Who said Kobe would not be able to score?? He was a known ball hog, everyone knew he was gonna go off.
I never saw Michael Jordan play in his prime....
- Thread starter Swagnificent
- Start date
Who said Kobe would not be able to score?? He was a known ball hog, everyone knew he was gonna go off.
Mic-Nificent
I didn't eat nobody
Who said Kobe would not be able to score?? He was a known ball hog, everyone knew he was gonna go off.
You're either lying or you're not old enough to remember.
"Kobe's not going to be able to score like that without Shaq drawing constant double and triple teams" was damn near the battle cry for people who were sleeping on Kobe during that period.
Imyremeshaw
كن التغير الذي تريد أن تراه في العالم
Shaq was clearly on the downslope of his career. And thanks for help for proven my point even more, Shaq goes to Heat and makes them instant title contenders. The Lakers were shyt until they got Gasol and Bynum together(the modern day twin towers, both 7 footers). Kobe is a legend, the 2nd greatest SG of all time, top 10-15 player of all time, but to act like this nikka is on the level of Shaq is ridicolous.THE MACHINE
night owl
To the OP...Jordan was better, but not by much. The ride you went on through Jordan's career is just 
Imagine the work Kobe has put in and what it would have been like if he was the man for the first three rings and not Shaq, imagine how you would feel about him then. That's the feeling it was during Jordans 6 rings and 6 finals MVPs. When he finally got to the top, he just ripped the hearts out of everyone, over and over. He had no great big his entire career but Pippen was great in his own respect. When his pop died and he won that title, it was 
status. For you this is as good as it gets with Kobe and I understand how you feel, after all he is top 5 DOA, but to have been there to witness Mike was like seeing a slightly better, more dominant version.
The footwork, the daggers from the elbow/elbow extended, game winning isos/clear outs, historic 4th quarters, being able to fade-away over both shoulders, dunking over legends, monster games in MSG, trash talking, occasional fights, championships. You've seen all this once, some of us have seen it twice. The blueprint for Kobe was there, but props to him for being the only one to come close.
Imagine the work Kobe has put in and what it would have been like if he was the man for the first three rings and not Shaq, imagine how you would feel about him then. That's the feeling it was during Jordans 6 rings and 6 finals MVPs. When he finally got to the top, he just ripped the hearts out of everyone, over and over. He had no great big his entire career but Pippen was great in his own respect. When his pop died and he won that title, it was status. For you this is as good as it gets with Kobe and I understand how you feel, after all he is top 5 DOA, but to have been there to witness Mike was like seeing a slightly better, more dominant version. The footwork, the daggers from the elbow/elbow extended, game winning isos/clear outs, historic 4th quarters, being able to fade-away over both shoulders, dunking over legends, monster games in MSG, trash talking, occasional fights, championships. You've seen all this once, some of us have seen it twice. The blueprint for Kobe was there, but props to him for being the only one to come close.
Cynical Thoughts
All Star
So you don't wanna give any player (shaq)room for growth. Why didnt kobe start his first years in the league?
Btw, Who did shaq face in those finals breh? Who did Shaq play against to make it to the finals?
How many finals has Kobe had without a top 3 big. Hell, list Kobe's team accomplishments without top three big men. Y'all act like he won chips with kwame brown or sleve medvindinco. He always had the best at his disposal.
I like how you ignore everything except what you feel you can argue with(which is incorrect also
)We can leave out Dwight
Oh titles don't matter now, huh? Team records don't matter now huh? You just made an argument about how selfish Kobe is.
Cause that shooting guard always had the " goat " organization to always obtain the best big men in history
never said that....I only judge players I've seen......stats and accomplishments are heavily dependent on who you play......if numbers are all that mattered then Wilt would be unanimous #1 on everyone list or Russell because he had 11 rings
I put MJ in the same category as Bird/Magic/Oscar/Wilt. Great players of the past based on their accomplishments but since I never saw them play I can't say they were better or worse than Kobe.
The only statement I make is that from 99-present the best player I've seen is Kobe. PERIOD
not making judgments on anyone who came before or who will come after
its you nikkas who claim Jordan is the best without having seen Wilt/Russel/Oscar play in most cases
Mic-Nificent
I didn't eat nobody
If he was clearly on the downside of his career why were so many people saying the Lakers made a huge mistake in picking Kobe over Shaq?
And you just proved how full of shyt you are.
The two situations for the teams were dramatically different. For one Shaq actually showed up in shape for once, and two the Heat simply had better put together team at that time.
Also to act as if the Lakers just lost Shaq is bullshyt. The entire roster was decimated. The only guys left from the previous season were a bunch of young bench players.
^^^This is true. What's funny about it is, Kobe had his best scoring and efficiency years in the RS and PS Post Shaq
you seem to think I said Kobe was better than Mike.....I only limited my opinion to those I saw play.....and from 99-present Kobe's the best I've seen......better than LeBron, Shaq, Duncan, Wade, Durant, etc.
Cynical Thoughts
All Star
Damn, are nikkas still really on that "he played with Shaq" bullshyt?
Playing with Shaq was obviously helpful in Kobe winning titles, but that has jack shyt to do with how great Kobe is an an individual player.
Actually Shaq had a lot to do with it. That's the reason why Shaq left breh. Kobe couldn't pad his stats and show what he could do if Shaq was there. So Shaq leaves. Them kobes goes off, but loses more all for the sake of stats IMO. Only to get another top 3 center to eventually win again.
And just to prove how full of shyt people are when they say that "All of those rings belong to Shaq"...
Why does that same logic NEVER apply to Magic Johnson?
Magic Johnson is a five time NBA champion yet is only a 3 time finals MVP. Magic Johnson was drafted to a team that already had Kareem (arguably the greatest big man to ever live). Magic Johnson played with multiple hall of famers for the majority of his NBA career.
Taking all that into consideration how come I never hear people say "Magic only deserves credit for 3 of those rings" or "Magic only won with Kareem" or "Magic couldn't win without a bunch of hall of famers".
It's a bullshyt argument that only gets applied to Kobe Bryant.
Cause we ain't talking about magic.
Mitch Kupchak did.....
They knew he was in his prime just like they knew bynums knees were healthy
Dudes in here rewriting history.
When that trade for Shaq went down people were still acting like Shaq was in his prime and saying the Lakers had made the biggest mistake ever.
"You just don't trade Shaquille O'Neal, you'll never get equal value in return. The Lakers will regret this move for years to come".how long after they traded Shaq did they get back to the finals. And what was the reason you think they made it back to the finals?
Kobe himself felt he would have scored 40k points if he did not play with Shaq, where in the hell did you see a story that said Kobe will score less without Shaq, I can see a story saying they will win less (which they did), I can see a story that says his FG% will go down (which also happened), I know what I heard at that time, and it was Kobe is a ball hog, we still hear it today, everyone knew he was gonna shoot every chance he could, he was gonna be the leader of a bad team, it was common sense he was gonna shoot way more and in turn score more.
Cynical Thoughts
All Star
Not saying no one said that but I remember people thinking he was gonna beast but not win shyt without a big man.
I'm sure if you look hard enough you will find people saying Kobe would score more w/out Shaq.
And regardless, it was easier for Kobe to score with Shaq. That don't change the fact that he's a great scorer. Stop with the selective references.
Imyremeshaw
كن التغير الذي تريد أن تراه في العالم
Because it was easier to build around Shaq and Kobe was considered a ball hog and me first player at the time
While I will give you those laker teams in 2004, 2005-2007 were badly constructed, from eye test standpoint Kobe was trying to hard to prove himself, to be like mike, he did nothing, let me say it again nothing to show he was on the level of dominance as Shaq.
if kobe is better than jordan how come wade was able to win with this squad and kobe wasn't?
make each player a little bit older and replace injured Malone with an injured Mourning and you got 2006 championship heat team.
make each player a little bit older and replace injured Malone with an injured Mourning and you got 2006 championship heat team.