It took him the better part of a decade, but let the record show that Kobe Bryant finally won a ring without Shaq.
By now, you probably have taken a moment to let that thought sink in, so let me add on a few layers for you.
Think back to last season after the Lakers' ugly 39-point demise in Boston. Shaq almost immediately responded with a public-appearance battle rap aimed at Kobe, and specifically his inability to win without the Big Fella. If the green confetti that soiled his purple and gold jersey and corrupted his purple and gold soul wasn't enough incentive to drive Kobe through a 100-game season and through the Finals in 2008-09, then this incident may very well have been what put his insatiable drive over the top.
Think back to 2007, merely two years ago, when a disgruntled Bryant felt the Lakers front office was not doing enough to keep the Lakers competitive around him and demanded a trade to the Bulls. The Lakers had just suffered their second consecutive first-round elimination at the hands of the Phoenix Suns. Kobe's leadership skills had come into question after the '06 loss to Phoenix when the Lakers squandered a 3-1 lead and Kobe failed to show up in Game 7, seemingly out of spite. Either way, defeat was about as pleasant as a Raja Bell clothesline.
Or how about '04, when the Lakers took a living, breathing Hall of Fame starting lineup into the Finals, only to watch their ancient ruins crumble around him. Karl Malone, Gary Payton, and even the Daddy himself were no match for a surprise young, athletic, cohesive team without a big-time scorer. Kobe's desperation three salvaged the Lakers' only Finals win, as they were dominated thoroughly in every other game of a series that no one saw coming.
Now, think back even farther. In his most telling moment alongside Shaq in their glorious 2000-2002 dynasty, there was a singular moment that foreshadowed this achievement. A moment where Kobe Bryant may have officially become the player he is today and announced his arrival as an all-time elite player. If you relate Sunday night's fulfillment of Kobe's quest to this moment, then it may not strike you as too much of a surprise that Bryant has finally gotten over the hump.
Before Kobe and Shaq had any rings to show off to the paparazzi, they were in a Finals battle with the Indiana Pacers in 2000. Thanks to their penchant for taking "unnecessary" games off in that postseason, the Lakers would drop two of the middle three games in Indiana by wide margins. In order to assert their dominance and take care of that series, they needed that fourth game.
Because they actually played hard in that fourth game, and Indiana rose to the challenge, as well, the two teams battled into an overtime session that the entire series would hinge on. There was only one problem: Shaq would foul out halfway through it.
There was a stunned shock and disbelief to the moment. For the Indiana crowd, it simply seemed too good to be true. The Laker offense was simply too dependent on the Big Aristotle overwhelming defenses with his sheer power to survive now. How could the Lakers possibly beat a healthy and desperate Pacers team down the stretch without Shaq?
Kobe then stepped into the moment and knocked down two 20-foot jumpers to keep the Lakers treading water, as he sought to take over the game himself. As he walked back downcourt after the second jumper, Kobe showed a surprisingly comfortable expression on his face as he made a downward, open-palmed gesture with both hands that everyone in their living rooms saw. The message was simple: "Relax, everybody. I've got this." He would add a tip-in lay up in the final seconds to extend the Laker lead from 1 to 3 points. This tallied 8 total points in the extra session for Bryant, and forced the Pacers to fire a desperation three for the final play, which they missed, rather than attack the basket. Did I mention he did this all on a painfully sprained ankle from Game 1?
It was in that instance where a larger than life moment occurred on the game's biggest stage, and young Kobe decided he was going to be bigger than that moment, and he essentially won them the Finals in that stretch. Yes, it has become very tiresome to say in the many years that has passed since then, but this may have been the first instance where Kobe did something that was truly Jordan-esque. It also was an instance, brief but important, of Kobe showing the ability to win without Shaq at a time when Shaq was the reason they won.
Perhaps it was fitting that Kobe's Lakers, in the Finals for a staggering sixth time in the decade, vanquished a Magic team led by Dwight Howard, if only because Howard is being hailed at least by his supporters as a next-generation Shaq. While No. 24 did finally win his long overdue Finals MVP award without a signature Kobe moment, it was teammates Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol (yes, the Gasol who was too soft to stop Boston a year ago) who clamped down on Howard and kept him ineffective offensively. It was a team defensive effort that stifled the almost robotic accuracy of the Magic's three-point shooters. Kobe managed to be the best player on a very balanced, talented team that meshed around him at the right time to win a title. Indeed, this team and this season was everything the Mamba has ever dreamed of.
So does this silence the doubters, the whispers, and the haters? A good portion of them. Shaq loses leverage in any future beefs, as they now have the same number of rings — four — and Kobe seems much more likely to win a fifth than O'Neal, all things considered. Some will always lament his inability to fit in as one of the guys, his open displeasure towards teammates who don't execute to his liking, his ball-hogging, and his somewhat manufactured image. This only means that even Kobe's flaws draw comparison's to His Airness. Did Jordan not hog the ball and expect too much of his teammates and try to constantly control his image, as well? Michael was simply better at getting away with it.
Those who still bristle at the greatness of Kobe most likely have never held an NBA Finals trophy in one hand and a Finals MVP trophy in the other. And for his rival and former teammate, the one who has managed to do just that three times to Kobe's one, perhaps Bryant can respond with a battle rap of his own this summer.
"Shaq, tell me how my ring tastes."
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