Kobe Bryant the most overrated player in NBA History?

Kobe's defense is suspect right now.

 

Kobe just needs to adjust his role. I don't think he should get less touches, I just think he needs to be more of a passer. He has the vision to do it, and team mates that can finish. The Lakers get a shockingly low amount of easy baskets considering the talent level of their roster. If Kobe ever wants to be top 5, he needs to win. Putting up points is great, but winning helps his case considerably more at this stage in his career.

 

He might be the most overrated defensive player in NBA history, considering the number of All-Defense teams he's made.

 

Watch him win another one this year.

 

I cant see the video here at work, but I dont think hes the most overrated, but hes definitely in contention with Lebron and Brett Favre as the most overhyped players ever

Kobe isnt as clutch as he is touted, while definitely a very clutch player, it gets oversaturated

Lebron simply isn clutch I dont care if he has a championship, the man is shaky at best when the clock is wounding down and he needs to create his own shot for a buzzer beater. Dont even get me started on his free throw shooting, he's in a tight with race with Dwight when its clutch time.

Brett Favre, just see the very last game vs NO. although he is one tough SOB, hes an interception machine which inexplicably gets overlooked, but I digress.

My 2 cents in a small sample size, whatevs

 

agree there. hes always tried hard which I give mad props for, but he wasnt ever that great at defense, he used to get abused by Iverson countless times, among other players, it was laughable. TMac sonned him multiple times just to name a couple, but I dont have enough time right

 

the dude has been in the league for 17 years and is still leading the NBA in scoring..thats pretty awesome regardless of anything.

 

I dont know how someone is overrated if he scores 30K plus points in a career...as much as I hate the Lakers...I cant really hate arguably the 2nd best SG of all time behind MJ...He is what he is...a shooting guard who scored a lot of points and has been avg for his career(17 years)...25.5 ppg...that is just remarkable...not overrated...

 

I'd be funny if he and Howard both got in the all defensive team yet the Lakers suck at defense.

 

They're actually 8th in defensive efficiency.

 

People are saying he's the best laker of all time and that statement is ridiculous, while he's a great player. I personally think Shaq, West, Wilt, Magic and KAJ were better than Kobe.

He is pumped up so much by the media that people just tend to believe the hype. Just like MJ, who people assume is the greatest player of all time, when I think that title has to belong to Bill Russell. I really don't understand the argument of MJ>Russell.

 

B/c MJ won 6 finals in 6 attempts, and all 6 of the Finals MVPs.

 

This. Kobe's longevity and dominance over the past 17 years has been nothing short of amazing. Of course he's not going to be able to fully defend for 40 minutes at this stage of his career. He's not as quick as he used to be, there's a lot of milage on those legs.

 

I don't want to change the topic off Kobe, but Bill Russell won 11 finals out of his 13 season in the league! Finals MVP wasn't around when Bill was around but there is a very good reason the NBA finals award is called the "Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award."

Sorry for the quick derail.

 

This is a really good point. I never really though about it like this, I think his longevity easily makes him great. He's a great player, but I do think he's overrated in the sense that people used to think he was the second coming of MJ and that he's the greatest laker of all time.

 

You are absolutely right! Once this team starts playing well as a group watch out for Kobe even more. We got them on a bad day. Go Rockets though!

 

I agree with all those Lakers being better players than him. But, then you go argue that Russell is better than Jordan. Based on what? You're one of very few who thinks a guy with all HOF lineup in that era in which if they played in the 80's, 90's to today would be nobodies is better than Michael Jeffery Jordan.
I'm one of those that doesn't care about how many titles you have. That's why i'm not so big on Kobe in the all time list b/c his teams were all so loaded relative to how the rest of the league's teams were in each of their championship seasons. As far as avg per seasons, he's top 25 to me. Yes, it's incredible he could do it so long, but i don't think you can compare that to guys who were unlucky and had their careers ended short b/c of injuries.

It's like if Lebron had a career ending injury and he struggled and did terrible for a few seasons b4 finally calling it quits. Everyone in the end would call Kobe the better player bc oh how long he did it, but individually- Lebron was and has always been a better player than Kobe.

If people argued Wilt being the best ever just b/c of sheer numbers..i get it. But, Bill Russell b/c of rings? This is an individual contest. I don't care if you got 0 rings vs 13. Were talking about an individual as the greatest of all time and pure dominance despite their team mates help. I'd rather look at guys like Jordan or Wilt or Kareem(Alcindor) when they didn't have much help and put up insane numbers and dominance from an individual side.

But, of course that's just my opinion and i know it will always come down to leader on teams with rings.

 

Man, I was really worried that my comment about russell would derail this conversation, I really didn't want it to, it was just a comparison on hype. So, I'll just respond to this and stop responding to anything MJ/Russell related to keep this thread Kobe relevant.

I mentioned rings, because T-Mac did in regards to Jordan being the greatest, so I pointed out Russell's superior team accomplishments.

I also don't think it's fair to place players from one era in a different era in relation to the "would be nobodies" in the 80s, 90s comment. The sport changes, people change, skills improve etc. Like it really wasn't that long ago when players couldn't earn enough as a professional basketballer to make ends meet. So for this reason I think the only way to compare players from different eras is to compare their dominance in that era.

In terms of individual achievements, Russell has a bunch including 5 MVPs, led the league in rebounds 5 times (with Wilt in the league), 12 all-stars and most likely would have won finals MVP around arguably 8-9 times.

But to your main point about dominance, I don't think there is anything more dominant than leading your team to 11 rings. In my opinion, basketball is a team sport and much more than just scoring. A great basketballer, for me, would be a great leader of the team, excellent basketball IQ (evident by Russell winning two rings as player/coach), dominance (which russell was, particularly defensively) and can lead their team to the Ws. The great players make their team better.

The biggest knock to Russell not being GOAT in my opinion is that the league was tiny, but I'd say that means a higher calibre of talent.

OP and CF, sorry for the derailment. Last one, I promise.

 

You guys are silly to argue this point. When guys like Shaq and Magic say that Kobe is the best Laker why would the opinion of some joe schmos on the Internet hold any relevance?
<br>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3TVrOGpJQJc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<br>
That being said though, there are so many Lakers' greats that a difference in opinion will always arise.

Kareem, Wilt, Magic, Jerry West, Kobe, Shaq..

That's a hell of a list.

 

It could very well be Kobe basically just b/c of health and length of his career as a Laker. Take away Magic's AIDS and early retirement and it's him. Put Shaq or Kareem or Wilt there for their entire careers and it's one of them. So whatever, if people say it's Kobe...don't bother me. But is he a better player than any of those guys? Nope.