Love him.
In the Lakers recent game against the Heat, Bryant took 21 shots to reach 24 points, mirroring his performance from last year’s NBA Finals Game 7, and once again revealing Bryant’s penchant for going one on five, and in the process shooting his team out of the game.
Love him not.
Since the All-Star break, Bryant has averaged close to 25 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game, including wins over Portland (2), Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Phoenix, Atlanta, Dallas, and Orlando and serving notice to the rest of the league that the champs have finally awoken.
Love him.
In a game that Miami desperately needed to win, but one that Laker fans had been begging for since the Christmas Day massacre, Bryant shot a woeful 8-for-21, logged only two rebounds and two assists for the game, and was at the center of every bad Laker possession down the stretch.
Love him not.
There were no tears, though, and no excuses. What there was, however, was a post-game workout inside an empty American Airlines Arena that lasted well into the midnight hour… penance for a poor performance, a promise to be better next time, and a reminder of all of the lengths this man is willing to go to ensure that he’s the last one standing in June.
Love him.
Unfortunately, there aren’t enough petals on the daisy to count all of the ways we love him and love him not. Bryant’s unwavering confidence in his own ability to carry the team despite any and all obstacles, and to hit any shot regardless of the degree of difficulty, is not only admirable; it’s also what has made him the best of his generation and in the conversation with the best ever.
Sometimes, though, it’s also the reason for his undoing.
Next: A Thin Line Betweeen Love and Hate
I, myself, lie somewhere in between. For, as much as I love Bryant and all that he has helped the Lakers accomplish, I cannot help but ignore the fact that I love the game more.
I’ve always felt that there was a right way and a wrong way to play the game. When Bryant plays the right way, there are few who have done it better. When he plays the wrong way, however, it’s quite a different story.
Let’s take the recent game against Miami as an example.
Early in the game, we had every reason to love Bryant. As has happened too many times in the past, the Lakers big men shrunk in the face of another big game. Both Bynum and Gasol started the game tentatively and ineffectively; and Bryant responded by scoring the Lakers first ten points. He kept the game close, and carried his team the way a star should.
Bynum’s lone rebound in the first half was an obvious sign that he was set for an off night. And if that alone wasn’t cause for concern, than seeing Mike Miller out-rebound both Gasol and Odom for second chance points certainly had to be.
Keep in mind, much of the Lakers recent resurgence has been due to Bynum’s willingness to channel his inner Bill Russell on the defensive end, and on Gasol’s increased determination to attack the basket, at the other.
Neither of which occurred much against the Heat.
That Bryant is always up and ready to go for the biggest games, even when most of his teammates are not, is just one of the reasons why we love him. But there was also a point at which the Lakers size finally began to take its toll.
Yet, despite this and shooting 38% for the game, Bryant refused to take his foot off the pedal.
With the game tied and two and a half minutes remaining, Bryant decided he would win this game on his own. The next five Laker possessions belonged to Bryant and resulted in zero points, two turnovers and three wild attempts from three-point land; one, seemingly from just inside of half court, was taken with the game tied and about one minute still left on the clock!
Five consecutive trips that resulted in turnovers or shots from beyond the arc. Hard as I try, I just can’t love that.
As he did against Oklahoma City just a week prior, Bryant decided the last two minutes of the game were his alone. Against the Thunder, Bryant made just one attempt in five consecutive tries in the last two minutes. Fortunately, the Laker defense was able to keep the Thunder at bay and they escaped that game with a narrow victory on the road.
Against the Heat, they weren’t so lucky.
Combine those numbers with the fact that the Lakers shot a miserable 29% (12-for-41) in the second half and it’s easy to see the true reason for the Lakers only loss in the past twelve games.
Thanks to the Heat’s recent struggles, though, the idea of what it is to be a “closer,” has been a trending topic in the NBA. Fortunately for the Lakers there’s no question that their closer is and should be Bryant.
What should be questioned, however, is how he goes about closing.
What the Lakers need from Bryant in the closing minutes is precision and timing, not hero shots.
Those last second heaves from downtown should be saved for when the team has no other option. In fact, I’m proposing the Lakers take those shots and place them inside a glass box near the bench with a sign that reads “In Case of Emergency Only, Break Glass.”
This is not the Bryant of 2006-07 who could put up 81 points in a single game, or outscore an entire team by himself through three quarters of play as he once did against the Dallas Mavericks (Kobe 62, Dallas 61).
This Kobe is older. This Kobe has lost a step. More importantly, this Kobe has options.
These Lakers can win without needing big scoring outbursts from Bryant as they did recently in OKC and Dallas, with Bryant going 8-for-22 and 6-for-20, respectively.
Incessant reliance on Bryant’s scoring is not the secret to this team’s success. In fact, you could even argue that the more Bryant shoots, the worse off the Lakers are. The simple reason being, that the more attempts Bryant takes, the less the ball goes inside and takes advantage of the Lakers greatest strength: its size.
When commenting on the prospect of not having Bryant following his ankle injury against Dallas and on what the team does better without Bryant in the lineup, Phil Jackson revealingly said, “Run our offense, simple as that.”
Kobe can still go for big games, as he did scoring 37 in Portland. A few nights later he scored 42 against the Phoenix Suns.
And, he can still carry this team for short stretches, as he did at home against Portland, making five of his last eight attempts and carrying the Bynum-less Lakers through to a tough fourth quarter win.
But having a balanced attack and taking advantage of the Lakers size inside is the formula this team needs to follow if it’s serious about a three-peat. And, if they would just run their offense for the first 47 minutes of the game, they would be less reliant on Bryant in the 48th.
In other words, with over two minutes remaining in multiple games this season Bryant has broken the glass and unnecessarily brought out the hero shots and it has cost his team games.
This is the Bryant we love to hate.
But at this point, the Lakers are much more effective, and he, much more dangerous, when he becomes just another option in the offense, as opposed to the only option. He needs to let the offense run until that last shot is absolutely needed. Then, like the Black Mamba persona he has adopted, Bryant will find he is much more potent when hiding in the grass, and attacking just in time to deliver the final blow.
As Bryant nears the end of his career you have to wonder if he’s more concerned with chasing his legacy than with making the right play. Only time will tell if he ever gets that career-defining, Polaroid-perfect, last shot as Jordan did against the Jazz. More importantly, those moments can’t be scripted, they either happen, or they don’t.
In last year’s Game 7 against Boston, you could see Bryant pressing it in the first half. His shot had abandoned him, but he was determined to make it his moment. In the process, he had nearly cost his team the game.
But in the second half, Bryant let go and made it a point to contribute anyway he could. By doing so, he allowed the game to come to him. He fought and wrestled and pulled down 15 big rebounds (second only to Gasol’s 18) and he scraped and clawed and finished the game with ten big fourth quarter points.
In a nutshell, that game was a small sample of Bryant’s entire career.
We love him.
We love him not.
In a career defined by greatness, by falling from grace and by climbing to the top once more, the fact remains that Kobe Bryant remains one of the most loved and hated athletes ever. With each passing game, his performances add fuel to each side’s argument. But, with each passing ring, the topic becomes harder and harder to argue.
Which side you end up choosing is up to you, but I still have one petal left…..Love him.