It was a repackaging that not even Madison Avenue's biggest image spinners could have created. An athlete, once lauded for talent and marketability, is cast down among the wicked, wretched and New York Knicks after legal troubles and poor team play.
Castigated at every turn for selfishness and arrogance, a collision with destiny pulls the former castoff from the mire of loathing and onto the shoulders of the righteous where he bathes in the golden light of redemption.
Had he been filmed weeping over his mother, or had given up his dreams to raise the children of his long lost sister who had died while feeding the hungry in El Salvador, he’d be a sure fire subject for a Lifetime original movie. As it is, Kobe Bryant has discarded the condemnation of his scarlet letter and in its place has added two others that brought admiration where once was shame.
In a matter of two weeks, Bryant went from selfish NBA star to a hard-working patriot who even his teammates could not help gushing over. And it wasn’t just mouth service by compliant underlings worried about ball distribution. Kobe outplayed, outworked and out-inspired every other member of team USA while completing a trickier road to redemption than the one facing the world’s greatest basketball powerhouse.
Even Celtics fans had to be impressed seeing the game’s best player reduced to a wide-eyed spectator on the medal stand whose joyful smile reflected not the me-first attitude of the NBA, but the accomplishment of something truly meaningful.
For many, the first real evidence that we were seeing a different Kobe came during an interview with former Chris Collinsworth of NBC, who asked Kobe about his first moments with his Olympic jersey. Totally out of character from the Bryant we thought we knew, the Laker guard said, “I had goosebumps. I actually just looked at it for a while. I just held it there and I laid it across my bed and I just stared at it for a few minutes just because as a kid growing up, this is the ultimate, ultimate in basketball.”
Such comments could be easy enough to disregard as proper PC positioning if it weren’t for the effort and attitude he showed throughout the games and even in practice. If Bryant was acting, it was an Academy Award-worthy performance.
Asked about the source of his patriotism, Kobe spoke of having “… a sense of pride that you have that you say our country is the best.”
Of course, the good folks at Fox & Friends used Collinsworth’s question about whether it was cool to be patriotic in this day and age to blast the interviewer and to reference the concern of certain bloggers worries over what “liberal NBC” airs before lauding Kobe. Co-host Gretchen Carlson yelled out, “What a stupid question!” and said Kobe “took him (Collinsworth) to task,” even though there was no hint of confrontation or correction in Bryant’s response.
One has to wonder if Carlson and her cohorts were as supportive when Bryant was facing sexual assault charges or if they would have been so kind had he campaigned for Hillary Clinton. Maybe they would. After all they are Fair and Balanced, but not very successful at quarter bounce or playful banter as their Aug. 27 “After the Show” Show showed.
Another interesting look at the Last Transformation of Kobe can be found in the Nike sponsored documentary, Road to Redemption. Not only can Bryant be seen simply abusing a teammate by repeatedly picking his pocket, but that he was as able to take orders as give them out. The ease with which he interacts with teammates makes his criticism of Lakers’ teammates seem strangely out of character.
Whether the purity of the new Bryant will last into the upcoming NBA season remains to be seen. But for the time being, Bryant has remade his image — not through carefully orchestrated interviews but with action and responsibility. Love him or loathe him, you have to be impressed.
smurray@midweek.com
Shaquille O’Neal’s latest mic work did little more than prove bad rap is not reserved for Miami-based bleached blondes with exaggerated fades and PR-created bios of supposed credibility. Stringing together lines with the lyrical flow of a lawn sprinkler, O’Neal went all Jay-Z/Nas on Kobe Bryant, saying, “You know how I be, last week Kobe couldn’t do without me.” He continued with ridiculous self-congratulatory posturing not heard since Project Pat rapped about hunger pangs so severe to mimic Hungry Hungry Hippos.
More bizarre than his reference to Notorious B.I.G.: “So in the hood dog I feel like B.I.G. because if Biggie was here, he’d be right there on Star Island in a mansion somewhere chillin’, sittin’ on about half a billion, because me and guns combined #### that’s half a billion!” was his inclusion of Patrick Ewing and Kareem Abdul Jabbar into his so-called playful MC battle.
Now, I’m not about to proclaim any Ph.D. expertise in hip-hop sociology, but B Rabbit made it clear that rap battles are one-on-one conflicts testing skill, intelligence and vocal dexterity while busting a verbal cap in someone’s ####. Shaq did just that — minus the skill, intelligence, vocal dexterity and a competitor to test his rhymes against. Without being present, Kobe had no chance to defend his cred in a public forum and so far has been silent. At the end we’ll help him find his voice, but, in the meantime, one must question what made the Big Cactus so prickly.
It wasn’t but a few years ago that the Lakers could lay claim to arguably two of the best players to have ever played their respective positions, but monster ego split apart what was the most dominant team since the Bulls’ messy divorce. Fast forward a couple of years and one is a shell of his former self while the other reached the pinnacle of individual achievement that can only be surpassed by a Hall of Fame induction. What was once an amusing exchange between two rivals has turned into a pathetic attempt by one at holding on to relevance by attacking someone who is still in his prime.
Since the 2002-2003 season, O’Neal’s numbers and minutes have been in a free fall. His scoring average dropped almost 14 points, his rebounds dipped from 11.1 to 9.6 per and his assists from 3.0 to 1.7. His glass-cleaning ineffectiveness was even worse before his departure from Miami, where he pulled down a mere 7.8 rebounds before being traded to Phoenix.
Outside of his commercial impact, Shaquille O’Neal has not been a relevant factor on the basketball court in a number of years. His move to the desert did little more than create headlines and questions about how the plodding 325 pound center could co-exist on a team built around speed and passing. Being the figurative center of attention did help invigorate the 14-time All Star, but he was never the force in the middle the team had hoped for.
The Suns limped home with a .620 winning percentage that was down from the .698 mark the team established before the trade. The final disappointment came when the Suns were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs in five games to the Spurs. So bad have things become for the big man that he even lost his special deputy’s badge from Bedford County after his verbal assault on Bryant and the music industry in general.
An assist to Kobe:
You know how it be, you wouldn’t have won a thing without Dwayne and me
You know how it be, you wouldn’t have won a thing without Dwayne and me
You call yourself big, but your rhymes are silly
You can’t sit down without your pants splitting
For real dog you may be B.I.G. but you were nothing before or after me
That’s like OJ after he left the AFC
That’s like Sanford after he left the Y.A.R.D.
That’s like Superman with kryptonite
That’s like a light bulb that just ain’t too bright
Now, stop and think about that
If you hit the Slim Fast, you wouldn’t be so fat
Now it’s just me and the MVP
So tell me Shaq, why you jealous of me
Tell me Shaq, why you jealous of me
Everybody now, why you jealous of me
I never ratted you out, I just told the truth
I’ll mind my own business if you do too
You said you had a vasectomy
Was that because of me
Maybe you’re just in a rutt
Or just can’t get it up
Tell me Shaq, why you jealous of me
Tell me Shaq, why you jealous of me
Everybody now, why you jealous of me
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and outlandish expectation, Or to take arms and score against a sea of troubles and man-to-man defense, To which no traveler returns confident in his vote, puzzles the will, And by opposing end them to chose a winner amongst the sea of competition, Be all my sins remembered for choosing incorrectly.
History recalls not whether William Shakespeare covered the NBA as a young scribe for the Stratford Times, but even such a brilliant man of letters would stop to pause in selecting the MVP in a year where every vote is a good one and none is correct.
Whereas voters across the country were given a reprieve during the Jordan years, and whereas Kevin Garnett’s 2003-2004 campaign was so one-sided that he bested runner up Tim Duncan by 120 first place votes, this year could be the tightest race ever. Handicapping the results would be easier if this were a Heisman Trophy race. Regional voting would eliminate Chris Paul. LeBron James and Kobe Bryant would offer a tight battle for second as Kevin Garnett gobbles up the massive East Coast vote and cruises to victory. It may just play out this way.
• Kobe Bryant 28.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.8 steals, .459 FG percent .840 FT percent.
The Lakers’ season was in doubt following a 42-40 season and the release of a summer cell phone video of Bryant bashing teammate Kwame Brown. The often-labeled “best player in the game” was called a great individual scorer and defender who didn’t play well with others. He even once shut it down in the post-season because of his frustration with his teammates. Now, several months later, the Lakers find themselves a favorite to win their first NBA title in the post-Shaq era.
• Chris Paul 21.1 points, 4 rebounds, 11.6 assists, 2.7 steals .488 FG percent, .852 FT percent,
With their home city in shambles, the New Orleans Hornets moved part time to Oklahoma City and finished four games under .500 a year ago, good for fourth place in the tough Southwest division. Fast forward a year and the team is the flip side of the Miami Heat. The Hornets finished one game behind the Lakers for the best record in the Western Conference because of a player who is, at 22, the best at his position and the most exciting young player to enter the league since, well, his four competitors for MVP.
• Kevin Garnett 18.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.2 blocks, .539 FG percent, .801 FT percent.
No sooner had Boston brought in Garnett and Ray Allen to team with Paul Pierce then the Celtics were seemingly granted the NBA title. The Celtics didn’t disappoint, going from worst to first in the Eastern Conference while winning an incredible 42 more games than the year before. Their mid-season victory lap through Texas last month proved to any remaining critics that the Celtics are more than just a good team getting fat on easy Eastern Conference prey.
• LeBron James 30.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.8 steals 1.1 blocks, .484 FG percent, .712 FT percent.
Laker fans may not like to hear it, but James is the best player in the NBA. Too quick to keep from driving to the basket and too strong should he decide to post up some unlucky foe, James is the biggest match-up nightmare in the NBA. With all due respect to Dwight Howard’s All-Star Game high-wire extravaganza, James is the true superhero of the NBA. And God show pity on the innocent team whose unwise and boisterous fan dares to challenge the king’s superiority.
And the winner is:
Garnett? Of course not. You know how these things work. The winner is always mentioned last. Garnett did help rescue the Celtics from the abyss and he was the most important part of the NBA’s second best defense, but the man had a lot of help. He was outscored by Pierce, and Allen freed up the inside for Garnett with his near 40 percent three-point shooting.
Lebron? Wrong again. Without LeBron, Cleveland would have secured a lottery pick. The Cavaliers have role players, but no one to take any of the scoring load off James. Things got worse in February when they picked up over-the-hill gang members Ben Wallace and Joe Smith along with Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West. The team sputtered to a 20-17 post-trade record and five fewer wins than the year before. James is the biggest “V” in the business, but you can’t win with a team going backward.
Kobe? Oh so close. Playing with a mangled finger on his shooting hand, Kobe did the unthinkable — he played his usually dominant role while discovering he actually had teammates. Kobe’s willingness to get everyone involved showed as L.A. vaulted to the top of the Western Conference. The only real knock against Kobe is that the Lakers’ winning percentage rose from .636 — good enough for a seventh place finish in the West — to .750 after acquiring Pau Gasol. Also, in the games that Gasol missed after joining the Lakers, the team went just 5-4.
Chris Paul. Saving the best for last. Paul was hardly alone, with David West and Peja Stojakovic, but no one was more responsible for the 17-game turnaround than the game’s most dominant point guard. Under his leadership, the Hornets improved their offense from 95.5 points to 100.9, and their defense by 1.5 points per. Most impressive was that Paul’s numbers weren’t pumped up against poor competition. Paul averaged 22.6 points and 11 assists against Western Conference playoff teams and was even better against his biggest adversary for the award. Versus Bryant, Paul scored 23.2 per game while dishing out an average of 15 assists.
When the next great chronicle of America western expansion is written, historians will focus not on the need for fertile lands to plow nor space for religious freedom as reasons for the daring treks into the unknown.
As before, the search for gold leads the masses.
Much like the nuggets found in the American River near Sacramento by James Marshall in 1848 spurned the rush of some half-million people in search of instant wealth, the action of a shabbily dressed man with shorts far too revealing and who is often surrounded by silicone-enhanced valets some 384.4 miles south along I-5 has thrown the NBA West into a flurry of speculation. But while the famed California Gold Rush produced an annual production value of $81 million by 1852, the rush led by Lakers’ owner Jerry Buss will not enrich hundreds, but in fact only one. Well, two if you count retired forward Keith Van Horn, who hit the mother load with a $4.3 million pay day to become part of the deal that brought Jason Kidd to the Mavericks.
While not taking up the most space on the court, the gift of Pau Gasol to the Lakers from Memphis is the great Carson Hill find of 1854. The 195-pound hunk of gold, worth about $2.9 million on today’s market, is mere flake in comparison. The Lakers have not only divested itself from Michael Jordan’s draft-day bungle but have added the most athletic big man to don the purple and gold since Alcindor became Abdul-Jabbar. In one big move the Lakers have not only added the talent to challenge San Antonio for Western dominance, but may now boast the league’s best front line: Gasol (19.5 points and 8.5 rebounds, Lamar Odom (13.4, 10) and Andrew Bynum (13.1, 10.2). If backup Chris Mihm can recover from his Achilles surgery in time for the playoffs, the Lakers have even more fouls to throw at the 54-pound Willard Nugget that was recently discovered in the Valley of the Sun.
Seeing Shaq play Arnold Schwarzenegger to Steve Nash’s Danny DeVito has made for more than just interesting television. It has also signaled the end of the Suns’ small-ball philosophy that has produced a chest of regular season wins but no year-end gold strike.
Much like the Lakers, the Suns realized that the trail to the title goes through San Antonio, and in order to stake their claim they would have to find a counter for the Big Fundamental. Enter the Big Aristotle. Whether or not you believe the Suns’ training staff’s claim that the 325-pounder has returned with just 11 percent body fat, the fact is that no matter how much extra hardtack the former LSU Tiger is carrying, the man still warrants attention even if he is just a role player. O’Neal is a space eater and is good with the outlet pass, which will benefit the Suns perimeter players. Most importantly, his arrival allows Amare Stoudemire to move over to a more natural No. 4 spot, which should increase his production as he won’t be forced to #### around with taller and heavier post players. Add to this a consistent 15 and 8 and — though it won’t match the individual production of the recently departed Shawn Marion — could be enough to get them to the conference finals.
Of all the organizations that got the wires humming, the Mavericks may be the one team to end up with more pyrite than actual heavy bullion. This is not to say that Kidd is ready for the old prospectors home. Though his shooting percentage is the worst of his career, he can still run an offense (10.4 assists per game) and help open Dallas’ running game. The Mavs are ninth in the Western Conference in scoring and can use the offensive boost that Kidd’s passing will bring, but the move does little to combat the advances made by Los Angeles, Phoenix or even San Antonio, which just added more front court strength with the addition of Kurt Thomas.
As the season winds down and the playoff streams grow more crowded with panners hoping for a big pay day, the action could get fierce. And while having a Diesel to hide behind may seem a safe place to wait out the horde of claim jumpers, no spot on the banks will be more secure than the one at 1111 S. Figueroa Street. The Lakers’ front line is bigger and more athletic than any team in the NBA and with a happy-to-get-out-of Memphis Gasol, and Kobe Bryant needing to prove he can win without O’Neal, the stars are aligned for the reinvigoration of the old rivalry with Boston.
Of course, if Rasheed Wallace doesn’t suffer another playoff meltdown and the Pistons seem interested in their jobs, then a rerun of the 2004 finals may be in order.
