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Living up to the hype Kobe beginning to justify comparisons to JordanPosted: Thursday May 16, 2002 1:56 AMUpdated: Saturday May 18, 2002 2:08 PM
Kobe Bryant has been compared to Michael Jordan since he came into the league in 1996. Now he's beginning to live up to that hype. One big similarity is that Kobe can be playing poorly and he'll still step up when the game is on the line. When most players are going bad, they just shy away. But Kobe has the kind of confidence Michael has, to take the big shots and, in most cases, make the big shots. Another thing they have in common is a love for practice, which is a characteristic of the great ones. And that means he'll get better, although there may not be much he can improve on. If Kobe continues to work and put himself on the line, he'll become one of the best players of all-time. He may not surpass Michael, Julius Erving, Magic Johnson or Larry Bird, but he'll put himself in that company.
Kings have a shot at beating LakersDespite their lack of recent success against the Lakers, the Kings have a shot in the Western Conference finals. They're a much better defensive team than they were last year, and Mike Bibby has stepped up to be a big-time point guard. But, like Utah in the first round, L.A. is going to slow the game down against Sacramento. The Lakers are a half-court team; they don't want to run at all. In addition to adjusting to a slower tempo, the Kings' big men are going to have to prove that they can contain Shaq. Last year, they were just overpowered by him. They put Vlade Divac on him; they put Chris Webber on him; they put Scot Pollard on him. It didn't matter. But he doesn't look close to being the Shaq of last year, and if the Kings can take advantage of that, they have a chance.
Kevin Loughery is a former NBA player and head coach. His column appears weekly on CNNSI.com
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