Insider Article: Kobe Finally "Gets It" The thing I've learned most from Kobe Bryant's recent scoring binge is that he finally gets it. More than anything else, Kobe's 65-50-60-50-43 point outburst is a testament to his maturity. The fact that he was able to put up such numbers should surprise no one. Outside of Wilt, he can score as well as anyone who's ever played the game. Instead, what most impresses me about Kobe now is that he has obviously spent most of this season sacrificing individual goals/records/achievements for the sake of his team. Is there any doubt Kobe could be averaging at least 36 points a game? But for the better part of this season, he has held back, shot less and gotten his teammates more involved so the Lakers could win more. He's finally realized that winning scoring titles is not as important as winning games. It wasn't until it became absolutely necessary for him to put up these huge numbers for the Lakers to win that he went into "score-at-all-costs" mode. If the Lakers, who had lost seven straight games before Kobe's binge, had been winning with him scoring 28 a game, we never would have been treated to this five-game masterpiece. Kobe shot 53 percent within and the Lakers won all five games. The sad thing is that if Kobe had "gotten it" years earlier, he might have left the game with more titles than MJ. If he knew then what he knows now, he and Shaq probably would not have butted heads to the point of divorce. They could have won two or three more titles in L.A. before Shaq retired. Additionally, they probably would have won at least four rings during their first five-year stint under Phil Jackson since their team's inner turmoil was as responsible as anything else for the end of their three-year reign. As Shaq aged, Kobe would have been the Lakers' defining player, leading scorer and Finals MVP for their last few titles together, just as Dwyane Wade was for Miami last year. He also would have probably won a couple of MVP awards. While MJ probably still would have gotten the nod as the better player, this type of r?sum? might have made the case for Kobe at least arguable. Remember, as the Lakers were rolling over Indiana for their first Shaq/Kobe title, there was talk that Kobe was better than MJ at the same age. (For the record, he's second -- obviously to MJ -- on my list of all-time two-guards.) But better late than never. Perhaps if Andrew Bynum becomes a high-caliber player in two years -- or if the Lakers somehow get KG (highly unlikely) -- Kobe will win another ring. Barring those scenarios, or some unforeseen influx of talent in LaLa, Kobe probably will never get near the Larry O'Brien Trophy again. Early in his career, when he wanted individual glory, it was probably hard for him to stomach never being mentioned as a top MVP candidate. Now, he wants to win more than anything else, and it's probably hard for him to stomach being so far away from serious title contention. Tough breaks. But being able to drop 60 every fourth or fifth game (if the situation calls for it, of course) can go a long way in soothing the pain.
