After Securing Fifth Championship, Kobe Bryant Proves Marcus Jordan Wrong

It was Thursday night on June 17th, 2010, during late in the second quarter of the NBA Finals, when Marcus Jordan, the youngest son of Michael Jordan, posted this tweet, "NO ONE...And I mean NO ONE should EVER com par kobe Bryant to my dad an say that he is anywhere near close to my dad He's jagging this game."

He would then followed that tweet with another tweet during halftime, "I know y'all just seen the stats too [...] no comparison."

To which statistics was he referring?

A woeful 3 of 14 FG at halftime.

Yes, this was Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals. The supposedly next best player since Michael Jordan, was not only having one of his worst shooting performance of his Finals career, he was completely unraveling in the game's biggest stage.

In the pivotal, winner takes all, Game 7 between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics. In the last game of the 2010 NBA season, the game he was supposed to step up as he always did, the game he was supposed to reaching deep within and unleash the performance of his lifetime, Kobe Bryant was choking. In a game Kobe Bryant was supposed to be cementing his legacy, he was the one coming up empty and looking as if the pressure was finally overwhelming him.

The pressure to win Game 7 against the Boston Celtics, a feat the Los Angeles Lakers have never accomplished. The pressure to avenge their 2008 Finals defeat to the Celtics. The pressure to win his fifth ring and join Magic Johnson as one of the greatest Lakers, if not the greatest. The pressure to achieve one ring closer to Michael Jordan's six rings. The pressure to separate himself from his contemporaries, the Shaquille O'Neals, the Tim Duncans. The pressure had overwhelmed Kobe Bryant to the point he was, in his own words, wanting it so badly, but the more he tried to push, the more it kept getting away from him. He was tired and on empty, and the more he wanted the win, the more Game 7 got away from him.

Kobe Bryant was not only shooting poorly, he was rushing his shot, shooting out of rhythm, turning the ball over, looking lost, playing frazzled, making poor decisions, making poor shot selections, it was an uncharacteristic performance nobody would have believed the NBA's best closer, the Black Mamba, the player who relishes these moments, would have been capable of.

What Marcus Jordan should have realized, what he should have already known so well living under his father's colossal shadow, is that the great ones always find a way to win, even when they are not at their best.

In trying to invalidate Kobe Bryant's greatness as a basketball player by saying there is no comparison between Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, as if that should somehow disqualify Kobe Bryant's already Hall of Famer legacy and status, Marcus Jordan forgets how even the great Michael Jordan had his moments of poor performances in the NBA Finals. Even though Michael Jordan never played a Game 7 in his career, he did miss 14 out of 19 shot attempts in Game 6 of the 1996 Finals against the former Seattle Super Sonics and the Chicago Bulls still won. It's a testament to his teammates and to Jordan's intangibles that they were able to win Game 6, despite Jordan's poor shooting. Even in Jordan's last championship game, he missed 20 shots, yet made the last shot that everyone remembers at the end.

But that's what separates the great players from the good players. When the shot just isn't falling, the great players find other ways to contribute to their team. Rebound. Get to the free throw line. Convert free throw points. Play stifling defense. Believe in their shot.

And that is exactly what Kobe Bryant did.

After collecting himself in the last six minutes of the fourth quarter, he would end the night with the line of 6 out of 24 shot attempts, 0 of 6 from the three point line, four turnovers, but made 11 of 15 free throws and pulled down 15 rebounds, the second highest rebound total of his playoff career. Throughout the series, the team that won the rebounding war won the game. In Game 7, the Lakers would out-rebound the Celtics, 53 to 40, with Kobe's 15 rebounds ensuring his defensive efforts, despite his poor offense, would make up for his nerves.

And when his nerves were getting the best of him, his teammates, Pau Gasol, Derek Fisher, Ron Artest, Lamar Odom, Jordan Farmar, even Sasha Vujacic, lifted their best player and carried him across the finish line in what was truly a team win. After all the games Kobe Bryant had bailed them out during the beginning of the regular season and throughout the playoffs, while hobbling on an injured right knee and broken fingers, it was befitting that it was his teammates that bailed him out in Game 7. It was a complete team win built upon three years of trust. A testament to Bryant's leadership with his teammates, which enabled them to persevere through Game 7, despite being down 13 in the third quarter.

When the Lakers' rallied around their superstar to win Game 7, Marcus Jordan should have known that his tweet taunt would haunt him.

Kobe Bryant is no Michael Jordan because there can never be another Michael Jordan. Just as there can never be another Kobe Bryant or Magic Johnson or Jerry West and so forth. And comparing Kobe Bryant, when his career is far from over, to Michael Jordan, is unfair to Bryant, whose legacy is still being built. In this current era; however, basketball fans are lucky to witness a player like Bryant whose will to win is the closest there is to Michael Jordan.

For someone who should understand the pressure of being constantly compared to Michael Jordan, as the son of Michael Jordan, Marcus Jordan certainly did not seem to think before he reacted and twittered those exact stinging words his detractors had meant to use to degrade him and his brother with.

But as Marcus Jordan learned, the game is never over until it is over. Now, Marcus Jordan has to eat his own words and learn that trash talking on twitter is never the smartest thing. And one would think that having been in the same boat as Bryant, he would share empathy of shouldering Jordan's shadow, because they both will be forever compared to Michael Jordan whether they like it or not.

Perhaps it's because Bryant understands Jordan better than Marcus does. After all, Bryant is a student of the game and as he says, "Sometimes shots aren't going to fall, but you've got to figure out something to help your team win, and nobody was better than that than M.J." And help, Bryant did. By rebounding out of his mind, by playing the best defense he's ever played, and by creating opportunities for free throws.

Thursday night, Marcus Jordan spoke too soon. He had no choice after the Lakers won their 16th championship and Kobe Bryant his fifth ring, to tweet, "Don't get me wrong Kobe is one of the best in the league.... Just no where near my dad...good game right here tho."

Yes, best in the league and one step closer to Jordan. One step closer to attaining Jordan's tally of six rings. And it's because Kobe Bryant is one step closer to challenging Jordan's throne that such a strong reaction was elicited from Marcus Jordan.

That challenge is what makes Kobe Bryant a worthy successor to Michael Jordan. It's what makes watching his career, his legacy, unfold before our eyes that is both polarizing and fascinating. It's what makes his detractors desperate to point the Mount Rushmore that is Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. That Bryant is neither the greatest Laker nor the greatest player to play the game.

But Thursday night, despite struggling, despite letting the pressure get to him, Kobe Bryant still took one step closer. His teammates pulled him through and he got the last laugh. He got a ring for his thumb.