No, I think he could be more successful than Kobe during the next 5 years and could prove to be the better player during that time. And I never said he is Larry Bird. As far as I know, one of Bird's biggest strengths was the passing ability and Dirk does not get enough assists yet to be compared to that.
I think the bird comparison has alot to do with the white thing. Bird was a better passer and made his teammates better than Dirk does at this point. Dirk is a better shooter though and has more range and I believe that he is a better rebounder.
a better shooter than Larry Legend?!?!? Larry Bird was no slouch on the boards either, he averaged 10rpg for his career.
kidrock, do you ever see Dirk play?? Not many low post points? Are you nuts?! Maybe you should spend a little more time watching Dirk and the Mavs before you make statements like that. Dirk has the total package as a scorer, a great outside shot, very aggressive at driving to the basket and very good in the low post both rebounding and fighting for points. Don’t let Dirk’s versatility blind you to the work he does in the paint. On the offensive end of the floor Dirk is very aggressive and does not shy away from the paint. I watch a ton of Mav’s games every year and he does have a good low post game. Having said that...I agree that I would take Kobe over Dirk if I were starting a team. Dirk’s comparisons to Bird are way over exaggerated and his defense sucks. One of the things that was said about Larry Bird was that his passing was so good that it was infectious. That was a huge part of his game and it made the other players around him better. The same can not be said for Dirk...at least not yet. Dirk is a great scorer and a very good rebounder, that’s it. Kobe does it all. A great scorer, a very good passer and he plays defense and rebounds. Kobe has also hit clutch shots and won games in the biggest games of the sport. Dirk has yet to prove he can perform in the biggest game. Both players are still very young so age is not an issue. Give me Kobe.
You know Bird once walked into the all star game's 3 point shoot out and informed all of the other participants that he would be winning and was curious who would be number two. He then went out and dominated the contest. Some of Birds most unbelievable highlights are of him dribbling back away from the defender until he was so far back that the defender would dare him to take the shot and Bird would hit nothing but net. He even once shot the ball from the baseline and over the backboard and hit nothing but net in a game...still the most amazing shot I ever saw. Bird was the greatest shooter I ever saw. Only Dale Ellis was close in my book and even he was a distant second. Also Bird lead his team in rebounding a couple of times with Robert Parish and Kevin McHale on the same team, I think he avg'd close to 10 boards a game for his career. Bird had no equal...and he was the player I most loved to hate. If only he had been a Rocket!
Dirk to Kobe = Kiki to Jordan Ouch! I am a big Dirk fan but sometimes the truth hurts. Dirk is no Bird...not by a long shot.
Well, regardless of whether or not Dirk is Bird, Kobe is no Jordan either. Dirk is every bit Bird as Kobe is Jordan. Guys like Kiki were much older when they were on the level Dirk is on now at 23 or 24. They would have been in college. Dirk still has time to grow as a player. Kobe is maximizing his potential right now with Shaq on his team. Maybe Dirk won't turn into Bird but I woulndt put it past him. But if he came close I wouldnt be too suprised and thats not necessarily a bad thing. Kobe has the whole Jordan aura around him with the championships, but Jordan was the best player on that team, Kobe isnt on his team. Dirk is the best player on his. And once Dirk gets more playoff experience he will get more confidence to be more clutch. The Mavs and the Lakers are fairly equal teams. Shaq is the only difference.
Comparing Dirk to Bird is unfair to Dirk. Bird was the player I most loved to hate as well, crash. The guy will never be forgiven by me for the '86 Finals. Bird was unbelievable. He didn't LOOK like he should be able to do what he did with appalling regularity... just kill you. Smartest player I ever saw play the game, I guess. Damn, he was good. Is this off topic? (duh!)
they play 2 totally diffrent postions. Thats not fair. But I'd choose Kobe, becuas ehe is a better defender. And there are more good sg out there that need to be schooled on both ends. As for dirk, i see his lack of athletisim making him max out early.
Well, you are just an idiot then, or never saw Larry play. Larry Bird is the best shooter ever in the history of the NBA. Only Reggie Miller can even be mentioned in the same breath. Nitwitz isn't even close to putting up those averages, must less winning like Larry did. Larry had a 3pt arc that was What? 1-2 feet further out? Not to mention LARRY RAN the best half court offense ever. He was the ring leader. That was HIS offense. He developed it. Magic ran the best transition offense ever. Let's compare: Nitwitz is 43% career in 18 Playoffs games. Larry Bird took the 3rd worst team in bball to a World Championship his second year. He was 3 time Second Team All -NBA Defense. Boston NEVER had a losing month with him in the lineup. This just pisses me off. Nitwitz is a 7' Kiki Vandeweghe. There is just no justification comparing him or anyone else... comparing anyone anyone to Larry Bird. There will be a Michael Jordan before there will be a Larry Bird or Magic Johnson Guaranteed. And that player is most likely Kobe Bryant...Mr Super Clutch at age 23. Then you have McGrady and Lebron
put kobe on the 80s bulls, and you'd have damn near the same thing . . . when shaq left in the playoffs, kobe took over, if he had a team of his own, it'd be trouble . . . him playing on a good defensive team / him playing with shaq? blah, so it "remains to be seen" whether bill russell is a good defensive player, seeing as how the teams he played on were "good defensive teams" . . . "i guess we'll never know" . . . *chuckles* . . . give me kobe
While I appreciate your enthusiasm for Larry Bird, I think it is unjustified to put Dirk down as you do. Let's just wait and see - barring injuries, I think he will have a great career of his own.
Why is Kiki Vandeweghe comparison putting down Nitwitz. I'm just saying HOFer is not gauranteed for either. He will be better than Kiki in what he can accomplish with 3 more inches. But in all respects other than the 3 extra inches, he is just another Kiki/Rudy who can shoot spot up and off the dribble. He hasn't proven he can beat a double team when it counts, via his 43% career playoff shooting or his lack of assists/passing. and he is a grade A poor defender. He is no Kevin McHale. I'd take McHale in a heartbeat. At 7', Nitwitz must play the post to be a HOFer in this league, however much you or him wants to deny it. He must either pass, play defense, or learn some McHale moves. Barring that, he is NOTHING but a 7' Kiki shooting 43% in the playoffs. Kobe vs Nitwitz....yeah. whatever
I think there will never be either of the 3. Saying Kobe is the next Jordan is underestimating how good Jordan was. Not only did this guy have unparalleled desire to win, plus the talent, athletic ability, and skill to go with, but he grew into a cultural icon. Maybe the most recognizable man on the planet at one point. He put Nike on the map, and it grew into an athletic apparel/footwear powerhouse. It would be damn near impossible for any player to live up to all that. But you're right, chances of finding another Michael Jordan are greater than finding another Larry Bird or Magic Johnson. Just where are you going to find a 6'9" caucasian player with that kind of shooting ability and court awareness? How about a 6'9" point guard with the kind of passing ability and transition game, let alone versatility that Magic had? The chances of finding another 6'6" super athletic, super popular, super talented (with the magnitude of each facet on par with Jordan's) shooting guard, although extremely small, are higher than finding another of those 2.
what does any of that have to do with basketball. By that silly corporate criteria, Kobe will most definitely match Jordan, anyhow.
One thing for you to chew on smartass - Bird was 23 when he entered the league and he already had a great college career behind him. Nowitzki just turned 24 a couple of months ago, so he is almost the same age Bird was when he entered the league. So who are you to say that Nowitzki cannot improve further, just like Bird did? Note that I am not comparing them, it just pisses me off that you are pretending to be so sure that he is "just another Kiki or Rudy". Don't make me pull up older posts from you you might have made during Dirk's first two seasons when you probably said even worse things.
There's many different aspects that go into becoming "another Michael Jordan." The basketball aspect is part of it, the corporate and commercial aspect is another. Kobe is not up to par in either aspect. But hey, he's only 23, almost 24, so it's still to be seen.
Thoroughly outplayed? Yeah Right. Time must have fogged your memory...Their stats were comparable the whole series. Advantage to Dirk(Of course, Dirk got his points against single team coverage of KG, Joe Smith, Rasho Nesterovic, and Sam Mitchell, while KG battled against 2-4 Mavs at any given time.
heypartner: wait, let's see this year's playoff stats : Dirk : 44.5% fgp, 28.4 ppg, 13.1 rpg, 2.2 apg, 2.00 spg, .75 bpg Kobe : 43.4% fgp, 26.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 4.6 apg, 1.42 spg, .4 bpg Dirks line doen't look too bad to me. I still think Kobe's the better player, but lamenting about Dirk "showing up for the playoffs with 43% shooting" doesn't really make sense in a comparison with Kobe. If you really want to talk about sucktacular shooting, look at Kobe's series against Portland : 35.3% shooting while jaking up 22.7 shots per game. Had Shaq & co played like Superman Bryant, LA would've never gotten out of the first round....
let's see the career playoff stats kobe G GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG 85 65 35.9 .441 .333 .778 1.20 3.60 4.80 4.1 1.24 .95 2.54 3.30 20.8 dirk 18 18 42.0 .434 .392 .881 1.70 8.60 10.30 1.8 1.50 .78 2.00 3.60 25.6
