Jan 8, 2001
NBA Fan Editorial - - - - -
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How Many Did
Kobe Score Tonight?
By DAN SEYMOUR
(Note - this is a fan editorial
and not from InsideHoop's staff!)
As NBA players themselves become
increasingly precious commodities, the NBA
teams they play for are rendered
more and more valueless. As attention shifts away from teams and towards
individual players, basketball appears to be on the way to becoming an
individual competition rather than a team sport.
I have a frightening vision of a
bleak and barren future, in which basketball is nothing more than a race
among individuals attempting to score as many points as possible. Some
startling news in recent weeks leads me to fear that this future may have
already arrived.
On January 2, Tony Delk of the Phoenix
Suns scored a career-high 53 points in a loss to the Sacramento Kings.
On December 3, Antawn Jamison scored 51 points in a loss to Seattle. Vince
Carter scored 46, Iverson 45, Tracy McGrady 43, all in losses.
In perhaps the most alarming display
of selfish and individualistic athletic competition ever to occur among
grown adults, Kobe Bryant scored 51 points, while simultaneously dragging
his team through an agonizing loss to Golden State, one of the weakest
teams in basketball. In this very same game, Antawn Jamison scored 51 points
as well, although I don't consider this leading his team to victory, since
the only reason the Warriors even won at all was by process of elimination.
There is a sublime truth to basketball,
one that transcends and is unaffected by statistics. It has to do with
the harmony of a team, the system of a group of players acting as a single
unit working towards a common goal. This is the beauty and truth that flows
beneath and is channeled through basketball. The gods are unimpressed by
a 51-point performance that results in a loss. The gods do not concern
themselves with the personal accomplishments of specific players except
insofar as they contribute toward the cohesive efforts of their team. The
gods are blind to incredible individual performances; incredible individuals
who contribute towards incredible team performances, however, routinely
rock the heavens.
The gentle art of winning has been
lost among most of today's "elite" players. As an inevitable byproduct,
the NBA has become nothing more than a launching pad for specific individuals
to achieve "greatness," as measured in points scored per game. Those players
who concern themselves with their team's success, and forsake personal
statistics in favor of victories, are mercilessly left behind as Kobe Bryant
jerseys sell like hotcakes.
There are numerous reasons that Kobe
Bryant is not among the NBA elite, but that is a topic for another column
altogether. I write this column specifically about Kobe Bryant because
he is the prototype of the individual who sucks energy away from his team,
rather than energizes it. Through his efforts to assert himself and become
a great basketball player, he weakens his team. There are others in the
NBA like this, indeed there are many. But none personifies this villainous
trait as much as Kobe Bryant.
Rumors abound that the Lakers have
secret signals to give one another that mean not to pass the ball to Kobe
Bryant. Phil Jackson is publicly complaining that Kobe Bryant is too selfish.
Shaq is publicly complaining that he's not getting enough shots because
Kobe Bryant's taking them all (this, by the way, astounds me. If I ever
did anything to anger Shaq, I would stop immediately, send flowers and
an apology, and go live a life of secrecy and seclusion somewhere in Southeast
Asia.) Isaiah Rider is publicly complaining that Kobe Bryant isn't communicative
enough on offense. And as of right now, I am publicly complaining that
Kobe Bryant has stupid hair.
Just about the only people who aren't
publicly complaining about Kobe Bryant are the fans. The fans are lapping
up every selfish, empty jumpshot Kobe Bryant hits. This is because the
human mind has a natural tendency to look at basketball through a quantitative
rather than a qualitative lens. The question on every fan's lips is: "How
many did Kobe score tonight?" But nobody seems to be asking why, if Kobe
Bryant has become so amazing, are the Lakers noticeably worse than they
were last year? If you buy the Glen Rice excuse, then you obviously haven't
been following the Knicks.
In a perfect sports world, a player
exists for the benefit of his team. However, a perfect sports world is
an abstraction that, it becomes more and more clear to me, will never exist
and probably never has.
In reality, in the glitzy, flashy
world of basketball, a team now exists for the benefit of its players.
Kobe Bryant does not see himself as a player working with his teammates
to help the Lakers win. He sees a Laker victory through the same prism
that he sees a Laker loss-- how many points did he score? He sees the Lakers
as his pole in a pole vault, his diving board, his trampoline. He sees
the Lakers as a format through which he may score 51 points. He sees the
Lakers as a format through which he will not become the next Michael Jordan,
but rather will become, as he puts it, "the first Kobe Bryant."
I know that there's no such thing
as a perfect sports world, but for my
sake, please God please, please
let him also be the last.
InsideHoops
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