ESPN: Kobe motivated by chasing Jordan?

[Roundball_Rock]

Could it really be that a man who retired eight seasons ago and won his sixth and final championship in 1998, two years before Bryant won his first, is in the back of Bryant's mind every time he drives to the hoop? That he goes through every painful therapy session on his right knee and puts his 32-year-old body through another back-to-back just because he wants to be like Mike?

Or maybe it's because he wants to be better than Mike.

Bryant can't escape the Jordan comparisons. They both played shooting guard; their bodies during their primes were nearly identical in shape and size at 6-foot-6, 200 pounds; they both had a penchant for shining brightest when the utmost pressure was applied.

"I think that Kobe has some pretty good incentive, as if he ever needed any," NBA commissioner David Stern said before the Lakers beat the Houston Rockets on opening night, bringing up Jordan without ever actually saying the words "Michael Jordan."

Jordan has been a longtime supporter of Bryant's, but as Kobe's career is fast approaching Jordan's from a historical sense, MJ's competitive side is kicking in.

If you read into Bryant's response about the all-time minutes mark, he frames the accomplishment by taking pride in only playing for one team. It's something that he can hold over Jordan, who unceremoniously ended his career ambling around the court with a Washington Wizards jersey on.

In an interview with USA Today during the preseason, Jordan was asked where Bryant should rank all time. Jordan placed him in the top 10 guards, balking at the opportunity to baptize him as one of the all-time best. It was viewed as a slight by Jordan, but people forget that just a few months earlier Jordan weighed in on the Bryant-LeBron James debate by saying that Bryant was the better player of the two.

I had to ask Bryant what tying Jordan could mean. Six titles has to have some pull to it, right?

"I want to win six just like I wanted to win one, that's the object of playing," he said in a quiet moment after a shootaround in Denver earlier this month. "If I need motivation to say I wanted to get six because I wanted to have the same as Michael, to me, that's weak."

It is starting.

[The_Yearning]

That's right. The Black Mamba wants more than six. He wants at least 7.

[All Net]

Kobe is motivated but it has nothing to do with MJ.

[blondie]

The GOAT says that old Kobe is better than Prime James-and still the idiots of ISH think lebron the ringless regular season wonder (aka the modern Karl Malone) is better than Kobe of the 5 rings

[FinishHim!]

LOL, I love Kobe and his diplomatic answers. Just like when they were asking him if it would mean anything to have 5. And he gave a similar type answer and then after he wins it he says "I have one more than Shaq." He clearly wants to win 6 to tie Jordan and then further on to pass him with 7.

[Allstar24]

ESPN needs to do something better with their time...like write more articles about Miami. They're so obsessed with the idea of Kobe being motivated by MJ, they don't actually care whether its true or not.

[IGOTGAME]

this is just a ploy to take the spotlight off Lebron's struggles.

[Roundball_Rock]

He probably is at least partially motivated by a desire to eclipse Jordan. Why wouldn't he? He is similar and has been compared to MJ from day 1. Why not shoot for surpassing him in the public eye when he has several good years left?

The most interesting thing about the article is there were no caveats that MJ fans always employ. The only reference to Shaq was with respect to "5 vs. 4" and Kobe giving politically correct answers about Shaq in the past. There was no talk about the meaningless label of "sidekick." This is how the media will cover it if Kobe reaches 6--and may Nike forbid--more than 6. It will be 6 versus 6, 7 versus 6. The media and the public, which is greatly influenced by the former, is not going to engage in absurdities such as subtracting 3 rings from Kobe because he happened to play with Shaq.

Of course, 7>6 does not necessarily mean the player with 7 rings is superior. Russell has nearly twice as many rings as Jordan yet MJ has probably 20 times more support for GOAT than Russell. Kareem has as many rings as MJ and more MVP's yet lags far behind in popular opinion as well. Magic? 5 rings in 11 or 12 years--a better batting average than Jordan's 6 in 15 years and Magic made 9 finals to Jordan's 6. Yet Magic also is far behind Jordan in public opinion.

[Done_And_Done]

How is this even a debatable topic of discussion. He's merely two Championships shy of exceeding an individual milestone set by the greatest player the game of basketball has ever seen or known. You'd have to have absolutely no competitive spirit or desire for greatness to not make surpassing MJ a personal goal. Motivation is the fuel which leads to success...

[VeeCee15]

Kobe

Career 45% shooter
Career PPG much lower than MJ
Career ASSISTS and REBOUNDS much lower than MJ
Much worse defender than MJ
Much less athletic than MJ

3 championships as SECOND FIDDLE.

Carried by Gasol for last two championships and getting more credit than deserved. (prior to Gasol, lakers were lottery bound and kobe wanted to leave).

[Sarcastic]

ESPN coming through with a new and original story.

[guy]

It is starting.

What is starting? Kobe's been compared to Jordan his whole career.

[Collie]

I don't see how he could ever get into the GOAT tier, which is comprised of MJ, KAJ and Russell. He simply did not dominate as much and leave a stamp that defines that tier.

Not to mention guys like Magic, Bird, Shaq if you rank him higher, same with Duncan etc. I can put him top 5 all time if he wins 2 more rings, but can't justify the GOAT tier.

[Showtime]

like winning 7 means he's better?

[Da_Realist]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...ons/100208/two

My favorite MJ stat of all time: From November 1990 through June 1998, the Bulls never lost three games in a row with Jordan. My second-favorite MJ stat of all time: In his final three Chicago seasons, in a 31-month stretch that started November '95 and ended June '98, he played in 310 of a possible 310 games. My third-favorite MJ stat of all time: He averaged 30.1 points in the regular season and 33.4 points in the playoffs. That's really all you needed to know about the guy. Warrior. Impossibly competitive. Got better when it mattered.

I think that's how Kobe wants to be remembered, too. Warrior? Definitely. Impossibly competitive? Yes. Got better when it mattered? Occasionally, not consistently. But he has one trump card for a history battle with Jordan: years. Thanks to college, a broken foot and two retirements, Jordan lost nearly eight seasons of games from 18 to 40. Kobe has been banging out seasons since he was 18. Barring injury, Kobe will play 60,000 minutes (regular season plus playoffs), score 35,000 points (the most by any guard ever), play 250-plus playoff games (the record is 244), pass 6,000 playoff points (also a record) and win seven titles (one more than Jordan). If he plays at a high level through his late 30s, he has a real chance to pass Kareem's 38,387 points.

Do I think he knows all these things? Yes.

Do I think he thinks in terms of, "I can't miss three weeks of games, that's 400 points that I'd lose toward chasing Kareem?" Yes.

Do I think this is a bad thing? Actually, no. He should be motivated by those things. Kobe Bryant will never be better than Michael Jordan, but he definitely could have a better career. It's in play. And he knows it.