He really is back now.
And he’s wearing No. 8 in purple and gold. He wore No. 23 in red and black before and was known as Michael Jordan. Before that he was known alternately as Julius Erving or Elgin Baylor. He was the exciting individual star who lit up the NBA and dominated the game with his brilliance. He was the torchbearer.
“He got 15 assists,” was Doug Collins’ first observation about Kobe Bryant after the Lakers overcame a 20-point deficit to defeat Collins’ Washington Wizards and Michael Jordan 103-94 Tuesday night.
“He got 11 rebounds, he scored 23 points. He did a great job of getting into Rip (Richard Hamilton) and not letting him get where he wanted to go. He controlled the whole game.”
In a captivating three-day period Bryant grabbed the elusive torch of superiority that has rarely been out of Jordan’s possession these last two decades. Sunday, in Jordan’s first NBA All-Star Game in four years, Bryant was named MVP. Tuesday, against Jordan’s Wizards, Bryant put on a performance so versatile and so impressive at both ends Collins described it as “magnificent.”
Jordan was solid with 22 points, six assists and five rebounds in 41 minutes. Yet he was no personal match for the dynamic Bryant. It was Air and heir apparent, and it turned out that way.
“He played extremely well, especially in the third quarter,” Jordan said after Bryant led the Lakers back from a 63-43 deficit with Jordan specialties of floor leadership and physical play. “He basically created everything. We really could not contain his activity as far as getting everyone involved with his penetration and getting the ball to the right people.
“Defensively, he stepped it up on Rip and Rip didn’t get anything going from that point forward. We’re not quite in their league yet. When [L.A.] buckled down in the third quarter it made it tough for us to do anything. We folded under their pressure. That’s what championship teams do.”
And it’s how leaders like Bryant produce championships. Shaquille O’Neal was out with an injured toe Tuesday, so the opportunity for the dream Jordan-Bryant matchup was there. It was the chance to see if Bryant could take Jordan. And both coaches seemed to know.
Jordan plays more small forward now, and it would have been easy to pit them against one another. But one got the feeling Phil Jackson, Jordan’s former coach and good friend, and Collins wanted to protect Jordan and not let Bryant do to Jordan what they knew he could.
“They did a nice job of trying to push [Michael] one step farther out,” Collins said. “They kept switching guys [defensively]. Michael doesn’t have that blow-by speed he used to where when you crowded him, he could really go by you.”
Bryant does, and when the Lakers fell behind he took over. He scored 12 points and had five assists in the third quarter as the Lakers outscored the Wizards 34-11 in the last 7 minutes 39 seconds. The Lakers were called for two flagrant fouls, one on Bryant, for barreling through screens that thwarted them in the first half.
“I’m going to run over you whether you’re big or small,” Bryant said with jut-jawed toughness.
He led both teams in assists and rebounds in the fourth quarter as the Lakers pulled away, Bryant’s halftime tirade still ringing in his teammates’ ears.
“I told them, `Fellas, we need to check ourselves because we’re the world champions. We’re not out here fighting, we’re not out there scrapping and getting after guys,'” he said. “We needed to come out and start fighting like world champions do. I wanted to send a message.”
It was the kind of message Jordan would send to his Bulls teammates once upon a time, the kind that helped build the legend–and a lot of championships. Bryant has two already, and though it was just another game on the long schedule, it was a marker.
Bryant imposed his will on the game, just as he did Sunday when the best were on the floor. It was the kind of moment Jordan always stole, and Bryant does it now. Jordan has been terrific this season, better than most expected. But to ask him to be the Jordan of old is unfair.
“Everyone, I’m pretty sure, was expecting me to take over the game,” Jordan said. “Everyone expects me to carry the load for 41 minutes. Certain nights I probably could. On some nights I couldn’t.”
Now it’s Kobe Bryant who can. And does.
