See this is the shyt, that I don't like about some of y'all player stans. You like to completely absolve a player of the blame, when things go bad but give him all the credit when its good. GTFOH with that he took them from the lottery to 2 championships.
As if HE didnt play for them when they were in the lottery. What was the big change in the team from when they were in the lottery to them winning those titles?
The big change was he got a decent player alongside him. I never said Kobe won titles on his own. But every great player needs some help. And with Gasol, Kobe got a fringe all-star alongside him to go with Odom who was a decent player (but no an all-star). Look at those teams Kobe took to 3 straight finals post-Shaq. Bynum was injured for all 3 runs. The only other all-star alongside him was Gasol. The rest of the players were role players with Odom being the only other dude who could start on any other playoff team.
Kobe during that 3 year run proved he was an elite all-time great who needed just one and a half good players to win a title. His championship teams were no where close to the juggernauts LeBron has had around him for his 3 straight trips to the finals. LeBron had 2 other hall-of-famers during 2010-2012 and had a third (Ray Allen) for this past title. That is way more help than Kobe had when he won his 2 rings in 3 finals appearances.
And how would he have won multiple chips in Charlotte? he wouldn't have had shaq, pau gasol, andrew bynum and phil jackson at charlotte.
Also Kobe w/o Shaq is also kobe minus three rings.
He may not have had those guys but he would've had SOMEONE ELSE. You idiots don't understand what we're saying. We're not saying Kobe BY HIMSELF would've won 5 titles in Charlotte. What we're saying is that Kobe Bryant would still have been as great individually and he would've had some other good players alongside him. Shyt lets just imagine Kobe on the Hornets and just look at some of the rosters they've had post-1996 and see how good they would've been with a superstar like Kobe.
*** yes I know you can't just add Kobe to their roster, it would've changed some of the free agents that came over or the trades that happened or the draft picks......but my argument doesn't depend on this exact roster......its just an argument that shows that you could've had some other decent to really good players alongside a superstar like Kobe and he still would've won titles and been who we know him as now***
Kobe became the superstar we know him to be today in 2001 during the Lakers second title run. If he played on the Hornets that year he would've had a roster of:
PG: Baron Davis (2nd year: 14ppg, 5rpg, 7apg)
SG: Kobe Bryant (22 years old: 29ppg, 6rpg, 5apg)
SF: Jamal Mashburn (28 years old: 20ppg, 8rpg, 5apg)
PF: PJ Brown (31 years old: 8.5 ppg, 9.3 rpg)
C: Elden Campbell (32 years old: 13ppg, 8rpg)
This Hornets roster is WAY MORE talented than any roster Kobe had post-Shaq. That team would easily have been best in the East that year. PJ Brown was a great post-defender. Campbell was a serviceable big man. Mashburn was a legit all-star. Baron Davis was emerging. Add a top 3 players like Kobe to that roster and they suddenly go from 46-36 and the 6th seed in the East to a 56-58 win team that is the #1 seed in the East and competing for a title with Duncan's Spurs. Kobe not A.I. woulda won MVP.
I
f kobe played in Charlotte his career would be no different than the other superstars playing for bad franchises, terrible management,shytty team-mates and bad coaching (Allen Iverson, Tmac, Lebron pre Miami). Just a bunch of gaudy stats and "shoulda-could-woulda".
Yall nikkas are lying to yourselves. The
post-shaq, pre-gasol kobe w/o Phil Jackson showed us EXACTLY how Kobe's career in Charlotte would have been. He put up his best numbers in those years and what happened? First round exits and lottery trips. We already know what Kobe's career in Charlotte would be just watch the Lakers from 2004-2007
, or Tmac's Orlando days, Lebron's Cleveland days his success/failures would be somewhere in the mix of that.
Why you acting like Gasol was some incredible gift? He was a fringe all-star player who never won a playoff game before coming to LA. He was known as skilled but soft. Before playing with Kobe, no one looked at him as the best big man in the NBA. It was only after coming to LA and going to the finals 3 straights years with 2 rings that he got these props.
You pair Kobe with any other all-star player and he would've still been a champion. If not Gasol, then it would've been someone else in Charlotte. shyt I could see Kobe with Baron Davis and Jamal Mashburn dominating the Eastern Conference for the better part of the early 2000s.
He mighta averaged 40ppg for a season and scored 100+ in a game. As great as 2006 Kobe was, he was still 27 and a couple of years past his athletic peak. Kobe career averages would be more along the lines of 28/6/5 rather than 25/5/5 and he would have about 5-6 scoring titles instead of just 2.
nikka that's not how it works. Charlotte has already shown us their inadequacy with surrounding their best players with everything necessary to get it done (baron davis, chris paul).
prob why he's a Clipper.
