According to various online descriptions and definitions, a black mamba is a large, venomous snake, strong but slender in body, agile and quick and, according to National Geographic, prone to strike repeatedly if cornered. . . .
It's an apt nickname, in other words, for Kobe Bryant. . . .
Bryant started calling himself "Black Mamba" a few years ago, explaining to ESPN, "The mamba can strike with 99% accuracy at maximum speed, in rapid succession. That's the kind of basketball precision I want to have." . . .
He had it Wednesday night, but why'd he wait so long to reveal it? . . .
Oh, right, he wasn't cornered. . . .
Said TNT's Reggie Miller of Bryant's jaw-dropping up-and-under move to score against Manu Ginobili in the third quarter, "There's only one other man that made moves like that and he's watching in Charlotte right now." . . .
His reference, of course was to Michael Jordan, co-owner and managing member of basketball operations for the Charlotte Bobcats. . . .
Speaking of Jordan, 35% of voters in a USA Today poll deemed he and Scottie Pippen the greatest 1-2 combination in NBA history, while 28% voted for the runner-up duo of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. . . .
Lakers fans, of course, would reverse the order. . . .
After the San Antonio Spurs coughed up a 20-point lead at Staples Center in Game 1, two nights after winning a tense Game 7 at New Orleans and sleeping on the tarmac, Buck Harvey of the San Antonio News-Express wrote, "As the Lakers found their energy, the Spurs were not unlike their charter. They had no lift." . . .
The Detroit Pistons have reached the Eastern Conference finals in each of Tayshaun Prince's six NBA seasons, the underrated former Compton Dominguez High star with the Olive Oyl build a starter in each of the last five. . . .
Three of the four teams in the NBA's conference finals are represented by former Westchester High stars, the ex-Comets including the Lakers' Trevor Ariza, the Boston Celtics' Gabe Pruitt and the Pistons' Amir Johnson. . . .
The touted but seldom-used Johnson, by the way, was the last high school player taken in the NBA draft, going to the Pistons with the 56th pick in 2005 before the league instituted a rule requiring that players be at least one year removed from the graduation of their high school class to be eligible. . . .
