Kobe Doin' Work

Kobe Bryant isn’t just a great basketball player. He is a great performer.

It’s players like him that make the NBA compelling to me. It’s like he is perfectly aware he is being watched, and he infuses every moment with drama and a little extra message.

I mean, come on, those nasty snarls from last night’s game… the ones that looked like he was about to eat Trevor Ariza heading into the timeout? Those aren’t things that someone just playing the game does. You won’t see that from Tim Duncan. There is no embellishment in the performance of most professional athletes. Well aside from ridiculous endzone-esque grandstanding across all sports. But those are more annoying than believable and drama enhancing.

In terms of putting on compelling performances, Kobe is right up there with Jordan, with Tiger. Even a guy like Reggie Miller knew how to milk the storyline of a single game to the viewers benefit. I like when sports become theater.

I like the little fist pumps, the shoulder shrugs, the hands on the throat directed at Spike.

There is all this criticism of Kobe. The debate over he versus LeBron. Whether he can do it without Shaq. And when you watch Kobe put on a show, you feel the weight of those storylines with each pump fake and jab step. He’s not just battling the Orlando Magic and trying to beat Michael Pietrus to the rack. He’s strapping his legacy to his back and trying to take down what Jordan did, what Shaq stands for.

It could all amount to an elaborate duel versus a windmill shaped like Dwight Howard for Kobe. But I like his conviction. I like how life and death he makes the game seem. I don’t feel that from LeBron. He still seems like a high schooler going back to his junior high playground and just clowning around.

Kobe is all business, and he makes these playoffs feel like a really good mini-series that you want to buy on DVD and re-watch when it’s all said and done.