Can We Call Kobe Superman's Krpytonite Too?

As most know by now, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers pulled off the series win against the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals 4 games to 1. In my previous post about the finals, I predicted that the Magic's 3-point shooting and Dwight Howard would lead the team to 3 wins and a 7 game series. Clearly, this was not the case. The Laker big men, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, were very effective, as was Lamar Odom off the bench. Odom was a threat inside and his 3-point shot became a dagger to the Magic defense. Trevor Ariza had very impressive numbers, and Kobe was Kobe, putting on a show and making incredible shots. I guess it really is true that when you guard Kobe, if you have your hand down, you're a man down. For the Magic, their shots just did not fall consistently, from game to game or even half to half. Dwight Howard was the best defender on the floor, however he was extremely limited offensively, either being in foul trouble or missing many shots. He also shot poorly from the free throw line. Jameer Nelson, the Magic's All-Star point guard who was injured the second half of the season with a shoulder injury, returned to the line-up. After having an effective game one, he appeared to disrupt the team chemistry, and probably should have played less since Rafer Alston was "skipping to his lue" most of the series. All this consequently resulted in the Lakers winning their franchise 15th NBA Championship, two behind the Celtics. Kobe got his fourth title and first Final's MVP, and Phil Jackson won his 10th NBA Title.

As for Kobe, I feel somewhat happy he won, because he is too great of a player to be downplayed by winning his first three championships with Shaq. Kobe needed Shaq, Shaq needed Kobe. Magic needed Kareem, and Kareem needed Magic. Jordan needed Pippen, and vice-versa. The bottom line is, the team in general need each other.

With this championship, Phil Jackson can be called the greatest NBA coach ever. He has 10 championships, 209 playoff wins, the most by any coach, and a 71% career winning percent. I cannot see how anybody could say that he is not, unless you're a Celtic/Red Auerbach fan.