Kobe Bryant: Jedi, Sith or Mandalorian?

Kobe Bryant, a.k.a. The Black Mamba,  took on all East comers both young upstarts and ageing pretenders, tallying 37 points, 14 boards, 3 dimes and 3 heists to lead the West squad to a 148-143 win in the 2011 edition of the NBA All Star game.

Take that pretender King!

Lookit me...

Where you at, Rajon?

He bagged yet another All Star MVP award, tying Bob Pettit for the NBA record of 4.

Bryant has won All Star MVP awards in Philadelphia 2002...

, Las Vegas 2007...

 and Phoenix 2009 (co-MVP with ex-teammate Shaq)

I will not enumerate Kobe's numerous accomplishments anymore, but even haters would agree that his feats have been extraordinary and out of this world. This beggars the question: If Kobe was a character in the Star Wars universe, would he be a Jedi Master, a Sith Lord or a Mandalorian?

a. Jedi? - Before he became The Black Mamba, an ESPN poll conducted several years ago showed a lot of fans wanting to call him "Kobe Wan Kenobi". This was early in his career, before the "incident" in Colorado, and the moniker sounded good. Kobe showed huge potential as a Laker rookie, winning the Slam Dunk contest and scoring the most points then in an All Star Rookie Game. He was charismatic and had a youthful innocence coming straight from Lower Merion High School.

b. Sith? - As his skills improved exponentially, haters saw a cocky, arrogant ballhog who wanted the seize the limelight from his superstar teammate Shaq. He was seduced by the dark side and thirsted for power, wanting to make the Lakers his own. After winning 3 straight NBA championships , Kobe became "The Dark Lord of the Rings" (yep, I made this one up). Well publicized feuds between  Shaq and Kobe, and the loss to the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals led to downward spiral, with Shaq leaving LA for Miami

c. Mandalorian! - For the SW uninitiated, Mandalorians are the most feared warrior-mercs in Star Wars lore, and dreaded enemies of the Jedi. Boba Fett, the most famous bounty hunter in the galaxy, is also the best known Mandalorian. I'll make another moniker up and call Laker #24 "Kobe Fett: the Black Mamba-lorian". His Colorado episode was his Pit of Carkoon, the lowest point in his life personally and professionally. Yet like Boba Fett, Kobe managed to rise from certain doom and escape the Sarlacc. Throughout his career, he has been known to be a cold-blooded assassin who delivers the killer clutch shots during crucial games. Like Mandalorian armor, Kobe has  shown durability and invincibility, despite the wear and tear of playing 14 years in the league, and numerous injuries to his fingers, body and knees. And at the end of this season, Kobe Fett will again collect his bounty: The Larry O'Brien Trophy.