Lakers' Kobe Bryant is fit to be MVP
BILL PLASCHKE
Bryant has never looked better as a player or Lakers teammate than in Game 2.
Has he ever screamed to the crowd like that? Has he ever flapped his gold jersey like that?
Has cool, calm, drop-top-Impala-driving Kobe Bryant ever shown us so much of himself as he did during that hair-raising, skin-chilling moment Wednesday night?
Have we ever appreciated it more?
NBA: Bill Plaschke's column in Thursday's Sports section said that all four times the Lakers have won Game 2 of the first series under Coach Phil Jackson, they have made the NBA Finals. In 2006, the Lakers won Game 2 against Phoenix but were later eliminated from that series.
In his dozen turbulent years in Los Angeles, Bryant has scored more points and made bigger plays.
But I will stake my press pass on the fact that he has never been a better all-around player than on Wednesday night in the Lakers' 122-107 victory over the Nuggets in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
"Brought me out of my seat," said Lamar Odom, speaking for all of Los Angeles.
"Indefensible," said George Karl, speaking for all of Denver.
"MVP!" chanted the crowd even as it filed into the city streets, speaking for all of basketball.
If you saw it, you are still seeing it. If you felt it, you will be feeling it all spring.
The soaring dunks, the swaying jumpers, the slithering passes, the stare at the crowd and the Nuggets and anyone within staring distance, again and again.
Then, best of all, the scream.
Can you still see Bryant after he made that clinching three-pointer with 5:21 left?
Can you still feel his raw mix of intensity and joy as he ran back down the court screaming at himself, then screaming at the fans, then tugging on his jersey like a proud school kid?
Later, Bryant was even making all of his cliches.
"We did our jobs, we came out like professionals and played hard," he said.
The win gave the Lakers a near-insurmountable two-games-to-none lead in the series.
The win cemented Bryant's stature as basketball's best player.
But as much as all that, the win also furthered his growing reputation as one of basketball's greatest teammates.
He scored 49 points, including 20 in the first quarter and 19 in the fourth quarter when the Nuggets' defense was sagging on everyone else.
He had 10 assists, including seven in the third quarter when the Nuggets began swarming him.
He scored early because it was necessary. He created baskets later because it was imperative. He scored in the end because he had no choice.
In a two-hour display that stunned a veteran Staples Center crowd, Bryant not only carried the Lakers, but lifted up his teammates so they could carry them as well, again and again.
