Did The NBA Finals Game 4 Finally Put The Kobe vs MJ Comparisons To Rest

Bryant also served notice that he too can crack under pressure. That without his scoring contribution, he would have exactly zero to offer his team during the game. He yelled at Gasol and the rest for bad shots and poor defense. Then ushered Ray Allen to the hole for a layup and fired what was probably the worst three point shot of his career. Bryant looked like a child who had finally realized there was no Santa Claus. Every stop the Celtics made, every Gasol missed lay in that should have been a monster dunk, every Laker turnover, every Boston steal, every defensive mistake the Lakers made was accompanied by the trademark Kobe smirk at his teammate. Even if it was his fault as well, he grabbed a teammate's jersey or yelled "C'mon!", when he could have prevented the misstep himself.

I really tried to feel sorry for the Lakers after blowing what should have been a series tying win, but I'm without emotion on this one. They can't blame the refs, or the NBA League office, or any of the usual suspects fans and players usually go to when they lose a game. Even Odom was getting calls along with Gasol. And for the record wasn't the look on Odom's face for most of the game when the Lakers were winning priceless? Man, he alternated between looking like he couldn't believe he was scoring to looking like he stole something. Priceless!

But back to Kobe. Kobe didn't take over the game as one would have expected of an MVP, he became the town cryer! He complained to refs about calls, he complained to his teammates about their lack of talent. Instead of rallying the troops, he belittled the troops. Every single one of them got their turn at the complaint desk.

I've been a fan of the NBA since the 1970's. I don't remember kindergarten but I remember Dr J and 1976. I remember World B Free, Doug Collins, George McGinnis, Caldwell Jones, and Henry Bibby. I was a big Sixers fan!

Then through the 80's with Bird and Magic. And the 90's with Jordan, Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, just so many guys who are and are going to be Hall of Famers.

And you know what? I never saw one of them choke when it mattered. I never saw Jordan in a Finals game with 6 for 19 and no other involvement in the game except to whine and scream at his teammates. Every one of those guys when met with adversity, showed that they were more than human highlight reels and got down and dirty playing defense, getting rebounds, and talking (there's a concept) to their teammates coaching performance.

Jordan had bad playoff games but Jordan also became the defensive leader. Or he became the biggest cheerleader when he was on the sidelines and his subs ran up a 20 point lead in a game the starters were losing. In defeat he was complimentary and in victory just the same. If he was the hero, his press conferences varied little from answering direct questions about his heroics and redirected to the coaching staff and the role players to make sure they got their due. Because he knew he couldn't have made that game winning shot if his teammates weren't in their places and the defense didn't respect their talents.

How's Kobe supposed to be the greatest with one of the worst teams to ever enter a Finals game? Gasol is a well documented, and well reported I might add, softie. And Odom is a player, who let's be honest, has in no way lived up to the hype and the "potential" bestowed upon him by the Lakers and the media. The Lakers have no defense to speak of. They can score in bunches but can't shut down a championship caliber team when they need to.

A lot of folks say the comparison is unfair because Jordan had Pippen and a cast of solid role players. True. But Jordan also played against what is arguably the best crop of teams to ever be assembled in the same era. At any point in the Bulls championship years, you could pick at least 3 - 5 teams that would have won the league championship if not for Jordan and the Bulls winning every year. Patrick Ewing and the Knicks had great opportunities before Jordan retired, the first time, to win it all if not for the Bulls. How about Magic's last years in LA? How about Barkley? Pick the Barkley of the Suns or Barkley of the Sixers. Reggie Miller and the Pacers? The list goes on but during the 90's there wasn't a year that you couldn't go through the roster of many teams and pull out name after name of certified Hall of Famers. And that list also would be the list of guys who were going to retire without rings because Jordan wasn't allowing the trophy out of Chicago..

So, in my opinion, to dominate in those years required more than Scottie Pippen and some role players. It required a complete player who didn't surrender 20 point leads in the NBA Finals and who when in scoring slumps provided his team a spark on defense and got some rebounds to keep them in the game.

In this era with such disparity in the talent levels of each team, how can anyone be considered the best of all time and not dominate? If that's their true calling where's the rings and string of MVP trophies? Where's the utter hatred of the other players in the league because they know they'll never even smell the metal of an NBA Championship trophy because this "best of all time" player won't let anyone else have it?

This scenario doesn't exist. It never did! Sure Kobe is one of the best scorers of all time. But so was Gervin and Dominique Wilkins, and so on. How many trophies did the Hawks have in the 90's?

The Lakers with Shaq with a decent cast of role players could have dominated this league for years to come from the time the Lakers won that first Kobe/Shaq championship. Whether it's Kobe's fault or management, Shaq leaving LA was the end of a championship run that was premature and would have sealed this decade for the Lakers.

But on the eve of the Lakers losing for the second time in a row, the Lakers' history is again tarnished and the career of Kobe Bryant gets another zing.

And finally, we can put to rest the comparison of a great scorer to someone who is probably one of the most complete players to ever play the game.