Last Kobe-LeBron matchup a reminder of the burden of legacy
LOS ANGELES – LeBron James isn't one for quiet entrances, and he emerged from the training room Thursday and stepped toward his locker-room stall at Staples Center to prepare for his final contest against Kobe Bryant in especially loud fashion, with the music of Snoop Dogg blaring and providing the appropriate soundtrack for a West Coast clash. Do-rag atop his dome, head bobbing as he recited the lyrics of "Pump Pump," James got pumped up as he set out to close the chapter on a rivalry that never was and participate in a nationally televised contest that would provide a couple hours of entertainment but will be long forgotten by the time his season comes to a conclusion – as most expect, in June.
"Close your eyes 'cause you can't see me," James shouted as reporters with cameras and cellphones documented his movements, "I quit school 'cause of recess ..."
[ STACK: LeBron reflects on his favorite Kobe memory ]
James has generated a considerable share of attention in recent weeks through a confusing and cryptic social-media blitz that featured workout videos, cartoons and passive-aggressive subtweets to guessing-game targets that either signaled extreme frustration or extreme boredom with what seems like an unimpeded sixth straight trip to the NBA Finals.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have had their struggles – inconsistent focus, complacency and sometimes non-existent chemistry – but they have the talent and experience to win the Eastern Conference for the second year in row despite rumblings in Toronto or Boston. James realizes that isn’t enough. He has just two rings and the window to claim more – and fulfill his pledge to Northeast Ohio – has been threatened to close early by the unexpected arrival and dominance of Stephen Curry and the defending champion Golden State Warriors. The Warriors remain the bar that must be hurdled and remain the source of James’ angst as Cleveland has lost five straight to Golden State, dating to last season. And while James’ last game against Bryant on Thursday night was a pleasant duel between two all-time greats, it also provided a reminder of the urgency that James must feel each time he steps on the floor this season.
“If I was him, the thing I’d be obsessing over is dealing with those boys up in Golden State,” Bryant said after his Los Angeles Lakers lost 120-108 to the Cavs. “So, from a leadership perspective, how you can construct the team and the personality of the team? You have to make sure that you’re ready to do battle for that if you’re fortunate enough to get there and Golden State is fortunate enough to get there. That’s the problem. From that standpoint you have to figure that out. You can’t leave it to chance … you have to really study. Hopefully his mind is focused on that and not focused on where he is in his career and how far he is. You have to focus on the problem.”
At 31, James is the same age as Bryant when Bryant won his fifth and final championship in 2010. Bryant seemed destined to at least make one more serious push to catch Michael Jordan’s ring total after a seven-game NBA Finals slugfest with Boston. Instead, Bryant has mustered only two more playoff series victories as the deterioration of his body and eventually the Lakers team around him has left him with a farewell season in which the championship chase has been replaced by video tributes, standing ovations, serenades and parting gifts from opposing teams.
This end isn’t what Bryant intended, and James, a staunch student of the game, no doubt recognizes that he needs to collect a few more championships before his time on top of the East eventually expires. James has been relatively durable throughout his career, but Bryant was, too – until he ruptured his Achilles’ tendon, suffered a left knee fracture and sustained a torn labrum in his right shoulder in successive seasons. And, with 18 games remaining in his 13th regular season, James has already clocked more minutes than Bryant had through his first 13 seasons – and that doesn’t include the time spent participating in five international tournaments for Team USA from 2004-12.
After the Lakers upset the Warriors last Sunday, Bryant implored All-Star Draymond Green to make his teammates uncomfortable and provide the tension necessary to repeat as champions. Bryant didn’t know who could play that role for the Cavaliers. “It all depends on the personality, you have to be true to who you are and authentic, and I think every team should have that lightning rod because the happy-go-lucky stuff doesn’t work, I don’t care what anybody says. People’s perception is of the team, and you have to have that inner conflict, you have to have that person that’s really driving these things,” Bryant said. “From the Cavs’ perspective, it’s hard for me to tell from afar who should be that person. LeBron’s not that person. He brings people together, that’s what he does naturally and he’s phenomenal at it, but you have to have somebody else that’s going to create that tension. Maybe it’s Kyrie Irving.”
Earlier this season, Bryant said that when the Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics in the 2008 Finals, he tortured himself by playing the celebratory songs the Celtics used – such as Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” – until he eventually got his revenge. On Thursday, Bryant added that his pursuit of championships always kept him focused on the long-term goals so he never got caught up individual regular-season battles. He treated games against James as the time to measure the progress of his teammates and what was required of him to inspire, so that the Lakers would be ready. “I didn’t even think about it. It never registered,” said Bryant, who finished 6-16 in head-to-head matchups with James.
James was certainly thrilled to stage one final show with Bryant, but he didn’t lose sight of the Cavaliers’ ultimate objective. “Even though it was ‘LeBron’s last time playing against Kobe,’ our focus is still on how we can get better,” James said.
Bryant has softened that intensity in the last month of his 20-year career, summoning just enough strength to block out the throbbing pain in his right shoulder so that he can have fun and pay his respect to contemporaries because he never really had one sustained rival. Despite the best efforts of a long-ago shoe company puppet campaign, James and Bryant never gave fans a postseason series to remember, so their 22nd and last meeting Thursday night was somewhat bittersweet. They won Olympic gold together twice and became walking infomercials for the success of the preps-to-pros movement, but a real rivalry just couldn’t come together despite James and Bryant combining to appear in 13 of the past 16 NBA Finals.
“To me, rivalries aren’t made in the regular season, no matter how much people try to hype it up,” Bryant said. “You’ve got to duke it out when it really matters. In that sense, we never had one. I’m disappointed for the fans, because you want to have … you want to be able to see that, and as a competitor it would have been fun matching up and figuring out how to deal with him for a seven-game series. That would have been a fun puzzle for me to try to study and do homework on.”
James and Bryant are parts of two different generations and took different approaches to their success; James was sociable while Bryant was a cold-blooded assassin. They weren’t always friendly, but they were always respectful of each other’s talents. The competition is over, but their influence on one another remains.
“I’m happy to be a part of his legacy,” said James, who hopes to carry the torch once Bryant leaves the game. “It’s been a responsibility, but I also know to add on, absolutely. He goes, and you look at Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan and [Manu] Ginobili and Dirk [Nowitzki], those guys paved the way for myself and [Dwyane] Wade and [Carmelo Anthony] and [Chris] Bosh, and then we have to keep it going. And then you got the guys behind us like Steph [Curry] and [Kevin Durant] and [Russell Westbrook] and [James] Harden and all those guys, and Klay [Thompson] as well. So it’s a huge responsibility and we take that very seriously, and I take it very seriously, knowing that Kobe’s on his way out in less than 20 games, so I just got to keep the momentum going.”
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