http://www.latimes.com/s****ts/la-sp-heisler13-2008may13,0,2612119.story
From the Los Angeles Times
MARK HEISLER / ON THE NBA
Lakers' Kobe Bryant gives his all, but some still want more
It's the story of his career: he finishes a game any ordinary player would
have left with a sore back, but his overtime performance draws criticism.
Mark Heisler
8:05 PM PDT, May 12, 2008
Kobe Bryant will play Wednesday, I learned Monday.
Actually, I didn't learn it as much as divine it from years of watching
Bryant, who would play if they had to wrap him from head to foot like a
mummy.
Two things are certain with Bryant: 1) he's the gamer of gamers and 2)
he'll
never take a breath without creating a controversy, as he did once more
Sunday.
Only one thing kept Bryant's performance in Game 4 from rising to the
mythic
level of Willis Reed limping out for Game 7 in 1970 and the flu-ridden
Michael Jordan beating the Jazz in 1997 . . .
The Lakers didn't win.
Otherwise, it would have been one for the ages: Bryant looking like
Charlton
Heston in "El Cid" whose body was tied to his horse and sent back into
battle, leading them back from a 12-point deficit in the last 3:59 of
regulation.
If Lamar Odom had made his three-pointer to put them ahead with :13 left
and
they'd gone on to win, people would have talked about this game as long as
there was an NBA.
Instead, the Lakers lost in overtime . . . and Bryant was critiqued for
all
the shots he took in overtime?
We're not getting a little hard-boiled, are we?
An ordinary player wouldn't have even seen the fourth quarter, much less
found a way to lead the rally that forced the overtime.
Gee, haven't we been at this point before . . . annually? Or to put it
another way, welcome to Bryant's career.
After all the soap operas he has starred in, he's perceived more as a
cartoon character than a person.
The all-timer was last week's MVP ceremony when ESPNews anchor David Lloyd
was apparently surprised to learn Bryant actually knew his teammates.
"I don't think I knew that Kobe was a well-liked guy on that team until
this
press conference," said Lloyd after watching him joke with the other
Lakers.
"He's become a part of that team. I'm not sure he was before."
He's become a part of that team?
Who do people think the Lakers are, some crew out of a video game such as
"Grand Theft Auto"?
Their soap opera notwithstanding, Bryant turned the corner playing
alongside
Shaquille O'Neal years ago, with his assist totals rising annually until
he
set his career-best of 481 in 2002-03.
Of course, being Kobe Bryant meant he could also go back and turn that
corner heading the other way.
Nevertheless, since Phil Jackson's return in 2005, Bryant's leader****p of,
and involvement with, his teammates has been unquestionable.
Actually, since Bryant tried to trade this set of teammates for another in
Chicago last fall, I should say since Kobe's return in 2007, his
leader****p
has been unquestionable.
Here's the part that's taking a while to sink in:
This isn't the old Bryant or the Bryant of last fall.
These aren't the Shaq-Kobe Lakers or any of the overmatched little teams
that followed.
This is Kobe on Top of His Game, not only willing to play with teammates
but
be brilliant at it and as excited as anyone in the Lakers organization at
their future.
These aren't the precariously balanced Shaq-Kobe Lakers. This team isn't
as
dominating, for one thing, but for harmony and cohesion, it's
day-and-night
better.
So if the offense broke down and/or Bryant took too many shots, he was
still
great Sunday, playing 46 minutes with a back that seized up on three
separate occasions.
On the last, Bryant charged into Andrei Kirilenko and sank to his knees in
pain, looking like he couldn't stay in, although, of course, he did.
Someone asked Monday whether he knew he could continue.
"I don't know how I made it through the game to begin with, to be honest
with you," said Bryant.
He was even trouper enough to go to the interview room after the game
although he couldn't sit down, and conducted the interview standing up,
talking into a hand-held microphone.
"I'm Don Cornelius," he said, laughing.
Bryant was also wearing a ****table stimulation unit --which be brushed by
accident, turning it up all the way and sending another jolt up his
beleaguered spine.
So even if it was memorable, Sunday definitely didn't go down as a good
day
for him.
Officially, Bryant is listed as day-to-day. Unofficially, it's only a
matter
of what he'll bring because he'll be there.
"Even talking about him possibly not playing," said Derek Fisher, "I mean,
I'll entertain questions but it's not an option, really. I mean for him."
Who cares what anyone else would do in this situation?
This is Kobe Bryant and there's only one of him.
mark.heisler@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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