I am going to let you read the quote then I will explain to you why Rolling Stone doesn’t need to be writing about basketball:
Kobe in reality has been no better than the second-best player in the league for about 18 months now — LeBron James passed him somewhere back in ’08. He still had a legit claim to Alpha Dog status coming in to this year because he’d just won a championship. But there’s a big difference between being “in the conversation” for the top-dog status and being the third-best guy — and one who’s getting older. And that’s where he is, third, because Durant is suddenly poster-izing the whole league.
When I see stuff like this I am always reminded of the Jay Z line from his song “Renegade”:
“Do you fools listen to music or do you just skim through it?”
I think when people talk about “Best Player in the Game” and they are not educated in the NBA, they just think physical.
Anyone can watch Lebron and see physically he is superior to anyone in the game, that he can pretty much do whatever he wants on the court. That his skills are on some futuristic video game type level.
Anyone can watch Kevin Durant and see a scorer that is so deadly that he reminds me of Bernard King with unlimited range (Bernard King fans will know what a scary thought that is).
But basketball isn’t all about the physical.
It is more about the mental.
There was a time when Kobe Bryant physically could dropped 50 on any team in the league if he wanted to, but it wasn’t until he mentally understand how to harness his skills and defer to teammates that he became a champion again post Shaq.
At this point in his career physically Kobe is no where near what he was five years ago. You don’t see too many highlight slams or ally oops like with Lebron. You don’t see too many 40 nights like with Durant.
You know what you do see?
When the Lakers in the 4th quarter need a basket or a game winner there is one player with the ball in his hands. I have seen him single handily save 10-15 games for the Lakers either with game winners or just dominating 4th quarters.
In basketball years Kobe Bryant is an old man. I have said this several times he reminds me of Michael Jordan in 1998.
When Jordan’s body was failing he simply mentally over-matched his opponents . He was leading the Bulls more on basketball IQ than signature Jordan jams.
Rolling Stone admits they have no clue what they are talking about when they say:
And that’s where he is, third, because Durant is suddenly poster-izing the whole league.
You can have the posters, but give me the guy when I am down by one with 10 seconds left in the game that I am surprise when he “MISSES” the shot.
That is when you know, you are one of the best not just right now, but of all time. When there is more shocked that you missed than if you hit. There is a very short list of players who fit that description and Lebron and Durant are on it yet.