Kobe - Wow!

It's nice to prove everyone wrong, isn't it? All those naysayers and know-it-alls finally get put in their place. Thank you, Kobe, for doing what I couldn't: prove to everyone that watching you play is better than any NBA Championship won by the Lakers in the recent years with your former "teammate."

I've followed Kobe Bryant since before he was a Laker. I read about him in both stories and interviews. I was so impressed and became a fan quickly. Then I found out he had always wanted to be a Laker - my team from the beginning. As a kid, he watched Lakers games and learned to move like Magic (along with others). So how excited was I that he actually became a Laker?! How amazing a part did fate play in that turnout? He wanted to be a Laker and he got his wish. Then he preceded to win championships and bring the glory back to L.A. But he did need a big man to do it. To be honest, I never really liked Shaq. He had to grow on me but even when he did help us to National Championships, I still wasn't that impressed. Had he stayed and Kobe left, I'd have been super upset. I can't be 100% sure but I think it would've been the only time I left my favorite team and followed a player instead. That's not like me - at all. I stick to my team even when it's bad (all of them). But I think Kobe is the only player that would be able to make me root for another team - whatever team he plays for.

That says a lot since my favorite player of all-time is Jerry Rice (of which my friends will immediately tell you about my "shrine" to the SF 49ers & IU Hoosiers). When he left SF, I didn't follow him though I still watched him play (and psychotically imagined him still in a Niner uniform though he was playing for the Raiders). But I have no doubt that I would go where Kobe goes. He is the best in the NBA and he cannot be denied that label especially now that he has a chance to prove it. There's nobody in his way hogging the spotlight or the ball.

What Kobe did last night was the mark of a great baller. His team was lethargic. He was ticked off. So he had to do it himself. I do think that the W was more important to him. He still has something to prove, people. He wants to get back to the Finals and win it - without Shaq - and that means the Lakers have to win. If he has to put up 81 points a game to do it, you know what?, he will. He has no fear and doesn't care what the critics say. He got the W; that's all that mattered.

But for the rest of us, it was a night that we'll all remember. It was the reason why fans watch sports - to witness individual and team feats like last nights. To watch records get broken or almost get broken. Wow! That's the only word to describe it.

Thank you, Kobe.