Yea The King is 275. Yea hes the fastest guy in the league. Yea he just beat Kobe's old record as the fastest to 12,000 pts by a year and a half. Hes out of this world, we get it. But he was 275 last year. He was scoring last year. Whats the real difference this season? Well the effect is his defense, but whats the cause? 2009 Lebron is more like Kobe.
I had the conversation with someone this off season (90% sure it was Jake). Lebron wont realize his full potential until he can channel his inner Kobe. LBJ has always had more talent than Bryant, but he hasn't had the same fire. Until Lebron adds something to his game every offseason like Kobe does. Until he decides to play defense, outwork everyone else, and learn to not only hate losing, but refuses to let it happen, he couldn't take the torch.
At the 2008 Olympics a switch turned. Kobe, Lebron, and Wade carried the country to a gold medal and Lebron got to be around and work with Kobe for the first time. It was the best thing that could have happened to him. He saw what it took, how Kobe practiced, his demeanor, and why Kobe was the best player on the planet with half of Lebron's talent.
As Eric Snow put it, last year Lebron wanted to be the best player in the league while Kobe has always wanted to be the best ever. That was the difference. Lebron spending time with Kobe this summer no doubt changed him.
Bill Simmons mentioned that angle in a chat on espn.com recently so I don't want to take the credit. I just buy into it. Here is an excerpt from a less recent article Simmons wrote, describing the alpha dog role on that olympc team in the final gold medal game against Spain. For most of the Games, Team USA had an alpha dog issue. Was this Kobe's team or LeBron's? Fast-forward to 8:13 left: Fernández's three cuts the lead to two; the crowd is going bonkers. Spain's bench reacts like a euphoric 15-seed during a March Madness upset, and the U.S. calls timeout. All along, my biggest fear had been a tight game and multiple USA guys saying, "I got it!" Instead, everyone deferred to Kobe, who made some monster plays to clinch it. Know that in the history of the NBA we have never had the best-player-alive argument resolved so organically. Incredible. Kobe, you have the Lord of the Flies conch. Use it wisely.
I think Lebron watched Kobe in that 4th quarter and he thought about it for a long time. And then at some point realized he wanted another shot at that fu-kin conch shell.
The King was inspired. He saw first hand what it took to wear the crown. The hard work, killer instinct, competitiveness it took. He was going to snatch back that shell, and he was going to do it by winning the MVP and an NBA title. He worked harder than he ever had before for the rest of the off season. He evolved from a mediocre defender to the best perimeter defender in the game. Lebron was approaching it a little more like Kobe, KG, Michael, Bird.
Cleveland is still undefeated at home.
(I was going to make The Return of The King "become who you were born to be" reference but this post is already sounding like a bedtime story.)
I do need to mention the fact that though LBJ's approach and work ethic is more like Kobe's this season, those two are still very different creatures, even at their core. Lebron is the white knight while Kobe is still a villain, and thats probably the way they both prefer it. You could see it when they both went off in MSG this week. Kobe was stoic while disecting The Knicks for 61. The next night Lebron was playing air guitar during timeouts on his way to a 52 point triple double.
Was there a connection between those two performances? Those two will say no, but the answer is yes. Spike Lee is currently filming a documentary on Kobe. It wasn't a coincidence that Kobe kicked it into high gear while Spike was in the front row Tues night. And it wasn't a coincidence that the next night Lebron was giving fist bumps to Spike during the game. Lebron wasn't going to be overshadowed. Lebron did what Kobe would have done, what Kobe indirectly taught him to do. Those performances were a replay of the gold medal game. And with a 52 point triple double, "never had the best-player-alive argument been resolved so organically. Incredible."
-J. Wolfe
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