THE NEXT KOBE?

Like Mike...not quite.

By TIM DAVID HARVEY

The next Michael Jordan? Forget that notion. I think we've already found the closest that will ever get to the greatest of all time. So the question remains.

Who's the next Kobe Bryant?

OK. There's nobody quite like Kobe and Bean Bryant is far from giving up. Even if he's approaching his mid-thirties father time is not setting in. Even if he hasn't met Larry O'Brien for two years now he is far from meeting his career maker. He's still an All-Star with a broken nose, an MVP candidate wearing a face mask. The phantom of the NBA, a spirited player with a drive and competitive instinct that outlasts any limits...even critics. Still just like another Magic Laker before him one day he'll have to pass the torch properly to a player that will have the next Jordanesque impact on the league.

The question remains who will step up and take it? LeBron James? Kevin Durant? As both top players have taken their top squads to the title deciding NBA Finals the question of who the next, top great player of this league could be decided here. With one game away from clinching his first ring to change and to finally recede the critics comments-pushing them back further than his hairline-the decision maker himself looks to be the man.

Who else but LeBron James? The back to back MVP and straight out of high-school phenomenon. Who became one of the NBA's biggest rookies and free-agents of all time. Taking more than his talents to South Beach LeBron has left Cleveland, Carmelo Anthony and all the competition behind him. He really is in a league of his own and after all the seasoned doubt and hate the playoffs and it almost seems the Finals belong to him.

Adding a championship will finally write his name in the right history. Once the ring belongs to his fellowship not even Quentin Tarantino will be able to rewrite an engraving. Maybe Robert Rodriquez should make his next commercial about 'Bron. Sure even thought the Kobe/James debate rages on, there seems to be venom running through more than the Mamba's veins. LeBron's rabid at the mouth for a victory and a clutch critic silencer. Just wait until he grabs and gets his fangs into this tournaments trophy. At 0.0 LeBron James will be the man.

That is unless Kevin Durant has something to say...and score about it. The top basket maker of the league is making more than just a point. He is right there with Kobe and LeBron in the Holy Trinity of basketball. Oh come let us adore him as we should praise the talents of a man who is that close to LeBron in being the closest thing the NBA has as the next Kobe Bryant. Slender in frame but strong in game Durant has taken the Oklahoma City Thunder from Seattle to the promised land at Supersonic speed. Even two games down Durant's potential is still a threat. Miami may be heating the Thunder up but beware the eye of the storm.

When it rains it pours and a downpour of Durant points could whet LeBron and his South Beach boys. Sure even when it rains hard in Miami it dries and warms up pretty quickly, the city is still prone for bad weather now and again. Whether they can weather Kevin Durant's Thunder storm is another matter. With hammer or Thor dunks, Iron Man durability, Hawkeye marksmanship and Banner to Hulk like strength this NBA avenger could still be the Captain America of the league and something for the NBA to marvel at. He's not ready for the dark knight yet.

Still who will rise? It's almost like commissioner David Stern is playing Nick Fury with this assembling. With the amazing Kobe Bryant watching from afar like Spiderman are senses tell us this head-to-head battle won't even be over after this season draws to a close. Think of it more like a triple-threat battle for supremacy with Kobe Bryant still alive in it too. Still as for the case of the next Kobe and the next star in the league these two individuals in their own right will have to face the greatest directly. Both Kevin Durant and LeBron James can be accused of doing that already but until they meet again let's see who will win this round. Then we may have found the best man. What will result will be a matrimony of victory. Still, then again it'll just be another engagement. Soon the honeymoon will be over and once again we'll be popping the big question.

Who's the greatest?