One Of A Kind

"Is it the shoes?, is it the shoes?,is it the shoes?", those famous words from the Nike character played by Spike Lee, 'Mars Blackmon' can still be heard today coming from the mouths of avid Michael Jordan fans both young and old. The impact MJ has on the game of basketball and even sports in general is extremely undeniable. Many great players before him may have more accomplishments on the court such as championships, Bill Russell, but his pop culture influence is what set him apart from the rest. Even the most avid New York Knicks fan who goes to sleep in a Walt 'Clyde' Fraizer jersey every other night would find it 'cool' to be MJ. The lanky 6'6 shooting guard with funky basketball shoes graced the covers of every magazine and newspaper article in the late 80's and the media coverage of MJ just blossomed into the 90's. Year after year Jordan fans would wait to see what new pair of shoes MJ would reveal during all star weekend. His impact reached new heights when the Air Jordan 4 was referenced in the critically acclaimed movie "Do The Right Thing", when one of the antagonist of the movie scuffed a pair of another character's brand new pair of Air Jordan sneakers. Twenty three pairs and years later his name will always be tied to the next up and coming swingman with the ability to jump out the gym.

According to Jay-Z's 2003 'Pump it Up' freestyle, Harold Miner was evidently not the right choice to be tagged with the 'Baby Jordan' title. In 1996, the NBA draft was filled with plenty of future all stars worthy of the 'Baby Jordan' title such as Allen Iverson and Ray Allen, but only one had the potential to live up to the legendary guard.'Kobe Bryant'. The seventeen year old shooting guard was drafted 13th overall to the a city where happy endings are written daily and sold daily, 'Los Angeles'. Paired with Shaquille O'neal for the early years of his career the duo went onto to win 3 consecutive championships, leaving Bryant with a void early in his career. The void can only be fulfilled by winning a championship with out the help of a future hall of fame center.

With the departure of Shaq at the end of the 2003-2004 season, the 25 year old Bryant was left to attempt the impossible in becoming the next generations MJ. In his first season experiment in becoming Michael, the Lakers missed the playoffs for the first time in almost 10 years, not exactly Jordan like. The 2005-2006 season marked the beginning of his second attempt to fill the 'void'. As a whole the team had an 11 game improvement from the previous year but was still knocked out of the playoffs by Pacific Division rival, Phoenix Suns. This season also marked a few more glimpses of his Jordan like comparisons with an 81 point performance against the Toronto Raptors. In 2007, Byrant was selected to his 9th consecutive all star appearance and his second All Star Game MVP,but was once again departed from the playoff via phoenix Suns in the first round.

On May 30th 2007, just a few days removed from a year ago, Bryant confirmed he wanted to be traded from the Lakers on the Stephen A. Smith radio show, expressing his anger with the Lakers management and timid strides towards a championship. Just three hours after creating shock waves throughout the sporting news world, Bryant went on to explain his re-consideration to stay with the team after a healthy conversation with Coach Phil Jackson. Bryant's decision to stay with the team may have put him right back into the driver seat towards his Jordan like career. Only two months into the regular season, Kobe went on to become the youngest player to ever reach 20,000 career points, which was just one of his few accomplishments this season. Kobe also went onto to start in his 10th consecutive all star, and was named the leagues MVP. Currently Kobe and his fellow teammates are set to play the Boston Celtics in the NBA finals for his first championship without Shaq.

Even if Kobe goes on to win his fourth title, his career will never reach the peak left by Michael Jordan because of his lack of personality off the court. Kids in the playground will never scream out Kobe's name as they attempt to make the game winning shot. The jersey number '24' will never be recognized internationally as the greatest number for a basketball player. His sneakers will never make grown men wait on line to get a pair. His sneaker will never be the reason a young man is in heaven due to violence. Most of all, Kobe wll never reach the peak of MJ's greatness because he simply doesn't want to.