Question: Why is it always held against Kobe that he played with Shaq when Magic had Kareem?

[2Quik4UHoes]

Breh stop it. You asked, "
Why is it always held against Kobe that he played with Shaq when Magic had Kareem?"

Magic wasn't the sidekick. 3 FMVPs to Kobe's 0. Granted, kobe had to go against defensive stoppers like 35 year old reggie Miller, 6' Allen Iverson, 3x DPOY Aaron Mckie, and Lifetime First Team All Defense Richard Jefferson, but at the end of the day, he was a robin.

Kobe: I Took It As An Honor To Be Shaq's Sidekick

'When asked point blank if he was Shaq’s sidekick during the duo’s time together, Kobe responded, “Yea, for sure.”'

I’m not even saying Magic was a sidekick, I’m saying he had Kareem and an amazing cast but that isn’t held against him and Kareem played and won with Big O and Magic but some like to argue he’s the GOAT over MJ. But aren’t his rings no better than the rings people give Kobe shyt for?

If you watched Kobe during that run you know damn well you could’ve replaced Shaq with Duncan or KG and them nikkaz wouldn’t have missed a beat. All five of Kobe’s rings should be respected whether he was the focal point or shared the spotlight.

 

[FAH1223]

Kareem was on the decline when Magic got there.

Kareem was 32 years old when Magic was a rookie. He was still an MVP caliber player.

His decline was slow in the 80s, he wasn't a double-double machine as he got older but was still giving you 20-25 PPG and 2 blocks a night

 

[Techniec]

Kareem got robbed of the 1980 NBA Finals MVP

So in actuality, its really

Magic 2
Kareem 2
Worthy 1

in terms of Finals MVP during the Showtime runs

 

[Techniec]

Kareem was still the teams number one option on offense well into the mid 80s

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

Magic & Kareem
Magic - 3 FMVPs
Kareem - 1 FMVP

Shaq & Kobe
Shaq - 3 FMVPs
Kobe - 0 FMVPs

Durant - 2 FMVPs
Iggy - 1 FMVP
Curry - 0 FMVP

 

[2Quik4UHoes]

Alls I’m sayin is Magic/Kareem are what Kobe/Shaq should’ve been had it not been for stupid shyt. But neither of their rings are negated, they bolstered each other. For some reason it’s different for Kobe when it comes to Shaq.

 

[Techniec]

As for @2Quik4UHoes I see what youre saying but see with the Lakers run, Shaq was the definitive #1, Kobe was clearly the #2

In the Showtime example, Kareem was #1 then it got switched to Magic being #1, overall though, one would probably point to Magic as being more integral overall but not by much, and even that is a reflection of Kareem already having a decade under his belt before Magic showed up

As for Kareems titles...I have him as my personal GOAT, but I easily acknowledge that the one point MJ has over him is that MJ was the man for all 6 of his titles

Kareem was the man for 3 of his 6...a great contributor to the other two

But all this really reflects the context of this discussion...we are discussing legends and all time greats...we have to nitpick

Kobes 5 rings get honoured and respected when it comes to discussing the greatest players ever

But when we have to nitpick and narrow it down to Top 5 or Top 10, then we get into this discussion and its really only then that Kobe being #1 on only 2 of his 5 rings comes up

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

Here's a difference. Kareem was like 32 when Magic got there. Shaq was like 25 when Kobe was drafted. So people are going to say that Shaq/Kobe primes were overlapped.

 

[Dwight Howard]

Kobe averaged 29/7/6 in the 2001 playoffs he averaged 27/9/6 in the 2001 finals yet somehow Shaq carried Kobe. Against the Spurs (2nd best team in the league) he averaged 33/7/6, yet somehow he was carried. It’s funny to me cause Bron averaged 25/8/6 in the 2013 playoffs in which he won finals mvp. Bron fans use shaq to discredit Kobe not realizing that Kobe put up better numbers as a “sidekick” than bron did as the #1 guy and FMVP

 

[2Quik4UHoes]

As for @2Quik4UHoes I see what youre saying but see with the Lakers run, Shaq was the definitive #1, Kobe was clearly the #2

In the Showtime example, Kareem was #1 then it got switched to Magic being #1, overall though, one would probably point to Magic as being more integral overall but not by much, and even that is a reflection of Kareem already having a decade under his belt before Magic showed up

As for Kareems titles...I have him as my personal GOAT, but I easily acknowledge that the one point MJ has over him is that MJ was the man for all 6 of his titles

Kareem was the man for 3 of his 6...a great contributor to the other two

But all this really reflects the context of this discussion...we are discussing legends and all time greats...we have to nitpick

Kobes 5 rings get honoured and respected when it comes to discussing the greatest players ever

But when we have to nitpick and narrow it down to Top 5 or Top 10, then we get into this discussion and its really only then that Kobe being #1 on only 2 of his 5 rings comes up

I respectfully disagree. They were both #1s which was part of what drove them to blows.

 

[Techniec]

I respectfully disagree. They were both #1s which was part of what drove them to blows.

I definitely agree that trying to play Kobe like he was Maxwell to Shaqs Hakeem is disrespectful, but during that three peat we all knew who the man was

 

[10bandz]

the "but he had Shaq" talking point is just a result of the LeGBT Community Nothing more nothing less. No real professional ballers use that against Kobe because they know the deal. Kobe was the better player 2001 and after, Phil Jackson himself acknowledged this....this is common knowledge in real basketball circles

 

[Bryan Danielson]

Shaq the GOAT and

Prime Shaq > Prime Kobe

Was a great era the way Shaq carried those teams

Spoiler

Martha

 

[10bandz]

Thread should have ended right here

No because it's misleading. Kareem should've won FMVP in 1980

 

[2Quik4UHoes]

I definitely agree that trying to play Kobe like he was Maxwell to Shaqs Hakeem is disrespectful, but during that three peat we all knew who the man was

We had two players that were the man. That’s what made that run so special. When one was down the other would pick them up and when they both were on no team could fukk with us.