Kobe Bryant says he’s "the kloser," but he wouldn’t go so far as to count the Celtics out of the NBA Finals.
To "klose," as defined by Vitaminwater in a new commercial starring Bryant, means "1. to shut, conclude and 2. to end games and demoralize opponents."
Bryant is undoubtedly a great player; it’s hard to argue with that. He scored at least 30 points in 10 of his last 14 games and played a large part in setting screens as part of Derek Fisher’s recent dominance.
Poking fun at himself in the ad, a confident Bryant is shown closing everything, from fanny packs to a sandwich. He’s shown having closed Oklahoma City, Utah and Phoenix, but he stopped just shy of closing out the Finals against Boston.
"No, I’ll leave that alone," Bryant said with regard to Boston in the ad.
Maybe Bryant didn’t want to incite a riot in New England by declaring the Finals already over. Maybe he didn’t want to deal with the onslaught of media attention he’d get from such a bold proclamation.
Or maybe Bryant knows that there’s a lot of basketball left to play.
As obnoxious as Celtics fans are sure to find the ad, they can take comfort in the fact that Boston still has a shot — and the Lakers’ superstar knows it.
