Magic revitalized the game, along with MJ and Bird in the 1980s. He initiated the Lakers dynasty and their impact on basketball. He will always be the greatest Laker in my eyes. I definitely feel Kobe deserves to be in the conversation. But Magic was a leading man - for the league and the Lakers - during arguably the NBA's greatest run, with the Celtics and Lakers paving the way for the Pistons and Bulls, et cetera. Kobe is an exceptional player during an unexceptional time for the league (at least at the moment).
First of all, you can't really put Kobe above Kareem. The all time leading points guy and someone who was so dominant for so long and had perhaps the most unstoppable shot ever. Kobe is one of the all time greats (and it pains me to admit it) but he doesn't have a go to move like Kareem. Kobe's greatness is that he is able to make tough shots at a pretty good percentage especially in the clutch. If I had to pick one of them to start a franchise, I take Kareem any day. Second, you can't put Kobe above Magic either. I just heard some ridiculous chatter on AM 710 in LA today where they asked if Kobe would be above Magic if he wins it. He may be in the conversation if he wins a 5th, but no way is he above Magic. Magic dominated the game so thoroughly with his passing and shooting which Kobe does not do. He finds a way to win and dominates his match-up, but Magic dominated the other team. And if we are really talking about greatest Laker as in a persona beyond the game of basketball, Magic is a transcendental figure. Everyone knows who Magic is and everyone in the world knew who he was when the NBA was just an American sport. I never saw West so I have no way to compare, but Kobe is behind Magic and Kareem, even if he wins. This shouldn't even be a debate, really.
If I had to rank them Magic - honestly its not even close Shaq Kobe - though if kobe wins again this year I'd rank him ahead of Shaq Kareem West Baylor Wilt Damn the Lakers have had some great players over the years And this isnt even counting the feared Campbell Combo of Elden and Tony during the mid 90s
Yall need to put emotion aside and realize we are watching one of the best players since MJ hung them up. What is Kobe's weakness? ... exactly. The guy is a great player, and still has a lot of basketball ahead of him. Him winning without Shaq really put him in the conversation for best laker of all time, and if he gets another ring it would be hard to argue against Kobe for best laker of all time. If he keeps this up there might be a more heated debate, kobe or mj? I loved mike growing up, and also hate kobe, but to be honest Kobe is making an argument to be in the same conversation as MJ. Am I saying he is as good as MJ now? Yeah. Overall has he had as good as a career as MJ? No. If Kobe can keep it up for 5 or 6 more years and top MJs ring count, then it will be a good argument. To be honest MJ could drive better, but Kobe's jump shot is unreal. The only thing left for Kobe to do is have that killer instinct and knockdown a few more buzzer beaters and walk out with a few more rings. They both are elite defenders (I give a small edge to MJ in this category). My point isn't that Kobe is as good as Mike, but if he keeps it up, than he might be.
Needs a dominant big or else he requests to be traded. Let's not forget Jerry West gains immeasurable value by getting Gasol and ultimately Kobe's ring. What's your argument for Kobe being better than Magic?
I put Kareem and Magic ahead of Kobe, you could say even Shaq is over Kobe. Wilt didnt played a lot with the lakers, and he was better when he was in other teams. You can say West too.
Sometimes he gets too into me, me, me mode and shoots his team's offense into funk. He doesn't really bring it every night, not even close to the consistency that Jordan did. Our series with them last year, and the series against the Thunder should never have gone past five games. I loved the effort we showed last year - but without Yao we were half a team - the Lakers should've finished us off - and they never should've gotten taken to seven games. If the Thunder had put Kevin Durant on Jordan, and I really love Kevin Durant, Jordan would've dropped 25 on him in that fourth quarter - just to prove a point. He would not have been shut out like Bryant was. He also would have turned around and driven a stake into the Thunder's heart on their home court the very next game - just because he could. Talking about past Laker greats: I don't think people understand how good Magic Johnson was, or how successful he was. As a rookie, he was 0.6 assists from averaging a triple double in the playoffs. And we all know what happened in Game 6. In his first twelve years in the league - the Lakers with Magic Johnson made the NBA finals nine times, and won five of them. They lost in the first round to Moses Malone and eleven guys from the Fonde. They lost in the Western Conference Finals to the Twin Towers and the Shot Heard Round the World. They also lost to the Tom Chambers-led Suns in the second round. And that was it.
Oh come on, Kobe is not even close to being as good as Jordan. There was no point in their careers that Kobe was better. His jumpshot is unreal, yet his FG% average in a season was never above 0.47? Let's not get into the Jordan-Bryant debate. that was already settled in a thread mentioned earlier in this thread. The question is were does Kobe rank in Lakers history. IMHo he would rank below Magic, Abdul-jabar and shaq. Chaimberlain didn't play for the lakers that long, so he might be above him. I haven't seen West play so I cannot say if he was better than Kobe.
Magic Johnson is still the best Laker. I would put Kobe along with Shaq and Kareem in the same class. Both centers are better than Kobe as an NBA player though.
yea the dominant big went 2 for 9 in the closeout game of the WCF and got out rebounded by a bench player (Channing Frye) while Kobe went for 30+ yea kobe can't win without a dominant big
Best Laker of all time? Is he even the best Laker of this generation? Give me Shaq from 00-03 over the best version of Kobe anyday.
If 2005-2008 is any indication, yeah, he can't. I would put Kobe behind Kareem and maybe Magic if he wins, but he would be around the level of Magic, which is nothing to be ashamed of.
