I'll be honest. I have been a really good sport. I guess not anymore. Now I know it's been on all our readers minds, all 3 of them, It's probably the most anticipated thing since W.O.C. It will be known simply as the Kobe post. You ask for it, your going to get it.
Yes I'm a huge Laker fan and also the biggest Kobe fan ever to come out of Charleswood. My support never wavers, the Lakers are my team and Kobe is my guy. And let me tell you this regular season has been one of the most enjoyable things I have ever experienced my entire life.
This is why Kobe is the 2008 NBA regular season MVP. Kobe is more cognizant of legacy than most superstars. That being said, people have often claimed that Kobe has tried to be like MJ. Earlier in his career it looked that way for sure but what 17 year old basketball player wouldn't want to be like MJ, especially if he could. Time does a real weird thing, it moves forward, but for some haters its hard to really grasp that...ahem...Steve Miller. After MJ's 2nd retirement(the first one was actually a 18 month pseudo-suspension because of gambling and really bad breathe that put Scott Johnsons morning breathe to shame) and Colorado there was a shift in Kobe. He then started leaning towards a truer emblematic symbol of the post-Jordan NBA, Allen Iverson. He started to make this separation with tats and "jail-muscles" and the video game stats from 04-07. On that note please never forget 81. Don't ever. But that one thing Kobe has done this season that is truly remarkable, with the way critics were talking down this Laker team and the question marks surrounding them, is he has figured out how to transcend MJ and AI. The key has been embracing his "globalness." Globe trotting childhood. Multi-racial children. Getting lean again. Speaking multiple languages. Embracing foreign-born players. This is Kobe's legacy. Don't forget he is also the best 2-way player in the game and arguably of all-time. The key word here is transcendence and only the absolute great ones touch something like that. Stop the hate, you are witnessing greatness, dont you fucking dare miss it. Book it.
Kevin
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