At the risk of sounding mono-educated and totally without outside reference, I'll warn you that I'm about to compare one sport to another. Specifically, I'm comparing two athletes in one sport with (what I suppose counts as) two athletes from another. I believe the analogy I've chosen is most a propos and thus worth the risk.
Last night's MLK Day basketball game between the Lakers and Cavs was like a bullfight; Kobe Bryant - the Matador, Lebron James - the Bull. Having established that context, the final result could probably have been predicted. After all, the matador typically defeats the bull. Typically. But the analogy I selected has little to do with the arena or the expected outcome of the game; instead, it was chosen based on the participants' style of play.
Bryant's litheness and grace were on display throughout the night. Combining his raw athleticism with a ripened and thorough understanding of the game, he seemed to float around the court, always moving efficiently and easily. Clearly playing injured (he wore a bandage above his right eye and aggravated a sprain in his ring-finger on his shooting hand during the game), Bryant nevertheless showed that his killer instinct was still in tact, repeatedly going for the jugular during a 4th Quarter that saw the Lakers build what proved to be an insurmountable lead. To the disappointment of the frenzied crowd, many of his attempts fell short, but Bryant did hit on 2 incredible jump shots that pushed the Laker lead. The first - a spinning fadeaway baseline jumper that shimmied through the net as the shot clock expired - was clearly a shot that only Kobe could hit. He followed that immediately with a drive to the left side of the lane where he appeared to sail past the basket but managed to turn his upper body at the last minute to loft a soft rainbow shot that sank as he drew the foul.
Over the years, Bryant has developed into a gelid and efficient killer and can be both subtle and showman, often on consecutive plays. There is nothing in his game or demeanor to suggest that he is ever not playing within consummate control, and his sense of timing is impeccably measured, like a firing squad gunman. His tendency is to test and toy with the defense through the first 3 quarters, shooting his long, stretching jumpshot and dancing his way toward the rim through smooth, rhythmic drives, before settling in for the kill. Ultimately it was Bryant's supporting cast, particularly Pau Gasol and Trevor Ariza, who ended the Cavs' late run, but Bryant's 12 assists were the quietest and most significantly overlooked statistic of the night.
At this stage of his career, there simply is no force in the NBA like James; his game is based on strength and power and utilizing his exceptional (some say freakish) athleticism. He rumbles down the lane like a runaway wrecking ball, bouncing smaller defenders off and charging into larger defenders like a sledgehammer slamming against a wall. His barreling drives to the lane seem un-premeditated, chaotic and reactive, and his play - while not always graceful - is always overflowing with energy. His drives to the basket are not crafty or serpentine like Bryant's; with James it's more like a mad dash to the rim as he bulls his way through defenders, batting them around as if they were bowling pins.
Last night Lebron struggled from the field after several full-speed run-ins with Andrew Bynum, the Lakers' hulking post anchor, and his teammates failed to take advantage of many of the open looks he earned for them. Still, James delivered his share of highlights, such as a ferocious block from behind in transition, where he sailed in to batter the ball off the backboard as if it were a volleyball. He played the passing lanes with stealth all night; several Laker passes fell prey to steals by James, which he pounced on with jaguar-like quickness. He also flushed a quick and vicious left-handed dunk over Lamar Odom. Odom, who stands several inches taller than James and is no shabby athlete himself, never stood a chance.
In anticipation of last night's game, J.A. Adande wrote an article for ESPN which basically said something to the effect of "There will never be another player like Michael Jordan, so let's stop looking for The Next One. Instead let's focus on the two best we have (i.e. Lebron & Kobe) and the rivalry brewing between them for title of the Game's Best Player." I agree with those sentiments, and although the two rivals battled through injuries and struggled at times during last night's game, I think we've found a great rivalry. Or perhaps a better way to say it is that the rivals have found each other: the Matador and the Bull.
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