A rough sketch of a map that I am going to start today. Drew this up while i was generating reports for work
I hate when people hate on his efficiency. He was literally a one man team and pretty much beat the Celtics in the finals by himself that one year. Something Jordan never did. Jordan had amazing teams.
Please stop. Pau Gasol was absolutely dominant during those years. He was basically 1B to Kobe's 1A during his time there. During their two championship seasons he averaged around 18.5 PPG, 10 RPG, 3.5 APG, and 2 BPG. Having an elite big man who could stretch the floor was half the reason why the Lakers spaced the floor so well and allowed Kobe to have so much room to play with. Lamar Odom (11 PPG, 9 RPG) was also a stud for them, and he ended up winning the Sixth Man award the season after their last championship. Ron Artest (11 PPG) was a defensive centerpiece and could also shoot the as well. Also, having players like Derek Fisher (both years) and Trevor Ariza (08-09 only) didn't hurt.
No player had the ferocity of Kobe. He just has the mentality of a champion. Dude is the actual goat. --- Double Post Merged, Mar 29, 2016 --- You're not wrong. Doesn't change the fact that he played like a beast in that 7 game series.
When did Jordan say he achieved his success single handed? Jordan had better teammates, Kobe was a lone wolf. Both are in the top 5 GOAT. Why you gotta compare the two? P.S. Jordan is better. And yes, I am aware of the **** storm that will come of this comment.
Honestly any technical skill that Jordan has over Kobe, Kobe makes up for with his mentality. Plus, the clutch factor. Never ignore the clutch factor.
Oh 100% absolutely, I just like giving credit where credit is due. I think the entire "winning championships on your own" (and by extension, people who criticized Lebron for going to Miami) stuff is silly, because in reality it'd be impossible to find such an instance in the modern era of the NBA. @Yevah Kobe is an absolutely great player, but he is definitely not top 5 all-time. That's not a slight against Kobe in any way, but there are just so many better players. Off the top of my head, Jordan, Kareem, Magic, Lebron, Shaq, Oscar, Lebron, Olajuwon, Bird, Duncan, Russell, and Wilt are all clearly ahead of Kobe. After that, you could probably start making an argument for Kobe, but at the same time you could easily do the same for Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, and Bob Pettit. So that would put Kobe in the 13-16 range off the top of my head.
I don't see how you can put half those guys next to Kobe. I can agree on magic, kareem, Jordan, and maybe chambelain. The rest I wouldn't put in the same league
I don't think any of you are working on a career as a professional basketball player, so unless you provide proof otherwise, let's stick to stuff we are working on.
Lebron has one of weakest mental games of all time and should be called for a travel half the time he has the ball. I would not put him a head of Kobe because Kobe would eat him alive. Gasol was good but honestly the reason they were even able to win that one was because of Kobe. The lakers line-up was no where near as good as the celtics. Don't really have an issue with rest of your list. Maybe Duncan but duncan is one of the most consistent players ever so that would probably put him a head. After Shaq left, Kobe literally had to carry heaps of garbage to playoffs until Gasol got there. He was literally a one man show and his efficiency numbers suffered greatly not that he was ever that efficient. Just look at the players that played with Jordan and compare it to who Kobe played with. Jordan was lucky Isaiah Thomas and the Pistons got old. He was literally their ***** to the point he was a cry baby said a bunch of mean **** and then tried to act all high in mighty when they didn't shake his hand. No **** they didn't shake your hand your were a disrespectful little brat. Still the best ever though. Shut up Sammich basketball is great. BTW who is your favorite team @aPK ?
We're on a single thread in an internet forum dedicated to a niche sub section of a console video game that's not nearly as popular as it used to be and hardly exists outside of NA and Europe. On a single planet in the entire expanse of an unfathomably large universe. It's not that serious. Just scroll past it.
Shaq dominated the entire league by such an incredibly huge margin despite his inability to shoot free throws, and he shot a lot of them. In fact, he dominated the game to the point where he literally broke it, and they had to change the rules to give the rest of the league a chance. Oscar was basically Magic Johson before Magic Johson was Magic Johson, but he did it over a decade before Magic did. Lebron does what Oscar and Magic did, but he's faster, bigger, and much more athletic. He won four MVP awards in five seasons (and was robbed by the voters in the season he didn't win, most likely due to voter fatigue), and it wasn't even close during that stretch. He also managed to single-handedly carry that absolutely abysmal 2006-2007 Cavs team to the Finals (seriously, go look at that roster). He also took the historic Warriors team that is running rampant on the NBA and breaking records left and right this season to six games in last year's Finals without Kyrie or Kevin Love. Russell doesn't really need to be argued. The only point against his legacy is he dominated during a time when the league wasn't nearly as competitive. Duncan is basically Russell but against actual competition. Also, Duncan's career is similar to Kobe's in a lot of ways, but Duncan has simply won more and done more. I don't think Bird really needs to be argued for. Olajuwon is probably the most iffy one, but in my opinion he dominated the post during an era when the game was bigger, slower, and tougher. His footwork is considered by most to be some of the best ever in that regard, and he is often used as the defining example people around the world at every level use to learn and refine how they play around the basket. Despite all of this, it is subjective. However, if you go and look around you will never find Kobe in the top 5 of any respected publication's / journalist's list. He generally floats between #12 and #18.
I don't think Lebron's mental game is that weak. It's just extremely exaggerated by the media and the public. Game 5 vs the Pistons in 2007 and Game 6 vs. the Celtics in 2010 are perfect examples of him dominating in clutch situations. Also, there's this: 2nd all-time in FG% in the final 24 seconds of the 4th Quarter / OT in playoff games: And here's Kobe in the final 24 seconds of the 4th Quarter / OT in playoff games: - Anyways, my favorite team is the Bucks. Rough season, especially coming off what looked like a promising season last year, but I expect us to get back on track next year.