Kobe Bryant

[morpheus]

I'll ad my 2 cents worth by saying that you used to be able to handcheck your opponent but these days you can't so it's much easier getting....

Kobe has it easier than what Jordan did have in his era.

 

[jod23]

Originally posted by DEVO
Hook, line and sinker.

What I don't understand Jod, is what you have against Kobe??

I admit I dislike Jordan, but I have the upmost respect for his achievements, even if I believe they were achieved during a weaker era. You on the other hand appear to have no respect for Kobe and his achievements.
Your remarks that he is riding on the shirt sleeves of Shaq appear, to me at least, to be comments from someone who jealous that Kobe may in fact surpass his hero's achievements. Surely someone who is averaging 24ppg, 5apg and 5rpg during the last three NBA Finals Series is not riding on the shirtsleeves of another.

I have nothing against Kobe. He is a very good basketball player. 24 5 and 5 isnt exactly impressive, he did that while defences were focused on someone else. Jordan put up far better numbers than that, winning Finals MVP's while the D was solely focused on stopping him. But all this hype about how good he is just because he has 9 straight 40 point games .... big deal. This helps put it into perspective.

Reel it in, Kobe
--Dan Shanoff

"What's good for the team is the ball in the basket."

Last week, when my Page 2 colleague Ralph Wiley made the compelling case for Kobe Bryant as the greatest scoring force in the NBA ever, his argument was based on that statement.

There is, I think, a logical extension: What's good for the team is the ball in the basket, because what's best for the team is to win the game.

And that's why Kobe's brick-city, me-first performance on Sunday night has me believing that he has veered out of control, nine games into his captivating 40-plus ppg streak:

Late in the game, sitting just under 40, Kobe couldn't put the ball in the basket, but he kept (mis)firing anyway, admittedly just to get his points -- literally, "shoot-first, apologize-later." And he nearly shot his team out of the game at a point in the season where every win is critical.

Kobe is, by all accounts, legacy-driven; to his credit, he wants to be considered the best basketball player ever. But I'm not quite sure where he got the idea that scoring an outrageous number of points translates into ascension into that top spot. It didn't do much for Wilt, for Dominique or for the Mailman.

There is one statistic that matters most in building an NBA legacy: wins. You need to accrue enough to get into the playoffs, then 16 as fast as you can get 'em. That's it.

The difference between Karl Malone and Michael Jordan, based on individual statistics, is negligible relative to the 6-0 gap in hand candy. Think Wilt wouldn't have traded in some of his gaudy numbers for a few of Russell's rings?

Kobe's place among the Legends -- even at the very top-- will not be earned by crossing some mythical mathematical mark that happens to be a nice even integer. It will come by being the best player that leads a team -- any team -- to a bunch of championships. In other words: By establishing the "Kobe Dynasty."

So why is he jacking up six bad shots in the final five minutes against Seattle on Sunday night? Just to reach some arbitrary stat plateau? Meanwhile, the Sonics crept back into a game that the Lakers -- while surging -- desperately need in the ultra-competitive West playoff race.

Kobe might average 40 per game this season, but this legacy he cares so much about will be irrevocably tarnished if he puts himself ahead of his team, and for whatever reason this squad -- which has managed to win three straight titles -- can't come together for a fourth.

Like the less sexy-sounding 39 or 36 or 31 ppg is so shabby? It may not have the ring of 40, but then again, based on his display Sunday, 40 may not get him the ring.

 

[CURVE]

Originally posted by jerry springer
cant agree with that mate.

Jordan had to go single handed against The Celtics(Bird,Mchale,Parish),Detroit(Thomas,Laimbeer,Dumars,Rodman),76's (Barkley,Hawkins)
Lakers(Magic,Kareem,Worthy) even Atlanta and the Knicks were good the list goes on and on.The rockets were good,the Cavs were good,the whole league was pretty good.

By the time Chicago made it to the top, a lot of those players had either retired or close to it. The remainder had been farmed off to other clubs trying to rebuild. You also have the four expansion clubs which further diluted the competition, especially in the East, giving Jordan and his Bulls an easier ride to the playoffs, especially in those first three championship years. The pointy end of the triangle was still full of top class teams (most fighting amoungst themselves in the West), but the line between them and rest widened markedly.

 

[jerry springer]

Im comparing jordans first few years to kobes.im not talking about when chicago made it to the top as yes it took them 5-6 years to do so and by then most of them teams had peaked,just jordans first years and what he had to face compared to kobe as a player . When he joined the league in 85 most of them teams were just hitting their stride before peaking around 86-89.

 

[jod23]

Originally posted by DEVO
By the time Chicago made it to the top, a lot of those players had either retired or close to it. The remainder had been farmed off to other clubs trying to rebuild. You also have the four expansion clubs which further diluted the competition, especially in the East, giving Jordan and his Bulls an easier ride to the playoffs, especially in those first three championship years. The pointy end of the triangle was still full of top class teams (most fighting amoungst themselves in the West), but the line between them and rest widened markedly.

This argument is just boring and completely wrong.

The Celtics, Pistons and Lakers were all still very very good in 91. Jordan beat them all. Throughout Jordan's championship years he had to get by very tough teams. Ewings Knicks, Reggie's Pacers, Portland and Clyde, Phoenix with Barkley and KJ. Kemp in full flight with GP in Seattle. The Miami Heat in the mid to late 90's were tough aswell not to mention Stockton and Malone.

The diluting theory is stupid. EVERY team was diluted because of expansion teams. You act as if only the Bulls didnt get diluted whereas everyone else lost players??? Everybody got worse, and that includes the Bulls. So Jordan had to beat a worse Knicks outfit with a worse Bulls outfit, it's still the same.