We have all seen that scene from Seabiscuit, or maybe experienced that feeling. That desire to one-up everyone and look deep into an opponent’s eyes before racing past them, leaving only a trail of dust behind.
That is the kind of rivalry that re-ignited the NBA in the 1980s between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. The kind of rivalry that was the stuff of legends early on in the league’s history between Larry Bird and Wilt Chamberlain. A rival often has the effect of raising the game of those around them.
Michael Jordan had Dominique Wilkins and Larry Bird to compete with as a young player before his greatness seemed unsurpassed in his prime. He at least had the ghosts of those early battles to draw the best out of him.
Kobe Bryant has some of the same self-motivating drives that pushed Jordan to assault NBA defenses and achieve a level of greatness seen maybe once or twice in NBA history (certainly not many more than that). As much as Bryant does not want to admit it, he is probably not on that level.
What is amazing, at least if you subscribe to Bryant’s thinking, is that Bryant seemed to use Jordan’s ghost as motivation. Bryant recently told Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles that he was, frankly, peerless.
“I didn’t have one,” Bryant said after Los Angeles’ win over Sacramento on Friday.
“At this point my rivals, in terms of what I have left to accomplish in my career, (left the game) when Magic (Johnson) and Michael (Jordan) retired in ’98. That’s it. In terms of what I’m looking to accomplish, that’s about it.
“What I have left to accomplish, those players retired a long time ago.”
Reporters asked Bryant to elaborate, trying to draw peer comparisons with other players like Dwyane Wade and Bryant brushed the comparisons aside. Their primes just came too far apart. What about Bryant’s immediate peers? As far as championship players, Bryant is most comparable to Tim Duncan and Shaquille O’Neal. They are obviously both centers.
It is hard to find the right comparison for a guy like Bryant, the right peer that would have properly pushed Bryant to new heights.
So the question is: what would Bryant have been with this kind of a player?
Bryant was never short on motivation. Stories about him in high school had him reviewing game tape while on dates with his high school girlfriend. This guys was extremely driven on his own to reach the heights he has reached. No doubt, he is still one of the greatest scorers in the league today — the Masked Mamba has averaged 34.0 points per game in the three games since the All-Star Break. There is no slowing down this 16-year veteran who is still (unbelievably) just 33 years old.
Kobe has largely been the lone wolf on the wing for his generation. Allen Iverson was not quite comparable and Tracy McGrady broke down physically. Vince Carter is… well, Vince Carter. Nobody could meet Bryant at the top of the hill.
Bryant is probably fine with that too. He never needed someone pushing for his spot to motivate him. It is hard to argue with his five championships and amazing scoring prowess. His career and his legacy seem just fine.
