Killer Expectations

It was Bill Maher who recently said: "The problem with kids (in the U.S.) today isn't that they lack confidence; they are overly confident". Now Kobe Bryant isn't the kid anymore like he was when he came into the League 10 years ago (that long already? I'm getting old), but maybe that was, and still is the case with him today.

The man is confident, some might call him arrogant. Truth is: if you want to make it in the NBA you need to have some arrogance in you, because you are battling over 350 guys a year who all want to dunk on you, swat your shots, pull that rebound away from you, make you shoot 2 for 20, make your coach sit you on the bench with a towel over your head. Nice guys can't take that shit 82 games in a row, let alone the playoffs. Get ready for a cliché here: nice guys finish last (well, okay, David Robinson not included). How affable and charming Michael Jordan was during interviews on national television, he was a beast on the court, out to destroy anybody who got in his way, grabbing every opportunity to make you look like a fool, with only one goal: to win every game he played in. Even Magic Johnson, maybe one of the most charismatic players ever to grace the NBA hardwood, was all business as soon as the game started.

Call Kobe anything you want. Anything, because it won't matter. Call him selfish, call him a whiner, but he is the one you will watch when he's on TV, and you know it. He was the one who scored 81 damn points in a game, he was the one who made 12 threes in a game, he dropped 62 points in just 3 quarters in a game against Dallas, and the list goes on and on and on and on and.... on. I hate it when I post on a forum and people call out the guy on what he says and does off the court. In all fairness, yes, Bryant has made his mistakes, more than one. But since this guy is not in jail, but out on the court let's judge him by what he does on that court, and not mix his personal life with his professional one. And whether you're a Laker fan or not, if you look at it objectively Kobe Bryant might the best player in the NBA today. Hell yeah I said it. If you would compare him to Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, Bryant is better-rounded offensively, but most importantly, he actually is an above average defender; an art James and Wade still need to master. The only other player who is great at both ends of the court is Tim Duncan. And although Duncan is the best big man in the NBA, the killer-instinct that Bryant has is matched by no one.

So hate him for all his boneheaded comments about wanting to be traded, blame him for running Shaq out of town, because the real fan knows better. They see Kobe going up for a shot in a scrimmage held between the players of Team USA. They see Tayshaun Prince with his Go-Go-Gadget Arms reaching out, trying to make the shot maybe a little bit more difficult. They see the perfect arc of a perfect jumper, and we all know what followed after that. A pick-up game played by some of the best players in the world, and one ending the game like you expect him to do. How can you hate on that?