Kobe = Best Laker Ever?

[kobemagee29]

Originally Posted by freethrowtommy

Kobe is not greater than Magic or Kareem...

or Aaron Rodgers

[forgiven1]

Jerry West says Kobe is the greatest Laker of all time...Go ahead and argue with Jerry....LOL....

Jerry West: Kobe Bryant is the greatest Laker of all-time | Yardbarker.com

Kobe Bryant is the greatest Laker of all time..I agree with you Jerry!....

[WillC]

Bill Simmons' latest article comparing Kobe Bryant to the all-time greats: The Sports Guy talks NBA leadership with Bill Russell, plus Week 14 picks - Grantland

Regarding Kobe's ranking, Simmons ranks him about 7th or 8th:

If we're really comparing Kobe to the greatest players who ever lived — something that seems to be happening more and more lately — you can't just rattle off his résumé (30,000 points, five titles, 10 first-team All-NBAs, one MVP, two Finals MVPs, etc.) without mentioning the other stuff. Of the 14 greatest players of all time, only Wilt and Kobe needed 10,000-word footnotes to cover "the other stuff." That list currently looks like this: Jordan, then Russell, then Kareem, then Magic/Bird, then Wilt, then Kobe/Duncan (or Duncan/Kobe), then West/Oscar, then Hakeem/Shaq/Moses. With LeBron lurking in there somewhere. We just don't know where yet.

You can pick apart his top-five candidacy pretty easily. He was the second-best player on three of those five title teams (not the best). He's only been voted "Most Valuable" once. He never held the "Best Player Alive" belt as emphatically as Jordan did, or even LeBron or Duncan did. And unlike Bird, Magic and Michael, his team seriously considered trading him one time (in 2007).

But you can't take two numbers away from him: 30,000 (points) and five (rings). It's all about pressure over time. He can't beat Jordan conventionally. Looking at the career regular-season averages …

- Jordan: 30.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 5.3 APG, 50% FG, 84% FT, 27.9 PER, .250 WS/48, 5 MVPs

- Magic: 19.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 11.2 APG, 52% FG, 85% FT, 23.0 PER, .208 WS/48, 3 MVPs.

- Bryant: 25.4 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 4.7 APG, 45% FG, 84% FT, 23.5 PER, .185 WS/48, 1 MVP

… it's no contest. Jordan wins by any calculation.6 And Magic remains the second-best guard ever, at least if you're going by those numbers. Career playoff averages don't help Kobe's case, either.

- Jordan: 33.5 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 5.7 APG, 41.8 MPG, 49% FG, 83% FT, 28.6 PER, .255 WS/48, 6 rings, 6 MVPs

- Magic: 19.5 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 12.4 APG, 39.7 MPG, 51/84%, 23.0 PER, .208 WS/48, 5 rings, 3 MVPs

- Bryant: 25.6 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 4.7 APG, 39.3 MPG, 45% FG, 82% FT, 22.4 PER, .157 WS/48, 5 rings, 2 MVPs

We're still not arguing. Jordan's 33.5 PPG remains the highest ever — nobody else even cracked 30. Magic's 12.4 APG remains the highest ever — nobody else even cracked 10.2.

However, Simmons also mentions lots of reasons why Kobe belongs in the conversation as one of the greatest ever. Just not the greatest.

[chrismiller81]

Kobe will be the 2nd best player to ever play the game after Lebron.

[oldgoldy97]

Magic is the best Laker of all time IMO. Kobe should have been the best Hornet of all time.

[Orangejello727]

Kobe sure has a lot of people out to put him down. Instead of celebrating his feats, the haters will do anything to discredit his achievements. Marketing sure works.

[ajscards101]

I didn't read more than the 1st and last page, but no way Kobe is better than Wilt Chamberlain.

[bdoody42]

Originally Posted by Orangejello727

Kobe sure has a lot of people out to put him down. Instead of celebrating his feats, the haters will do anything to discredit his achievements. Marketing sure works.

No one is discrediting. He is one of the all time great between 4-9 I would say. There just isn't an argument for him being the best. Just because we say he isn't the best ever is not saying he is garbage. Don't take it personally.... Trust me I know my favorite Larry Bird isn't the best ever.

[murrke03]

Originally Posted by Orangejello727

Kobe sure has a lot of people out to put him down. Instead of celebrating his feats, the haters will do anything to discredit his achievements. Marketing sure works.

This is totally wrong. It would be hard to find someone that doesn't rank him in top 10-12 all time if not lower.

[tnarg]

Kobe isn't even top 100 of all time, let alone the greatest laker. I can name about 10 lakers better than kobe

[nuccionino]

Originally Posted by tnarg

Kobe isn't even top 100 of all time, let alone the greatest laker. I can name about 10 lakers better than kobe

That's just this year.

[murrke03]

Originally Posted by tnarg

Kobe isn't even top 100 of all time, let alone the greatest laker. I can name about 10 lakers better than kobe

Still waiting for the proof that magic faked HIV.

I mean you can't say something like that an claim its a fact and ignore requests for proof.

[Cades]

Top 5 all time Laker, not 1 though

[tnarg]

Originally Posted by murrke03

Still waiting for the proof that magic faked HIV.

I mean you can't say something like that an claim its a fact and ignore requests for proof.

I was just trying to rile people up

I have no proof.

[thepinoymamba]

Kobe is the greatest Lakers of all time. Kobe had the most franchise points.
Kobe have the most field goal points.
Kobe scored 81 points in a game.
This is about the greatest Lakers and Kobe By any means would forever be considered the greatest Lakers of all time.

As in the greatest of all time...
It would be

Michael Jordan
Oscar Robertson
Kobe Bryant
Larry Bird
Magic Johnson
Bill Russel
Tim Duncan
Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Lebron James...

[1eyed_jack]

Originally Posted by thepinoymamba

Kobe is the greatest Lakers of all time. Kobe had the most franchise points.
Kobe have the most field goal points.
Kobe scored 81 points in a game.
This is about the greatest Lakers and Kobe By any means would forever be considered the greatest Lakers of all time.

As in the greatest of all time...
It would be

Michael Jordan
Oscar Robertson
Kobe Bryant
Larry Bird
Magic Johnson
Bill Russel
Tim Duncan
Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Lebron James...

I'd argue against Lebron on that list!

He certainly has potential to be, but I'm not putting him that high until later in his career

[bdoody42]

Originally Posted by thepinoymamba

Kobe is the greatest Lakers of all time. Kobe had the most franchise points.
Kobe have the most field goal points.
Kobe scored 81 points in a game.
This is about the greatest Lakers and Kobe By any means would forever be considered the greatest Lakers of all time.

As in the greatest of all time...
It would be

Michael Jordan
Oscar Robertson
Kobe Bryant
Larry Bird
Magic Johnson
Bill Russel
Tim Duncan
Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Lebron James...

Without Wilt in top 5 or 6 no list is legit..

[jimssouvenirs]

Laker homers

If you shoot the most or 2nd most FGs in the MAJORITY of the seasons you play, of course you're going to score a ton of points.

Kobe is a great player, but him "scoring the most Laker points" or "having a ton of rings" doesn't make him a great Laker. He's the face of the franchise and has been for a while, but Magic and Kareem were better players and much less selfish. I still believe Kobe has COST the Lakers a couple of rings.

[1eyed_jack]

Originally Posted by jimssouvenirs

Laker homers

If you shoot the most or 2nd most FGs in the MAJORITY of the seasons you play, of course you're going to score a ton of points.

Kobe is a great player, but him "scoring the most Laker points" or "having a ton of rings" doesn't make him a great Laker. He's the face of the franchise and has been for a while, but Magic and Kareem were better players and much less selfish. I still believe Kobe has COST the Lakers a couple of rings.

Well that's funny

Karrem
Most points
Most Field Goal Attempts

Malone
2nd most points
2nd most field goal attempts

Jordan
3rd most points
3rd most field goal attempts

Wilt
4th most points
6th most field goal attempts

Kobe
5th most points
7th most field goal attempts



alrighty, now that that's clear


next!

[Orangejello727]

Magic, Jerry West and SHaq claim Kobe to the best Laker of all time.

But let me guess, members here know more and consider themselves more knowledge of playing basketball than NBA players like west, shaq and magic who were all players themselves.

Members choice vs NBA HOFs choice?? Who would you put more weight on when the decision has to be made?

[forgiven1]

Originally Posted by Orangejello727

Magic, Jerry West and SHaq claim Kobe to the best Laker of all time.

But let me guess, members here know more and consider themselves more knowledge of playing basketball than NBA players like west, shaq and magic who were all players themselves.

Members choice vs NBA HOFs choice?? Who would you put more weight on when the decision has to be made?

Exactly!....Nuff said!......

[1eyed_jack]

That's the same as him being clutch though. Henry Abbott writes all these articles and people look at stats only and say he's far from clutch, but in every NBA player poll, he's always number one. Which do you trust haha

[jeff152380]

It all depends how you measure the greatest.... I personally think magic Johnson is best laker ever.... He made more of an impact on the court when Kobe makes more of an impact on the box score..... Kobe teammates from past and present don't have a lot of great things to say about playing with him....just about talented he is..... On the other hand all lakers who played with magic loved him and are full of compliments of how great of a teammate he was........

[1eyed_jack]

Originally Posted by jeff152380

It all depends how you measure the greatest.... I personally think magic Johnson is best laker ever.... He made more of an impact on the court when Kobe makes more of an impact on the box score..... Kobe teammates from past and present don't have a lot of great things to say about playing with him....just about talented he is..... On the other hand all lakers who played with magic loved him and are full of compliments of how great of a teammate he was........

Kobe's played with a lot of lazy players. Hence the dislike from his teammates.

I'm sure Derek Fisher has nothing but good things to say about Kobe, but nah, take Andrew Bynums word for it hahahjahahaha

[bdoody42]

The argument originally was for him being the greatest of all time, not being the best laker of all time.