Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, is the NBA’s MVP for the 2008 regular season and rightfully so, but many people are not happy with that.
In the eyes of many fans, Bryant is viewed as a villain, but why?Is it because Bryant back stabbed Shaq, (Shaquille O’Neal) of the Phoenix Suns, or is it because he broke up the Lakers?Is it because Bryant is viewed as arrogant, selfish, and a ball hawk?Oh, I know!Is it because Bryant wants to be or thinks he’s- Michael Jordan, the retired legend?Now, let’s be honest, every kid that puts on tennis shoes to play ball wants to be like Mike, especially back in the 90’s.
What ever your beef is with Bryant, get over it.Bryant and Shaq patched things up a couple of years ago on Martin Luther King, Jr’s birthday, the Lakers are good again, and will be back in the Finals this season and his personality is not your concern.
The fact is Bryant is the baddest man in the league and I had to realize that.A couple of friends of mine would debate me on who is better between Bryant or Vince Carter of the New Jersey Nets.They would dog me out, but deep down inside, I agreed, Kobe is better. Every superstar in the NBA lacks something.Cleveland g/f Lebron James is great, but his jump shot needs work, his free-throw shooting must improve and he needs to get better on defense, but all those are improving, he’s only 23.Denver Nuggets f Carmelo Anthony is one of the best, but he’s not aggressive enough and refuses to play defense.Miami Heat G Dwayne Wade is showing he may have some durability issues.Bryant doesn’t have any apparent weakness physically or on the basketball court.Bryant can score any time he wants, whether he drives or shoots, plays great one-on-one defense, not just help defense, he’s clutch and can consistently hit free throws.Bryant is for the most part unguardable because of his great shooting and ball handling skills.
Bryant has showed this season he can be the leader everyone wants to see. This is what has taken him over the mountaintop in the eyes of NBA observers. Bryant gets his team involved, takes better shots and most of all, he listens.Bryant averaged one rebound and one assist more this season than his career, this season, 6.3 rebounds/career 5.3 and 5.4 assists/career 4.6.Bryant turns 30 on August 23, which means his is moving into his prime.In translation, Bryant will still be the best player in the NBA for another five to six years.More MVP’s will come, so get use to it people and embrace it, like I’m doing.Congrats Kobe Bryant.
