What would 2005-2006 Kobe average today with that same squad?

[Goatpoacher]

We really don't know how much X player would score in Y era. All i can say is that occasionally some knowledgeable people make good arguments. I have not seen a single good argument in this thread.

George Gervin would have averaged 48 ppg in this era.

 

[Dwight Howard]

Easily 40. Thing that made Kobe so special was his mentality. He was always in attack mode, on that 05-06 team he probably wouldn't have any game under 30 points in today's league, his aggressiveness wouldn't allow it. He would easily throw up 30+ shots per game

 

[Remote]

One thing everyone is ignoring is that "Kobe would shoot more threes!" would hardly change his ppg at all. Shooting extra threes at 34% is only going to be a fractional improvement over the midrange shots Kobe was taking at 43%. Do the math.

Back in 2006, Kobe played 41 minutes a game and shot 27 times a game. Almost 7 of those were threes. Let's say Kobe shoots 10 threes/game in 2021. That's a crazy-high number, just 1 behind Steph. But how much would it increase his scoring average?

If he shoots 3 extra threes at 34.7%, that's 3.1 extra points a game. But you have to take into account that those extra threes don't come out of nowhere, he shoots 3 fewer midrange, right? Well in 2006, Kobe shot about 43% from midrange. So 3 fewer midrange shots at 43% is 2.6 points/game he would lose from fewer midrange.

So Kobe shooting 27 times a game with 10 threes a game would lead to exactly......0.5 ppg more than he averaged in 2006.

In order to get up to 38-39 ppg like some of y'all are claiming, he'd have to be playing 40+ minutes a game AND shooting 30 times a game AND have 10 of those shots be threes. And the idea that Kobe would play 40+ minutes and shooting 30+ times a game right now is more than a little bit silly.

#math

 

[Remote]

These mythological threads always assume that a player could magically take all the benefits of a new era and none of the disadvantages

Man, they don't even hear you

 

[Professor Emeritus]

I THINK ARENAS IS DEFINITELY A BETTER SCORER THAN BEAL........

If Beal is getting 35 Kobe is getting 40 at least imo

Bradley Beal doesn’t have a fraction of Kobes scoring ability and that’s not stopping him from getting 35 a night.

"If Beal is getting 35 then Curry and KD will be getting 40!!!"

Oh wait, they're not. That's why it's innately stupid to compare to just one player. Jerry fukking Stackhouse averaged 30ppg in Kobe's era and he isn't half the scorer that Beal is.

Plus Beal is only getting 33ppg and that will probably fall close to 30ppg (his career high) by the end of the season.

Im just assuming that with the emphasis on shooting threes, plus the pace, plus the lack of interior defense, plus freedom of movement, plus you gotta give the shooter space to shoot or else it’s an automatic foul mixed with; Kobes 2006 mindset which was to score as much as possible to get the lakers into the playoffs that he’d average way more than the 35 he was putting up.

As others have pointed out, they called way more fouls in 2006. Trae was 2nd in the NBA in free throws with just 8/game in 2020, meanwhile there were SIX guys shooting 10+ free throws in 2006. Harden's flopping ass managed 10.2 fta/game last year, that would have been just tied for 5th in 2006. So how can you just assume that Kobe would average more free throws when everyone else shoots fewer?

And Kobe was almost entirely a jump shooter by 2006, he only took 20% of his shots at the rim even counting fast breaks. So why are y'all talking about interior defense so much? It's not like interior defense was stopping Bron or AI or Arenas from putting up huge numbers either in 2006, and all of them actually had inferior jump shots to Bean.

As we keep pointing out, the pace has increased 10% but as a result minutes have decreased 10%. Kobe wasn't playing 43 minutes/game in the slow-pace era even though his team needed him, so why would he play 40 minutes/game in the fast-paced era when literally no one in the entire NBA does that? Kobe was 5th in minutes in 2006, he'd be about the same in 2021, playing 36-37 minutes/game like the other big stars with no help. Pace increase and minutes decrease cancel out.

The NBA was a more balanced league back then. Funny thing is the guys you named would be small ball 5s in today's NBA

I mean Charlotte is playing PJ Washington at the 5 in some lineups, GS is playing Draymond at the 5 in some lineups, the Lakers play Harrell at the 5 in some lineups, the Raptors play Siakam at the 5 in some lineups

Kobe routinely had to go through trees to get buckets...I'm not implying every PF back then was a def stopper, but it's easier to score over a 6'7 PF than a 6'10 PF

Average power forward height hasn't dropped 3 inches, its dropped 1 inch max.

And fukking Carlos Boozer and Boris Diaw weren't keeping Kobe away from the rim nor were they even guarding Kobe at any point, regardless of their height. Dirk is a 7-footer but Kobe wasn't worried about him, was he? You're talking like these slow-ass offensive-focused forwards were the reason Kobe wasn't scoring at the rim when they didn't even slide over into the key like that.

He didn't "go through the trees" though. Only 20% of his shots were at the rim, counting fast breaks. By 2006 Kobe's game wasn't focused on driving like it had been earlier. And if he DID focus on driving he would have to expend far more energy, which would make it even less likely that he'd play 40+ minutes and take 30+ shots/game like y'all keep claiming he would.


Not one person who has claimed Kobe would average 40+ ppg has actually calculated how many shots it would take him to get there. He'd have to lead the NBA in shots taken, 3pts taken, and FTs taken by massive margins. When back in 2006 he was only barely ahead of Iverson in shots, well behind Ray Allen in threes, and in a distant 5th in free throws. So why would 2021 Kobe take way more shots than Beal, way more threes than Curry, and way more free throws than Harden when he wasn't even doing that in 2006?

 

[Professor Emeritus]

The scenario clearly states with his 05-06 roster...and we know they were incapable of generating their own offense

If Kobe was forced to play with his 2006 roster than the spacing would be absolute shyt, right? Who was the biggest 3pt threat on that team, Smush Parker?

So there goes any hope of the "open court" era helping Kobe. Opposing defenses wouldn't have to respect anyone else. Teams would play a zone completely focused on not letting Kobe get jack shyt, trap him and force the ball out of his hands like they do to Dame or Curry when they don't have help (and both Dame and Curry have deeper range than Kobe to stretch that defense themselves). What would opposing defenses have to worry about that would keep them from using the zone to force Kobe away from all his spots?

 

[Remote]

This thread is just another example of Kobe stans looking to inflate the greatness of their already-great hero.

It isn't enough to just appreciate and acknowledge what Kobe was. They have to create narratives that somehow he would be even better in this era...which is just subtly bashing today's players.

And the saddest part of all is that by @Rhakim using math and logic to point out that Kobe (and candidly...most other players of the past) would likely perform at a similar level of greatness today (not much better or worse)...people will interpret this as "hating".

 

[ISO]

There’s no need for anyone to score 40 points per game in today’s league.

 

[FunkDoc1112]

This thread is just another example of Kobe stans looking to inflate the greatness of their already-great hero.

It isn't enough to just appreciate and acknowledge what Kobe was. They have to create narratives that somehow he would be even better in this era...which is just subtly bashing today's players.

And the saddest part of all is that by @Rhakim using math and logic to point out that Kobe (and candidly...most other players of the past) would likely perform at a similar level of greatness today (not much better or worse)...people will interpret this as "hating".

People here view Kobe as a comic book character so they project some fanboy bullshyt onto him while ignoring logic.

'87 Jordan took 27.8 shots on a horrible team in a league that played at the same pace it does now...but they think Kobe Bryant would be out here taking THIRTY shots. It's just pure, child-like fan worship.

 

[High quality poster]

This thread is just another example of Kobe stans looking to inflate the greatness of their already-great hero.

It isn't enough to just appreciate and acknowledge what Kobe was. They have to create narratives that somehow he would be even better in this era...which is just subtly bashing today's players.

And the saddest part of all is that by @Rhakim using math and logic to point out that Kobe (and candidly...most other players of the past) would likely perform at a similar level of greatness today (not much better or worse)...people will interpret this as "hating".

No it isn’t, y’all nikkas is just haters

y’all could have easily posted your opinions on how much you think he would have scored and just kept it pushing and got on with ya wack ass day.... instead y’all trying to challenge other nikkas

@Rhakim argument is all conjecture.

 

[BigTyme Records]

/ thread. Good post.

 

[madness]

This thread is just another example of Kobe stans looking to inflate the greatness of their already-great hero.

It isn't enough to just appreciate and acknowledge what Kobe was. They have to create narratives that somehow he would be even better in this era...which is just subtly bashing today's players.

And the saddest part of all is that by @Rhakim using math and logic to point out that Kobe (and candidly...most other players of the past) would likely perform at a similar level of greatness today (not much better or worse)...people will interpret this as "hating".

One of them really said Kobe would play 48 minutes per game in today’s NBA

 

[FunkDoc1112]

No it isn’t, y’all nikkas is just haters

y’all could have easily posted your opinions on how much you think he would have scored and just kept it pushing and got on with ya wack ass day.... instead y’all trying to challenge other nikkas

@Rhakim argument is all conjecture.

Y'all call us haters when you guys dedicate thread after thread to hating on the entire league the last 7 years

 

[Remote]

No it isn’t, y’all nikkas is just haters

literally proving my point.

 

[Professor Emeritus]

There’s no need for anyone to score 40 points per game in today’s league.

Harden was the ONLY player in the NBA who took more than 21 shots/game last year, but they have Kobe shooting well over 30.

Harden was the ONLY player in the NBA who took more than 8 free throws/game last year, but they have Kobe shooting 15+.

It doesn't make any sense.

People here view Kobe as a comic book character so they project some fanboy bullshyt onto him while ignoring logic.

'87 Jordan took 27.8 shots on a horrible team in a league that played at the same pace it does now...but they think Kobe Bryant would be out here taking THIRTY shots. It's just pure, child-like fan worship.

Oh, they're going to ignore that shyt for sure. Not one of them has calculated how many shots Kobe would actually need to get 40+ points, or why he would be shooting 10 times/game more than the 2nd place guy in 2021 when he only shot 2 times/game more than the 2nd place guy in 2006.

@Rhakim argument is all conjecture.

The whole thread is conjecture.

There's still a difference between conjecture based in reality and conjecture based in fantasy.