Its kinda funny. Dominique and Jordan genuinely respect Kobe but he has so many haters on clutchfans.
Last time I checked, Pat Riley did the same thing. Are we putting an asterick next to LBJ's name too?
I definitely agree with this. A lot of people here like to hype up scrubs that play for the Rockets while downplaying the accomplishments of a guy like Kobe. They also view any type of criticism of the Rockets as "hate." Imo, it's a sign of being insecure.
LEGEND Mamba <iframe width="853" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/yLSs2iGKOVM?showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>The shot that pushed Kobe past MJ. <a href="http://t.co/c0FkGQsD7t">pic.twitter.com/c0FkGQsD7t</a></p>— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/544298629146902529">December 15, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>To commemorate Kobe passing MJ, Nike has released the NIKEiD KOBE 9 Elite Low “Mamba Moment” shoe ($245) <a href="http://t.co/66k3SXM3Jm">pic.twitter.com/66k3SXM3Jm</a></p>— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) <a href="https://twitter.com/darrenrovell/status/544296941577060352">December 15, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Yeah it's weird. Jordan was just as psychotic as Kobe when it came to winning and throwing teammates under the bus, yet MJ is never criticized to the same extent Kobe is. You can say sure, MJ had more success, but even a guy like Iverson or Tmac, they don't get near as much hate as Kobe. Most would say Tmac/Iverson/Wade < Kobe < MJ, yet it's the guy in the middle that gets all the hate.
You sure Iverson/Tmac never got as much hate as Kobe did? LOL. Jordan was fortunate not to live in the social media era. I'm sure he would have his share of lunatic haters if he played in today's game.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Congrats Bean! <a href="https://twitter.com/kobebryant">@kobebryant</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ThirdAllTime?src=hash">#ThirdAllTime</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LivingLegend?src=hash">#LivingLegend</a></p>— LeBron James (@KingJames) <a href="https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/544294011230760960">December 15, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
MJ lived under the moniker "plays selfish, can't win" for several years. The media is far more pervasive now, but what you see now of MJ is retrospectively. Those other 3, even MJ now, don't have a large group of fans that are completely unreasonable in their positions, yeah kobe was a great player, but when someone labels him as say 12th-15th all time which is probably about right, the legion takes over. Kobe's greatness is more about longevity than individual brilliance (1 mvp, 2 finals mvps, 0 dpoys, never in the same year, everyone else you'd name for a top 10, has at least 4 and got at least 2 in the same year except for the 60's dudes where the awards didnt exist), there's a decent case that he was never once the player most capable of making his team win, a terrible leader, a fantastic shooter, but blended with horrible decision making (it might not have been decision making, it might have just been his loathing of other humans made it difficult to trust them) left him an average at best crunch time performer, he could load up the scoreboard like nobody's business, but he is who he is. The frustration of the Kobe stans is that if you take Shaq out of the equation, he goes through what most young players do (like Lebron, if he was drafted by San Antonio he'd have 7 rings, and have been their best player for 4 or 5 of them, hence team award), teams with no shot at winning, and then it's taken further whether they'll claim that they were equals, or worse yet, that Kobe was the man, not Shaq, to his fans, the guy is more myth than man.
Jordan never ran off his best teammates because he was jealous. Part of it was Jordan was always the best. But the other part is Jordan wasn't as crazy as Kobe. There's wanting to win and there's wanting to cement your own legacy.
