, a couple of months away from the 2010-2011 season with Mamba at age 32 and enough rings to cover one full hand.
Well, that’s assuming that he can even fit one onto that mangled index finger of his.
While Jordan didn’t ever have nearly as many haters and critics as Kobe, there is no question that Mamba is as close as you’re going to get to a modern day MJ. His legacy as one of the game’s best to have ever laced up a fresh pair of sneakers perhaps invades regions of the world that Jordan never has, given the wealth of information and exposure available today through the Internet. Simply put, Kobe is king – the real king.
The scoring titles, 81 points in a single game, 62 points at the Garden, his ridiculous rampage of reeling off 40 and 50-point games like he was on the court all alone, pale in comparison to his five rings and being the student of the game that he is, Mamba will be the first to tell you that.
Despite Kobe’s individual greatness, we all know full well and acknowledge the fact that Pau Gasol’s presence in L.A. immediately morphed the Lakers’ identity from playoff team to bona fide championship contender back in 2008. Even though the team was playing very well with Andrew Bynum dominating in the post, once his knee gave out, the acquisition of Gasol was the only assurance we all had that Kobe was going to have affirmed belief that the organization was finally fulfilling its promise of building a legitimate title contender.
Every head coach and general manager in the NBA outside of the Lakers undoubtedly perceived the trade as a joke and had embittered sentiments while only a few publicly expressed their opinions. Regardless, how do you think that trade made LeBron and Wade in particular feel? Even they couldn’t have been happy about the fact that Kobe, the best player in the game, wasn’t “going into battle with butter knives” any longer.
Had it not been for Boston’s exceptional defense in 2008 that completely shut the Lakers down, we’d be sitting here talking about Mamba’s potential overtaking of Jordan’s ring count instead of it being tied. Mitch Kupchak has masterfully built a championship team that has the ability to become a dynasty despite the fact that even our window to win will close much sooner than later as well, especially with Phil Jackson’s imminent retirement.
The Super Trio in Miami knows this, but they also know that they themselves are aging and their skills slowly diminishing with each fruitless season that passes them by. The threat of losing even more years to a new Lakers dynasty had to have played a role in their unprecedented decision to combine forces in hopes of conquering all of their individual demons in one fell swoop.
NEXT: BRING IT
Only haters would even suggest the ludicrous notion that Kobe is minutely afraid of the new “Voltron” team in the East. There’s a reason why Mamba would never even consider hopping aboard some super team to win a championship.
He is the ultimate competitor.
I have the utmost confidence that if anything, Kobe is salivating at the new challenge that has now been ushered his way. Since Shaq’s departure, the challenge was to win a title as the leader of the Lakers. Last year, the task was to repeat by defeating our arch rival, the Boston Celtics. This year, if the chips fall into place and if it is dictated by the basketball gods as such, he will have to lead his defending champion squad to victory over the Miami Heat and of course, cement his legacy against MJ’s.
That’s what makes players like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant a once-in-a-lifetime type of player. They both relish constant challenges on the road to winning multiple titles. It’s what drives them, keeps their hunger fresh and vociferous year in and year out. It’s not about their dazzling talent and skill level, but that unrelenting inferno of desire that burns within them to be the best.
While many consider Mamba’s persona on camera to be crafted and a false representation of who he “really is”, he does not play into war of words and mind games because he knows that the only thing that means anything is what happens on the court.
You could even say that Kobe is more so the one issuing a challenge along the lines of, “come and get me… if you can”. Obviously, every year is different and the Lakers are by no means, a complete lock to come out of the West because that is the nature of the game of basketball. There is far too much work to be done before all is said and done and with upstart threats like the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team that required a buzzer beating tip-in by Pau for us to defeat, anything can happen, good or bad.
Still, the potential scenario of a Lakers-Heat matchup in the NBA Finals is not only going to be for Mamba’s sixth ring, but also, a chance to make an early case for putting his legacy one notch ahead of MJ’s.
I’m never one to mince words so I’m not going to start now. If the mega matchup between Kobe’s Lakers and the Super Trio’s Heat actually does occur and we come out on top, The Black Mamba surpasses MJ in my book, without question.
Beating a team that has LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, all of whom are perennial All-Stars in their prime, is more than enough to give Kobe that oh so very slight edge over Jordan.
But like I said, we can only wait and see if it is the will of the basketball gods for such an NBA Finals to transpire next June.
For now, everyone is looking up at Kobe Bryant.