Does Kobe Bryant live under a lucky star? Well, that is not my theory or at least not all of my theory, but we will get to that in a moment.

Is this a case of good things happen to good people? One thinks not, but that might be a part of it anyway.

Los Angeles Lakers 108 Miami Heat 107

So what happened anyway? The Lakers were behind the Heat in a Kobe vs. Dwyane Wade duel and the score was 107 – 105, when Kobe got the ball and slipped and had to throw up the last second shot. He started double teamed on one side of the court and wound his way towards the middle to take a twisting fading high arcing jumper over his defender. That defender was Dwyane Wade.

“When I released the ball, I thought, ‘No (bleeping) way,’” Bryant said. “I didn’t think the ball was going in. It felt good, but I didn’t think I was going to make that shot. – I liked my chances if I had squared up. I wanted to, but I slipped, I was doubled and all I could do what shoot a runner. I just couldn’t believe that ball might go in.”

Bryant scored 17 points in the fourth quarter, besting Wade, who had 12.

“To win that ballgame you have to be lucky, and we were tonight,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said after the team improved its league-leading record to 15-3.

“I thought he had really good balance and he was setting up really well. What do you want me to say about it?” Jackson joked when asked about Bryant’s winning shot, the last of his team-leading 33 points on 12-for-25 shooting.

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You can see the shot more than once in this YouTube video. Warning, the sound is kind of muffled.

If you are Kobe, it isn’t just good luck it is good probabilities when he puts up a shot late in the game with the game on the line. That shot has been practiced over and over in practice and attempted many times in other games. Maybe the shot was not exactly like this one, but it was the same enough to allow his mind to calmly put the shot together and release it. Now the fact that it banked in was a bit of luck, but there have been others that did not go in that were great shots but just a little bit off.

Good things for good people, not exactly, but more like good things for prepared people that keep persisting in their efforts and have great talent.

The Lakers win again and Kobe Bryant is the star again, even if he was a bit lucky.

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Michael Jordan was inducted into the Hall of Fame and here is a youtube of part of his speech. Michael is called the greatest player ever and that is what he discusses in this youtube. There is also a great joke at the end of the video so make sure you play it until the end.

In other parts of his speech Michael Jordan called out Byron Russell and made a little fun with him. The highlight of Michael making the game winning shot over Utah in the 98 finals with a double clutch move was made over Byron Russell. The comments were not meant to cut on Byron, it was all in fun. Byron, for his part, was even proud to be a part of the most famous play of all time, but would love one more shot at Jordan in a game of one on one.

Was Michael Jordan the greatest player of all time? That is a great argument, because you have to set some parameters. Anyone that saw Wilt play would notice that Wilt scored at will even scoring 100 points in a single game. Anyone that watched Bill Russell play would notice that Bill almost beat Wilt every time they played. So is the winning more important than the stats?

All we know is that in Jordan’s era he was the best player and no one as arrived yet to take that away. Maybe before LeBron James is done he will be greater than Michael, but for now it is all Jordan!

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There was 1:47 left in the game and the greatest player currently playing in the NBA (well, except maybe for Kobe) on the planet had the ball in his hands.

The score was 87 to 82. The game was in hand. The Cavaliers would win game 5. This playoff thing was easy.

LeBron milked the clock. The cameras showed the Cleveland Coach Mike Brown and he looked tense. LeBron shoots and misses a three by three feet. Washington flies down the court forces up a shot and gets the rebound and scores.

Cleveland would continue to mild the clock with LeBron now passing and other players missing shots.

First, James missed a wild 3-pointer and Daniel Gibson followed with another 3-point miss. Joe Smith missed a short jumper and Zydrunas Ilgauskas missed a tip shot. Instead of going strong to the hole or at least forcing the officials to call a foul, the Cavs settled for the pretty outside shots.
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Washington would continue to race down the court and score, until they were 1 point behind. Then they put the ball in Caron Butler’s hands. He had been hot all night. Caron drove on LeBron James and scored the game winner.

The Washington Wizards had won the game 88 – 87 and my thoughts were on the Cleveland Coach. Would Mike Brown retain his job for next year?

The final shot by Washington was taken by Caron Butler, who had 32 to LeBron James 34. Here is what he was thinking before the shot.

“I didn’t want to settle,” Butler said. “I didn’t want to look back on the season and say I settled for a jump shot and probably bailed out the defender. I wanted to just try to go in there and get contact and try to get it to go in.”

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This YouTube will show Caron’s brilliant night including his final shot.

It is back to Washington for a game 6 and Caron Butler is the hero.

NBA Basketball special comment The old it ain’t over till it is over. Cleveland mismanaged the final minute of the game. LeBron can’t be expected to win everything.

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You have to watch Kobe jumping this car.

There is no way this is real, but it sure looks like it.

Kobe Bryant jumps for joy after beating Denver

Kobe is on a tear right now and the Lakers are ripping up the Denver Nuggets.

Even better, Kobe Bryant says he wants to stay in L.A. It is amazing what 136 million bucks can do for a guy.

The most incredible thing for Kobe and the NBA would be for the Lakers to face the Celtics in the NBA Finals. Wow!

NBA Basketball special comment Everything is rolling Kobe’s way right now, but it is a long playoff. How well will his untested team hold up?

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Check out these all time worst dunks in the dunk contest narrated by Kenny Smith.

What a far cry from Dwight Howard and the Superman Dunk.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Can you imagine any worse dunks?

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