Kobe and his 5 rings

Going into this series, I felt disconnected. My team, the Portland Trail Blazers were long ejected and are dealing with their front office turmoil. Over the last two weeks, I have been more focused on what Pritchard might be doing to save his job, and less on the 08 Finals rematch.

Despite my where I have directed my attention, and my belief that the world revolves around me, the NBA finals are infact taking place with the leagues most storied rivalry. The Celtics vs The Lakers.

Yes this dance has been done before. 12 times dating back to the days when the Lakers called Minneapolis home. We've had Russell vs West, Bird vs Magic, and now Kobe vs the big Four (Rondo has been invited to the adults table now). I'm intrigued because of the history between the two franchies, but honestly this wasn't even in my top five dream 2010 matchups (that didn't include Portland). So I went into this series not giving a shit who won.

Or so I thought.

I now live in a world where Kobe Bryant has 5 NBA titles. Disgusting. I knew that it was a possibility. If you enter a season with 4 rings, and go on to another one, that gives you five. But it didn't really dawn on me untill the Lakers beat the Suns that in two weeks time Kobe could have a handfull of rings.

Even then, the significance didn't dawn on me untill the Lamar Odom launced the ball down court and (fittingly) a streaking Kobe Bryant ran down the ball as time expired and the Staples Center errupted in celebration. Kobe Bryant has 5 NBA Championships. It rolls off the tounge strangely smooth. I don't like it.

Kobe Bryant is a MONSTER. There is not much more to say about a man who has had the career that Kobe has. He has done everything. He has an MVP. Out of his 11 All-Star appearences, he has 3 MVP's. He has played in 7 NBA finals, winning 5 of them. He has 2 NBA Finals MVP's. (he even has been cleared of one case of rape allegations).

Kobe Bryants stats will win out in most penis showing contests.

He is a cold blooded, calculating, son of a bitch. When he gets upset, he does not seem to be above contemplating murder. Even towards teammates (especially towards teammates). .He has never been mistaken for the worlds best teammate. Or the second. In fact, the man is widely accepted as quite the douche bag to play with.

Need proof? Here is what Ron Artest said during his press conference after the Game 7 win, "What you saw in Boston Kobe wanted to win. People said he wasn’t passing, blah, blah, blah, but Kobe wanted to win and he didn’t know if he could win playing with us at that time."

Uh, ok? He didn't know he could win playing with the team? That team has made only one real change in three years was adding former All- Star (and the super crazy) Ron Artest. Kobe know's what his team can do. Whether or not he decides to use his team is a different story. Kobe isn't stupid, he's just got an ego to feed.

Ron continues my point, " Today he wanted to win, he didn’t want to lose. You saw a determined Kobe Bryant, Black Mamba, two four, who wanted to win, but it wasn’t with the team. Late in the second half he started to move the ball and attack and pass and still was Kobe Bryant, and he trusted us and made us feel so good and he passed me the ball. He never passes me the ball, and he passed me the ball. Kobe passed me the ball, and I shot a three."

And thats Kobe, perfectly summed up through the eyes of his crazy ass teammate. Kobe tried to win by himself. He tried to win a championship as the Black Mamba. It took him till the second half to decide to go into teammate mode and see how that went. Again, Kobe isn't stupid. Kobe knew his legacy was about to get shit on if he lost that series. He allowed his teammates to do what they got paid to do (which is play basketball). And they won.

And now Kobe has 5 rings. I'm not sure I feel good about that. I forsee a giant headache over the next decade.

It' s not outside the relm of possibility to see Kobe playing10 more seasons. He has never had a major injury and as long as he gracefully accepts his role as his talents diminish, he very well could play to 40.

How annoying are the talking heads of ESPN going to be if and when Kobe goes for ring number 6? Or worse, number 7?! It's going to easily match, possibly exceed the Lebron Free Agency hype of this summer. The worst part about it, is if he plays 10 more seasons the story can play it's self out and be written and re written for a decade. I'm already ready to vomit blood.

The bottom line is this. Kobe Bryant is one of the Greatest Basketball players of all time. He has MVP's, Scoring Titles, Olympic Gold Medals as well as a slew of Larry O'Brian Trophies (NBA Championships). Unfortunatly, he is a douche bag.

Two weeks ago, I didn't care which team was going to win. Didn't matter. My Blazers had been home since early April. But as the final buzzer rang, and Kobe held up the trophy for a fifth time, old wounds were reopened. I felt sick.

In that moment I came to a harsh realization. I live in a world whereKobe Bryant has 5 rings.

And I'm not prepared for this shit.