WHO’s THE "AIR" APPARENT? KOBE OR LEBRON?

Last weekend, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James clashed in what was billed as a duel between the two best players in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. Wade’s Heat outlasted James’ Cleveland Cavaliers in Miami, 98-92, although James had 47 points to 35 for Wade.
Although both indisputably are great players, it’s probably safe to anoint James as the more spectacular individual. And because James is considered more indispensable to his team than Wade is to his, it seems appropriate to select James as the best single player in his conference.Now that King James has emerged from his Eastern bracket (hey, everything is bracket-related during the month of March), it’s time to pit him against the best of the West.
Kobe Bryant, naturally.
Basketball isn’t supposed to be about individuality. But you’ll notice you don’t see too many Nike commercials featuring all 12 players from an NBA roster, nor will you count an equal number of attractive women in an arena wearing “Nowitzki 41” and “Dampier 25” jerseys. It’s impossible to follow sports and not ponder which players stand out from the pack to form the elite, and which single player rises above that to reign above all others.
Kobe versus LeBron. It isn’t just a one-night stand. It’s a relationship.
Kobe and LeBron probably will be butting heads each season for the foreseeable future in pursuit of Best Player In The Game honors because each is relatively young and has several seasons of dominant play ahead. Kobe is 27, six years older than LeBron, and at some point all that pounding on the hardwood will get to his legs and slowly render him mortal. But that probably won’t happen for four or five more seasons, so the Kobe-LeBron comparison won’t evaporate as a viable topic of barroom arguments anytime soon.
One area in which Bryant is said to have a considerable edge over James is in mental toughness, or more specifically, killer instinct. Kobe is as bloodthirsty on the basketball court as Michael Jordan used to be, and it shows at the end of big games. Much was made of this recently when James himself admitted to ESPN The Magazine that he didn’t think he was as good as Bryant because he doesn’t have the desire to “just kill everybody.”
This is not to be confused with a coach killer, like Stephon Marbury.
But this is all relative. It isn’t as though James hides among the team’s cheerleading squad when an important shot needs to be taken. James is also a clutch performer, it’s just that his fangs aren’t dripping with venom like Bryant.
James has the advantage over Bryant when it comes to team play and all the intangibles it entails. In fairness, it should be noted that since Bryant’s 81-point outburst on Jan. 22, he has appeared more willing to share the rock. Maybe he was embarrassed by the indulgence and therefore made more of a commitment to getting his teammates involved, or maybe he was just exhausted and realized he needed help. Either way, he’s been more inclined to pass and trust his teammates.
But James has always been that way. He is more of a triple-double threat than Bryant, which means he is more likely than Kobe to let the game come to him. Bryant forces his will upon the opposition, with varying degrees of success.
James is also perceived to be the better guy in the locker room. Bryant has improved greatly since his tantrum-a-day routine of two years ago, when he was going through the sexual assault fiasco at the same time he was trying to juggle vendettas against Shaquille O’Neal and Phil Jackson. But there are still times when tensions boil over. In those instances, it’s important for Bryant to command respect rather than simply dispense his displeasure.
Recently Kobe was seen on the bench shoving young teammate Sasha Vujacic after the kid made a bonehead mistake. Afterward, when queried about it, Bryant bristled, suggesting that no one bothered to notice that he encouraged Vujacic soon after. Yet it’s instances like this in which Bryant treads a thin line between team leader and overbearing superstar.
James never has had that problem, and as a result it’s easier for him to bring the best out of his teammates than it is for Bryant. The Lakers often seem more concerned with being snapped at by Kobe than by Phil Jackson. James is more amiable, more supportive, and therefore a better leader.
In the skill categories, Bryant probably gets the nod. He’s the best player off the dribble in the NBA. He’s probably the best pure shooter in the league as well, and definitely the best under pressure. Bryant also is a better one-on-one defender than James, although since the championship-pedigree Lakers of a few years ago were disbanded after the 2003-04 season and more offensive burden placed on Kobe in the new era, he hasn’t had the luxury of giving himself fully to playing defense. Kobe has been named to the NBA’s All-Defensive team five times — first team three times, second team twice — but was not included at all last season.
So what’s the verdict? Who is the best player in basketball?
Kobe Bryant, but barely.
Notice I didn’t say who is the best team player. If that were the topic on the table, James and Wade would be neck-and-neck, with Steve Nash closing fast.
But this is about ignoring team basketball for a moment and singling out one player for recognition.
LeBron is freaky good, to be sure, but Kobe has that extra quality that sets him apart. Maybe it’s arrogance. Maybe it’s contempt for the opposition. Maybe it’s an insatiable desire to be the best individual. Maybe it’s a lust for the limelight.
Whatever it is, Kobe Bryant has more of it than anybody.
by Michael Ventre NBC Sports.com

IT WAS, DARE IT BE SAID, JORDANESQUE

Really, what's the big deal?
If the Mavericks had just held up their end and stayed in that game Dec. 20, Kobe Bryant, who had 62 after three quarters, would have played in the fourth, so Sunday might have been only his second 80-point night of the season.
Of course, if he was really feeling it that night, he might have gotten 100. On the other hand, there's a lot of time left this season, not to mention in his career.
This is the stuff of legends and not a second too soon for the NBA, which has been in relative eclipse since the one and only (at least until recently) Michael Jordan left the Bulls in 1998.
Bryant led "SportsCenter" Monday morning, ahead of the NFL's conference championships, its second-biggest day of the year. "A gi-normous night for the NFL," said Stuart Scott, "but the night belonged to Kobe."
They may still be cleaning up the tickertape in the league office, but a lot of nights have belonged to Kobe lately. We're not completely off the map, but you could count the NBA players who were this dominant on one hand, while wearing a mitten.
Only Wilt Chamberlain scored more points in a game, not that there's any comparison between them.
Chamberlain was a 7-foot-1 center who played in a higher-scoring era, although he was so far ahead of it, he was like a different species. When Wilt arrived in 1959, there were three players over 6-10 — Ray Felix of New York, Walter Dukes of Detroit and Charlie Share of St. Louis. Bill Russell, who was listed at 6-10, was really 6-9, weighed 225 pounds and would be small for a power forward in today's game.
Jordan arrived in 1984 with his mind-blowing game and proved himself to be without peer, at least until the last few weeks. There have been fanciful comparisons of Jordan and Bryant for years, but, assuming Kobe doesn't do one of his 180s, it's finally legitimate.
Jordan scored more points (30.1 a game for his career to 23.2), shot better (49.7% to 45.2%), averaged more assists (5.3 to 4.4), defended better and, in the big one, won more titles (6-3).
However, if Jordan had been more efficient, sheer unadulterated greatness might be in question. No one who ever played may have been able to match Kobe's top end.
"You know those steel cage matches in wrestling?" said TNT's Doug Collins, who coached Jordan for two seasons in Chicago and two more in Washington, as Michael's personal choice.
"I would love to see Michael at 27, Kobe at 27, lock them in a gym and see who comes out. And you know one thing, the other one will be dead on the court.
"Kobe is the best player in the game right now. People don't want to recognize that because of the things that happened that caused people not to like him. …
"Kobe at 27 has the worst talent around him he has ever had. When Michael was 27, he had the best talent around him he ever had. It's as if their careers flip-flopped."
At 27, Jordan hadn't won a title and had learned his limits the hard way, but with Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant emerging, was surrounded by the best talent he'd play with.
Bryant won three titles with Shaquille O'Neal by 24, but now, at 27, is learning the hard way how far he can carry the Lakers by himself.
Bryant is every bit as ferocious as Jordan and works even harder at his craft (Jordan got more serious as he got older; Bryant was born serious).
Of course, Kobe is doing it his way, with his impossible, long-range, covered, falling-backward, leaning-in, off-balance, no-no-no-nice shot repertoire.
"I've always said Michael is the most fundamentally sound player I'd ever seen," Collins said. "Now when you throw in that spectacular physical talent, you've really got something…. If this was like gymnastics with degree of difficulty, Kobe's shots wouldn't just count two points."
Phil Jackson, who coached Jordan to his six titles, may have preferred coaching a clinic, as opposed to a human highlight reel. Nevertheless, the excitement works for the NBA in Year 8 of its post-Bulls transition, with each season seemingly quieter than the one before.
The 2004 breakup of the Shaq-Kobe Lakers was just the latest calamity. With small towns such as San Antonio and low-key stars such as Tim Duncan taking over, there were few of the old magnetic personalities who once galvanized interest.
After Shaq, Kobe and Allen Iverson (wasted on a team going nowhere), there was no one to compare to Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Julius Erving, Isiah Thomas, Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon and Dennis Rodman, the brash stars of the '80s and '90s, who lived as big as they played.
This season opened to yawns. Talk show hosts who can now tell you how many days are left "before pitchers and catchers" — a new shorthand phrase for the early opening of baseball's spring training, which no one even covered 20 years ago — greeted the NBA with indifference, noting there was no reason to pay attention before the playoffs.
And then along came Kobe.
It's especially good news for the Lakers, who are still managing to give their fans value, even factoring in the king's ransom they charge them.
The Lakers needed a re-imaged Bryant, whom some other great player wants to join. Like it or not, it wasn't his arrest that hurt him with his peers, but the leak of his police interview in which he alluded to O'Neal. But basketball players care, first and foremost, about basketball.
Bryant's image isn't just warming up now, it's as if they put it in the microwave. There's no more confusing him with the merely great such as Iverson, or the merely promising such as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, or the giants of yesteryear such as O'Neal.
He's the one-and-only Kobe. Everything to now might have been a warmup. His time could just be starting.

by Mark Heisler LA Times

KOBE MAKES RECORD "WILT"

Only Kobe Bryant would try to single-handedly upstage the NFL on Championship Sunday.
And get it done.
It's the greatest scoring night any of us have ever seen, except for the few among us who were in the arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania, on March 2, 1962. In other words, it's the best performance in NBA history, except for Wilt's 100.
It was 1.7 points per minute, or, in this case, 1.9 points per minute, since Kobe actually sat six minutes against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday in the Lakers' 122-104 come-from-behind win in L.A.
It was 66 shots -- 46 field goal attempts and 20 free throw attempts. Of those FGAs, 28 found the net (60.9 percent), including seven of his 13 3-pointers. Eighteen of 20 free throws followed suit. (Yes, Kobe's free throw streak ended -- at 62.)
It's this -- 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 3 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 2 1 3 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1.It's enough to make you wish he'd have had a faster start, instead of "only" 26 in the first half ... to be followed by 27 in the third quarter ... and 28 in the fourth ... picking up speed with all the inevitability of gravity itself, a runaway train, a basketball bouncing down a steep driveway.
After the game, Kobe insisted it was "a big win" and said getting the W was the most important thing. Not sure anyone believes that, but it was remarkable how Bryant's scoring affected the game, far more than his usual onslaught.
Three minutes into the second half, the Raptors led 71-53. Bryant already had all four of the Lakers' second half points, giving him 30 for the game, but then he cranked it up -- later he would say that he had gone into overdrive because the Lakers were "lethargic," as if he needs a reason.
Over the next 80 seconds, he made a basket and two 3s, cutting the 18-point lead to 12. The Lakers and Kobe kept coming and, late in the third quarter, when he stole a pass and tiptoed down the sidelines to get loose for a dunk and make it 87-85, he put Los Angeles up for good.Speaking of getting Los Angeles up, Kobe turned on the Showtime crowd for one of the greatest spontaneous celebrations ever for a single player.
For his audience, this was not about beating the Raptors but rather the pinch-me thrill of being in the arena during the greatest individual performance of the past four decades.
It was M-V-P! M-V-P!
But it was more than that -- it was the growing sound of 18,997 paying customers every time Kobe got the ball, and an expectant whoosh every time he went up to shoot, and a noisy, giddy sigh every time he missed, and a roar every time he made the basket or was fouled. It was the sound of a crowd at the circus, watching the trapeze artists at work, watching the greatest show on earth.
And while it's easy to forget when Kobe goes off, especially when the opposing team wears RAPTORS on its chest, this was an NBA team he was doing this to -- a team that was leading the game handily before he really got going.
That team, with talented players like Chris Bosh, Jalen Rose and Mike James on the floor, was clearly rattled, or worse. When everyone realized what Kobe was up to, both teams responded emotionally. The Lakers got a charge from Kobe's energy, while the Raptors were both distracted and overwhelmed. After a 63-point first half, they managed only 41 points in the second half, including only three baskets during a decisive nine-minute stretch.
A month ago, Lakers coach Phil Jackson (along with Kobe himself) held Bryant out of the fourth quarter, when Kobe had 62 and the Lakers had the game vs. the Mavericks locked up. Jackson was criticized, in the Daily Dime and elsewhere, for his decision.
This time, he might have had the same impulse, but he thought better of it. Late in the game, he said later, he told assistant coach Frank Hamblen he would take Kobe out. "I don't think you can," Hamblen replied, according to Jackson. "He has 77 points." And Jackson left Kobe in, until a Toronto turnover with four seconds to play allowed him to remove Kobe for the ovation he deserved and, indeed, even a half-hug from the Zen Master.
Jackson did the right thing this time, because Kobe ultimately wasn't playing against the Raptors. He was playing against all the guys who never scored 80, or even 70 -- Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Dominique Wilkins, Allen Iverson, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Shaquille O'Neal, Jerry West, Karl Malone, Bob McAdoo, Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Pete Maravich, George Gervin, Bernard King and on and on.
And he was competing against the Lakers' record holder, Elgin Baylor, who had 71; David Robinson, also 71; David Thompson, 73; and Wilt, 72, 73, 73, 78 and 100.
And he beat them all.
Except for Wilt. On one night.
Too bad the Lakers don't play on Super Sunday. I'd love to see Kobe go for Wilt's record, too.
by Royce Webb ESPN