James dominates today; tomorrow belongs to Bryant
By Toivo Asheeke
With the NBA playoffs upon us, I feel the time is right for me to attempt to write a basketball article!
Over the past two years, there has been much debate surrounding who the best player in the NBA is right now. This exhilarating and often times heated debate orbits primarily around two players of unbelievable natural ability and drive.
LeBron James from the Cleveland Cavaliers and Kobe Bryant from the Los Angeles Lakers are to most minds the two best players in the league. There are strong arguments that support both sides, and in this article I will attempt to briefly summarize them and finally offer my opinion on the question at hand.
Standing at 6’8” and weighing 250 pounds of solid muscle blended with cat-like agility and freakish athleticism, James is a physical specimen such as the NBA has never seen before. Since he entered the league, James has possessed point guard passing and handling abilities in addition to having the physical tools to get to the rim whenever he wants.
Since he entered the league in 2003 as the first overall draft pick (out of high school) of the Cavaliers, James has averaged 27.8 points, 6.9 assists and 7.0 rebounds, and reminds many experts who watch him of Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson.
Lofty praise indeed, but well deserved, as James has consistently increased his offensive and especially his defensive arsenal since he entered the league. This improvement fueled his win of the 2008-09 Most Valuable Player and has assured that he will win this year’s 2009-10 MVP as well.
However, James has yet to win an NBA Championship, and in order to earn his spot as one of the greatest of all time, this is a category in which he needs to win something.
In addition to this, James’ shooting skills are still average by NBA standards and when one looks at his overall offensive skill set in separation from his athletic abilities, one finds a player no different from others who play in the league. Hopefully as time goes on he will improve, as all great players do, on this aspect of his game!
If LeBron James can be described as a hammer cracking his opponents’ heads open, Kobe Bryant can be looked at as a coldblooded assassin snuffing the life out of his enemies.
In terms of his offensive arsenal, in other words the ways in which Kobe Bryant can score the ball, there maybe has never been a player like him. He can score in variety of ways from all over the basketball court, which makes him a nightmare to guard. His superior technique, natural talent, insane work ethic and cold-blooded killer instincts at the end of a game make Bryant deadly.
Although at age 32, with 14 years of long NBA seasons wearing on his body and his athleticism not what it once was, Bryant still finds a way to dominate. His ability to lock down his man as well as quarterback the Lakers team to titles makes him in many people’s eyes the heir to Michael Jordan. Bryant is also an under-rated passer and, like James, has the ability to make his teammates better.
Some of the critiques of Bryant’s game are that he is too selfish and dominates the ball too much as he tries to impose his will on a game. Instead of trusting his teammates to make plays and help him win, he pushes himself harder to win, forgetting his team.
Another issue with Bryant is his inability to make things work on the court with Shaquille O’Neil (one of the greatest centers of all time). Furthermore, the three titles Bryant did win prior to his fourth; Shaq was the NBA Finals MVP and the best player on the team, not Bryant. Thusly, Bryant’s success in this league has come in tandem with other talented players, unlike with James, who for his entire career had to carry the Cavaliers himself.
All in all, either pick one makes is a defendable and sound one. In my opinion however, Bryant is the best player right now. He isn’t playing as well as James is, but he has had a lot of injuries this year that have slowed him down.
But we must not forget that this is the man who scored 81 points in an NBA game against the Raptors in 2006 and 62 over just three quarters against the powerful Mavericks that same year. His game winners are uncountable and his ability to win games deep into the playoffs is breathtaking.
James, I believe, will eventually be the best and that time is indeed at hand, but at the moment, the NBA Championship resides in Los Angeles as well as the league’s best player.
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