Amongst all the Kobe threads we already have in the NBA Dish, I'll add another one, if Kobe retired today would he crack your top 10 NBA list? Another question, in your opinion where will he end up when it's all said and done. . My Opinion: I say he's top 10 right now, working his way towards top 5, assuming he wins 1-2 more rings (very probably with the way his current team is constructed) he'll crack top 4 with: MJ-Magic-Kareem-Kobe
He'll eventually be in the Top 10, but as of now? He's close, but no cigar. Here is my Top 10 list of all-time right now. 1. Jordan 2. Kareem 3. Russel 4. Bird 5. Magic 6. Wilt 7. Shaq 8. Hakeem 9. Duncan 10. Moses Malone 11. Kobe Bryant What Moses did throughout his career still beats out what Kobe Bryant has done at the moment of his career. I expect Kobe to be just #10 by the time his career is over. He'll never surpassed Hakeem or Shaq, maybe Duncan though, but I doubt it.
Kobe had to ride Shaq for 3 of the 4 titles he has. Maybe Ride is a harsh word to use for Kobe, but It was very obvious, I mean very obvious to see who the leader and who the best player on the team was in that 3-Peat Laker team. I really don't believe Kobe will win 2 more championships, I see one more, but I don't see anymore than that. It also makes me upset, when people think Kobe Bryant has been the player of the decade, when Duncan and Shaq have clearly been more dominant and better.
Rideis a very exaggerated word to use IMO, although Kobe wasn't the alpha dog of those teams he was just as important to the Lakers success Look at back at Lakers history. It's always been about tandems: Wilt-Jerry, Magic-Kareem, Kobe-Shaq. Without each-other none of these guys would have won squat. And why can't you see that L.A. team becoming a dynasty? Gasol just got extended a huge contract, Kobe is still as dominant as ever, an emerging Andrew Bynum, Phil Jackson still coaching, not to mention their defense has been amplified to a championship level this season, it's not to asinine to see a couple more rings for KB. Also, for the player of the decade, it's definitely hard to pick between Shaq-Duncan-Kobe because they're all so dominant in their own respective ways. But IMO this Kobe's decade, he started on top - and ends the decade on the same note.
Definitely top ten. Maybe number 2 behind MJ when its all said and done. This Laker team is loaded and Kobe may very well wind up with 6+ rings.
I don't get this. So only the best player on the team wins a championship. Everyone else (even if he is an All-Star and future MVP and HOFer) is riding him? Kobe did not ride anyone to his rings. Sasha Vujacic? Luke Walton? Sun Yue? THAT is riding. I guess Sam Cassell and Clyde aren't real champions either?
Hell no. You honestly pick Kobe over Russell, Wilt, Kareem, Hakeem, Shaq, Duncan or Moses? That's 7 right there. MJ, Magic, Bird, Oscar? That's already 11. Kobe is great, but he hasn't been more dominating than any of the above players.
Not riding him, but there is a big difference between being the #1 option on a team....the guy that defenses focus on and gear towards stopping....and not being that guy. Kobe has only been that guy once. Duncan has been that guy 4 times, and Shaq 3. The Lakers don't win without Gasol last year, and they clearly aren't the same team without him, but don't you think it's dumb to try to say he was just as important to last years title team as Kobe? It's laughable to say Kobe has been the clear cut player of this decade, as some with short memories make him out to be these days.
I see him in the top 3 guards all time (Jordan, Magic, Kobe). Barely nudging out Jerry West and Oscar Robertson. Whether it gets him in the top 10 depends how the rankings are interpreted. Some lists are frontcourt heavy, some are all-around. People here automatically stick Hakeem into the top 10 no questions asked. Everywhere else he might not get in. I'm thinking in another ten years a top 10 list might be too small. There's some outstanding players left out of a top 10 already.
You will see when he retires how much he was appreciated. Yes, definitely - one of the best players to play the game of basketball, hands down
I would have to disagree man. Kobe has yet to ride anyone to a championship as someone else has mentioned. He was just as important as shaq was. My top ten would have to be in no particular order: Russell, Wilt, MJ, magic, kareem, bird, oscar, hakeem, shaq, kobe.
Yeah you are right. But would u say tmac has been riding yao all these years seeing that yao was the one the most of the time (i am not saying all of the time seeing it is the same for the lakers as teams were not always focusing on shaq, just most) the opposing team doubled or focused their defense on. Or magic riding kareem? same thing. Centers/ post players tend to be focused a lot more than perimeter guards/forwards. That is just how the game is played. you can concentrate on interior defence a lot easier than perimeter defence; harder to double and is more reliant on individual defensive abilities. It was shaq and kobe's team. I very doubt any one of them could of won anything without the other.
Kobe didn't ride anyone to a title. But folks are like "Kobe has 4 rings....more than X players....he is above them". Kobe's first 3 titles came the Drexler/Pippen route...very important secondary option that the team couldn't win without. But we never say Drexler or Pippen lef those teams to a title, or give them equal credit like Kobe fans try to do in his case. Are you really saying Kobe has been more dominant than any of the 11 guys that I mentioned? You would rather have him than Moses Malone in his prime (3 MVPs)? You would rather have him than Kareem?
Bigs are focused on more when they are better. Unfortunately for wings, size does matter in basketball. A great big is typically worth more than a great wing. Shaq had a bigger impact than Kobe. You could not stick one dude on him and hope it works out, as we do with Battier on Kobe at times. Teams didn't focus on Shaq more just because he was a center, but because if you didn't have 2-3 dudes on that monster then he would go off. In comparison, Gasol is a great big but teams don't focus on him more than Kobe, right?
First of all, I am not disgreeing to the fact that kobe was not the only 1 that lead them to a title. But I would argue that kobe is just as important. Yao has been the clear cut number 1 option on this team for the past 2-3 years. Can u say that tmac is any less important? Individual performance change every game, 1 player might lead the team to a victory in one game and the other may lead the next day. Anyway not argueing, just my opinion thats all.
He's close to it, but I wouldn't put him that stratosphere, yet. I'd already take about 6 centers over him. He's not greater or as substantial as any of those players, or can effect a team in the same way. If he's not that much impactful than Shaq, then there's no way he can be over the others. Wilt, Russell, Kareem, Dream, Shaq, and Moses. Next, I wouldn't take him over Magic or Larry. Both players essentially made the Lakers and Celtics a powerhouse again nearly by themselves in the beginning. Then, there's MJ, of course. I don't see how anyone can believe Kobe is better, especially since his numbers and accomplishments pail across the board and MJ would have done it all in less time, after this season. Then comes Jerry West and Oscar Robertson. I don't really know if I can say Kobe is far and away better than those last two. Especially looking strictly at production only. Then, the vague area after 10, Tim Duncan, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, David Robinson, Elgin Baylor, George Gervin, Rick Barry (people thought I was crazy for mention him a while ago, whose best seasons are a little better than Kobe's and the guy won a championship with the *****in' Warriors), and I'll even throw Dominique Wilkins in there. I know people bring out the championship card, but I really don't think Kobe would have too many, if he didn't play with Shaq. Also, I always hate how people can jump straight to him being compared against MJ, when the league has just as many wing players who have just as effective and produced the same numbers of Kobe, but didn't have luxury of playing on a a title team or with great big man. I believe as far as high scoring wings go, Gervin and Barry compare favorable to Kobe. For Kobe, I would say he is somewhere in the 10s. Again, like I said in another thread, the MJ is pretty much the Babe Ruth of basketball and he has the number to prove it on and off the court, while Kobe hasn't come as close to most of the things that 23 did in his career. I doubt his scoring average going to be high enough to catch MJs, since that seems to be the thing people like to cling to so much.
