April 21st, 2010 by Chase

Simply put, Kobe Bryant has taken a beating over the course of his career. His unique career has given him the opportunity to content for a title nearly every single season of his 13 year career. This has made Kobe’s career so special. But with experience in success there is a toll. Kobe Bryant’s body is like a set of old tires that are 10,000 miles past tread. But you already know this. So I took some time to gather some statistics to display just how long and grueling Kobe Bryant’s career has been. These statistics are leading into and not including this seasons playoffs.

175 Total Playoff Games Played

Just to put this into perspective for you, another player drafted out of high school who entered the league 1 year before Kobe is Kevin Garnett who is also experiencing the effects of old age has played in a total of 73 playoff games. More than 100 fewer than Kobe Bryant. 6 NBA Finals experiences, 4 NBA Championships. 175 Playoff games played. That’s one hell of a resume. But it comes with a price. It can take a huge toll on the body of any athlete. In many ways Kobe and Tim Duncan share this problem. Duncan has played a total of 160 playoff games, and we have seen the effects of his wear and tear for several years now.

The only other player that matches the total playoff games stat is Shaquille O’neal with 203 total playoff games. But this stat comparison between these two players can be misleading. Historically players at the Center and Power Forward positions have been able to sustain longer careers because of the lack of athleticism needed for their positions. Guards and Small Forwards like Michael Jordan for example experience much more wear and tear than players like Kareem Abdul Jabaar who played 20 years in the NBA.

1,021 Career Games

That is an insane amount of games. People will usually look at the number of seasons a player has been in the league to prove durability. But the real statistic is number of games played. Yes Shaq has been in the league for 19 years, but he has only played 149 more games than Kobe because of all the games missed due to “injury”. Or laziness whichever you prefer. Only Shaquille O’neal, Jason Kidd, and Kevin Garnett have played in more regular season games amongst current active players.

2 Years of Basketball Madness!

When analyzing the wear and tear of Kobe Bryant the athlete, look no further than the past 2 calendar years. Summer of 2007 Kobe Bryant trains with the US Olympic team and plays in several Olympic qualifying games to help restore Basketball dominance in the U.S. In the 07-08 NBA season Kobe led his Lakers to the NBA Finals (21 post-season games) and lost to the Boston Celtics. A few months later (summer of 08′) Kobe travels plays in another 18 games including the Olympic games in China to help bring the Gold Medal back to the United States.

A pretty busy 1 1/2 year for Kobe Bryant right? Oh but he doesn’t stop there. He leads the Lakers back to the NBA Finals in the 08-09 Season (23 more playoff games) to help capture his 4th NBA ring. All that accomplishment and hard work in just 2 years time. That on top of a 10 year resume that already included 4 NBA Finals appearances and many, many playoff battles for the ages.

Nobody in the NBA has more wear and tear on his body than Kobe Bryant.

Nobody works harder at his game than Mr. Bryant.

And yet the guy is still somehow, despite all the odds competing for yet another NBA championship this summer. With all this you should however understand one thing. Kobe’s body may be failing him with a few big injures (ankle, knee, two broken fingers etc.) but his mental will and determination is what makes him a champion. Don’t expect any of this wear and tear to keep Kobe from winning number 5!

But it leaves us all wondering, how many years does Kobe Bryant really have left in the tank? Of course we would all love him to play forever. But even the games greatest eventually step down. I know I will be enjoying every second of the time this guy has left in his illustrious NBA career.

And remember these last 2 statistics when having your next G.O.A.T conversation. The great Michael Jordan played in 1,072 total career regular-season games and 179 total playoff games. Kobe Bryant will surpass him in both these statistics.

April 17th, 2010 by Chase

Throughout an entire NBA season there are many ups and downs. The same is especially true for defending NBA champions. Wins, injuries, buzzer beaters, offensive struggles. These are just some of the words that describe the up and down season of Kobe and the Lakers during this season 2009-10. Perhaps photos do speak louder than words. In Part I of this three part series here are the 10 best photos from this season.

Ring Time

Practice Makes Perfection

As Intense As Ever

Trickery

Trash Talking

Treatment of Many, Many Injuries

Another Buzzer Beater

Failure from Time to Time

Being a Husband

Visiting East Harlem

April 16th, 2010 by Chase

It’s playoff time NBA fans! And one of the featured 1st round match-ups is the 1st seed defending NBA champ Lakers vs. the up and coming 8th seed Oklahoma City Thunder. Because of the Lakers recent woes towards the end of the regular season, there are actually some people out there who are picking Kevin Durant and the Thunder to upset the 1st seed Lakers. But those of us who have been watching Kobe and Co. these past few years know better. The Lakers are preparing for another Title run, and the Thunder are just another victim.

Featured Matchup: Kobe Bryant vs. Kevin Durant

The young vs the old. The seasoned veteran vs the new kid on the block. Durant had a monstrous season. He led the NBA in scoring with 30.1 points per game, helping lift the Oklahoma City Thunder rise to their first ever playoff birth since their pilgrimage from Seattle. Durant’s season was so good that it began to stir up comparisons between he and Kobe and lifting him to be one of the most exciting players in the game today.

These are the two best players in this 1st round playoff match-up. So let’s take a second and look at what we are dealing with here. Here are a couple thoughts…

1. Durant is inexperienced in the Playoffs, this being his first playoff run.
2. YAPR = yet another playoff run for Kobe Bryant, this being his 13th playoff run
3. Kobe is clearly not healthy. A bad ankle, torn up knee, and some mangled fingers not to mention wear and tear from 6 NBA Finals appearances.
4. Durant is playing with a ton of confidence right now. He’s playing at an MVP type level.

Here’s my prediction..

Kevin Durant is going to put up bigger numbers than Kobe in this series simply because of the fact that Kobe is hurt and also because he has to put up insane numbers for the Thunder to even compete in this series. However Kobe Bryant’s experience, will, and skill level will control and eventually dominate this series. Lakers will win in 5 games, losing game 3 on the road in Oklahoma before closing out the next two games. So let me repeat…

Kobe Will Get The Better of Durant. Lakers in 5!

Why? Because at least 2 of these games will come down to the final seconds, and Durant simply cannot close out a game the way Kobe Bryant can. The modern day version of Mr. Clutch will show Durant how to truly close a game. And that is why you can have Durant, and I’ll take Kobe!