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Is it better to be a superstar and have 6 rings compared to being a role player and have 7? Robert Horry winning 7 NBA Titles with the Rockets (1994,1995), the Lakers (2000, 2001, 2002) and the Spurs (2005,2007), with all of that he still wasn't a superstar; he was a clutch role player. Those accomplishments won't be remembered by an average NBA fan let alone some NBA enthusiast. Most all NBA fans and people in general will always remember that Michael Jordan led the Bulls to 2 "ThreePeats" equaling 6 NBA Titles. Jordan possibly could have won one more but he took a break from basketball and tried his hand at baseball, if I were him couldn't say I would not have done the same thing. Michael Jordan changed an era & changed the game of basketball. Everybody including me wanted to be Jordan like the famous Gatorade commercial "Be Like Mike" suggest. However, Kobe Bryant took that more serious than others & literally copied Michael Jordan down to the way he speaks.
I always wanted to strut my stuff like Denzel Washington did in Training Day as Alonzo. I wanted his "swag", I wanted to walk like him, talk like him but I can't ever say I actually did. The way Kobe plays the game of basketball, his moves, his jumpshot, the way he dunks, the way he celebrates & all the way down to how he walks down the court resembles Michael Jordan. The competitive nature of both of these multi-champion players is far and beyond the majority of players who have come through the NBA. Even when interviewed, Kobe seems to answer the way Michael Jordan would have answered. Eerily similar in many ways other than Kobe having that 6th ring & that 2nd "ThreePeat" with the same exact coach in Phil Jackson.
I'll be the 1st to say this was Kobe's last year to accomplish the complete Xerox of Michael Jordan. Down 2-0 in Western Conference semi-finals against a hungrier Dallas Mavericks team with an unstoppable 7 ft. shooting guard in Dirk Nowitzki. Michael Jordan never came back to win a series being down 2-0 and Kobe Bryant won't either. After losing to the Mavericks in this series, the collection of rings for Kobe Bryant will come to an end. Kobe will not complete his Xerox of Jordan, he will not complete a 2nd "ThreePeat", and he will not get 6 rings. Without the help of Pau Gasol in this series and Andrew Bynum turning on Kobe and his teammates recently with the "We've got trust issues right now" statement, meaning a lack of communication or "give me the ball," there is reason to believe that the Laker dynasty is finished. Ron Artest out tonight's game with a suspension due to his flagrant clothesline foul on J.J. Barea, now there is one less defender to put pressure on Dirk.
I must add that I love Kobe's way of approaching tonight's game as nonchalantly as possible with the "what the hell do I care? It means nothing. Whether he said it, really doesn't mean a Damn thing. Just gotta' win a game" statement in regards to Bynum. Give me a break Kobe, I know that you are worried you won't get your 6th ring making it impossible to match your idol or even be known as BETTER than Michael Jordan. As a man who looks down on cockiness and over confident athletes; it is only fitting for Kobe Bryant to finish 2nd best. Kobe Bryant, the Superstar who got 5 rings, 1 shy of his idol.
Los Angeles Lakers at Dallas Mavericks in Game 3 on ESPN at 9:30 ET.
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