Sports Guy On Kobe MileAge

Mail this to Kobe, Quick!

Did you know Kobe's odometer passed 1,000 career games (including playoffs) last spring? If we have learned anything through 62 NBA seasons other than "It's not a good idea to start five white guys" and "Don't hire Isiah Thomas," it's this: No matter how great a perimeter player you are, your statistical fade will commence soon after you hit the 1,000-game mark. It's inevitable. When it happens to Hollywood actresses, they can get a tummy tuck, a face-lift, Botox and implants for their saggy breasts. We don't have those things for NBA players. In Kobe's case, watch a Lakers game from 2000-2002 (back when he had his hops) and watch him now; he doesn't have the same explosiveness in his legs anymore, and unlike Michael Jordan, he never developed a power low-post game to give himself a second life. The Celtics shut Kobe down in the Finals simply by staying in front of him, forcing him to hoist jumpers and collapsing on him every time he attacked the basket. He didn't have a Plan B. That's why the Lakers lost, and that's why Kobe checked out near the end of the second quarter of Game 6 and started thinking about the Olympics.

So that's one problem. The other? Kobe will be forced to do more accommodating than ever to make up for the Lakers' quirky roster. Gasol needs 14-15 shots a game or he'll start sulking like he did in Memphis. Bynum needs his share of touches because he's trying to prove he's worth $70 million. Then you have Odom, who's heading into a contract season and already griping because he'd help them more by coming off the bench, something he doesn't want to do because, again, he's in a contract season. Play all three at the same time, and the middle will be too clogged for Kobe, which means you can expect the following things: tons of sarcastic head shaking, tons of 20-footers and more than a few moments when Kobe angrily waves one of them out of the paint with his patented, "These guys are so dumb, I can't stand it" sneer. As a kicker, their best lineup remains Fisher and Vujacic at the guards, Kobe at the 3, and Gasol with Odom or Bynum up front ... which allows opponents to defend Kobe with bigger players and opens the door for more spotty offensive efforts from Kobe like what we witnessed in the 2008 Finals.

And here's where the Olympics killed Black Mamba. With a free summer, he could have devoted two solid months to getting stronger and mastering that same fallaway turnaround that carried Jordan to those last three titles. Instead, he's coming back as the exact same guy we watched last season -- right down to his injured pinkie -- only he's a year older and coming off a 103-game season plus the Olympics. This is all a complicated way of saying that you should be careful about building your 2009 fantasy team around Kobe Bryant.

(P.S.: If LeBron ever gets serious one summer and masters that MJ turnaround instead of doing his multimedia routine, it's all over. We will have to fold the league. Let's hope nobody shows him this column.)

Complete FANTASY PREVIEW here.