Kobe had one thing that MJ and Lebron didn't have.

Kobe Bryant:

Wasn't the best player on his team the first eight years of his career
Never shot 50% for a season
Most missed FG's in NBA history
Never made past the first round without all-stars around him

 

You're 29. That means you were born in 85,right. Jordan retired in what 98,right. You didn't see or understand mj just like you didn't see magic,bird,moses,kaj or guys like that. You can't even get in on a straw poll of who is the greatest. I think lebron is one of the 5 greatest players I've ever seen play. If a 29 yr old say that, his eyesight is so short,he can't really compare it vs the same people I saw play. Different generations. Back to your ignorant comment about wilt, kevin durant couldn't average 50 pts and 25 rebs in high school right now as the mvp. Do you even realize how near impossible it is to do that? What about this, 24ppg,23rpg,8.6apg? His last yr in the league,at the age of 36,13ppg,18.6rbs,4.5 asst,43minutes and 72.7fg%. He was on 2 of the greatest teams record wise. Whatever

 

I don't think Kobe is greater than MJ, but he definitely gets a bad rap for his accomplishments. Truth is, Shaq would not have won any of those titles if they had Ray Allen instead of Kobe. The Lakers beat some great teams for those titles (Kings, Blazers, Spurs). Don't even think that Shaq was the goto guy during winning time in the 4th quarter. Kobe would have shot 50% if he flopped for fouls. Yes, it's probably a good strategy, but Kobe has a street ball personality and will never resort to flopping. MJ and Lebron did have all stars around them when they were successful in the playoffs.

 

Maybe I'm old, but I remember when people were saying that Michael Jordan was a ball hog and would never win a championship because he's not a team player like Magic or Bird. Maybe Kobe is going through that same criticism right now, but if anybody thinks Kobe is not one of the greatest ever, they are crazy. Shaq got the Lakers to the party, but Kobe finished the job. And title 4 and 5 were with Pau and a bunch of role players. Of course, the key to any NBA championship is solid role players who step up.

 

It's too bad a Gasol/Bynum led team never really existed. Bynum wasn't healthy or playing heavy minutes in 09 or 10. The 96 Bulls without Jordan or the 2011 Heat without LeBron beat those Gasol led teams. Gasol has continually shown that he is incapable of winning a series as the best player.

 

I almost fell outta my chair reading that!

 

I remember that as well. I was a big Kobe hater for the longest time but some of the things he did were just amazing.

I saw flashes of that in Lebron during Miami's last championship, but it doesn't seem in his nature to really want it as badly as Kobe did.

That's really unfortunate too because if Lebron had Kobe's drive then he probably would have passed MJ by now and maybe been able to take a decent stab at some of Wilt's numbers.

 

sure kobe was one of the greatest, in the sense that the top 25 all time are all that, no one really doubts that, is he in the top 10? he doesn't really have the accomplishments for that, the ones that do have more than 3 individual awards (even the guys who didn't have a dpoy or finals mvp exist during most of their career), and they all did things like win an mvp and finals mvp in the same year, these are all things that the best player in basketball does.

 

You can say about every championship that the best player would not have won the titel without the second best player. But that does not mean the second best player is in fact the best player on his team. Hakeem would not have won his first championship without Otis Thorpe, does that mean that Thorpe was even close to the skill level of Hakeem?

It also does not mean that the second player was irreplaceable. Shaq would have won the titles with Ray Allen. He needed an outside scorer who could create a little bit. Allen fits that bill.

Kobe was important for that team, but he was not the best player, not even close. So for me those championships mean a lot less. Wade now has 3 championships, but only 1 when he was the best player, the 2 championships with Lebron do not count the same in the comparison with other all time greats.

I am not a fan of Kobe, I think he is overrated. But he is an all time great (just not top 10 maybe top 25).

You finish your post terrible. Kobe didn’t flop? Come on, you cannot believe that do you? You know the arm waves Kobe always did?

Kobe would have shot 50% if he would have flopped? But he was to much of a street baller to flop? First that is not true. Kobe didn't shoot 50% because he did not understand shot selection. People often say Kobe is the best tough shot maker (he wasn't) like it is a compliment. Kobe shoots to many difficult shots when he could have just passed to a open teammate who would have shot a better selection.

 

This makes me think - what if Dream had a true legit all star caliber wing like Drexler for many more years in his prime rather than just one........

 

You can also say that if Kobe had a bit more of team oriented mentality like Lebron, he would have been a much better player.

 

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A rape settlement.

 

big Z were big support for LeBron tho, especially at the start of his career

 

Jordan v Kobe

Spoiler

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http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200303280LAL.htm

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Jordan v Kobe

Spoiler

 

A true dominant bigment? lmao. That's the best you can do? Having 2 other superstars in their prime doesn't count anymore? Or what about one of the best 3pt shooters of all time? Man you guys hate Kobe at all cost lol.

 

But MJ didn't have a Luke.

 

Stupid. It's like saying "Jordan never one a ring with a HOF around him". Yea dummy, neither did 95% of the HOF's in the top 50. Ppl making up categories out of hatred for a player lol. Since you want to create categories, neither Jordan nor Lebron went through rebuilding phases in the primes of their careers. Only Kobe played through that

 

Actually, you can argue that Jordan and Lebron both went through rebuilding phases. Look at the Bulls' rosters from 1993 and 1996. The only players on both teams were Jordan/Pippen. And when Lebron was in Cleveland, the Cavs were perpetually rebuilding.