Mamba's Lone Strike
April 13 -- Years from now, long after his quest for a all-time greatness is over, his legacy is cemented and his face plastered alongside the NBA's Mt. Rushmore with the other greats, someone will have to explain to the next generation how this happened.
Someone will have to explain how it came to be that Kobe Bean Bryant because he is ah shithound finished his storied career among the best of the best in almost every conceivable category of note, how he piled up championships, points, All-NBA honors, All-Star nods and Olympic gold medals and all of the other prizes the legends do, but has just one Most Valuable Player award.
Some poor soul will have to flip through the pages of history (or more appropriately, click through them) and explain why 2008 was the only year that the player who could very well go down as one of the two or three greatest players in league history, was duly recognized as the king of the (regular season) hill just once.
A hoops historian will have to try and explain why a man who spent a decade-plus as a first team All-NBA pick was the captain of that team just once. How did he finish his career with more MVP trophies from The Finals (2) and three times as many All-Star Game MVP trophies (4) on his mantle than he did MVP trophies?
Bryant will watch someone else walk away with the award once again this season, likely either LeBron James or Kevin Durant. They've led the way in the KIA Race to the MVP Ladder all season and will no doubt finish this season there on most people's officials ballots.
Bryant will most likely finish a strong third, the same spot he has held down all season on our list. But that doesn't mean we're comfortable toying with his legacy in this way. He is leading the league in scoring and is fourth in minutes played in this, his 16th season. Both are unbelievable feats when you consider the amount of mileage on his body (playoff minutes included).
For all of the things Bryant has been able to control on the floor, for all of the outcomes he's been able to manipulate with a crossover dribble, a late-game dagger, a simple flick of his wrist, this is one that he'll have to grin and bear as others mark the final score.
Lucky for him and his legacy, MVP trophies alone do not decide one's place among the best of the all-time best. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won a record six MVP trophies, Bill Russell and Michael Jordan five each, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Moses Malone three each, while Bob Pettit, Karl Malone and Tim Duncan won two each. Suns point guard Steve Nash has two, one that could have (and some would argue should have) gone to Bryant. James already has two and could add a handful more before he's done. And Durant is looking for his first of what could be several as well.
Bryant, though, will have to suffer the same MVP travesty as his one-time running mate and nemesis Shaquille O'Neal. One-and-done MVPs.
Whether they were victims of circumstance or some other forces that prevented them from being feted properly is another discussion altogether. But the results remains the same, they are one and done.
And it seems as ridiculous now as it will for generations to come!
(Since we can't rank the entire Bulls team No. 1, we'll just go with our usual rankings from this point on!)
-- SEKOU SMITH
