Kwame is a joke. Luke Walton who was a starter is a joke. Smush Parker is a complete joke. Brian Cook? Sasha Vujacic? Jordan Farmar? Key players for the Nets/Clippers? Does that even mean anything? Jokes. LBJ had better bigs on his 60-win teams (Big Z, Big Ben/Shaq), he did have an All-Star sidekick in Mo Williams (and even Antwan Jamison for half a year), he had serviceable players better than pretty much any of the above mentioned players (Varaejao, Delonte West, Anthony Parker, Daniel Gibson, bunch of guys I am probably missing).
Kobe has accomplished more than LBJ from a team standpoint because he has always been on better teams (until this year) and he's been in the league a lot longer. He has nothing on LBJ individually and has had worse seasons than LeBron every year LeBron has been in the league except for LeBron's rookie year. So that argument is wrong. I already listed the roster and almost everyone is still in the NBA in a regular rotation. Just by virtue of having a real sidekick in Odom, Kobe had a better (or at least comparable) team to the ones LeBron took the Finals and later 60 wins. The team may not have looked as good to you because they ran an offense in which Kobe jacked up 25 shots a night, which just isn't good basketball. Also, that team was comparable to what Nash had in '06 and the only reason people think of that series as a near-upset is that Nash actually took his band of scrubs to a better record. At the time it may have seemed that guys like Barbosa, Diaw, and Bell were good players but look at what they have done since leaving Nash. Well, that's what a good leader does for you. Kobe has never been that guy which is why you think of all of his teammates as scrubs. No one ever said crunch time but I'll be glad to go there, since LeBron's crunch numbers for his career are better than Kobe's. Which big time shots did Kobe hit? Has he had any playoff moments like LeBron had against Boston & Chicago?
OK so let me get what people are saying...that Wade is better than Bryant, along with many other SG's who aren't as "overrated" . I must kindly disagree
Kwame Brown is horrible, absolutely horrible. I hate Kobe just as much as the next guy but to say Kobe's team wasn't bad because they had Kwame Brown? Come on. Kwame has NEVER been a key defensive player on various teams since, I don't know where you got that part from.
He was? Pau made the all-star game one time as a Grizzly. Never made All NBA as one. At the time there were a lot of good PFs. He was not one of the best. Remember you had Rasheed, you had young Amare, You had Duncan, Dirk, Ben, Brand, and Garnett. Also his teammates being worse is highly debatable since guys like Walton who is a bench warmer, Kwame who is a 2nd string center in his prime, and Parker who is not even in the NBA were starters. Lets not even go to the bench.
He didn't have anyone as good as Odom. IIRC, his second best player was either Bonzi or Battier. Those teams sucked, and they won 50 wins (some credit to Hubie Brown). That makes him one of the best bigs in the league.
Bringing up Vlad Rad, Turiaf, Kwame Brown, and Brian Cook to make a case for Kobe having help? Lord help me, this can't be life
Well, besides Odom. It's just that everyone talks about poor Kobe in '06 as if he had one of the worst teams of all-time. He had Odom, so it wasn't one of the worst teams of all-time. He had an average team for that season (compare to other teams without their top star, eg, the Grizz) and he led them to an average record.
I'd rather have Pau than Bosh. Pau is a nightmare to guard when he is ON his game. Add Lamar and Bynum and yeah Kobe had talent.
Lamar Odom is very good when he wants to be. but Lamar Odom is also inconsistent. If Lamar Odom is your 2nd best player followed by absolute garbage then you won't go far especially in the Western Conference. Bron had a bad supporting cast but he was also in the pathetic Eastern Conference
Bonzi was a really good player. Rocket fans should know that, he just was a guy hard to control and was overweight. As for Battier...we all know that Battier was a really good player as well. Better than any of those guys not named Kobe on that team, even better than Odom IMO since Odom doesn't seem to use his vast skillset correctly. Pau was again behind several Big men. Lets go back and think. Shaq Yao Sheed Big Ben Garnett Amare Duncan Dirk Brand and even Jermaine O'neal He was not one of the best bigs at the time. The moment he goes to the Lakers though he is.
Odom was the only legitimate NBA player on that team aside from Kobe. It was bad. Guys like Tierre Brown, Chucky Atkins were rotation players. Smush Parker, Kwame Brown, Luke Walton starters. You claim to have lived in LA and watch Laker games but I think you are lying. There is no way in hell you can believe the BS you are spewing.
Wade's 29 years old and has as many rings as Jordan did at the same age. He's a long way from finished and it's too early to judge his career just yet.
Bron took his bad supporting cast to the Finals (beating a VERY good Detroit team) and the best record in the league 2x, which is why he's the best player in the NBA. That's the argument. You can say he didn't win a title, but just to make it to the playoffs or, say, the 2nd round with that squad is legendary enough. No one else in the league-- not Wade, not Kobe, not VC, not TMac, not Gasol, did that when they had comparable teams.
My problem with Dwade is he relies on his starpower and the refs too much for my taste. Yeah he hits those crazy shots, but majority of his pts get scored off the refs. Its not even KM-style wherein he flops, sells and gets the call, Wade just literally bumps into the other dude and then goes to the FT line. Sometimes he goes to the line after traveling and initiating contact, other times there isn't even contract and he still goes to the line. More importantly his shooting form is still broken and still hasn't improved despite 10years in the league, its hard for me to say he's the top 3 shooting guard when he can't even shoot straight. Anyway for me the top 5 sgs are: 1)MJ 2) Kobe 3) West 4) Clyde 5)Wade I haven't really watched the rest of the famous sgs...the human highlight reel could have been better than wade for all I know.
I give LeBron credit for that. No matter how weak the East was overall it would be tough for any player to take that team to Championship. I just think you're overrating some of those guys Kobe had.
kobe in his prime was unstoppable. kobe has played hurt almost as much as anyone in this league. wade in his prime has been great, but not "unstoppable" hello 81 points? 9 consecutive 40+ point games? five 60+ point games (tied with jordan) 104 it's not like wade championship didnt come with a lot of help. 97 free throws in 6 games. maybe theres a reason why nba players and coaches regarded kobe as the best player and SG a few years ago. wait.. my bad.. biased and jealous fans know better than all of them.
true. he did go into the league during college which was similar to jordan. however, jordan had a jumper that wade hasnt really developed. now when wade cant drive anymore due to his decline in athleticism (which btw has anyone compared him now vs. 2006... wow what a huge difference), then hopefully he'll develop a more consistent jumper.
