Shaq Went to College for Three Years before Entering the NBA, Kobe.

Kobe Bryant. What do you think when you hear his name? Too many consecutive 50 point games? #8? #24? Talented?

All of these things are true about Bryant. He is a great scorer...before I talk about what I really think about Bryant, I will point out a few numbers that cannot be disputed.

First, he averaged 31.6 PPG this year, leading the NBA, 35.4 the year before that. He attempted more shots than anyone in the league last year. He also made more than anyone else. Here's what I dig about Kobe. He attempted more free throws than any other player last year and ranks 2nd in attempts per 48 min. That means, he takes about 11 shots per game without any time running off the clock. For an average team, that stat couldn't be more important.

Or could it? Kobe Bryant is without a doubt the most selfish athlete I have ever seen play a sport besides Gary Sheffield. Kobe, a "veteran" on his team should have the job of teaching, involving, and improving the games of the young team around him. Does he do any of that?

There is talk about how Kobe is the greatest player in the game today. That's false. I have talked before about how great players make those around them better. Kobe does not do that. Jordan did. Look at Scottie Pippen. Great player...because he played with Jordan. Without him, he would be no more than an above average player. Jordan knew how to elevate Pippen's game, free up the lane for him while Jordan was drawing a double in the post...etc. The Bron James makes his players better. Larry Hughes was to be the key...the true point guard to get The Bron to the Finals. I believe that it was The Bron, believing in rookie Daniel Gibson, that got them there. That's a maturity beyond his years.

Kobe, the great Kobe, has more talent around him than any of the aforementioned players. Lamar Odom was once almost a #1 pick in the 1999 NBA draft. He ended up going 4th...behind Elton Brand, Steve Francis, and Pau Gasol - decent company. Kwame Brown...#1 pick who does show signs of greatness, when Kobe's off the floor. This Andrew Bynum kid, first round 7 footer, is going to be a player...pretty tough to develop a post game with Kobe taking every shot. Luke Walton, I never thought I'd say this after how much I hated him at Arizona, is the best value in the NBA. The guy plays hard, is a great passer, and is the pedigree of the most ridiculous person, with the most ridiculous jaw, in the history of the television.

Kobe is not a team player... and the best example of this statement is that he demands a trade. How do you play with a guy who doesn't want to play with you? Shaq has a big mouth...but I remember it going down that it was Kobe that drove him out of LA. Shaq's not complaining. He took his role playing to a new level, won a championship with another great team player in Dwayne Wade....who like Shaq, went to college.

Now we hear about another "great" player wanting a trade. And at once, when Kevin Garnett and Kobe were the two big names demanding trades...Garnett could be on his way to join Kobe. All of a sudden, another big name next to Kobe in the lineup and we don't hear anything from him for a few days. Say the Garnett trade goes through, with 2 other teams, how would this effect the Lakers?

Now you have two kids who were on great teams that were dismantled. They have been the center point for the past few years of their franchises. They are both still young, and still incredibly talented. You think Kobe wants his shot total to go down for another 5 star player (Garnett was 7th in FG's attempted last year)?

I once interviewed a sports reporter for a Chicago TV station. I think my paper was about increasing salaries in baseball, but somehow we got off and talking basketball. He told me that he had a job interviewing Kevin Garnett. (Garnett played basketball at Farragut HS in Chicago before going to the NBA) He said he was the rudest kid he'd ever met. He could play, no doubt, but the kid had no people skills. He had no sense for anything besides what he was being given thanks to his talent. Public image wasn't important to him.

So why are we talking about these two prolific NBA stars? It's more than the trade talks and it's more than their potentiality of playing on the same floor. It's about how they cope. Mature people can cope with their situations. Mature people know how to handle situations with class and respect. Mature people know that there is more to a team than what you say there is.

College coaches preach these ethics. Mike Krzyzewski isn't as successful as the Team USA coach as one might imagine because he coaches a bunch of guys, many of which don't believe in morals. They don't respect his record, his championships, and his reputation. They respect the money in their bank accounts (trick question, they don't have money in their bank accounts, they have it invested in rims). Guys like Kobe and Garnett aren't mature enough to. They didn't see past Hurley, Laettner, Hill, Williams, Brand, and...TRAJAN LANGDON. All great players who learned a lot more from Coach K than just the fundamentals of basketball.

Someone posted a comment the other day asking if I was going to write about Paris Hilton. It's funny because I can right now. Paris, like Kobe and Garnett, has been given a great deal of wealth. Now, Paris doesn't exactly have a talent and didn't work to improve anything like the hoops players, but the wealth that was thrown at her without any maturity creates a serious synergy here. Gives her no perspective. She just got out of jail and I hope for her case (no pun intended), she has learned something about herself, about maturity. We won't know for a little while, but if she doesn't, you can still group her with her neighbor, and maybe her soon to be neighbor.

I referred to Kobe and Garnett a few paragraphs back as kids. That's what they are. They will always be kids until they learn to have the maturity of an adult. The best thing that happened to the NBA was the age limit policy with the draft. I wish they would push it back even further. For now, we still have to listen to the sagas of the pre-Madonna NBA stars. Who entered the league as kids, and as "veterans" of the league, still act like ones.