would kobe be kobe without playing with shaq at the start? definitely not. no argument from me on that. has it hurt lebron to play without a gifted big man. definitely yes. again, no denying that one. rodman had stats before playin with mike. mike just added to his trophy case. pippen definitely benefited from playing along side jordan. helped his mentals. but obviously not quite enough cause blazers shoulda made it to the finals that one year when they blew like a 15 point lead at the end of the fourth. hey wait, wasn't that kobe & the lakers that came back on them?? hahaha
Jordan is probably the best player to play, but people act like he is completely untouchable. I think people overrate Jordan's greatness. Kobe is very comparable to Jordan. I think he is a poor mans Jordan but its not nearly as bad this picture would suggest.
The argument that Kobe doesn't make his teammates and lacks leadership is tired. I guess punching your teammates in practice is great leadership. Was Jordan a great leader when he failed to win a playoff game before Pippen arrived? Was he a great leader when he couldn't win a championship before Phil Jackson arrived? I had a discussion about Kobe making his teammates recently with some people on Facebook and what I wrote I think applies here. "Kobe doesn't have as many assist as Magic and Larry guys but he opens the floor up for his teammates making them better. Gasol was a career 51% shooter until he played with Kobe. In the years he has played with Kobe his field goal percentage has gone up to 57. Odom 44% before Kobe, now 48% with Kobe. How about Smush Parker who played with Kobe then went to go play for the Heat with DWade. 44% with Kobe and 35% without." How doesn't Kobe make his teammates better. Doc Rivers said it tonight in the post game and I'm paraphrasing here but Kobe shot the ball poorly but the reason his teammates get the shots that they get is because Kobe is on the floor. Remove Kobe from the team and its way too easy to shut down players like Gasol, Odom, and Fisher.
I disagree completely. The fact remains that players evolve to be better than the past generation. Jordan in part dominated for the same reason Lebron dominates the league because he is bigger, stronger, and faster than his opponents. Jordan was ahead of his time. Please name the best defensive guards and forwards in Jordans time. I will give you a hint he played with him. Jordan has said that the best defender he faced was Joe Dumars. Not only was Jordan more athletic than he was but he had an 2-3" height advantage and weight advantage. Do you think Jordan numbers would be as great if he was guarded by players his size and similar athletic ability? Oh and they didn't have zone defenses either when Jordan played.
You can't fault Kobe for who he played with. Fact is Michael Jordan was 1-9 in playoff games until Pippen arrived. Look it up. Would Magic have won a championship his rookie year without a player like Kareem? How many championships did Shaq win with Penny? Kobe wasn't Robin to Shaq. Please tell me when a series when Scottie Pippen or any other "Robin" has averaged for a NBA series these numbers: 33.25 pts 7 rbs 7.23 ast Batman and Robin, no more like Batman(Kobe) and Superman(Shaq) like in the Super Friends cartoons.
Agreed. I am too tired to get in MJ Vs Kobe debate right now. Got love for both. Hope Kobe gets another ring. Yep LA stand up!
Because New York don't have Lebron yet so you take what you can get lol. On the real Ray Allen has been one of my favorite players since he won the three point shoot out in 99. The kid is very under rated
Don't hold your breathe on that. The Lakers handed that game to the Celtics. They controlled the game up into the 4th when they decided to go away from Kobe when he was in danger of breaking Ray Allen 3pt Finals record. He was 5/7 from downtown and then didn't go to him in the first half of the quarter. Still disappointed in that loss.
great game last night...loved watching the celtics take the lead and never let go...did LA only send kobe to boston to play...where was the rest of the team?? lmfao...nice performance by rondo..3 pointer by rasheed was beautiful...kg has always been a favorite and paul pierce is all heart...sometimes i wonder how hard it must be for antwoine walker, paul pierces old sidekick to watch the celtics two years ago beat LA and now have it within their reach to yet again to take it all looking forward to the next game would love to see the celtics close it out but i have a feeling we are going to 7...both will be excellent games... two years ago i remember magic and i were in ft. lauderdale staying at a gorgeous resort on the beach...we walked to get pizza and some beers...watched the game in our suite...we had played at the beach all day...it was a heartbreaking game...it looked as though the celtics were going home empty handed...i fell asleep and woke up to magic jumping on the bed when they WON...
Let me put this on record. If the Lakers don't win the championship this year, I will never, EVER watch baskbetball again!
