The NBA is a superstar driven league. Why else are ticket packages sold by each team marketed by using the ad campaign, "Come see Kevin Garnett and the Celtics, LeBron and the Cavaliers, Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat, or Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers..." Of the big three team sports, basketball is the one sport that markets its product around individual players first and then the team. And of course when these star players go out on any given night and put up 40, 50, or 60 points individually, it becomes so obvious as to why the NBA uses this sales agenda. Kobe Bryant's 61 points against the Knicks on Monday confirmed a few things for a hoops aficianado (myself).
First, the NBA's reliance on individual greatness will never waver because let's face it, 19,000 people wanted to see the Knicks win, but they also wanted to see how one of the league's best players would fare as well. I don't think Knick fans were shelving out dough for a night out anxiously awaiting for Chris Duhon to explode offensively (though his offensive numbers are at a career high this season!). They wanted the Knicks to win the game, but I do not think a once a year appearance of the Lakers and their scoring guard drove fan interest away in the least bit.
Second, Bryant's 61 point performance in New York to beat the Knicks 126-115 re-convinced me even though this guy maybe on the older side of 30 because he has logged so many minutes for 13 seasons, he is still not too old to be the most prolific scorer in the NBA. What I mean by prolific, since it could be interpreted in many ways, is the way in which he can score points in droves any time he gets in his accustomed "groove" as he likes to call it. In my opinion, LeBron James has quickly become the best overall player in the league hands down. The reason I say that is purely based on what the man has done to improve his game this season and it is obvious to me he has improved many facets of his game on the offensive and defensive end. Nevertheless, James still has much to learn at 24 and his offensive game is not as diversified as I am sure he would like it to be. Kobe Bryant remains the most prolific offensive threat in the league. Of course, he is a tremendous all around player, but his ability to score from all over the floor which makes him so impressive. Look at Bryant's box score on Monday night: 19-31 field goals, 20-20 at the free throw line, and 3-6 from 3 point land. Watch the highlights of his big night and take note of the number of ways in which he scored. A variety of isolation pull up jump shots from all over the floor, moving off the ball and cutting through the lane for layups and dunks, and throwing in shots at impossible angles that appeared un-makable. And he didn't miss one of his 20 free throw attempts. Sure there were a few cherry pick dunks, some favorable reputation calls, and a noticeable travel on a spin move on an elbow leaning jump shit, and he ignored Phil Jackson's suggestion to move the ball around more in the second half. For the most part he put on a display to remind people of what he was doing 2-5 seasons ago and what he can still do any night. James does not have the perimeter touch Bryant developed early in his career causing defenders to have to honor his outside game leaving them vulnerable to his ability to get to the basket as well. Couple that with his intelligence of the NBA game and its referees and Bryant has situated himself as one of the top scorers in NBA lore.
On a latter thought, why in the world would Mike D'Antoni allow one player who showed early intentions of being aggressive offensively torch his squad? Okay I know it is easy to sit and criticize how to stop Kobe Bryant every trip down and I know D'Antoni does not like defense (neither do I!), but at what point do you try mixing it up defensively to throw a different look at the guy? Stern allowed for zones a few years ago so why not try a mixture of zone and man? I think coaches, head coaches in particular like D'Antoni who have played and been around the NBA for decades have egos. And their egos take a precedent over their reluctance to change a game plan (whatever his defensive game plan was) because the coach turns his failure into a challenge therefore he sticks with it and continues to watch Bryant hit shots on any of the several wingmen (Al Harrington, Wilson Chandler, Quentin Richardson) he threw at Bryant. Get over your ego and try something different to offset the guy's aggressiveness. It may work and it may not but at least you tried a different wrinkle instead of letting the guy continue to have his way out there. He isn't Michael Jordan, but Bryant was putting on another Jordan-esque performance in his career on Monday night. If LeBron James is planning on a big night in the Big Apple he may have to settle for less than 61 points on Wednesday night because that will be one tough number to beat especially because he'll be playing back-to-back contests.
