By Matt "Money" Smith
FOX Sports West and PRIME TICKET
MONEY ARCHIVE
While watching the Lakers-Pistons game Tuesday night on FOX Sports West, I came to the realization of how absurd it is we continue to speculate when Kobe Bryant's decline will begin.
In his 14th season, Bryant is still a legitimate Top-5 MVP candidate every single season and has won the previous two Finals MVPs. While his shooting percentages are down, hovering around 44% this year, he's still a force to be reckoned with anytime he steps on the court.
That's the obvious, but when you take a step back, you realize how rare it is. While Bryant did enter the league at 18 and is just 32-years-old in his 14th season - something that was pointed out last night as he passed Dominique Wilkins for 10th all time on the NBA's career scoring list - that's actually a handicap when having the longevity discussion.
Because there was no reason for me to have watched the Pistons earlier in the season, I finally got a chance to see Rip Hamilton , who looks like a shell of his former self at the same age as Bryant (32), and after just 11 NBA seasons. Bryant is simply the exception to every rule you want to hold him to, so there's no point trying to put them on him. Hamilton used to sprint inside and out the opposing defense, running off one screen after another before finally getting that open space to hit his mid-range jumper. It was Reggie Miller 2.0, and it was a scary weapon to have to defend knowing you were chasing one of the league's slipperiest players all night. But Hamilton is now a step slow, his shot a hair off, and his game nothing like what it was back when he and Bryant were facing off in the Pennsylvania State High School Basketball playoffs.
Look at the 1996 draft Bryant was part of. He was selected No. 13 overall, but look at the physical state those players selected are currently in and where they stand in their basketball career. There are only two that even bear mentioning alongside Bryant. Steve Nash, who was selected two spots behind him by the Phoenix Suns, and Ray Allen who was taken fifth overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves but immediately traded to Milwaukee. With Nash and Allen, you see the physical toll the game has taken on their bodies; Allen with his knees, Nash with his back.
The rest of the group is out of basketball. Allen Iverson is in Turkey, Shareef Abdur Rahim, Stephon Marbury and Antonie Walker are out of the league. Zydrunas Ilgauskas looks like he needs a walker whenever he steps on the court, Jermaine O'Neal lost his knees a couple seasons ago and Peja Stojakovic carries an oxygen tank around while playing. We saw another of Bryant's contemporaries last night in Tracy McGrady, who entered the league the year following Bryant, and while he looked to regain some of that former magic with his hot shooting and solid play in the first half, he only logged 25 minutes. While T-Mac has played one fewer season than Bryant, No. 24 has managed to log over 200 more games, nearly two seasons worth and is still playing at the level he was four years ago.
Speaking of Hamilton, look at the 1999 draft he was part of, three years after Bryant came into the league, and what's the first thing you think of when you hear the names of these top-10 picks?: Elton Brand, Steve Francis, Baron Davis, Wally Szczerbiak, Andre Miller and Shawn Marion? OLD. They look old. While Bryant is the kid who won the Slam Dunk contest back in 1997, he's still plenty spry in spurts on the court. When being called out by his boss Donald Sterling, Davis admitted his body isn't able to do what it once did.
With the possibility of an NBA Championship every season the next three years, instead of focusing on when Bryant will finally break down, it's time to embrace perhaps the most remarkable part of his career. Longevity.
