The game's changed some since then, but one thing's remained pretty constant: players age, their athleticism wears away, and they have to reinvent themselves. It happened to Jordan, who came into the league as one of the best athletes the game had ever seen, then turned himself into the best all-around player of all time, so much so that people hardly noticed that, by the end of the Bulls' second three-peat, he was barely an average (by NBA standards) athlete. And a lot of other guys who were dominant late in their careers were similarly athletic. Remember when Shaq used to run the break?
Then Shaq got old and fat, became a Phoenix Sun, and the rest was history. One thing that hasn't changed about aging, though, is that it tends to run one way. Sure, a guy like Grant Hill can come back from 4 years of ankle purgatory and become a serviceable player again, but the Grant Hill of the last few years looks nothing like the super-athletic Scottie Pippen clone who came into the league way back in the day. Even in the best cases (like Jordan's), guys who lose some athleticism find ways to compensate in other ways. Typically, by age 32 or 33, if a shooting guard is effective, it's because he's got amazing balance, a lights-out stroke, and a ton of smarts. Which is what makes what Kobe Bryant's been doing this year so ridiculous.
Now, when Kobe came into the league, he was an athletic specimen. Still raw at that point, but he was a Jordan-Vince Carter-level athlete. Remember this?
Well, over the years, Kobe got older. Coming into the league at 18, he had even more tread on his tires than guys like Jordan who spent 3 years playing 30-game seasons in college. So when Kobe hit his 30s, it was inevitable that he'd slow down. And he did. Instead of dunking over guys, he got his shot punched by Darko Milicic. And when you get your shot punched by Darko, you know you're over the hill athletically.
So, like every NBA fan, I expected Kobe to turn into a lite version of mid-30s Jordan (just like Kobe in the last decade was a lite version of late-20s Jordan). He'd pump fake his way to 25 points a night, struggle to elevate at the rim (if he even tried) and eventually find his body failing him. Which is what happened for awhile.
Then this season happened. At first Kobe just looked like he was having a super-efficient season. He was dropping close to 30 points a night, shooting near 50%, and carrying a shallow Lakers team on his back (at least offensively). Then, slowly, it became clear that this wasn't a typical 34-year old superstar type of efficiency. This was Kobe somehow reversing the aging process, and the highlight videos started to show it. First, he turned the corner and threw it down over Gerald Wallace and Kris Humphries (nee Kardashian) in Brooklyn.
But Wallace is getting older (and has clearly been fading as an athlete) and Kardashian stinks. So I took it with a grain of salt until this happened.
Now, Kobe didn't exactly go over him, but that's Josh Smith he went by for the dunk. Josh Smith isn't old (27) and he's still one of the best athletes in the NBA. Simply, he gets up HIGH. And Kobe, at 34, managed to throw down after going by him. That's impressive for a 24 year old, much less a 34 year old.
So what's going on with Kobe? How did he manage to reverse the aging process? Well, part of it is no doubt that he works hard. But that's not unique-- Jordan worked at least as hard, and he wasn't dunking on Kevin Garnett in 98. And part of it is probably that platelet-rich therapy treatment he got for his knee that's supposedly done wonders for him. But he's not the only one that's had that treatment, and Tiger Woods and A-Rod haven't exactly returned to peak form after getting the treatment, despite playing FAR less physically demanding sports. So is Kobe just a genetic freak like Adrian Peterson; a guy whose body works differently from yours and mine and can absorb a pounding infinitely better? Maybe.
But the return of Kobe's athleticism strikes me as possibly the vanguard of a new age of sports, where guys can perform at an elite level physically for much longer than guys of the previous generation. That possibility at least deserves consideration.
