Kobe/LeBron rant ahead
It's hard to imagine real basketball fans being unable to grasp the true greatness of LBJ, but for some reason, all Kobe fans think LeBron is trash because he has no rings and Kobe has 4. Newsflash Kobe fans: LeBron would have 2-3 rings right now if you put him in Kobe's place on the Lakers since acquiring Pao.
LeBron is great at getting the most out of his teammates and has carried a pretty mediocre Cavs team to the best record in the league for the last two years. Each time the playoffs come around, he comes up short in getting a title. Instead of people asking why he couldn't get his team to the championship, I always find myself asking, "How the hell did he get this crappy team to the best record in the league?" Put Kobe on the Cavs and they do about as well as those Lakers teams did right after Shaq left, barely getting into the playoffs. (Kobe would also probably be in jail for murdering one or more of his Cavs teammates.)
Obviously, I'm not the hugest of Kobe supporters because I don't like how he has a habit of freezing out his teammates and going into "me-mode" like in Game 5 when he had more misses than any of his teammates had shots (not to mention his personality annoys the hell out of me). He frustrates me because I see him as having the potential of being even greater than he already is - which is pretty damn great.
Once in awhile we're treated to a "good Kobe" game where he distributes the ball from the jump and ends up with something like 24 points and 12 dimes and the Lakers destroy whoever they're playing with 6-7 guys in double figures. It seems like they always win big when he has a stat line like that. But too often for my liking it seems like he's just going for his 30+ points and forgets about his teammates, which allows other teams to stick around and diminishes the confidence of the other Lakers on the floor.
Sometimes Kobe's "me-mode" can be good, like in end-of-game situations. He's no doubt the best closer in the league. But I feel he's still struggling to find the happy balance between knowing when to take over a game and knowing when to get his teammates involved.
Kobe is not God. Neither is LeBron. But they're both mega-studs and two of the greatest talents to ever grace the hardwood. They both have their strengths. They both have their weaknesses. As a fan of basketball, I'd suggest not making the mistake of letting a bias towards one make you blind to the greatness of the other. We're damn lucky to be able to be watching both of them in our lifetime.
End rant
It sucks that Perkins is out. The Celtics losing the title to the Lakers would ruin my summer, but I still think Boston has a good shot at this. They have too many warriors to go down without a fight.
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!
