People who have been watching basketball with me for long enough to know my stance on "clutchness" and Kobe Bryant's legacy as being one of the best in that department probably know how I felt after hearing that he spent an hour and a half after the Laker's loss to the Heat shooting jumpers by himself. (HINT: BULL****.) Dan LeBatard, a columnist for the Miami Herald and a radio host for AM 790 in Miami, summarized my feelings about Kobe in a single paragraph. Scrutinized for his opinion, LeBatard refers to himself sarcastically as "the jerk" in the following excerpt from his recent article titled "Kobe Bryant’s show also reveals harsh truth":
"Only a jerk would point that he didn’t do this [referring to Bryant's post-game shooting] after losing at Cleveland or Memphis or any of the other times there were a lot fewer cameras around. Only a jerk would point that, if he cared to sculpt in private, there was another gym in this same arena where the myth-makers aren’t allowed that he could have used to be all alone with just his pain and work ethic. Only a jerk would suggest that maybe Bryant did this because of how much media was around for this game — and, because his actual work during the game didn’t produce the desired narrative, he somehow figured out a way to get it 90 minutes after both teams had gone home."
People talk about humility and being humble as some of the key attributes a leader and an all-time great should have. Jordan was neither by most accounts, but Jordan never demanded a trade in the prime of his career. Jordan did not care if you knew HOW he beat you, just that he WILL beat you. It was not enough that Kobe failed his team and his city late in that game by chucking up 40 foot three pointers while double-teamed rather than looking for the open man (whether you want to believe that or not is another story); rather, he wanted you to know that he was going to try to make sure he did not fail again when put in the same situation - and something tells me those 40 footers will still be shot with no regret.
"Wait, he stayed 90 minutes after the game was over and just shot jumpers?? What a motivated, hard-working, leader!" Yes, at first glance, that sound like a leader, a true, hard-working Great. Here is the problem: Basketball is not baseball. It's not even Football. A hitter can go to the batting cage, take a few hacks, work on reading curveballs, adjust his swing. A wide receiver can run routes, catch passes, work on his cuts. Those are his personal responsibilities. A basketball player's - especially that of The Black Mamba's standard - extend beyond his jumpshot. Passing, rebounding, defense...all of these are within the realm of Kobe Bryant's responsibilities. Five guys on the team, all of whom have specialized skills that allow the team to succeed. Kobe wanted to show the world that he wanted to atone and make sure what happened against the Heat did not happen again by working on HIS jump shot. Not scheduling a team meeting, like the Heat did. No NBA player has ever won a a championship by only shooting jump shots. Not only that, but there is no way to practice your "clutch shooting" skills, which is what Bryant's problem was versus the Heat.
I am not denying that Kobe is a transcendent player; he is a once-in-a-generation talent. He is one of the ten greatest players in NBA history. What bothers me is the reputation he has amassed during his career that has "earned" him the nickname The Assassin. To call Bryant a clutch player would be statistically inaccurate. I know this is not the popular opinion, but it bothers me when people refuse to acknowledge the numbers that prove Bryant's inefficiencies while the game is on the line. Ignorance is a poor excuse when it comes to sports. With so many ways to measure success in sports now using numbers, to ignore them is doing the sport and fellow fans a disservice. (You will not see a sabermetric argument here, that will come later on, don't worry.) Yes, I know Kobe will hit another game winning, turnaround-fade away 40 footer, but that is not the point. The point is that then people will once again say that the misses are the anomalies, not the makes.
-Ilan Weitzman
No comments:
Post a Comment