By John McMullen
Philadelphia, PA - One of my favorite gimmicks when hosting
a radio show is to roll out the "Mount Rushmore of Sports."
It's a simple premise that really gets the phone lines buzzing. You take a
league, state or franchise and choose the four faces that should decorate
their respective Mt. Rushmores.
When you are talking Los Angeles Lakers, the "Mt. Rushmore game" isn't all
that easy. There are a lot of names to choose from over the storied
franchise's history, the latest of which is Kobe Bryant..
When the Lakers originally acquired Bryant from the then-Charlotte Hornets in
exchange for center Vlade Divac back in 1996, the team thought it had acquired
a good basketball player straight out of high school with a nice upside, not
the next link in a chain of basketball immortals.
The reigning NBA Finals MVP and four-time NBA champ, Bryant has been one of
the league's brightest stars throughout his 14 seasons with the Lakers,
winning the 2008 NBA MVP and earning 12 All-Star selections.
This year, the 31-year-old Philadelphia native became the Lakers all-time
leading scorer, passing the legendary Jerry West and the youngest player in
NBA history to score 25,000 points.
In addition, Bryant also helped lead the United States to a gold medal in the
2008 Beijing Olympics. He has earned All-NBA honors in 11 consecutive seasons
and has been a member of the NBA's All-Defensive team nine times.
That's quite a resume but the history of professional sports is littered with
the images of superstars limping to the finish line of their careers in
foreign cities, wearing strange uniforms. Heck, Kobe's running mate on three
championship teams in LA, Shaquille O'Neal, is now in Cleveland, sporting the
wine and gold of the Cavs, a shell of his former dominant self.
It was tough for me to imagine Bryant wearing anything other than the purple
and gold of the Lakers. But, the specter was always there, largely fueled by
Kobe himself.
Bryant never wanted to water down his legacy by playing elsewhere but players
need leverage in contract negotiations. Kobe's deal was set to expire after
the 2010-11 season and he had an opt- out clause following this season. With
talk of a lockout looming and a stagnant economy that doesn't seem to
improving, Bryant had a responsibility to himself and his family to strike now
while he's still one of the two best players in all of basketball.
Bryant's inner circle made it known that he wouldn't mind crossing the hall at
Staples Center to play for the moribund Clippers or taking over the marquee
at the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, for the Knicks.
Jerry Buss probably didn't take those whispers all that seriously but he still
carved out a three-year extension for his superstar on Friday.
A deal that had to get done on both sides.
So who belongs on that fictional Mt. Rushmore for the Lakers?
George Mikan, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic
Johnson or the logo himself -- West -- are all worthy choices, but
all of those Hall of Famers are fighting for the other three spots...
One has already been reserved for Kobe Bryant.
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