May 4, 2006

THE SELFISH KOBE IS NOWHERE NEAR BEING AN MVP CANDIDATE

      He is selfish, arrogant and pompous—and that’s just according to Raja Bell.  Now granted, Bell would never be the lead member of the Kobe Bryant fan club, but the prevailing opinion in the league closely mimics Bell’s comments.  Kobe’s own coach, Phil Jackson, wrote in his book that Bryant was uncoachable (of course that was before Phil ‘the sage guide’ was offered ten mill a year to try).  And we don’t need to ask Shaq his opinion on his former teammate—how many former teammates have come out in support of Kobe?  So, why, with all this vitriol swirling around the league about one of its better players does Kobe’s name continue to be trucked out when the MVP is being considered?  There is no possible way, no matter how talented an individual he is, that Kobe Bryant is an MVP candidate.  No way.

      Now, Kobe supporters will attack negative comments about their favourite player using descriptions such as “supremely talented”, “dominant”, and of course this year’s most common supporting phrase “81 points”.  I deny none of these phrases—they are all correct.  Along with Lebron James he is likely the most complete player in the NBA.  But unlike James he doesn’t use all of his abilities.  Instead, he focuses on just one—scoring. 

       One man cannot win a championship—he needs help from talented teammates.  Kobe pushes, prods, cajoles and criticizes his teammates during a game (mostly when they don’t get him the ball) and makes it appear as if his sole purpose in playing the game is winning the game.  This is not true—he wants to win the game, but not if he isn’t the central figure behind the win.  There are occasions when Kobe attempts to answer his critics by purposely giving the ball away to prove that he is not selfish.  Whenever that criticism reaches a zenith the chances are good that Kobe will spend the next game trying to prove those critics wrong.  Earlier this season, ironically against the Raptors, Kobe was much more intent on getting a triple double than he was in scoring.   Not surprisingly the Lakers won.  And there was that one game years ago that all Kobe admirers and detractors are familiar with, the game in which an obviously ticked off Kobe simply passed the ball every time he touched it, took one shot in the first half and tried to prove that he wasn’t all about scoring.  The man just does not get it. 

      This year’s Laker club is a tale of two teams.  There are times when Kobe tries to get his teammates involved--to make his fellow players feel as if they are part of the team.  On those rare occasions one of two things results—either his teammates are so shocked by the activities that they are unable to finish plays, or they accept their insertion into the team’s plans and contribute mightily to a Laker win.  These playoffs are a perfect example of the latter.  The Lakers have had success against Phoenix because there is more than one player on the team that is contributing.  It is human nature to lose interest in the game if you feel that you are not a part of the game.  If Kobe isn’t making his teammates a part of the game then they will disappear on him, both on offense and defense.  However, if they are aware that at any time they could get the ball, knowing that if they work hard and get open their is an opportunity to get the ball then they will work hard—on both ends of the floor.  Otherwise, it’s four pylons setting picks for Kobe.  Championships don’t follow the latter strategy.

       The 81-point effort did wonders to elevate Kobe into to pantheon of great NBA scorers, but it did more harm than good in the minds of many NBA players, coaches and executives.  It proved, once and for all, that Kobe was in this game for Kobe.  And that is not the description of an MVP. 

       That is why Steve Nash will win his second straight trophy.  Because last year he turned a lousy team into a winner and took a talented individual like Amare Stoudamire and made him an all-world player.  This year Phoenix was without Stoudamire, but instead of stumbling, Nash turned Boris Diaw into the most improved player and contributed mightily to Shawn Marion’s best overall season.  Only at the end of the sentence is Nash’s own statistics mentioned.  That is an MVP.