Spring Loaded

Let’s start with a basic fact.

Michael Jordan is not the greatest basketball player of all time. Never was. Never will be.

ESPN’s choice of him for Athlete of the Century back in 2000 was a joke. There were only three possibilities for that designation: Babe Ruth, who opened the door to sports for the general public like nobody else in the first half of the 20th century, Jackie Robinson, who opened the floodgates for African-Americans and, indeed, all minorities in the middle of the century, and Muhammad Ali, who put sports on the world stage like nobody else in the latter half of the century.

Michael Jordan? He didn’t win his first NBA title until 1991. And he ruled all ten decades? I don’t think so.

Which brings us to Kobe Bryant, who will soon be fitted for his fourth championship ring, an accomplishment being touted as another rung on his climb to catch or surpass Jordan.

After all, say those making the comparison, Jordan had six NBA titles, Bryant four, as if they alone exist in the basketball pantheon.

At age 30, with the best supporting cast in the game, Bryant certainly figures to move further up the ladder of greatness, but Jordan is hardly the only rung above him.

For starters, how about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar? He also had six NBA titles. But he also won three championships in college at UCLA, while Jordan won only one NCAA title in his three seasons at North Carolina.

Kareem had such a big impact on the college game that the dunk was briefly outlawed during his reign because he was such a dominant force.

I know, I know, we’re supposed to be discussing NBA greats. But we’re also discussing basketball greats and the collegiate years should figure in that equation as well.

And finally, Kareem is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, another distinction that should put him higher on the ladder than Jordan.

But ultimately, there are two other giants who will settle this argument, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain.

If it’s statistics you want, the argument ends with Chamberlain.

There has never been a force in the game like the 7-1, 275-pounder. He had 100 points in a single game, 55 rebounds in one game and a single-season scoring average of 50.4 points, records that will be probably never be broken.

But the standard for greatness in sports usually comes down to championships. And in that department, Russell dwarfs Chamberlain and everyone else who ever dribbled a ball.

Russell won 11 titles in 13 seasons, including eight in a row.

An eight-peat.

End of discussion.

While the roster of the Boston Celtics changed over that period, Russell was the constant. He changed the game by elevating defense to the same level of excellence as the offenses of his day.

And, he won his last two championships as player/coach, a status none of his rivals for greatest player ever attempted.

But, the argument goes, there were only eight teams in the NBA for the early part of Russell’s era.

Exactly. All the more reason to praise him. With the best talent concentrated on only eight teams, that made each of those squads tougher than many of the watered-down teams in existence today.

Fortunately, the NBA has finally recognized Russell’s greatness, 40 years after he left the game, by naming it’s NBA Finals MVP trophy after him.

Jordan may have been the greatest shoe salesman the game has ever known, but greatest player? I don’t think so.

For Bryant, the target is much higher.

Bill Russell was the greatest of all time.

Case closed.

He’s too intense.

He’s too serious.

He’s too arrogant.

He doesn’t show his opponents enough respect.

He’s taking all the joy out of winning.

Is that about it for Kobe Bryant or can we find something else to complain about?

Good thing he didn’t snub the media and opponents a la LeBron James. In Kobe’s case, that might have raised calls for his banishment.

All the nitpicking is about as damaging as throwing paper airplanes at a tank. Kobe just rolls over it the way he has rolled over the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals.

He’s less than a week away from solidifying his place as the best basketball player on the planet and among a handful considered the best of all time. In the last year, Kobe has won an MVP award, an Olympic gold medal and will add his fourth NBA title this week, his first without Shaquille O’Neal.

“I want it so bad,” Kobe said after Game 1, as if he had to explain his intensity.

He’ll even make his critics happy next week after his mission is accomplished and the pressure is off. He’ll crack a huge smile when he raises the championship trophy over his head, embrace Dwight Howard, hug his own wife and kids and even joke with the media.

To be sure, Kobe was deserving of criticism in the past.

He was immature when he first turned pro, a teen-ager firing up those ill-advised airballs against Utah in the postseason of his rookie year.

But he was 17 when he was drafted and never had the benefit of college. Andrew Bynum has gotten more understanding about his immaturity and he’s in his fourth season.

Kobe got criticized for his share of the Kobe-Shaq feud.

Both men should have put the best interests of the team ahead of their own egos, but what did Kobe ever really demand of Shaq? That he stay in shape. Wow, what a radical idea.

Kobe was criticized for his give-me-the-ball-and-get-out-of-my-way or you-take-the-ball-and-leave-me-alone attitude and those detractors were justified.

Kobe seemed to struggle for a long time with the intricacies of integrating himself into the offense Feeling he could score any time he had the ball in his hands, he figured, why not?

Kobe, when he was on one of those tears, never threw a premeditated pass.

When he bowed to pressure and tried to share the ball with teammates, his method was to give it to them and get out of the way.

And certainly he received criticism when he was charged with sexual assault in Colorado. But, as we all know, those charges were dropped.

So now, what’s the beef?

Kobe has matured. He has become the consummate teammate, both on and off the court, sharing the ball and his advice, serving as Phil Jackson’s surrogate when necessary, equal parts cheerleader, disciplinarian, strategist and intermediary with the guys in the striped shirts. It is Kobe who makes sure the ball is evenly distributed and the scoring column as well when possible.

And when a sure-handed touch is needed in the scoring department, when the clock is running down, when the closer is needed out of the bullpen, Kobe is there as well, scoring at a pace and in a variety of ways that matches anyone who has ever stepped on the hardwood.

Even at the international level, it was Kobe who set the tone for the defensive mode that smoothed the path for the U.S. to Olympic gold in Beijing.

Last year, it was Chris Paul who was supposedly challenging Kobe’s place as the game’s best player. This season, it was LeBron. Next year, it’ll be another hot gunslinger.

Kobe is 30. He’s not going anywhere. The only people he should be compared with are Kareem, MJ, Wilt and Bill Russell.

To say that Michael Jordan is automatically the best who ever played is ludicrous. Russell had far more championships (11 in 13 seasons, including eight in a row). Kareem had six, the same number as Jordan, and is the league’s all-time leading scorer. You like numbers? Wilt was the greatest offensive force the game has ever known.

And now, Kobe has entered the conversation, clenched teeth and all.