A 2003 article about Kobe I read four and a half years ago....

[R-Tistic]

I still remember reading this article in my college bookstore back in 2003, and it gave me the balls to go around tellin everybody, even my homeboys from Chicago, that Kobe was gonna be better than Mike, even though I still don't say it straight up. Crazy thing is that this came right before the rape trial, and it shows how much different the media's perception of Kobe was at the time....which STILL wasn't as good as it should have been, only because people were still "in love with Mike" as the author says.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/rick_reilly/news/2003/03/04/life_of_reilly0303/

"Like Mike, or Even Better" - by Rick Reilly; March 5, 2003

Basketball fans can be dumber than a box of anvils. "Where will we ever find another Michael Jordan?" they wail. If they'd only stop whining, they'd see someone right under their noses who could wind up better than Jordan.

I know, I know. I'm on crack. I'm a twit. I sleep with farm animals. But just listen for a second.

At 24, Kobe Bryant has three rings. At that age, Jordan had zero. At 24, Kobe has better all-around court sense, a better J and, unthinkably, even more madly creative mid-air Gumbyness than Jordan did. At 24, Kobe is hitting 38.5% of his treys; Jordan was shooting 18%. Over the last four weeks Kobe was on a mind-warping, pupil-popping, scorched-earth tear during which he scored 35 or more points in 13 straight games. Jordan hadn't done that at 24. Come to think of it, Jordan still hasn't done that.

"He's the best player in the game right now," Utah guard Mark Jackson said last week, after Kobe went for 40 points to help the Shaqless Lakers beat the Jazz. "He's playing basketball that's as good as I've seen in my career." Of course, Jackson's only been in the league for 16 years.

So why can't America embrace Kobe and his ozone-piercing potential? Why can't they realize that falling in love with Kobe doesn't mean breaking up with Michael? I mean, what's not to love?

Here's a young man who speaks fluent Italian, is married and has a child, and never shows up in the back of a squad car. Here's a pro who works out eight hours a day in the off-season, who one summer wouldn't go home until he'd made 1,000 jumpers a day. Here's a young god who's runway handsome, GQ cool and Eagle Scout nice.

In Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals in San Antonio last May, he blew up for 12 points in the fourth quarter to beat the Spurs. He was seconds from going live with NBC when he saw a small boy crying over the loss. He left the interviewer, went over and hugged the kid. Yet all anybody wants to do is line him up against Jordan and make sure he loses. Kobe's getting sick of it, and I don't blame him.

"People want to compare me with Michael in his prime," he says, "and that's unfair. I don't think I'm in my prime yet. I think a player's prime is, like, 26 to 30. I'm only 24. But that's all they want to talk about. They're not saying, 'Kobe worked really hard at getting better at this.' Or, 'This is what I appreciate about Kobe.' It's always what I do in relation to Michael. Like, they say my competitiveness came from watching Michael. It never crossed their minds that I've been like this since I was five."

Savor this kid. Wallow in his starshine. Be stupefied, mind-boggled, brain-bent. He's writing his legend right under our noses. Beats his man left-hand dribble, skies baseline and flushes over Yao Ming? Catches a long outlet, goes behind his back to lose a Denver Nugget and 360 slams? Driving the baseline, takes off outside the paint, loses Latrell Sprewell in midair and reverse dunks on the far side of the rim? And that's just in the last three weeks.

You want to argue? Bring it.

Jordan never had a Shaq. True, and Kobe never had a Hall of Fame swingman like Scottie Pippen. Or a rebound-munching forward as Dennis Rodman was in his prime. You think he wouldn't be handy to have around? Why, yes, Dennis, I would like to shoot again, thanks!

Jordan won 10 scoring titles. Kobe's got zilch. I watched Kobe score 56 in three quarters against Memphis last season -- the man could win a scoring title wearing Muppet slippers. But many nights he has to put his ego in a jar to keep Shaq-Fu happy and well-fed with points. Plus, Kobe has the burden of handling the rock an awful lot -- more than Jordan. "I'm not saying it's harder," says Kobe, "but it consumes a lot more energy, having those little guards crawling on you all the time. It's definitely more running."

Kobe doesn't D-up like Jordan. True, but he's learning. He's increased his steals from 1.48 a game last season to 2.24 this season. He's averaging a career-best 7.0 rebounds, too. Jordan only beat that once. He's got the Bally's body at 24 that Jordan didn't build until he was 30.

I don't see six rings on Kobe's fingers. Let's say Kobe retires when Jordan will, at 40. That means he'd play 23 seasons. You think Kobe can't get four more rings in the next 16 seasons? "Seven rings, eight rings, nine rings," Kobe says, "I don't care. I just want to win. Every year."

Yeah, well, the world will never love Kobe as much as Jordan. True, but maybe that's because Michael came first. If the order had been reversed, would Kobe have the IMAX movies, the jingles and the shoes? Would Michael be the one wearing Kobe's throwback at the All-Star Game?

They said nobody would ever punk Ruth's numbers. Then came Aaron. They said nobody would go lower than Nicklaus. Then came Tiger. Just roll the possibility around on your tongue for a second: Kobe Bryant could end up the greatest player in NBA history.
"Ooh," says Kobe, "you just gave me goose bumps."

The feeling is mutual.

Issue date: March 3, 2003

[Doggystylin]

thats a pretty sick article, i enjoyed that, props man

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

LOL...A reporter would get banned from the media if he wrote an article like that nowadays. Fact of the matter is, consumers are controlled by what they're told. Not enough people have the brain to think for themselves. Watch Kobe for yourself for a full season and try telling me he is not the most talented basketball player you've ever seen...just try.

[Styles1]

Kobe has got D now too....

[Doggystylin]

Kobe has got D now too....

he'd HAD D, its just always been overlooked cause he's so explosive on offense

[jeromechickenbone]

MJ>Kobe

[GangstaBoogy]

I loved Kobe back then but I never would've imagined he'd be playing like this. If someone would've said "yo man Kobe is gonna score 62 points in 3 quarters then score 81 points in a regulation game a month later" I probably would've just shaken my head. But I've learned - never put anything past that man.

I think Doc Rivers said it best...
"I just wish more people would celebrate Kobe, I really do,'' Rivers said. "Of all the guys in our league, that bugs me more than anything, that it just seems like we spend so much time trying to tear him apart and I think we're missing how great he is. And I think it's a shame.''

[Styles1]

Kobe has got D now too....

he'd HAD D, its just always been overlooked cause he's so explosive on offense

Yes... my statement was for the writer and the timeframe from when the article was written (even though Kobe had D before that too)..

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

MJ<Kobe

true