A Man On Trial

I'm under the gun. I have a confession to make. Firstt, a little backstory. I love watching dominant basketball. I remember watching Mike eviscerate teams and destroy dudes careers and when the horn sounded, I had the satisfied feeling of a full man who just finished polishing off his favorite meal; when Rodman was added to that Bulls squad and we witnessed the record setting rampage through the league, I was in basketball Heaven, it was the dopest of the dope. Watching that 1st LA Shaq/Kobe juggernaut in the early 2000s was like watching a damn top-notch boxer laying all challengers on their back in a parking lot brawl. Somewhere along the way, with Shaq blowing town and Kobe showing certain Diva-like tendencies and allegedly taking unsuspecting hotel service-workers gross panties against their wills, I admit it, I stopped liking Kobe'. I admit, the whole "I'm-not-trying-to-be-like-Mike" while desperately trying to be like Mike thing irked me. The whole "won't-get-Ason (no J)-Kidd-cuz-of-Bynum?-Trade-his-azz!!!" garbage and the BS trade demands when the team struggled got on my damn nerves. So when Vince Carter, T-Mac, and now LeBron hit the scene, I would go through all the rigmarole to put one of these guys, ANY of these guys, above Kobe in the 2 guard hierarchy, cuz I just didn't dig that dude. I mean, who beefs with Ray Allen? Fast forward to December 2009; Lebron is stampeding any and all defenders, the Cavs are doing skits and dancing on the sidelines, and I'm telling any and everyone that wanna babble about Kobe',"Yo yo, my man, Kobe' is nice and all, and I'mma let you finish, but LEBRON JAMES is the BEST PLAYER in the League!!! THE WHOLE LEAGUE!!!!" *Shrug*. Did he dance on the sidelines DURING  a game, pissing of Chi? Yeah, and that was some bull. Did he start to really get full of himself, and start referring to himself in 3rd person WAY too much? Hell yeah, and that was crap. But guess what? I didn't care; he wasn't Kobe. The League bestowed him his MVP, Kobe' was banged up, life was good. Then- The Celtics expose LeBron as gutless (I don't care about his "the fans are spoiled" talk; a true warrior would have went out with both guns empty, shot 6 for 24 with 7 turnovers if he had to, he would have TRIED). THEN...Kobe' wills his team to ANOTHER Finals. And DENNN....Kobe' DOES shoot 6/24, but dude grabs 15 boards; at 6'7" with a bum knee, that's insane. I remember sitting in that sports bar with my homie Dun, surrounded by rabid, drunk Lakers fans, while I crowed and heckled with Boston bruising their way to a 4th quarter lead IN LA!!!! BUT...Kobe' goes 8-9 from the line and grabs 4 boards in the 4th. It's over, LA wins. Are you ^$%#* KIDDIN' ME!?!? Did he shoot 40% for the series? Yeah, the Boston D was a wall, and Kobe' was a walking wounded wing all by himself. Did Pau play better than Bryant in Game 7? Hell yeah, Pau's 18 points and 19 boards was game changing, but in the crunch, that jerk Kobe' grabbed the game by the throat and took it home as his. So yeah, as much as it makes my eyes bleed and my teeth itch, I will admit it: Kobe'snot the fastest or more athletic anymore, he's not the best shooter, not the best pure scorer, or the best defender. He's still not a good person, but Kobe' Bean Bryant is the best player in the damn WORLD. Excuse me while I go set myself on fire. I see you Dev...

I hate this guy.