Comparing Kobe & Ron Artest to Jordan & Rodman
December 14, 2009
Mike B. posted an interesting article the other day saying that Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest are wannabes. Basically he thinks that they are copying Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman, wanting to be the second coming of both of these players.
I don’t know whether it’s just because Kobe is one of the best players of all-time and the fact that Artest does a great job of rebounding and is always up to crazy antics, but I’m not sure why else the comparisons would be drawn.
Who didn’t want to imitate Jordan, the slogan used to be “be like Mike.” He studied tape of what worked for Jordan and obviously modeled his game in a similar fashion. Plus, both players were coached by Phil Jackson and they have won multiple NBA championships. If Kobe can win the next two NBA Finals, he would even do the separate three-peat performances that the Bulls pulled off under Jordan.
A little bit of a strange point made by Mike is with the jersey numbers, saying Kobe’s 8 was one less than Jordan’s 9 he wore for the Dream Team, and when Kobe felt like he made the leap to being a better player he went to 24, one more than Jordan’s 23 he wore with the Bulls. I don’t think that was the case at all, but I hadn’t even heard it mentioned before.
Again Mike points out the jersey issue with Rodman and Artest, saying both changed them every time they changed teams. Artest even wore 91, which is the same number Rodman had when playing for the Bulls. Then there are the off the wall haircuts, Rodman used to dye his hair and then Artest last year had the Rockets logo carved into his head.
Rodman and Artest were both controversional at times, with the incident in Detroit defining Artest’s career and numerous incidents out there for Rodman.
I don’t think these players are trying to copy the players of old, but rather are so good that the assumptions are drawn.
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