Kobe: The MVP That Matters
Playoff time is his time.
by Johnny Nguyen
You cannot say “MVP” without recognizing LeBron James, who currently holds back to back MVP titles. LeBron, in the last two years, has single handedly carried his team to close out the regular season with more than 60+ wins. Topping off Lebron’s list of accomplishments is the Cleveland Cavaliers appearance in the 2007 NBA Finals; the franchise’s first and only title appearance. But if we were to judge James on those criteria, then we must also past judgment on King’s performance in the Playoffs. Quite simply, James has experienced a downward trend when it comes to performing in the postseason.
Let’s begin with LeBron being swept in the 2007 NBA finals. The following year, he failed to allow his team to the even compete for a championship, falling victim to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. And now he’s lost in the second round of the Playoffs two straight seasons. This downward trend does not appear to be going up any time soon with LeBron’s contract ending, engaging in the most exciting free agent chase in NBA history. It’s unlikely that LeBron will stay in the city of Cleveland as his dreams of winning an NBA Chip is, yet again, put at bay.
Meanwhile, even those who rant about Kobe Bryant being overrated cannot say anything about his performances in the Playoffs. Some may discredit his first three rings giving Shaq the majority of the share holds. Others may criticize his lack of assists in a game questioning his overall leadership. And then there are those who are willing to go as far as to settle arguments with an attack on Kobe’s personal track record. Whatever the criticism may be, very few can deny that Kobe is undoubtedly the most valuable player to have in the NBA Playoffs, and therefore the most valuable player in the game.
It isn’t a coincidence that Kobe Bryant has participated in the last three NBA Finals and currently holds the 2009 Finals MVP Trophy in his living room. With his relentless consistency, commitment to playing both ends of the floor, and his continued leadership, Kobe’s game speaks for itself. Many fail to recognize his attention of details, his implementation of strategy, and his patience with execution. All of this provides an open opportunity for him to win his fifth NBA Championship ring this year.
The Playoffs are not something that is going to be won off luck; night-in and night-out against the same team often require a certain mental capacity. It will separate who will advance from those that will go home. The Playoffs are game of strict strategy. It resembles a game of poker. You cannot play every hand. If you choose to, most of the opponents will stop betting against you. This may seem effective in the short run but it takes lightens the impact of what you could have potentially made with one good hand. Kobe, in Spike Lee’s Documentary dissecting Kobe’s thought process, is recorded saying “I will have the shot later in the game; I rather use it in a time where my team needs it.”
This simple quote reflects his patience to strategically attack his opponents where it will be cause the most damage, such as a game-winning shot. Contrary to popular belief, poker is not so much a game of cards as it is a game of psychology. You’re opponent may have the best hand possible, but you can minimize the impact it has on your stack of chips by the amount of money you choose to invest. LeBron is by far the most effective player in the League according to statistics, and it normally takes more than one person to guard him. You are not going to stop LeBron’s numbers. He can get a triple double pretty much any night. However, you can minimize his blows through help defense, frustrating him in the lane, forcing him to take difficult shots, and stopping his overall momentum. These demoralizing tactics can take a toll on even the most effective player, as we witnessed in the Celtics-Cavaliers series.
Going back to the poker analogy, it is a game where the last player with the chips is considered the victor. The amount of hands you win do not add value. The statistics are irrelevant: The triple doubles, the highlights, the buzzer beaters, even the amount of games you win don’t matter if you don’t win the one that allows you to advance to the next round.
Really, the only thing that matters is who walks away with the chips or in this case the Chip.
(I think the Puppets campaign explained this last year, and Kobe only had three at that point…):
Johnny Nguyen is a basketball fan and sneakerhead who you may remember reading about on this site last fall when we profiled the store he and two friends opened in Saugus, MA. You can re-read that story here, and then go to foottraffik.com for more.
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Without it, nothing, sorry. I know that seems unfair, but it is what it is.
And Kobe is a better scorer than Lebron and it’s not even close. Kobe is a technician who knows how to attack almost any defense and has the skillset to get shots against just about everybody.
Lebron is a amazing offensive talent whose passing is incredible and whose physical gifts make him a beast on the offensive end. Unfortunately, he does not have the same technical base that Kobe has, and that cause problems in the playoffs when teams decide to focus on limiting his scoring and force his teammates to prove they can do their thing.
I truly believe that it all depends on the situation and the night their playing when you consider who is better out of Lebron, Wade and Kobe.
Your writing is pap.
You talk about Kobe becoming unstoppable in the final seconds of the game like that was Jordan’s M.O. That’s what Mike did! That’s how the fist pump became part of the NBA. Hell, Jordan was so clutch they made commericals about the times he FAILED.
Now, I’ve been saying for a while that Kobe is a better ball handler and he has better range, and those are the only two areas he has Mike clearly beat. I think Jordan was a better defender early in his career, but as the years went on, Mike was known to take quite a bit of time off on defense, something Tex Winter complained about. Also, we saw Mike slow down by the end of the third three peat, as him going 9 for 27 was not uncommon.
I think Mike was just so smart and that is the main thing he has over Kobe. It’s not about skills because the two men are extremely close as far as skills, but Mike clearly has the mental edge. He wasn’t trying to establish his place in history every game. He was just trying to dominate whoever was in front of him for as long as he could do it. Kobe has always seemed to have an eye on his legacy, which I felt Mike lacked in many ways. He just wanted to be the undisupted best of his generation, and he figured the rest would take care of itself.
Kobe couldn’t have done what Magic did, but let’s be honest. he wasn’t REALLY playing center. Yeah, he jumped the tip, but after that he ran like point/center.
In my mind, Kobe is the closest thing to MJ but isnt the same defensive presence, and no one has played with the same aggressive killer instinct as Mike, no matter how much they may jut out theyre lower jaw.
You are calling the 90′s watered down? get real the competition was much tougher than the opposition Kobe played. Mike won his rings against; Magic, Drexler and a great Blazers team, Barkley and the Suns, a great Supersonics team, and two times against Utah arguably the best team never to win a ring featuring hall of famers Stockton and Malone. Kobe won his rings against; Allen Iverson and one of the worst teams ever to make the playoffs, the Nets (the Nets for crying out loud), and a Pacers team that had seen better days, and lastly against a Magic team which best offensive player was Hedo Turkoglu, both times when Kobe faced quality opposition (Pistons and Celtics) he lost. If Kobe is such a great passer (when he wants to) must mean that his basketball IQ is lower than Mike’s since Mike always averaged more assists and a higher FG%. My very valid point about the Final MVP’s really closes this arguement. Only ONE time has Kobe been the best player in a Finals series, he has a long way to go to reach Mike’s level.
You are calling the 90′s watered down? get real the competition was much tougher than the opposition Kobe played. Mike won his rings against; Magic, Drexler and a great Blazers team, Barkley and the Suns, a great Supersonics team, and two times against Utah arguably the best team never to win a ring featuring hall of famers Stockton and Malone. Kobe won his rings against; Allen Iverson and one of the worst teams ever to make the playoffs, the Nets (the Nets for crying out loud), and a Pacers team that had seen better days, and lastly against a Magic team which best offensive player was Hedo Turkoglu, both times when Kobe faced quality opposition (Pistons and Celtics) he lost. If Kobe is such a great passer (when he wants to) must mean that his basketball IQ is lower than Mike’s since Mike always averaged more assists and a higher FG%. My very valid point about the Final MVP’s really closes this arguement. Only ONE time has Kobe been the best player in a Finals series, he has a long way to go to be considered Mike’s equal.
Kap said that it was obvious that Kobe played better in theclutch, as if that was some sort of advantage over Jordan. He also said steals don’t denote good defense, as if that’s why folks are saying MIke was a good defender and not the nine selections to the all-defense team.
Unlike some folks, I don’t think Jordan walked on water and healed the sick. He took plays off, he came up small, he made boneheaded decisions. He was human.
I just think he did it LESS often than Kobe. And was a better defender, rebounder and passer. Scoring, a tie. Ball-handling, edge for Kobe. So, Mike still wins. But, if Kobe continues to go off like he did this playoffs, then he makes it tougher to decide.
I don’t think leading the league in scoring is the end all for scorers.
Kobe, for most of the early part of his career, was willing to take a backseat as a scorer to get Shaq and everybody else involved. He still put up 20+ a game, but he wasn’t getting anywhere near the shot attempts that Mike got.
When he got those attempts, he scored at a very nice clip. Now he’s backed off that because his team doesn’t need it as much and he isn’t worried about carrying that load.
When I look at the mechanics of scoring, Kobe and Jordan are neck and neck. The big problem is Kobe’s mental state and his willingness to take some very difficult shots just because he believes in himself that much. However, I think that Kobe’s aresenal is more varied than Michael’s and in my opinion he is just as dangerous a scorer. The scoring titles don’t do it for me.
Now, you bring up a valid point about Kobe’s losses in the Finals, although I don’t think he had the better team in 2008. Mike won every time he got there, but did he ever, EVER face a team that was honestly as talented and well coached as the Bulls. I mean, he got his first ring against a Lakers team with an aging Magic and a rookie Divac. He got the second one against a somewhat soft Blazers team whose coach let them get rattled. The Suns were even more soft and had NOBODY committed and able to defend Jordan.
The then beat a Sonics team that was poorly coached (You wait until Game Four to put Payton on Jordan?) and was not deep at all. They then beat Utah twice, with the second year being very impressive considering Pippen’s bad back and Jordan’s age creeping up on him. So, out of the six times, there was probably one time where the Bulls weren’t CLEARLY the superior team and that was the last ring where Malone choked.
You can count Kobe’s extra years as a detriment, but I don’t. Personally I think it’s a testament to his amazing work ethic that he is the most fundamentally sound player in the NBA despite skipping college. None of his high school to pros counterparts have ever shown that level of fundamental knowledge. Not KG, not TMac and not Lebron.
Moreover, being able to withstand the rigors and temptations of the league despite coming in at 17 is very impressive and think it’s even more impressive that he has been competing in the playoffs since jump street and has been consistently solid.
Kobe does NOT have superior footwork to Jordan. That is a lie. Watch Mike work in the post and off the ball, superior footwork.
Also, you’re off base on Kobe’s “lean years.”
During Jordan’s career, he rarely took fewer than 1800 shots per year. He had several years with over 2,000 shots. Comparatively, Kobe has only exceeded 1800 shots in a year ONE TIME. That right there says to me that Kobe is not the volume shooter you claim.
Now, I concede the efficiency argument, I’ve always said that myself. But, I think it’s obvious that Kobe hasn’t scored like Jordan because for hte most part, he wasn’t trying to. Jordan was more efficient, but he was also taking a LOT more shots.
Mike’s team, despite having issues, was never that bad.
Seriously, Mike missed an entire year with injury and his team STILL made the playoffs.
Could Kobe’s team have done that without him?
To state facts outside of context is silly.
You stated that Mike never missed the playoffs and Kobe has. You just stated that as a fact as if it buttressed your argument.
Then, when I presented the context of that factoid, you said that all you wanted to do was state the fact.
Facts without context are almost as bad as lies.
Shaq is more efficient than Jordan. Is he a better scorer than Jordan?
See how that works?
Come on, let’s not play stupid here. You said that Kobe would never be better than Jordan, and he’s not even close to being as good as Jordan.
That’s a position, or, an argument.
You threw out the playoffs stat in response to a convo I was having with other folks to make that argument stronger.
Your fact was stated in that context. You directed it to me based on the comments I had already made.
Is it clear now?
Eboy on the other hand, well we all know how he feels about the Mamba.
what is going to be more impressive, Kobe’s 4 rings or his three Finals failures? They are almost going to be neck and neck in about 2 weeks …
hey celtics fan i’ll be damn afraid if i were you cause eboy’s picks this playoffs are mmm how can i call them mmm his picks mmm SUCKED hahaha
i’m still waitin’ lakers-thunder game 7
So the times have changed, and it’s not easy to make good comprassions of players from different era stats vice atleast.
You’re backtracking.
First you say you were just throwing a fact out there. Then you say it’s relevant to the discussion.
Unfortunately, it’s relevance can only be determined by viewing it in context.
Saying that Jordan has never failed to make the playoffs, which totally ignores his years in Washington by the way, is a useless fact in a comparison of Kobe to Jordan unless you compare Jordan’s teams to the teams Kobe had. If Jordan’s teams were demonstrably more talented, which they were, and made the playoffs in a weaker conference, which they did, then that statistic is not really very powerful, particularly since Kobe only failed to make the playoffs ONE time.
It’s not about distressing truth, it’s about cats spewing random information, connecting non-existent dots and then posing like this solved the mystery.
I have no problems with “truth” or “facts,” I’m just smart enough to realize that what most people consider truth and facts are just bias confirmations.
And, Jordan’s teams were talented, which most people don’t realize. Go back and look at those rosters. Even before Jerry Krause did his amazing job of drafting talent, they had good players. They just got a LOT better under Krause. Jordan was not playing with the same caliber of chumps that Kobe had during his lean years. Kwame and Smush were STARTERS and Luke Walton was a key contributor off the bench. That’s a problem.
And I’m pretty sure they won 30 games when Jordan sat for the entire year, but I’ll check the stats. And they made the playoffs.
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