It&rsquos a shame yes but who cares? I love soccer! The Brazilians

It’s a shame, yes, but who cares? I love soccer! The Brazilians and Italians are huge fun to watch, and besides, Football and Basketball are more fun to watch than a 1-0 soccer game anyway! . It’s over and I’m glad we get to put this to bed. In the immortal words of Hawk Harrelson, “He gone.”The “he” I am referring to is Kobe Bryant and I have to be honest, I couldn’t be happier. For the last several years no one in the NBA has been as good as Kobe, not two-time MVP Steve Nash, not Lebron James or Dwyane Wade, not even his formerrunning-mate Shaq.That being said, he is not Michael Jordan and that is where the discussion ends.

He is not as good as MJ and while he may not be past his prime, he never will be. In fact, I won’t bring it up again because he just proved he isn’t and never will be the heir to his airness.That is where it ends, read the endless articles explaining it or arguing against it, I won’t waste any more time.But it is clear that the pressure of attempting to become the next best thing seems to have created a monster It really is a shame actually. Kobe could have been the nexttranscendent player, the face of the league, the leader of the NBA. Instead, he is the mamba, avillain and a now a loser.Four of the last five seasons, Kobe Bryant has lead the NBA in points, twice leading the league in points per game. No one in the world has the offensive repertoire Bryant has, and no one anywhere close can play his kind of lock down defense.With a ring or two of his own, in other words, without Shaquille O’Neal, he would elevate himself to rare air.But you become an all-time great by performing on the biggest stage possible, the NBA Finals. The last time Kobe was in the finals was 2004 with one of the most talented teams ever, perhaps one of the top five teams ever who didn’t win the championship.

Kobe shot 38 percent from the field and had just 22 assists despite turning the ball over 18 times. Number 23 never would have done that.See, that is the problem with Kobe. The list of “Michael never would have”;s for number 24 is just too long. A 24 point come back in the Finals? Not against a mid-90’s Bulls team at home.