Appreciating Kobe Bryant's Late Career Surge

In his 17th season, Kobe Bryant is still one of the 10 best players in the league. That says a lot.

I hinted at this a while ago in my recent Lakers video but I think we need to stop and remind ourselves what we are seeing with Kobe Bean Bryant in his 17th season.

We've seen Kobe do things that make us think Father Time hasn't grabbed him yet. Back to back 40+ point and 10+ assist games, something no Laker had done once in the last 40 years. His clutch 3-pointers against Toronto to send that game to OT and game-winning dunk had me thinking he was wearing No. 8 again.

He won NBA Player of the Month for February and NBA Player of the Week this past week. Not much to gloss over except Kobe is doing this in YEAR 17. 17-year veterans shouldn't be Top 5 in scoring. 17-year veterans change up their game to stay alive but rarely does it them and their team even deadlier.

Quoth the Raven: "WE ARE THE CHAMPS"

Who would've thought that turning off the lights and part of the power would've flipped a switch and turned this Super Bowl from a rout into a thrilling showdown? The city that never lacks excitement had one more great sports moment to add to its history and what a win for the Baltimore Ravens! 

Joe Flacco made himself a very rich man in victory. 11 touchdowns, 0 INT's this postseason means he's validated himself as a franchise quarterback. As a free agent Super Bowl MVP, he just earned his huge paycheck and showed why I call him Pretty Flacco or now Trinidad Flacco. "Don't Believe Me, Just Watch"

Jim Caldwell deserves a ton of credit as well. He turned Flacco loose calling the plays and as offensive coordinator, he was the driving force of this turnaround. The coach who lost Super Bowl XLIV, was fired from the Colts last year and didn't get offered a head coaching gig last month found redemption in New Orleans. I'm happy for him because he got back to the mountaintop and now has another ring on his resume. Memo to the NFL, he's living proof the Rooney Rule must be expanded to coordinators.

Ray Lewis: A Tale of Redemption and Rehabilition

There's a great irony in Ray Lewis ending his career in the Super Bowl. It's where his life transformed twice before our eyes and now he's back. The last game he will ever play and the final football chapter of one of the greatest redemption stories of my lifetime.

Lewis will go down as one of the greatest leaders/defenders of all time. But every time I hear somebody continue to bring up his murder trial as a joke or to degrade Lewis shows a terrible side of people not seeing the beauty of what's in front of us.

Let me take you back to 2001.  When I was filling out college applications, I struggled with what to write on my personal statement. I ended up talking about how I wasn't a typical sports fan and how I tried to learn from the folks I saw.

I used great citizens like Grant Hill and Tim Duncan to show me positive ways to live my life and I mentioned Ray Lewis as somebody who taught me what not to do when he got mixed up in that double murder charge.