OT: NBA Finals

I think this puts him top 10 all time. I've watched every Laker game in the playoffs and he really is playing some of the most intense basketball ive seen. He doesn't have the individual #'s (efficiency wise) to compare with the greatest of all-time, but the thing is, especially amongst basketball historians, that winning trumps all. If he wins two more to match MJ's six, I could see him being mentioned top 2 or 3 all time, but anyone who says he is as good as MJ I think is off. They have shockingly similar skill sets but Jordan was a better athlete and just converted his opportunities at a higher rate. You can see this now, that Kobe can get any shot he wants and is balling at the beginning of the game, but wears down a little and doesn't have the same explosiveness he once did to finish at the rim. But anyways, I am so glad he's gonna win a title w/o Shaq and can shut everyone up. He takes more flack than almost any player i've ever seen and most of it is undeserved. He is playing great team ball and is a great leader(contrary to belief) and any 'selfishness' he has displayed since the '04 finals (which I admit were partly his fault for the loss) is a result of his team's need for his scoring. You could see it in the 1st qtr. last night. Kobe kept them in it as nobody else could get a shot and the other Lakers were playing tenative. People focus on how Kobe 'choked' down the stretch, but the fact is if he didn't pour in 13 in the 1st, LA goes down 15 or so and Orlando has a chance to run away with it. And for anyone that thinks the gap between himself and DWade vs. LeBron for best player in the league is huge, its not. Statistics often say it is, but IMO that is more of a contextual effect. LeBron and Wade have the ball all the time in their offense and Kobe doesn't. The triangle is an equal-opportunity offense and Kobe doesn't accrue the same usage rate as those guys and his assist #'s are lower in part again b/c of the type of passes in this offense (passing out of double teams in the post, out of traps in the pick and roll - these often lead to hockey assists(pass before the actaul assist) and don't get counted in stats. Bron/Wade have more of a drive/kick game w/ direct assists and get credited for it). Also, Kobe conserves his energy better than other guys b/c he knows he needs to in order to stay fresh for the playoffs. Kobe has said in interviews he can still put 35 a game if he wants, but he knows that would be unwise and unneccessary at his age. As you can see I'm a kobe-supporter and just wanted to say a quick piece to give some perspective as it seems most people just look for every flaw to throw in his face and I hate that his legacy is already unfairly tarnished to a degree.

Fisher and Ariza are alright though.

You cannot say they should be down 3-1. You can say they COULD be down 3-1 though and that is very true. This could go down as one of the closest 5 game sets we've seen in the finals. The fact is LA won huge in game 1, then there were 3 very close games. Probability says they split those 2-1 in some way most likely. So the most you could argue is that it should be 2-2. You say, Magic lost b/c they couldn't shoot free throws - that's true maybe - but Kobe was 5/10 in game 3. If he makes 3 or 4 more to get to his normal avg, maybe LA wins. Kobe, in gm3 was farther below his normal ft %'s than Dwight was in this game, so I think that is a flawed argument. And you also just can't retro-actively add up some points missed from FT's early in the game (ORL missed 15) and tack them on to the score and say that's what should've happened. You don't know how teams would've responded in a different game score situation (i.e. if ORL makes more FT's and LA is down more maybe they pick up intensity they need to get back in it or they focus and execute better). I think it's just a flawed argument. The fact is that the Magic are an elite team who is almost as good as LA, but they are flawed. DH isn't a consistent offensive threat (mediocre post game, bad FT shooter, turnover-machine) and ORL's offense is otherwise limited to the pick and roll, which LA is doing a much better job on. LA has way more offensive options, more versatile players and more length overall on defense and they've made scoring tougher on Orlando than anyone else in the playoffs, especially more so than CLE who was supposed to be a top defensive team. People have said all playoffs long that LA doessn't deserve this and that. Against DEN, they said that DEN lost game 1 and 3 instead of LA winning. Well, LA keeps winning and this is becoming a trend. Maybe the other teams are making a lot of mistakes in late game situation, but the reality is that LA is not making those same mistakes. LA didn't deserve to win the title last year (Boston was the best defensive team i can remember seeing and they played harder than almost any team i've seen and I have a ton of respect for them - I think they would've won this yr. w/ KG healthy), but LA definitely deserves it this year. Give LA some props and quit hating.