Kobe's Legacy

Few superstars in NBA history have scored or won like Kobe Bryant, and few have generated the same on and off court controversy.  Critics of the Black Mamba point out that his 3 rings came on the back of the Diesel, and no amount of personal glory has been enough to anoint Kobe along the likes of MJ, Oscar, and West.  Detractors insist that in order to validate his stellar career, Bryant must coax a championship out of the quaking knees of Lamar Odom.  But I think that in twenty years when we look back on Kobe’s career no one will care how many championships he claimed.

2009 is probably the best chance Kobe will ever have to win a title as the lead dog.  There has been a noticeable drop off in Bryant’s athleticism the past few years and it seems pretty clear that the Lakers are looking down the backside of their championship window.  Next year the Cavs will be retooled with an even hungrier LeBron leading the charge.  KG has already guaranteed a Celtics return to glory in 2010 and 2011, and young teams like Portland and New Orleans should be a year wiser.  All of this coupled with the return of the Big 3 in San Antonio and a full year of Mr. Big Shot in Denver makes it pretty clear that the Lakers will be facing an uphill battle.  So if it doesn’t happen this year for Kobe, odds are it never will.  But will that actually matter when we look back at Bryant’s career? 

Let’s suppose for a minute that the first two games of the Finals weren’t outliers and the Magic really don’t intend to show up for this series.  Kobe gets his solo championship, and forever cements his legacy right?  Uh uh, as far as I’m concerned Kobe’s legacy is already set, and wining a ring with Pau Gasol as his second fiddle isn’t going to change anything.  In twenty years when little Evel (still trying to convince the wife that this would be a good name for our first kid) asks me about watching Kobe Bryant, am I really going to regale him with tales of that smooth j, or explosive leaping ability?  No, when Evel asks me about Kobe I’m going to tell him about the bad teammate, the Spike Lee documentary, and the $4 million “oops” ring he bought his wife.  I’m going to talk about Kobe pulling a no-show in game six of the 2008 Finals, how he would annoyingly lick his lips, and try to put on my best Kobe “things are going badly better start yelling at Luke Walton” scowl.  That’s the Kobe I’ll always remember, and I think that’s the Kobe that most people outside of L.A. will look back on.  A great player to be sure, but a questionable human being at best and a bad teammate. 

Kobe is held to a different standard than any other superstar in the NBA.  After the Cavs lost game six in Orlando, LeBron stormed off the court without shaking hands and then skipped the post-game press conference.  Much of the national media gave LeBron a pass, some writers including Bill Simmons praised him for his competitive fire.  But what would the national tenor have been if that was Kobe storming off the court, not LeBron?  Kobe would have been roasted alive, Sportscenter would run one of those time line graphics documenting all the petulant behavior Bryant has displayed throughout his career.  But King James gets a pass.  Why?  Because everyone outside of L.A. hates Kobe, and winning one championship against Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu won’t change anything.  Kobe’s legacy is cemented, too many bad shots, too many snaps at teammates and too much Denver hotel sex.   Rightly or wrongly I feel that Kobe’s legacy is too tied up in his personality for it to matter how he got his rings.  Second fiddle or lead dog, Kobe will always just be Kobe.

-Jesse