Huh according to whose count? Shaq needed Kobe just as much as the other way around. Shaq played with All star guards before and didn't win jack...Penny, Nick Van Exel/Eddie Jones when Kobe was on the bench playing limited minutes. Where were the titles then??? Kobe started going off and then came Shaq's success
I think we can all agree though that Kobe is the only player since MJ that can even be in the comparable conversation.
Doesn't matter. Shaq was the #1 in that 2000-2002 three-peat. It doesn't matter... again, Jordan saw his fair of defenses go up against him. It wasn't any easier for him. Jordan was much more efficient because he had better shot selection because he could get himself open better than Kobe can. Just stop acting like a homer on this board and maybe you'll start getting some respect around here.
what jordan would've done to zone defenses, defensive 3 second violations, no hand checking, and a restricted (automatic foul) area under the basket would put kobe and lebron to shame. yeah their career numbers are close, because kobe plays in an era of WEAKER defense. anyone that argues jordan played against weaker defenses in the past was not around to watch back then. defenses were so tough that the nba made rule changes to weaken them and increase the scoring. what you see today is an era where defenders can't touch an offensive player. big guys can't stay in the paint, and any contact under the basket is an an automatic foul, usually sending the offensive player to the line. and even with all these advantages that jordan didn't have the luxury to receive, people want to say kobe's numbers look similar to jordan's. he must be as good! no, wait! he plays in a new era where players are taller, that means kobe is better! seriously? still, its all a moot point until kobe gets 6 regular season MVP's and 6 finals MVP's. he could win 10 championships, but unless he's the final's MVP he was just along for the ride while someone else lead the team.
Kobe wasn't still the secondary option, getting more 1-1 looks playing OFF OF the primary option Shaq in those series? Yeah, we both know the answer. During the 3-peat years Kobe: - Never led LA in scoring in the regular season - Never led LA in scoring in the postseason - Never finished higher than Shaq in MVP voting - Never got more 1st team ALL-NBA votes than Shaq. He actually didn't make the 1st team until the last year of the 3-peat. - Never was considered the better player. - Never saw more doubles than Shaq. Nothing points to him being the primary option on those teams so stop acting like he led a team to 5 titles. He has done that twice.
Only "shooting guard". Both Shaq and Duncan have led their teams to more titles than Bryant. LeBron has led his team to 1 less, has better numbers than Kobe all around and 2 more MVP's than him already.
