Missing the FTs AND the fumble. I can't even remember Kobe missing a costly FT in a game like that. Point is, you can't just say. "if Wade was on those Laker teams he would have won the championships too." Because no one knows that. I should turn around and say "If Kobe was on this Heat team they would have swept the Mavs." There is no proof to that at all but whatever. People need to stop using the word 'If' with Kobe and just recognize what he has done. I get tired of hearing about how he had Shaq and Phil and Gasol and this and that. It takes a lot to win a championship.
Clyde Drexler is my favorite player of all time. With that said here's my rankings. 1) Jordan 2) Kobe 3) ALLEN IVERSON 4) Clyde Drexler 5) Wade I think Iverson's mercurial personality and end to his career has made a lot of people forget how F'ing good the guy was. He single-handedly carrier the Sixers by himself for many years and was THE MAN on his team every year. He always had scrub players, bench warmers and washed up veterans by his side during his prime yet he still did his thing. Drexler was my idol, favorite player, the reason why I got hooked on basketball and why I'm a Rockets fan today but he severely lacked "IT". He didn't really have that mean streak and the killer instinct. The must get it done by any means necessary attitude. I think that's part of the reason why he was always so well liked and a fan favorite. He's the squeaky clean "nice guy". Wade as good as he is really isn't much without a good supporting cast. When he has great talent around him he looks great. Don't get me wrong he still looked good and had great stats when he didn't have Superstar talent surrounding him but I never saw him lead his team deep into the playoffs when he was the Alpha star on his team.
I look at the championships that Kobe SHOULD HAVE ONE: Kobe and Shaq, two of the greatest players of all time couldn't beat the Spurs in 2002-2003. So, what do they do: They get Gary Payton and Karl Malone to get them over the hump. Did Kobe deserve that much talent? While the spurs had to deal with building a real team that played hellacious defense and team basketball. Kobe has never lead a team with less talent than other teams anywhere. Kobe is overrated. And has been. And will be. At this point, Lebron is far greater than Kobe for what he did with Cleveland. I might have Lebron's guts but the guy has done it with less talent. Kobe never has.
I was talking about '07 but why not this one. Not the team LBJ had. LBJ had a healthy Mo Williams. He had better bigs in Shaq/Big Z. Even Delonte West was a key player for last years Cavs. It was a very different team. Kobe had Odom and a bunch of D-Leaguers.
The signing of Karl Malone and Gary Payton is the most overblown argument I have ever seen in Sports history.
Yep. The continuous run of all-D accolades pretty much summarizes his career: lifetime achievement awards.
I'm positive. You don't remember Kobe shooting below the league % average in last-second shots? From 2009 (I think): Here's something from 2006 (I think) showing his % being lower than league average then as well: http://www.82games.com/random12.htm How did Kobe do in Game 7 vs. the Celtics last year? You know, since we're making our arguments on individual games. Game 7 of the NBA finals for his 5th ring, surely he put on a show and led his team to victory? Wait.. what? 6-24? Oh ok. Wade is better than Kobe. I'm sorry if that doesn't feel right due to the ESPN LA brainwashing.
Those guys were so over the hill at the time. They both retired, Malone right after that year and Payton soon after. Also I find it funny that people say Kobe had to get Gasol to win...but who was Gasol Before Kobe and the Lakers? Before Kobe Pau was just another PF. He was good, no doubting that...but no one ever mentioned him as one of the best big men. The moment he goes to the Lakers the guy is seen as one of the best big men.
Kobe's reputation is built on his championships rings alone. Many of which he wasn't the best player on the team, and at least one was with a ridiculous level of talent added because they were scared of the spurs. Can you say overrated?
The only D-leaguer on that team was Smush Parker. The rest of the guys were serviceable NBA players and most of them are still in regular rotations. I'm talking guys like VladRad (who was a solid player for both the Clippers and Sonics), Farmar, Sasha (both key players on the Nets), Kwame (key defensive player on various teams since), Turiaf (ditto) and Cook (well, I'll give you this one but he did get PT for the Clippers this year). Everyone likes to make this team sound worse than it really was to prop Kobe's heroics up, but it wasn't so bad. Just by having Odom Kobe at least had a good sidekick. That's better than LeBron had on his 60 win teams.
He was one of the best big men. His teammates were worse than what Kobe had and yet he kept taking Memphis to 50 wins. You can't do it by yourself in this league, but a great player can usually take a team to 50+. Kobe could do 40+ which is pretty good.
Lol at the guys who attack me for being an "irrational LeBron hater" but unable to use facts to back up their irrational Kobe hate (moreso than mine, Kobe has accomplished more than LBJ from both a team and individual standpoint). To say LeBron had less talent than Kobe did in the mid-2000s is ignorant. Clearly you didn't watch those Laker teams. Those teams had zero business being in the postseason (they were fricking D-League teams, I don't think any of their players alongside Odom/raw as hell Bynum are even in the NBA today), let alone taking the Suns to 7. To say LeBron is better in crunch time than Kobe from '05-'09 is an absolute joke. There is a reason people were calling LeBron, LeChoke. BECAUSE HE WAS KNOWN TO CHOKE. Kobe may not have been great against the Celtics, but if you want to talk about stepping up and hitting big shots, there is probably nobody this decade (guess I should say last decade) which you would rather have than Kobe (if you want to win).
Thats because he takes so many which exactly is what these stats say. (and they are including regular season) Thats because Phil knows who the best guy to get the ball to in last seconds. All these % don't mean much when you go back and see all the big shots he made in clutch moments. Yeah he played bad against the Celtics, I'm pretty sure everyone has played bad against the Celtics in the playoffs. Thats why Wade and Lebron teamed up or else it was unlikely they'd do any better. Oh! 'If Lebron and Wade never teamed up they would have never beat the Celtics.' there is a if for everyone.
Exactly, people talk like Payton and Malone were in their primes. I have even heard people bring up them signing with LA when talking about Lebron and Bosh going to Miami. Saying Kobe doesn't deserve his 5 rings is just idiotic. Saying that makes it seem like he won 5 titles playing the role of Adam Morrison.
