Kobe Bryant, in the second half of Game 7 against the Suns, plays passively and is roundly criticized for either quitting or making a statement or both.
LeBron James, in the second half of Game 7 against the Pistons, has an almost identical performance and the closest anyone comes to asking what happened is my colleague Chris Sheridan, relaying to LeBron that Coach Mike Brown suggested he was tired. Which James quickly and firmly denied.
So. If there was ever a blatant stration of the double standard when it comes to judging Kobe vs. LeBron -- or just about anybody else -- this is it.
When Kobe took only three second-half shots vs. the Suns, all the questions were directed at him: Why did he do that? What was said at halftime? What was he trying to prove?
If you don't buy that he needed his teammates to trim Phoenix' lead to single digits before he could take over, fine. If you think after his 23-point first half he should've started firing at every opportunity and that that would've somehow inspired his teammates to play the kind of staunch defense they couldn't muster in the first half while getting touches, OK.
But then you have to ask the same questions of James and the Cavaliers.
After all, he had 21 first-half points while taking only four jumpers (missing three) on 10-of-15 and Detroit led by a mere two points. Sure, James took nine shots in the second half, three times more than Kobe. But he made only one and seven of them were jumpers. Moreover, the Pistons didn't do anything more defensively than have Tayshaun Prince guard him rather than Rip Hamilton, but the only reason Hamilton was on him in the first place is that LeBron had d Prince earlier in the series.
Now, granted, Cavs coach Brown did Detroit a huge favor by playing Larry Hughes 26 minutes and putting him in the middle of the floor rather than LeBron during that time. Hughes simply couldn't create the chances for himself or his teammates that LeBron could.
Hughes' stat line didn't look bad, but this is all you need to know: He played in three games in this series, all of them losses, two of them blowouts. Cleveland, conversely, won three of the four games he didn't play, all of them going down to the wire.
Meanwhile, having James attack from the wing also allowed the Pistons to corral him more easily by forcing him to the baseline.
Look, I understand why Kobe is guilty until proven and the judge and jury are making goo-goo eyes at LeBron. Kobe has made his share of publicity blunders while the closest LeBron has come to offending anyone was having a suspciously-financed chromed-out Hummer in high school. It can be hard to like Kobe, while LeBron makes it easy. I truly get that.
I'm also not here to denigrate James' effort or performance. There's never been anyone in NBA history who has had his combination of size (6-8, 250) and speed (f-f-f-fast enough to turn the corner on anyone), and he has an amazingly mature game for someone 21 years old.
He made his share of tactical blunders and bad decisions in this series, but that's no surprise; I wouldn't expect him to understand the game the way Kobe or Tim Duncan or Steve Nash do. He is going to be a force to be reckoned with for a long time and I can't imagine how amazing he will be once his mental game catches up with his physical talents.
All I'm saying is, that their personalities and Q ratings shouldn't have anything to do with how their performances as NBA players -- nay, superstars -- are judged. And based on how similar their playoff exits were, and how dramatically different they were treated, that's clearly not the case.
LeBron James, in the second half of Game 7 against the Pistons, has an almost identical performance and the closest anyone comes to asking what happened is my colleague Chris Sheridan, relaying to LeBron that Coach Mike Brown suggested he was tired. Which James quickly and firmly denied.
So. If there was ever a blatant stration of the double standard when it comes to judging Kobe vs. LeBron -- or just about anybody else -- this is it.
When Kobe took only three second-half shots vs. the Suns, all the questions were directed at him: Why did he do that? What was said at halftime? What was he trying to prove?
If you don't buy that he needed his teammates to trim Phoenix' lead to single digits before he could take over, fine. If you think after his 23-point first half he should've started firing at every opportunity and that that would've somehow inspired his teammates to play the kind of staunch defense they couldn't muster in the first half while getting touches, OK.
But then you have to ask the same questions of James and the Cavaliers.
After all, he had 21 first-half points while taking only four jumpers (missing three) on 10-of-15 and Detroit led by a mere two points. Sure, James took nine shots in the second half, three times more than Kobe. But he made only one and seven of them were jumpers. Moreover, the Pistons didn't do anything more defensively than have Tayshaun Prince guard him rather than Rip Hamilton, but the only reason Hamilton was on him in the first place is that LeBron had d Prince earlier in the series.
Now, granted, Cavs coach Brown did Detroit a huge favor by playing Larry Hughes 26 minutes and putting him in the middle of the floor rather than LeBron during that time. Hughes simply couldn't create the chances for himself or his teammates that LeBron could.
Hughes' stat line didn't look bad, but this is all you need to know: He played in three games in this series, all of them losses, two of them blowouts. Cleveland, conversely, won three of the four games he didn't play, all of them going down to the wire.
Meanwhile, having James attack from the wing also allowed the Pistons to corral him more easily by forcing him to the baseline.
Look, I understand why Kobe is guilty until proven and the judge and jury are making goo-goo eyes at LeBron. Kobe has made his share of publicity blunders while the closest LeBron has come to offending anyone was having a suspciously-financed chromed-out Hummer in high school. It can be hard to like Kobe, while LeBron makes it easy. I truly get that.
I'm also not here to denigrate James' effort or performance. There's never been anyone in NBA history who has had his combination of size (6-8, 250) and speed (f-f-f-fast enough to turn the corner on anyone), and he has an amazingly mature game for someone 21 years old.
He made his share of tactical blunders and bad decisions in this series, but that's no surprise; I wouldn't expect him to understand the game the way Kobe or Tim Duncan or Steve Nash do. He is going to be a force to be reckoned with for a long time and I can't imagine how amazing he will be once his mental game catches up with his physical talents.
All I'm saying is, that their personalities and Q ratings shouldn't have anything to do with how their performances as NBA players -- nay, superstars -- are judged. And based on how similar their playoff exits were, and how dramatically different they were treated, that's clearly not the case.
ESPN.com Daily Dime
