Shoals Unlimited: Conference Finals Will Bring Out the Best in Kobe, Melo

There’s a basic paradox underlying NBA consumption: For all the wistful talk about team play and ego-less performers, the league’s appeal depends on star turns, whether from established figures or guys we can convince ourselves are worthy of stepping into that role. Hence you get a phenomenon like Robert Horry, playoff superstar -- as opposed to just some dude who made a bunch of well-timed shots. Selfish players crash and burn, but down the stretch, someone’s got to be the man. The system will not save you, nor can everyone defer to the next guy.↵
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↵That’s why, as much as the four teams left in the postseason are deep, well-rounded teams, each potential matchup is understood in terms of star-on-star action. We all know what the implications of a Kobe/LeBron Finals would be. I’m having more and more conversations about how fitting it would be to see James and Anthony finally, and yet unexpectedly, have the rivalry the league wanted for them back in 2003. Magic/Cavs? Who wouldn’t want to watch two absolute physical freaks at the height of their youthful powers?↵
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↵However, if there’s one series that’s not being cast in these terms, it’s Lakers/Nuggets, which starts tonight at 9 p.m. ET. Maybe it’s because so much has already been made of the Lakers as a shaky unit -- and of the Nuggets as a complex, combustible mass tearing through the West. Los Angeles isn’t tough, Denver can be downright scary. Still, though, isn’t it a little strange that this has more pop, more of a hook, than a duel between Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony? Two of the league’s most beloved, and reviled, figures, guys capable of putting the ball in the basket from anywhere on the floor ... we could potentially see a reprise of that epic Dirk/Melo shootout for however many games it takes to settle this thing. ↵
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And yet it isn’t Kobe/Melo, it’s Lakers/Nuggets. That’s not just because of the questions surrounding L.A. and the budding mystique of Denver’s squad. It’s also because, when you put Bryant and Anthony next to each other, the similarity that springs to mind first these days isn’t that both could drop 40 on any given night. It’s that the two have undergone nearly identical metamorphoses from breath-taking, if ball-stopping, gunslingers to good citizens who dazzle without forcing the issue.↵
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↵Granted, Melo’s road has been more complicated, as it featured partnerships with binary opposites Allen Iverson and now Chauncey Billups as his co-leaders on the Nuggets. What’s more, Anthony has only now found himself as a player, while you could argue that Kobe’s middle period was regression to a pre-Shaq infancy that never existed. And yet while both compare favorably to any other offensive player in the league, these days you’re as likely to hear them praised for their restraint, basketball IQ, and devotion to their team. At least for the purposes of marketing, Anthony and Bryant are fighting to see who can be less intrusive -- while still putting up numbers and coming through when it matters.↵
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↵How, then, do we measure this competition? Too much self-abnegation would be its own kind of selfishness, and neither of these players would do that (these days). Strange as it sounds, you sometimes now hear Anthony criticized for not being aggressive enough. And given the importance of the Lakers big men, especially getting Bynum’s confidence up early, Kobe could receive high marks for his usual “lay back until it’s time” routine. Melo’s settled into a similar role: Scoring reliably and exploding if necessary. This lends itself to aesthetic criteria, like ice skating, or the shape of a symphony. But that’s a tough premise for the networks to sell. ↵
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↵So in the end, we’re left with nothing but Lakers/Nuggets. Not only because there’s a compelling storyline there. No, both Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony have reached a point in their careers where they are inseparable from their teams as a whole. It only becomes more apparent when you try and sum up this series by focusing just on the two of them. When it comes to our perceptions of these two stars, this series really will allow them to bring out the best in each other.
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