"Kobe Bryant will go down as the greatest basketball player that has ever lived.”
~Mark Jackson “科比-布莱恩特将会成为历史上最伟大的球员” ——马克-杰克逊
WhenI first heard Mark Jackson say this on an ABC halftime show during the2005-2006 season, I nearly fell out of my chair in shock. How could aveteran like Jackson, who had played during the great Michael Jordan’sheyday and had grew up watching guys like Magic and Bird, say that theoft-criticized Kobe Bryant would go down as the greatest player to everlive? ESPECIALLY since he had just come off of 2 sub-par seasons, andstill had yet to prove he could win without Shaquille O’Neal and wasstill shaking off the dark cloud that was the Colorado rape case. Atthe time, I simply thought Jackson was nuts, and should have been firedfrom ABC. Now it is 2008, over 2 seasons since Jackson made thatcomment, and slowly but surely I am starting to believe he may havebeen on to something… 2005-2006赛季期间，当我第一次在ABC电视台中场节目听到马克-杰克逊说出这句话时，我很吃惊，几乎从椅子上跌倒在地上。像杰克逊这样的老将怎么会说出这样的话呢？他可是曾经在迈克尔-乔丹鼎盛时期打过球的，并且是看着“魔术师”约翰逊和“大鸟”伯德这样的球员长大的人啊，怎么会说科比-布莱恩特这位经常遭到批评的球员将会是历史上最伟大的球员呢？特别是自从他度过了两个糟糕的赛季（2004-06）后，他仍不得不证明他能够在没有奥尼尔的情况下赢球，同时还在摆脱科罗拉多事件的负面影响。那时我很容易就想到杰克逊就会乱说，ABC电视台应该把他解雇。现在是2008年了，离马克-杰克逊说的那句话已经两年了，慢慢地，我开始相信他那时确实说中了一些事情•••
Whathas caused my change of mind? Maybe it’s the realization that in the 8seasons with Shaquille O’Neal by his side he won 3 NBA championships,earned 5 All-Defense team selections, 6 All-NBA team selections, 6All-Star Game selections, 1 All-Star Game MVP trophy, and finished top5 in MVP voting 3x despite having arguably the greatest Center in NBAhistory playing the best ball of his career by his side. Not to mentionhis impressive playoff averages during the 3-peat:25.3PPG/5.7RPG/4.9APG. What the stats don’t show is on top of all thescoring, passing and defending he did, his most important contributionto the Lakers during their championship years from 2000-2002 was hisability to take over in the clutch and hit game winning shots. Due toO’Neal’s inability to hit FT’s at a consistent rate and problems withfoul trouble, Kobe was greatly looked upon to hit the big shots downthe stretch of those tough playoff games (his most notable clutchperformance in the post season was his performance against the IndianaPacers in game 4 of the 2000 Finals when he went 4-4 in OT, includingthe game winning basket). For a guy who was only 25 by the time he hadaccomplished all of that, what he did in his time with Shaquille O’Nealwas incredible. 是什么改变了我之前的看法呢？也许是意识到他在和奥尼尔共处的8年里3次获得ＮＢＡ总冠军，5次入选NBA年度最佳防守阵容，6次入选ＮＢＡ年度最佳阵容，6次入选NBA全明星赛，1次获得全明星赛MVP，并且在03年MVP竞选中，尽管当时可能是NBA历史上最伟大的中锋奥尼尔也打出了他职业生涯最好的赛季的情况下，科比仍然闯入前五。更不用提他在湖人三连冠期间季后赛场均得到令人印象深刻的技术统计：25.3分、5.7个篮板、4.9次助攻。而有些东西在这个技术统计上没有显示的，那就是他在得分、传球、防守之外，湖人三连冠期间，他给以球队最大的贡献就是在关键时刻掌管比赛并且将多次投中绝杀球。由于奥尼尔常常无法命中罚球，并且陷入犯规麻烦，在这样的情况下，科比在那些激烈的季后赛比赛中多次命中关键球（他在季后赛中令人印象最深的关键性表现就是2000年总结赛与步行者进行的第四场比赛他在加时赛中四投四中，包括命中绝杀球）。那时他年仅25，却取得了以上的成就，在与奥尼尔并肩作战的那些年，他所做的一切真的是太难以置信了。
Maybeit was his record breaking 2005-2006 season, when he averaged35.4PPG/5.3RPG/4.5APG/1.8SPG, including outscoring the Dallas Mavericksthrough 3 quarters by himself (62-61) on 12/20/05, and his infamous81pt game against the Toronto Raptors on 1/22/06, when he shot 28-46from the field, 7-13 from 3 and 18-20 from the FT line. His 35.4PPGaverage that season put him at 9th all time for highest PPG average fora single season. He broke many other scoring records that season; his 4consecutive games of scoring 45pts or more marked the first time thathad occurred since 1964, his 43.4PPG average in January 2006 is 8thhighest in NBA history, and he set a franchise record for most 40ptgames in a single season (27) as well as most points scored for aseason (2,832). Not only were his individual stats impressive, but alsohe led a very young and untalented team to a 45-37 record, which putthe Lakers in the 7th seed in a very tough Western Conference. Kobe waselected to his 8th straight All-Star Game, and received bothAll-Defense First Team and All-NBA First Team honors. By the middle ofthe 2005-2006 season he began to be recognized as the consensus bestplayer in the NBA. 也许是因为他创下许多记录的2005-06赛季让我改变了我之前的看法，那赛季他场均35.4分/5.3个篮板/4.5次助攻/1.8次抢断，其中在05年12月20日那天和小牛的比赛中，他自己前三节的得分就超过了整支小牛队前三节的得分，62-61；还有在06年1月22日主场对猛龙的比赛中砍下惊人的81分，他46投28中，三分球13投7中，罚球20中18.他那35.4分的赛季场均得分也让他在NBA历史上单赛季场均得分排名第九。那个赛季他创下了许多得分记录：他连续4场45+的得分是1964年以来NBA首次出现；2006年1月份他场均的43.4分在ＮＢＡ历史上月场均得分排名第8；他单赛季得分超过40的比赛场次达到27场为球队历史之最；还有总得分2，832也是湖人单赛季最多的。他不仅仅个人数据惊人，而且他还率领年轻的、缺乏帮手的湖人取得45胜37负，帮助球队在竞争激烈的西部中排名第七。那个赛季科比连续第8次入选全明星赛，并且入选NBA年度最佳防守阵容第一队和年度最佳阵容第一队。到了2005-2006赛季中期，科比开始被公认为NBA最出色的球员。
Maybeit was the 2006 playoffs, when he showed he could adjust his game tohis team’s needs as they nearly pulled off one of the NBA’s greatestupsets by losing to the Phoenix Suns in 7 games. To beat the Suns, itwas essential that the Lakers exposed the major size advantages andflaws in the Suns’ defense, and to achieve that Bryant had to play teamball and let his teammates expose those mismatches. He willingly didjust that, and they slowed down the Suns’ offense enough to make thegame be played at the Lakers’ pace, in which the Lakers picked the Sunsapart. In game 4, with the Lakers up 2-1 in the series, the Lakers weredown by 2 with 7.9 seconds to go when Smush Parker stole the ball fromSteve Nash, and gave it to Bryant, who tied the game with 0.7 secondsto go on a very tough layup to send the game to OT. In OT, the Lakersonce again had their backs against the wall being down by 1 with 6.1seconds to go, but with a tie up between Nash and Luke Walton, and somehelp from the refs, Walton and Nash met at halfcourt for a jumpball.Walton easily won the jumpball, which found its way to Bryant, whoraced up the court and buried a fadeaway over 2 Suns’ defenders at thebuzzer to win the game. Unfortunately for Bryant the Lakers would losethe next 3 straight games, despite an incredible 50pts/8reb/5ast fromBryant in a crushing game 6 loss. 也许是他在2006年季后赛的表现让我改变了我之前的看法。那时他证明了他能够根据球队的需要来调整自己的比赛，他率领湖人大战太阳7场，差点就淘汰太阳成为当时NBA头条之一。为了击败太阳，湖人必须要发挥身高优势，并不断冲击太阳的防守。为此，科比得打起团队篮球，并让自己的队友形成错位，进而有利进攻。而科比很乐意这样做，并且球队也将太阳的进攻节奏减缓到湖人的进攻节奏，以致湖人能将太阳击败。第四场比赛时，湖人已经在系列赛中以2-1占优，在常规比赛还是7.9秒时，湖人还落后2分，不过斯马什-帕克从纳什手上断球成功，把球传给了科比，而科比也在仅剩0.7秒时艰难地上篮得分，扳平比分，将比赛拖入加时。加时赛中，在比赛还有6.1秒时，湖人又落后太阳1分，不过由于沃顿和纳什两人纠缠在一起，又得到裁判的帮助，沃顿和纳什在中场跳球。沃顿轻松将球拨给科比，科比得到球后向前场快速推进，并在两名太阳队员的防守下后仰投篮命中，绝杀太阳。不幸的是接下来湖人连输三场，尽管在第六场比赛中科比惊人地得到50分、8个篮板、5次助攻，可还是无法换回局面。
Maybeit was his 2006-2007 season, in which Bryant averaged31.6PPG/5.7RPG/5.3APG. Bryant once again made history this season withhis scoring exploits. For the season he tallied 10 50pt games, whichmakes him the only player not named Wilt Chamberlain to do so in asingle season. That was not the only record that he set that only heand Wilt would share; between March 16-23, Bryant scored 50+ points for4 consecutive games (65, 50, 60, 50). That same month he averaged40.4PPG, marking the 3rd time in his career he had averaged over 40PPGin an entire month. For the 2nd straight year Bryant earned All-DefenseFirst Team honors as well as All-NBA First Team honors. He was alsoelected to his 9th straight All-Star game, and won MVP honors with his31pts/6reb/5ast/4stl game. Bryant would once again lead his team to theplayoffs, but would be bounced in 5 games to an improved Suns team. 也许是2006-2007赛季他的表现让我改变了我之前对他的看法。那个赛季科比场均得到31.6分、5.7个篮板、5.3次助攻。科比再次在得分上不断创造历史。由于那个赛季他总共10场得分达到50+，让他成为张伯伦后仅有的能够在单个赛季完成这一成就的球员。他可不是仅有一个能够和张伯伦相提并论的得分记录哦，还有一个呢，在3月16日到3月23日之间，科比连续4场比赛得分达到50+（65，50，60，50）。那个月他场均40.4分为他职业生涯第三次单月场均得分超过40。科比也连续2年入选NBA年度最佳防守阵容第一队和最佳阵容第一队。同时他连续9次入选全明星赛，并在那场全明星赛中得到31分、6个篮板、5次助攻、4次抢断。科比也再次率领球队打入季后赛，可惜仅用了5场比赛就败给了实力增强的太阳。
Maybeit was his summer of 2007. As the media and fans alike blasted him forhis trade requests, Bryant tuned it all out and focused solely ongetting in the best shape of his career as he was set to represent hiscountry and play for Team USA in the FIBA America’s Tournament. Muchlike virtually every offseason for Bryant, he worked extremely hard andlost 20lbs in preparation for the tournament. In the White vs. BlueTeam USA scrimmage, Bryant took over down the stretch of the game andupstaged LeBron James in the clutch, hitting a fadeaway over TayshaunPrince to put his team in the lead and then making the defensive stopon James to seal the victory. Right before the tournament, he took itupon himself to ask Coach Mike Kryzewski to put him on the bestoffensive player on each team, showing his willingness to return to thelockdown defender he was earlier in his career. During the tournament,he did just that; he locked down virtually everyone he guarded, as wellas averaging 15.3PPG/2.0RPG/2.9APG, and shooting 54.8% from the field(45.9% from 3). All of this helped lead Team USA to arguably its mostdominating international performance since the Dream Team’s dominationof the 1992 Olympics. 也许是他在2007年夏天的表现让我改变了之前的看法。当媒体和球迷都谴责科比要求交易时，科比全然不理这些，只是把精力投入到保持体型，并调整到最佳状态，因为他要代表国家，代表美国队参加美洲锦标赛。像以往休赛期一样，科比刻苦训练，并减轻了201磅，以准备好参加锦标赛。在美国队队中举行的蓝白对抗赛中，科比掌控了比赛，并在关键时刻抑制了詹姆斯。他先是在普林斯面前后仰命中，让球队取得领先，然后又成功防住詹姆斯，从而获得比赛的胜利。在锦标赛开始前，科比就主动请求美国队教练MikeKryzewski让他去防守对方最佳得分手，这显示了科比愿意回到他职业生涯早期那样的出色防守。在锦标赛期间，科比做到了，他不但成功防住了自己的防守对象，还场均得到15.3分、2个篮板、2.9次助攻，同时命中率高达54.8%（其中三分球命中率45.9%）。他做出的这些贡献让美国队成为1992年那支梦一队之后最具有统治力的梦之队。
Maybeit is how he has conducted himself so far in the 2007-2008 season. Tostart off the season he conformed to playing team ball with theemergence of young guys like Andrew Bynum and Jordan Farmar, as well asthe comfort of having a veteran like Derek Fisher by his side. As aclearly matured player with supreme confidence in his teammates, alongwith an effort on the defensive end that carried over from his stint onTeam USA, Bryant led the Lakers to a 25-11 record with averages of27.0PPG/5.9RPG/4.9APG. With everything going so well, rising starAndrew Bynum went down with a torn on January 13th. With things lookingbleak, Bryant would lead the Lakers to a 5-5 record over the next 10games, with averages of 33.6PPG/7.9RPG/5.6APG. Then a miraclehappened…the Lakers stole Pau Gasol (as well as a 2nd round draft pick)from the Memphis Grizzlies for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, AaronMcKie and a few draft picks. Gasol, a former All-Star, suddenlyrejuvenated both Bryant and the Lakers, giving them hope that theycould be a serious contender for an NBA title. Since the trade theLakers have a 14-3 record, and are currently only .5 games back from1st seed in the Western Conference. Bryant was elected to his 10thstraight All-Star Game, and the majority currently concedes that he isin prime position to win his first regular season MVP. 也许是本赛季目前为止他的表现让我改变了我之前的看法。赛季初，由于有年轻球员拜纳姆和法码尔的快速成长，老将费舍尔的回归，科比按照球队的需要打起了团队篮球。科比明显变得成熟了，非常信任队友，并将在美国队时那样的防守带到球队中来，科比率领湖人取得25胜11负的佳绩，场均得到27分、5.9个篮板、4.9次助攻。正当一切都进展顺利时，1月13日正在不断成长的拜纳姆突然受伤了。球队境况似乎变得严峻了，不过科比仍在接下来的10场比赛中帮助球队取得5胜5负，场均得到33.6分、7.9个篮板、5.6次助攻。后来奇迹终于发生了•••湖人用夸梅-布朗、克里特顿、麦基，还有几个选秀权从孟菲斯把加索尔“抢劫”了过来（还有一个第二轮的选秀权）。加索尔（前全明星成员）的到来突然间让科比和湖人充满了活力，并让湖人具有了竞争NBA总冠军的实力。自从那次交易后，湖人取得14胜3负的佳绩，目前仅落后西部第一半场。同时科比还连续10次入选全明星赛，并且目前大多数人都认为本赛季他将会获得个人的首次常规赛MVP。
Maybe itis the fact that, on top of his brilliant 11 year career, he is stillonly 29 years old, and with the way he keeps up his body and howrefined his style of play is, he still has at least another 5 years orso of being a dominant player in this league, barring any major injury.Possibly even more than 5 years. With his pace, he will surpass KareemAbdul Jabaar and become the NBA’s all-time scoring leader. To go alongwith another few years of dominance, Bryant also has a terrificopportunity to win more championships and a few MVP trophies due to theincredibly talented and young team surrounding him. 也许是下面这些事实让科比改变了我之前的看法。科比已经在NBA打了11个赛季了，可是他仅有29岁。根据目前他保持的身体状况和打球风格，他至少还有五年仍是联盟中一名具有统治力的球员，甚至更多，前提是没有什么大的伤病。以他的得分进度，他将会超过贾巴尔成为NBA历史上总得分最多的球员。只要能再保持目前这样的统治力，科比同样有机会获得更多的总冠军和MVP奖杯，因为他所在的球队年轻又有才华。
Ormaybe it is simply the fact that over the last few seasons, Bryant hasplayed at an all-around level not seen from a perimeter before or sinceMichael Jordan’s rule. In my opinion, which is often bashed, I feelKobe Bryant is the most TALENTED and SKILLED player to ever play in theNBA. No player in the history of the league has such a wide variety ofweapons at his disposal as a scorer as Bryant. His incredible shootingability from all ranges, his length, his athletic ability, hisaggressiveness and relentlessness as a scorer, his wide variety ofmoves to get himself a good look (pullup jumper, spin moves, fadeawayjumper, behind the back, between the legs, power moves to the rim,etc)…it all points to, along with his gaudy scoring numbers the lastfew seasons, Bryant being the most dangerous and skilled scorer to everplay the game. As his efficiency continues to rise as a scorer with hismaturity, he will eventually take over Jordan’s spot as great scorer ofall time. On top of his incredible scoring ability, he is a terrificrebounder for a 2 guard, and is a very skilled and underrated passerand ballhandler. Bryant also happens to be a terrific defensive playerwho can, and sometimes does, lockdown his counterpart no matter if theyare a superstar or simply a role player. Bryant is also one of thegreatest clutch players in NBA history, taking over countless games andhitting tons of game winning shots over his career. Not to mentionBryant has the rare trait of having the attitude to want to take yourheart out and stomp on it each and every night, which is largely whatmakes him such a special player. 又或许是这个事实让我改变了之前的看法。过去几个赛季，科比一直表现得很全面，在乔丹时代前后的中距离投手可都没有过这样全面的表现。在我看来，科比是NBA历史上最有才华，而且球技最精湛的球员。在联盟历史上还没有哪位球员能够像科比那样具有如此多的得分武器。他在各种范围内的投篮能力，他的射程，他的运动能力，他作为一名得分手所展现的攻击性和无情，还有他能够做出各种各样的动作以给自己一个更好的投篮空间（跳投，转身移动，后仰，背对篮框单打，胯下运球，强力冲击篮下，等等）•••再加上过去几个赛季他的得分数字，都说明了科比是NBA历史上最有威胁、最有才能的得分手。随着他不断成熟，效率会不断提高，他最终将会超越乔丹成为NBA历史上最伟大的得分手。除了他那令人难以置信的得分能力之外，他还是得分后卫中最可怕的篮板手，同时他还是一名娴熟的、被低估的传球者和控球者。另外只要他愿意，科比还是一位令人害怕的防守球员，他会死死防住和他对位的球员，不管对方是超级巨星还是角色球员。科比还是NBA历史上最伟大的关键先生之一，曾经无数次接管比赛，并且在他职业生涯中还多次命中绝杀球。更不用说科比具有那种每个晚上都绝尽全力的罕见特质，正是这点让他成为一名如此特殊的球员。
Whateverthe case may be, Kobe Bryant has made me a believer, and slowly butsurely I am starting to believe he may very well go down as thegreatest player that has ever lived by the time he retires. With whathe has already done, with what he is currently doing, and with what thefuture holds in store for #24, I firmly believe if he plays his cardsright he can very well pass Jordan and be known as the greatestbasketball player to ever play the game. 不管是什么情况让我改变之前的看法，反正现在科比已经让我慢慢地相信：到他退役时，他将会是NBA历史上最伟大的球员。他已经做的，现在做的，将来会做的，让我更加坚信：只要他打球的方法正确，他一定能够很好地超越乔丹，成为历史上最伟大的篮球运动员。
AsLakers commentator Stu Lantz put it, “Be happy you’re getting a chanceto see #24 play because there is going to be a LONG time go by beforeyou see a player that has THIS amount of skills on the basketballfloor.” 正如湖人解说员斯图-兰特斯说的：“你们应该为能够观看24号（科比）打球而感到高兴，因为当你们再次看到像他那样具有如此之多的球技的球员出现在篮球场上时，会是很久以后的事了。”
