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Co-MVP
"You're Kobe and Shaq...Cagney and Lacey...they still can't bake like me..."
Jay-Z - Warm it Up (Freestyle)
Last week Phoenix, Arizona played host to some of the best players in the league, for the NBA All-Star Weekend...and after a sub-par dunk contest, the game on Sunday didn't disappoint...well not until the very end.
Dynamic Duo
Back in the glory days of the Los Angeles Lakers early millennium championship success, there were three components to their winning ways...much like the fabled triangle offense...and it was equal parts Head Coach Phil Jackson, Assistant Coach Tex Winter, (coaching) Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, (star power) and the Lake Show's supporting cast (great bench).
Out of that mix, they earned 3 NBA titles, all of them in consecutive years, but it was the so-called rift between Kobe and Shaq that during the fourth attempt for a ring, derailed everything, sending O'Neal to the Miami Heat, Phil Jackson to an early retirement, and Bryant to a difficult point of his career. By the 2004-05 season, the Lakers finished a lowly 34-48, and since the break up Jackson released a best selling book that spoke negatively about his tenure in Tinseltown, Shaq won his elusive 4th ring in southern Florida, and Kobe proved to be much more than advertised by willing his teams to the playoffs on his determination and effort, almost alone.
Things are MUCH better now in the City of Angeles, and the Big Cactus on the down side of his career, so when he sat with Stephen A. Smith earlier this year for an interview, it wasn't surprising to me, when O'Neal said that the differences between he and Bryant were all a marketing gimmick, and nothing more.
This leads me back to the All-Star Game from last Sunday...now if anything in the Bryant/O'Neal era was a tool of marketing for the league, it was awarding both of them for the MVP trophy.
From the outset, KB went on the attack, playing at a high level as always, scoring 10 points in the first quarter en route to a game high 27, leading the West in victory 146-119 over the East.
Why was there a need for a Co-MVP? It was unnecessary, and the notion of Phil Jackson, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O'Neal back together for a reunion of sorts is absurd. What happened in LA from 1999-2003 was nothing short of amazing, but what I watched on TV six days ago...was wrong, and as a fan of the game, I felt disrespected.
The events of All-Star bothered me, but to Kobe Bryant, it was just another game in which he showcased his unique skills, because the only thing that matters to him is to be the last team standing come June, so if KB24 can let it go, then who am I to perpetuate it...it's over, I disagreed with it, and now it's time to focus on the second half of the season.
Photos: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
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