‘League’s Best’ Isn’t Limited to Kobe, LeBron

By Bethlehem Shoals
Excuse my brief absence. My hands have prematurely decided to age fifty-eight years in one week. All of you, listen: The laptop is not your friend.
Anyway, I’ve been trying to decide if I’ve got egg hanging off of my face after Sunday’s full day of basketball action. Last week, I wrote a column claiming, among other things, that Chris Paul is the NBA’s best player. I’m not sure what “best player” means exactly, but I thought I made a good case for Paul as invaluable to his team, unstoppable in the face of opponents, and just generally capable of shaping any given game to his will.
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Then, this weekend we had LeBron and Kobe at their respective zeniths. Bron, who has much more in common with Frankenstein’s monster than Michael Jeffrey Jordan, did everything under the sun and looked damn scary doing so. Kobe, on the other hand, exploded for 52 points against Dallas, supposedly a team in contention. He hit so many impossible shots that you started taking them for granted. But more importantly, he spent as much time rolling with the offense, making key passes, and defending like the devil as he did gunning.
Over at FreeDarko, my associate John Krolik wrote a long piece exploring the idea of Kobe Bryant as best in league, something that’s been tossed around for a few years now without much real explication. As Krolik explains, now that Bryant once again has a championship-caliber team on his side, the matter’s no longer abstract. WWTLBPD? That Dallas game was a pretty good example.
I agree with John that this is Kobe’s moment, and that LeBron’s “league best” is largely about the awe he inspires in us. Kobe is technically impeccable, while Bron’s got holes in his game that we miss because we’re too busy being blinded by the light.
But -- and maybe this is just stubbornness on my part -- I don’t want to count Chris Paul out of this discussion. A point guard like Paul or Nash, or a big man like Shaq once was, isn’t just a transcendent talent, or someone who rises to the occasion and wins games. Maybe this is an oxymoron, but they’re both franchise cornerstones and impeccable role players.
Put vintage Shaquille O’Neal in the middle of your offense and you’ve got a shot at a title. Don’t go thinking that “center” just refers to where the big guy stands on the court. Chris Paul is the same way. He’s not just the focal point of the Hornets, or the main factor in their game plan. That entire team radiates out from what he does.
That’s the reason why these two positions are so coveted. There’s no confusion or mystery about their value, no need to enter into the murky “league’s best” discussion. It’s pretty simple: If they’re putting up numbers and their team is excelling, they’re doing their job. And really, isn’t that ideally what “league’s best” is all about?↵