You'll Never Be Like Mike

Mike never would have let it happen, never would have let a group of undersized, underskilled, undermanned cast of role players push his Chicago Bulls to the brink. He would have found a way, through double and triple teams, through sheer will, through an on the money pass to Steve Kerr, John Paxson or Craig Hodges for a three-point dagger. You'll never be him Kobe. Forget the three titles, the MVP award, the All-Star Game appearances, the Gold Medal...your missing His intangibles, His passion, His overwhelming desire to rip the opponent's heart to shreds, His killer instinct.

You seemed ok with losing Game 6 Kobe. You complimented the Rockets on their toughness, their aggressiveness, their hustle. His Airness never would have done that. He would have taken the blame for the loss and minutes later been in the gym working on his jump shot...you missed 16 of them last night, food for thought perhaps?

You wanted Shaq out of La La Land Kobe, you wanted the West Coast to yourself, you changed your number to be one better than Him, you first pouted and then shouted that you'd be a better teammate, that you'd make your supporting cast stronger. Dr. Buss brought in Pau, he drafted a Diesel in waiting, he convinced Phil this was the place to end his career, he shipped D-Fish back to Staples, he even gave you a Scottie Pippen in Lamar Odom, but what do you have to show for it?

You have a Game 7 to prove to the world and your legion of celebrity fans that you're indeed the Second Coming Kobe. But even if you drop 60 on Houston, you won't have convinced me.

To Vitamin Water, I say there is no debate. King James is more Mike than #24 will ever be. In fact, I'd say he's got a little bit Magic, Michael and Larry in that middle linebacker frame. Now I know the Least isn't nearly as strong as the West, but there's no debating that Bron Bron's sidekicks are an AAU squad in relation to Bryant's.

Close you eyes for a moment and hearkening back to the 90's...Grant, Buechler, Wennington, Longley, Harper, Cartwright, Perdue, Armstrong...why do you know these names? Because of the greatness of one man. Now flash forward to 2009...Gibson, Pavlovic, Varejao, West and Williams...you know what I'm getting at.

The true greatness of any player in team sports is measured by how he elevates the play of those around him. LeBron gets this, Kobe...well, we'll just continue to wait and see.