Kobe finally Kobe
Kobe Bryant's Game 2 last-minute shot not only solidified the likelyhood of a Lakers' championship, but it also removed the Jordan-comparison monkey off his back.
In Game 2 of the NBA finals on Tuesday night, Kobe Bryant finally removed a career-long monkey off his back, and now, as the rest of the world awaits another Lakers-fated championship, Kobe sits alone for the first time.
The reporter-faced monkey no longer screams, "He's no Michael Jordan."
Bryant killed the monkey on his back with a Game 2 shot to send the Lakers into overtime victory.
From his high-school days, Kobe has been lauded as the next Jordan, the heir to Air.
He didn't help the stories by patterning his voice, his look, his tongue and his demeanor off the King of Sport.
Nonetheless, most would have thought the first, second or third ring would have freed Kobe from the comparisons, but Jordan's shadow looms too large and too fresh on the NBA stage, until now.
The overtime-inducing shot, while brilliant, was not the source of death for Bryant's monkey, and it didn't die with the way Kobe gingery dribbled left and backed away from Richard Hamilton.
It didn't die with the hanging wrist and the sinking ball.
The aged monkey died when Kobe turned and thumped his chest, sending his image into history.
No longer did he hold his Jordanesque fist and don his Micheal-statued pose.
Instead, Bryant jammed his fist to his chest, stepped up the court, and made known his position in the spotlight.
The entire momentary celebration, the fist-to-chest, the chest bump with his teammate, and the overtime dominance didn't look like Jordan.
For, perhaps, the first time we saw what Bryant looks like, alone on the stage.
His newfound self continued in the post-game press conference.
He joked with the media, admitted the significance of this shot in light of his career, and then resumed his stoic "Jordanesque" responses to the coming games.
No, perhaps it was not Jordan that influenced the responses.
It could be that the basketball world must accept the mingled images of greatness.
Kobe looks and sounds at times like Jordan, but make no mistake, Kobe Bryant, the NBA's best basketball player, single handedly won Game 2.
The reporter-faced monkey no longer screams, "He's no Michael Jordan."
Bryant killed the monkey on his back with a Game 2 shot to send the Lakers into overtime victory.
From his high-school days, Kobe has been lauded as the next Jordan, the heir to Air.
He didn't help the stories by patterning his voice, his look, his tongue and his demeanor off the King of Sport.
Nonetheless, most would have thought the first, second or third ring would have freed Kobe from the comparisons, but Jordan's shadow looms too large and too fresh on the NBA stage, until now.
The overtime-inducing shot, while brilliant, was not the source of death for Bryant's monkey, and it didn't die with the way Kobe gingery dribbled left and backed away from Richard Hamilton.
It didn't die with the hanging wrist and the sinking ball.
The aged monkey died when Kobe turned and thumped his chest, sending his image into history.
No longer did he hold his Jordanesque fist and don his Micheal-statued pose.
Instead, Bryant jammed his fist to his chest, stepped up the court, and made known his position in the spotlight.
The entire momentary celebration, the fist-to-chest, the chest bump with his teammate, and the overtime dominance didn't look like Jordan.
For, perhaps, the first time we saw what Bryant looks like, alone on the stage.
His newfound self continued in the post-game press conference.
He joked with the media, admitted the significance of this shot in light of his career, and then resumed his stoic "Jordanesque" responses to the coming games.
No, perhaps it was not Jordan that influenced the responses.
It could be that the basketball world must accept the mingled images of greatness.
Kobe looks and sounds at times like Jordan, but make no mistake, Kobe Bryant, the NBA's best basketball player, single handedly won Game 2.
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