Quote:
Originally Posted by Peyton's Princess
When has Kobe ever been a closer? Isn't that the definition of an assassin? What has he ever closed? Name a defining Kobe Finals moment. Name 3. I can name 3 from just about every Finals Michael was in.
I think Kobe may have been the most valuable player on his team 1 team (and that's being generous) on his 5 championships. (In the postseason, not over the entire course of the season)
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Game 4 against the Pacers in his first NBA finals is the easiest example.
Jalen Rose slid his leg in under Kobe during a jumper in Game 2 and sprained his ankle (because Jalen Rose is a punk). Kobe missed game 3 and the Pacers won to draw it to a 2-1 series.
Game 4 was pivotal as hell and ended up in overtime where Shaq fouled out. Kobe completely owned that overtime period, made 3
huge baskets and stole the win on the road to make it a 3-1 series. Had they lost that, the Pacers would've won 2 in a row to tie the series at 2-2 and the Pacers
throttled the Lakers in game 5 which would've given them a 3 game winning streak and all the momentum in the world.
Without that win, without that performance from Kobe, the Lakers very likely don't win the 2000 NBA Championship and suddenly that era could've gone very very differently.
Oh there are other examples as well, but that's the most glaring.
People that don't want to like Kobe don't ever remember stuff like that, but there's a ton of it. It doesn't bother me - it is what it is. The Jordan fans think they have to belittle Kobe to make sure that there remains separation between them. I don't get it; there's going to be separation between the two even if you give Bryant every drop of credit he's earned.
It just is what it is.