Yes, This (NBA Finals) is About Kobe

There are many ways to measure a basketball player’s impact. And Kobe Bryant measures up pretty well against all of them.

Scoring titles? He won two of those.

MVP Awards? He has one of those.

All-Star Games? He’s played in 10 of those, winning two MVPs.

Championships? He’s won three of those, and you might have heard he’s playing for number four starting Thursday.

But there’s one measuring stick that Kobe can’t seem to live up to: Michael Jordan.

The 10-time scoring champ, five-time MVP and six-time NBA champion also played in 14 All-Star Games, winning the MVP three times, and won two gold medals in the Olympics for Team USA. (Despite being a 20th century performer, Jordan even beats Kobe in the ultimate 21st century who's who litmus test: Google search hits. See image at right.)

Yet of all the players to earn “the next Jordan” label, no one has come close to Kobe in terms of coming close to Jordan. Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner won dunk contests. Vince Carter won dunk contests and made All-Star teams. Jerry Stackhouse even won a scoring title (in terms of total points) in 2001. But none came close to putting together a package comparable to MJ. And none won a championship.

Except Kobe.

In a recent interview with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, Bryant tried to shrug off any comparisons to Jordan, saying, “Michael is Michael…I just want to be the best player I can be.”

And maybe that’s the way we should let it be. Because right now, Kobe Bryant’s game is top notch. He is the best basketball on the planet today. For the next 4-7 games, let’s put aside Kobe’s place in history among the greats. Those debates will surely linger on. At 29, Bryant has several good years left in him.

I wasn’t fully aware of what I was watching when Jordan won six titles in eight years, capped with that freeze-frame follow-through to seal the ’98 championship against Utah. I was 13 when Jordan hit that shot – only six years old when he beat my Lakers for his first title.

I don’t want to take Kobe’s performance for granted now. My appreciation for the game is too great not to appreciate his game. If you don’t like the Celtics or Lakers, fans of basketball, put on your color blinders for a minute. Turn the green and white and purple and gold to shades of gray and watch Kobe and company play the game at the highest level on the biggest stage in the 2008 NBA Finals.

You won’t see Jordan, but you might glimpse Jordanesque moments. That’s something you just can’t measure.