By Chris Carbot / Miami, Florida

You hear it in just about any sports bar you walk into or basketball game you attend: Poison-tongued comments about L.A. Laker Kobe Bryant.

"Shaq makes Kobe!"

"Kobe is cocky!"

"Kobe’s garbage!"

So much hate, yet so little substance in these tirades on the Laker guard. Through 58 games this season, Bryant is averaging 30.8 ppg (2nd in the NBA), 6.9 rpg, 6.2 apg (11th), and 2.28 spg (3rd), despite Shaq’s absence early on. And although Shaq is back, he doesn’t seem to have regained his usual game. Granted, to be fair Bryant’s turnovers per game must be mentioned as well (3.67, 2nd in the NBA), but he is second in the league in total efficiency behind only Kevin Garnett with a 28.74 rating. Basically, what this means is that pound-for-pound, the only player in the NBA who is playing better basketball than Bryant is the Big Ticket.

One common knock on Bryant is his selfishness. Realistically speaking, there aren’t any players on the Lakers roster besides O’Neal who would be considered a consistent scoring threat. On this Laker team, Bryant and O’Neal need to carry the scoring load as a matter of survival, and with Shaq having a slightly off year, Kobe has been put in the driver’s seat by default. Even with the increased scoring load, Bryant still leads his team in assists, and has the 11th best assist average in the NBA. Look at the players in the league who average 22 or more points per game. How many are also handing out 6+ assists? Stephon Marbury at 23.0ppg and 8.3apg, and Steve Francis at 22.5ppg and 6.0apg. Add up the points and assist averages and these are the numbers you get: 37 for Kobe, 31.3 for Starbury, and 28.5 for Franchise. There isn’t a higher ppg/apg combo in the league than Bryants. Kobe is also the highest non-point guard in the league in assists per game.

Addressing his cockiness is a bit more difficult, as cockiness is not an attribute that can be measured statistically. Bryant undoubtably possesses loads of confidence, but no great player in any sport became who they are/were without boatloads of it. Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, and Bill Russell would probably be the starting five on most people’s all time greats list. Were any of these players lacking in confidence? Not at all. In fact, the line between confidence and cockiness is very blurred in all of these legend’s psyches. Being confident is simply having the self-belief that you have the skills to succeed in a particular situation, where as cockiness ventures into realm of thinking that nobody possesses the skills that you posses. Well then, you ask, where does Kobe Bryant fall into place here? The answer is that just like other superstars of today and yesterday, the line is blurred, and that shouldn’t be a problem.

Simply put, Kobe Bryant is one of the premier players in the NBA today. Monkeys that throw their own feces would see this if you put a TV in front of them. This season Bryant has elevated his game to another level, a level not seen since (dare I say it) the early 90’s Jordan heyday. If the season were to end today, he would garner my MVP vote, having led his team from out of the basement and into the playoffs. Still don’t agree? Then ask yourself this: If you were the Sacramento Kings (current #2 seed) or San Antonio Spurs (current #3 seed), would you really want to face a red-hot Bryant in the first round of the playoffs? I wouldn’t either.


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