Shaq is by far the most dominant player in the league and the best center in the league - and one of the best ever. Kobe possibly will go down as one of the best players ever. I look at it this way. Vlade Divac is the 2nd best C in the league. He's a good role player. Thats like say, Doug Christie being the 2nd best SG in the league. Imagine if, say, 3 teams had Doug Christie, and the rest of the teams had Erick Strickland. That's how the center position is. That's not enough to distinguish him until we can see what he can do on his own. What has Shaq done on his own? Really, the only player that's left that has done something relatively with him and a bunch of role players (albeit good role players), is Tim Duncan.
Put it this way NYKrule, would the Lakers be better off without Shaq or without Kobe? If anyone says without Shaq...they're nuts. Shaq is the main cog of that team...no doubt about it.
It doesn't matter how deep a particular position is - even if the center position is not very deep, Shaq was still a beast against the best centers of the 90s in Olajuwon, Mutombo, and Robinson and is sheerly dominant right now. Kobe isn't nearly as integral to the Lakers' success as Shaq is, nor is he as dominant as Shaq is - position weakness or not, Shaq would still blow over all of the top centers of the mid-90s NBA if they were in their primes now.
