Kobe Bryant. Say it yourself: Kobe. He is the unstoppable force, an ethereal cutting mirage on painted hardwood. Kobe is the cold blooded contract killer that’s only employer is victory. Kobe is the antihero outlaw, with moves so fast and smooth you’d swear it was a movie. Kobe Bryant is the Black Mamba. And in the clutch moments of a series, he is an assassin of dreams.
Some might say the 2009 finals was the Black Mamba’s swan song. I disagree. I didn’t even watch the last game. Of course he was going to win a 3-1 lead against the Orlando Magic, and of course he did. Boring. The next year gave us something to watch.
The 2010 finals. Of course it had to come to a game 7. Derek Fisher started the game off for the Lakers with a turnaround post hook and from then on the Celtics took control of the first quarter. Ray Allen decimated the Lakers defense making it a 23-14 game.
The Lakers started out the second with an improbable run of 11 points, giving them the push to get them up by 2. It proved improbable indeed with the Celtics taking the reins back. It was 40-34 at half off a KG post dunk.
It seemed like blood rain, as hell itself poured down for Boston, driving the score up to 49-36. Los Angeles could do nothing, and Bryant was stretched too thin on defense to make any effect on offense.
Phil Jackson called a 20 second timeout. Only the players and assistant coaches know what he said, but from what I can ascertain it was probably something like “Stop sucking.” In a bit more colorful manner. And there it was: the Lakers secret formula. Bryant took the ball from Odom and hit a running field goal. Slowly, and yet in trademark exciting fashion, the Lakers chipped away, it was 57-53 at the end of the third.
68-64. The tension was rising, Staples Center, which was recently somber and accepting, came electric with hope. Fisher with a 2. Bryant hits a pair of clutch free throws, a Ron Artest dunk. 76-73. Ron Artest gets the ball, pulls up from 3. Oh no, that’s Artest from 3? I eat my words as the liquid swish rang out all over LA. The Celtics tried, I’ll give them that, they fouled Kobe, but it was already over. Kobe made the determinate free throws, and held the trophy high over his head, grinning.
He was the most vilified man in sports, but in LA? A legend.