Kobe proves his greatness isn't Diesel powered
Doyel: Howard has much to learn
ORLANDO, Fla. -- He emerged from the room where they take the championship photos, the moment that proved to Kobe Bryant that this wasn't a dream. A few minutes before midnight, seven years since his last title, Bryant exuded more than exhilaration.
It was relief. It spilled out of him. The single-minded focus, the scowl, the statement about how he wanted it "really, really bad," was replaced by a different vision. One with waves licking the shores of Cabo San Lucas, his vacation spot.
"That's all I want to see," Bryant said as he rushed down the hallway, a blur. "I want to see a beach, some waves, maybe a surfboard."
And to paraphrase another great and vilified basketball figure, Bob Knight, the accomplishment wouldn't have been complete without Bryant being able to tell the critics who said he couldn't win without Shaquille O'Neal to kiss his ... rings.
"I just don't have to hear that criticism, that idiotic criticism anymore," Bryant said. "... It was just silly. Every team has a dynamic duo. I think it's a shame, but it is what it is. I wasn't going to try to argue about it. I mean, that does nothing. So you just accept the challenge and try to prove them wrong."
Then in the locker room, the journey complete after the Lakers' 99-86 win over the Magic on Sunday, Bryant put into words what everyone instinctively knew, but only he could say.
"This one's at the top," Bryant said. "Right at the top."
• Lakers 99, Magic 86 | Series: Lakers 4, Magic 1
It was No. 4 for Bryant, placing him in the company of O'Neal and Tim Duncan -- or they in the company of him -- as the NBA's most decorated post-Michael Jordan superstars. It goes to the top of the list. It was special because of the wait, because 2002 against the Nets seems like a lifetime ago. But mostly, it was special because Bryant no longer has to listen to the drivel about how he's never won without Shaq. As if Jordan ever won without Pippen, Magic without Worthy, or Bird without McHale and Parish.
"It was annoying," Bryant said. "It was like Chinese water torture -- just keep dropping a drop of water on your temple. It was just annoying. I would cringe every time. I was just like, "It's a challenge I'm just going to have to accept because there's no way I'm going to argue it.' You can say it until you're blue in the face and rationalize it until you're blue in the face, but it's not going anywhere until you do something about it. ... It felt so good to be able to have this moment."
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| 'This one's at the top,' Kobe Bryant says of his first title without Shaq. (Getty Images) |
Early in Bryant's career, Phil Jackson dragged him into a film room and showed him clips of a game against Toronto in which Bryant's ego let him get drawn into a shot-for-shot duel with Vince Carter. Jackson felt Bryant hurt the team that night, and that his virtuoso tendencies made the game harder than it had to be.
• Berger: Phil finally celebrates
"So I talked to him a little bit about leadership and his ability to be a leader," Jackson said. "He said, 'I'm ready to be a captain now.' And I said, "But no one is ready to follow you.' He was 22 at the time. He was a young guy. ... He's learned how to become a leader in a way in which people want to follow him. He knew that he had to give to get back in return, and so he's become a giver rather than just a guy that's a demanding leader."
Bryant hadn't learned that yet in 2004, when the All-Star-laden Lakers got eviscerated by the Pistons in the Finals. He still hadn't learned it last season, when he couldn't bring himself to trust his teammates enough in a crushing Finals loss to the Celtics.
"He's doing everything that we could ever ask him to do in terms of leading the team and performance on the court," Derek Fisher said. "He's trying to be the type of guy that guys will follow as opposed to just dominating performances by himself."
Bryant averaged 32.4 points and 7.4 assists to win his first Finals MVP trophy, the first one named for Bill Russell -- he of the 11 championship rings. Shaq won it every time he shared the championship with Bryant. Now, Kobe stands alone.
Or should. If the criticism of not winning without Shaq propelled him toward this trophy with such anger, imagine how he will burn in the face of the unspoken challenge ahead. It is mindboggling, really, that as Bryant closed to within two titles of Jordan, the man he's always measured himself against, the player he is most often compared to hasn't won any. Zero.
When in Cabo, Bryant might need to have the TVs removed from his hotel room and all the tiki bars, unless he wants to experience weeks of Kobe-LeBron puppet commercials. Or maybe he'll want to watch them. Fuel for next year.
Bryant's teammates have, at various times, weighed in on the Kobe-LeBron debate. Lamar Odom diplomatically explained it to me this way during the conference finals: "Bruce Springsteen or Frank Sinatra? Wine or beer?" Why there is such a debate is beyond me. The man for whom the Finals MVP trophy is named should have proven that greatness is measured in championships. To have a Russell-Chamberlain debate today would be laughable. There is only one quality that matters.
So while Bryant was relieved to get this one, the sad part is that he will never win this battle. Someday James or even Dwight Howard might have more championships and the clout that comes with them. The price of admission starts at four. You need six to rub elbows with the immortals. If you want to be in a debate, I think you need one first.
In some way, don't you think Bryant must be snickering inside at the prospect of the Cavs trading for O'Neal? The winning-without-Shaq albatross goes around King James' neck if that happens. Will James be treated to the same cacophony of nonsense? Or will he get a break because he's ... well, not Kobe?
"From the standpoint of responding to the challenge, from people saying I couldn't do it without him, that feels good, because you prove people wrong," Bryant said. "So from that standpoint, it feels extremely good to do that.
"On another note, I think people can look at the special teams that we had together," he said. "We were great as individuals ... but it's probably the first dynamic duo that had two alpha males on one team. We managed to make it work for three championships. For me, it's about the years that we had but also enjoying the ones to come."
As the clock ran out on No. 4, the first championship of Bryant's next journey, he leaped into the air and pumped his fist four times. One for each ring. He has this Jordan thing down to an art form now, because it reminded me of Jordan hitting "The Shot" over Craig Ehlo and doing the same thing. That was 20 years ago. Times change, players change, but greatness is still measured the same way.
"It's so hard to go from the top and then to the bottom and then back to the top again," Bryant was saying in the Lakers locker room, after the celebration was over. "That's tough. When me and Fish just embraced each other, it was one of those unbelievable moments."
What I'd like to know is when the noise will stop, when this non-debate will end. And I'd like to know what Bryant is thinking when he gets to that beach and stares at the waves. The challenges keep coming, one after another. And they don't stop until you do something about them.
