I think we can end those MJ comparisons now…

I didn’t see much of Game 6 last night. I planned on flipping back and forth between that and the Sox game, but the Sox’ home run parade was too fun to turn away from. Every time they explode offensively, I feel as if that is what should happen all the time. I mean, Thome, Konerko, Swisher, Crede, Dye, and Quentin should all end up smacking 30+ homers, right? Then you look at the stats and half of those guys are hitting under .225. Baseball is just too confusing.

So back to the Finals and the sport I understand. I've taken away two things from this series:

1) The Celtics are one of the best defensive teams I've ever seen.

2) No sane person can ever compare Kobe to MJ ever again.

I really like Kobe. I thought this season was the best anyone has ever put together since Jordan retired from the Bulls for the final time. I thought Kobe was the second best basketball player I’ve ever seen, and maybe he still is. But he’ll never be in the same league as Jordan. Not after what he did in this series, one everyone gave to LA before it began.

Even before Game 6 started, I thought there was a really good chance the Lakers could still win the series. That’s how much faith I had in Kobe. All-time greats give their team the chance to come back from 3-1 deficits. I was sure Kobe belonged in that group, with MJ, Magic, Bird, and Wilt.

No one can put him with those guys anymore . This has to be worst Finals performance by any player of the stature Kobe supposedly is at. He couldn't contain Pierce to save his life, gave big shots to his teammates way too often, and didn’t show the ability to take over.

That’s one thing I love about basketball: one player can literally win the game single-handedly. It happens at every level. But in these Finals, against an all-time great defense, Kobe simply couldn’t do it.

I’m not sure how many people were making the MJ-Kobe comparisons in the first place, and it certainly never happened in this town. But they have to be completely dead now. I don’t care what Kobe does the rest of his career, and he could still win a couple more titles. But that guy isn’t the greatest player of all-time and it’s not even close.

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I'll have a couple of posts up today at The Fantasy Factor as well, so be sure to stop by.