There Is No Comparison
Another NBA season has just concluded, and for the second straight year, the comparisons between Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Michael Jordan should as well.
In what could only be described as a drubbing, the Boston Celtics beat Kobe and the Los Angeles Lakers in six games, coming back from 20 down in the fourth quarter of game four, then beating Kobe and company by 39 in the clincher.
Last season, we watched as LeBron,the most hyped basketball player of the 21st century was thoroughly beaten in the Finals by the San Antonio Spurs, watching and helping his Cleveland Cavaliers get swept. The most compelling part of that series was waiting for ABC to put Eva Longoria on camera.
Simply put people - Kobe Bryant and LeBron James will never be as good as Michael Jordan.
Never in a million years. Never will Kobe or LeBron approach Jordan on the pedestal of basketball immortality. Both are great in their own right, but pundits popping up claiming the latest "sensations" are the greatest ever are way out of proportion.
Jordan is an institution, a "Black Jesus," according to rival and buddy Charles Barkley. Jordan is everything to the NBA. He defined a game and molded it into a boundless sport that generations of players could build within.
Ironically, a Laker may have the distinction of havinghis silhouette adorn every NBA jersey and every icon blaring on your television screen, but Jordan's tongue-wagging reigns supreme.
Kobe and LeBron are both spectacular, but they will
never reach the pinnacle that is Jordan. Don't get me wrong, there are similarities. Both conserve their energy for extended spurts of domination, ala Jordan. Both have a swagger and touch on the hardwood that is unmatched by any other current players, ala Jordan.
But what about results? What about the hardware? Would Michael Jordan lose an NBA Finals series 4-0? Would Michael Jordan lose a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter of a Finals game, then turn around and watch his team lose by 39?
Maybe it has to do with Kobe and LeBron opting to rather than go to college. As a teenager, Jordan was hitting the game-winning 18-foot jumper to North Carolina a national championship. Around the same age, Kobe was throwing up air balls against the Utah Jazz as the Lakers were swept out of the playoffs in consecutive years. LeBron was resuscitating a franchise that could only reminisce about the days when Jordan was beating them with game-winners.
Obviously, there's always going to be the Scottie Pippen debate lurking in the shadows. But while Pippen was a great NBA player, he was great because Jordan made him great. Remember what happened when he decided to give baseball a shot?
Instead of comparing the two best players in the game
right now with the greatest player to ever lace up a pair of Air Jordans, why not appreciate Kobe and LeBron for what they are -- great players with their own identities.
In another twist of irony, when asked how he described MJ, Celtic legend Larry Bird phrased it best: "God disguised as Michael Jordan." LeBron and Kobe are simply disciples in Jordan's house of worship.
Images are Courtesy of notebooks.com and news.yahoo.com