8 – 24 = 16th Lakers Championship.

Most NBA experts and even Las Vegas odds makers had the Lakers as the favorite to defend their title. With the acquisition of Ron Artest and the re-signing of Lamar Odom I thought the Lakers would be near unbeatable. And I wasn’t alone. Before the season started, some pundits even thought that the Lakers had a legitimate shot at breaking the

’95 Chicago Bulls record of 72 games. So what happened? Age, injuries, complacency, lack of chemistry? I’d guess it’s a little bit of everything. But if I had to put my fin
 ger on one thing, it would Kobe Bryant. And not so much because injuries have hampered his play alth
 ough it certainly has been a concerni
 ng factor. But primarily because he’s
  the leader of the team and his direction and purpose should be reflected amongst his teammates. I know it’s not fare and I don’t hold that standard for every team leader in the NBA. This is reserved for the All Time greats like Michael, Magic and Bird. I thought after leading the Lakers to last year’s title, Kobe might be entering into that stratosphere that’s reserved for the Mt Rushmore of all time g
 reats. It’s similar to those rare qualities shared by the greatest NFL Quarterbacks. Understanding how to empower your teammates, to play off your confidence and leadership, and to play selflessly even if it means sacrificing some individual glory.

To be honest, I always thought that that would be the one talent or skill that Kobe would never attain. Even with the greatest work ethic and dedication, I just always believed it wasn’t something you could learn. I believed in the theory that leaders are born and not made. But after watching Kobe evolve over the years, from his titles with Shaq to his frustration with being the only star on the team, I thought maybe Kobe did learn it. After all he was a Laker. He was blessed enough to be surrounded by the likes of Phil Jackson (the greatest coach of all time who also happened to coach Michael Jordan), Jerry West (Mr. Clutch, the NBA logo himself who was responsible for the Lakers trading for Kobe), and minority owner Magic Johnson (arguably the greatest leader the NBA had ever seen). Those aren’t bad resources to have at your disposal. I thought maybe some of it had finally rubbed off on Kobe.

But after seeing how the Lakers struggled down the stretch of the regular season and even early in the playoffs, I began to have my doubts again. Kobe seemed to struggle with wanting to be the hero first and win second. Play with an agenda if you will. We started hearing rumblings again that Kobe was shooting too much. Pau Gasol was saying the ball needed to go in to the post more. Even Phil Jackson had this message for Kobe, after a Game 3 loss to OKC Thunder.

“If Kobe’s going to play this style of basketball, he’s going to have to adjust his game to match ours. He can still play exactly the way he’s playing right now, but he’s going to have to limit the amount of shots he’s taking.” It was like that old Kobe mentality coming back. This is a quote from Phil Jackson right before the ’04 Playoffs began.

“Sometimes his needs overwhelm the rest of the ball club's necessity…. As we get into the playoffs, that’ll dissipate, because he knows that he’s got to put his ego aside and conform to what we have to do if we’re going to go anywhere in the playoffs. Any player that takes it on himself to do that (play for himself) knows that he’s going against the basic principles of basketball. That’s a selfish approach to the game. You know when you’re breaking down the team or you’re breaking down and doing things individualistic, you’re going to have, you know, some unhappy teammates…and he know these things…..intuitively, I have to trust the fact that he’s going to come back to that spot and know that the timing’s right. The season’s over, things have been accomplished, records have been stuck in the books, statistics are all jelled in, now let’s go ahead and play basketball as we’re suppose to play it.”

Remember that Kobe? I’ll refer to him as #8. A player so single minded, so driven by his own ego that he believed he could do it all by himself. Shoot, he wanted to do it all by himself and sometimes you believed that maybe he could. His exploits are legendary. 81 pts against the Raptor, 62 points in 3 quarters vs. the Mavs, 65 points against the Trail Blazers, 4 consecutive 50 pt games and the list goes on and on. Then he got a rude awakening and learned that as dominant as he was individually, he couldn’t do it by himself, and in all fairness, no one player can. So when Pau Gasol arrived 2 seasons ago, I began to see a change in Kobe. He began to play with more of a focus on winning and not just scoring and he seemed to finally realize his importance as the team’s leader. His purpose on the court had changed and was recognized when he received his first MVP in the process in 2007. Then followed that up by leading his team to the championship and winning his first Finals MVP the very next season.

I like to refer to this Kobe as #24. Sure he still had his #8 moments but he was evolving as a player. Recently we’ve seen some of that #8 mentality return. The loss of focus on winning and the need to be the hero. Maybe it’s because the NBA world has turned their attention to the Lebrons and Durants of the league or maybe he was satisfied with proving to everyone that he could lead his team to a championship while being its best player or maybe this is the real Kobe and my whole #24 Kobe was an aberration. Whatever the reason, Kobe has to realize that his body won’t allow him to be #8 any longer. More importantly, it doesn’t need to be. He has a very rare and amazing opportunity in front of him. He has enough talent around him to win 2 or 3 more championships and the game’s greatest coach to help him get there. He’s still one of the most dynamic players in the NBA and it’s most deadly in the final seconds of a close game. He still can command double teams and make defenses respect him. He doesn’t have to be the man anymore. His goals should be much more greater. If he can realize this and make the necessary sacrifices, he will chisel his own place atop the Mt Rushmore of greats. If he doesn’t, it could define who he is as a player.