Why does Shaq get a pass for playing with Kobe?

[Swagnificent]

Shaq - Scoring title, reg season MVP, 3 FMVPs

Kobe - None of that

"but bu.....I know all that, but it was kobe's team too, he was equal I promise"


Everyone knows who's team that is, stop with this equal BS "but but but the spurs series"

That happened in the 1999-2000 season when Kobe was 21 years old and starting a full 82 games for the first time in his career while Shaq was 28 and in his physical peak. Shaq was hands down the best player on the team that year. And even though Kobe was still a 2nd team All-NBA/1st team All-Defense player in 2000, Shaq was the clear #1 option. That is the only year you can say Kobe was a sidekick.

There is a reason Shaq didn't win another MVP after 2000. That because Kobe took his game to another level in 2001 and 2002. Kobe went from top 10 player in 2000 to becoming arguably the #1 or #2 best player in the NBA in 2001. You might be too young to remember but in 2001, the big debate was who's team is it? Kobe led the NBA in scoring for most of that season. He was averaging 29ppg in the regular season. People were talking about Kobe surpassing Shaq that season. It was a major reason for the beef between Kobe and Shaq.

In 2001 and 2002, Kobe averaged about the number of PPG as Shaq in both the regular season and playoffs. Kobe led the team in assists and steals while Shaq led the team in rebounds and blocks. It was a 1a/1b type of relationship. As I stated many times already, 29 PPG, 7 RPG, and 6 APG are not the type of stats a sidekick puts up. Those are best player in the NBA type of stats. Those are numbers LeBron averaged in the 2013 playoffs when he won his second ring. The only reason Shaq was Finals MVP in 2001 and 2002 was because both years the Lakers faced weak competition from the East that had no answer for him. Against the best teams in the West it was typically Kobe that led the way.

 

[Swagnificent]

Enough with this revisionist history shaq was hands down the best player in that Portland series and shaq use to kill the spurs,kings, trailblazers etc etc and he was going against Duncan,cwebb,sheed,sabonis,Robinson and dominated time in and time out meanwhile Kobe had to worry about fukking Doug Christie don't ever disrespect shaq like that get that Stan out your heart and admit it was Shaqs team he was the best player in the league during that time Duncan was second then it's a toss up between cwebb,kobe,kg,kidd and ai

In the do or die game 7 it was Kobe that led the team in scoring and led them to victory. Shaq was choking that night eventhough he was the better player that whole series. Kobe saved Shaq's butt that game and then later in game 4 of the finals. With that said, Kobe was a sidekick in 2000.

However, in 2001 and 2002, he took his game to another level. He averaged 29/7/6 in 2001 and 27/6/5 in 2002. Those are not the stats of a sidekick anymore. There was talk in 2001 about who's team is it? People started saying it was Kobe's team and that Kobe had surpassed him as the best player in the NBA.

 

[Bilz]

Shaq - Scoring title, reg season MVP, 3 FMVPs

Kobe - None of that

"but bu.....I know all that, but it was kobe's team too, he was equal I promise"


Everyone knows who's team that is, stop with this equal BS "but but but the spurs series"

Truth. Kobe was not touching Shaq, and I am a huge Kobe fan

 

[MalikX]

When did this "Kobe was a sidekick" narrative start? Nobody was saying this stuff back in 2000 - 2004. It picked up storm when LeBron came in the league and his fan club needed reasons to attack Kobe but, I swear I don't remember a soul saying this back in '01, '02 or '03.

I was just getting into basketball then so I halfheartedly cheered for my home squad which was the Sixers and when they played in 2001, the mindset was Iverson was the pride of Philly trying to take on the juggernaut Los Angeles Lakers team that had TWO of the leagues best players. The mindset was it wasn't fair how good Kobe & Shaq were. No one...nowhere at that point in time, was like Shaq is the GREATEST ALIVE and Kobe is a scrub. The mindset was how can any one team stop the best center in the league and the best shooting guard in the league? The Lakers were kinda hated by most people because of it.

Half of the people shytting on Kobe are like 23 years old, so they would've been 7 years old back in 2001. Makes sense

We used to clown the fukk out of Shaq for not being able to hit his free throws. That was a running joke in the media back then, that Shaq couldn't shoot to save his life. So it was often Kobe closing out games because teams would hack Shaq to force him to the line so he was taken out in alot of 4th quarter situations. Yall would know that if you weren't 22 years old and actually remembered what happened.

The Kobe hate started imo some time around 2004, 2005, 2006, after Kobe got hit with the rape case and Shaq got pushed out of LA. There was also the friction between Kobe & Shaq beforehand. Then Shaq won a ring and people started with the narrative that Kobe couldn't win without Shaq. And Kobe kept losing which fanned the flames even more. Then Wade, Melo and Bron came in the league in 2004 and by 2006 were starting to become the next generation of stars so people flocked to them leaving Kobe, T-Mac, Vince, AI and all the other old players behind but, because Kobe had 3 rings and their favorite players didn't (Wade/Bron) they had to discredit Kobe further to make themselves feel good about it. So the "Kobe had Shaq" narrative began. Then Kobe went to the Finals three times, winning two between 2008 and 2010, while their favorite players failed repeatedly which made the insecurity grow stronger and led to more people perpetuating the narrative of "Kobe's first three rings don't count".

Unless you're late 20s/early 30s, I don't want to hear your opinion on Kobe because you weren't old enough. If you are old enough and you still have that opinion, cool but, I don't remember people back in 2002 or 2001 talking about Kobe was a scrub being carried. That's revisionist history. The viewpoint was LA was a two headed monster. You had a center nobody could guard because he outweighed everybody by 80lbs and you had a shooting guard that could put up 30 points on any given night. THAT WAS THE NARRATIVE. You can't just say any all-star guard back then could have worked with Shaq because A) Kobe has proven himself to be a superstar/top 7 player/HOF guard while T-Mac/A.I./Paul Pierce/Vince did not B) none of those guys had Kobe's success in the playoffs whether you're talking early 2000s or late 2000s C) Shaq never won without an elite shooting guard/perimeter player (Wade or Kobe) and he played with lots of them and D) it works just as easily the other way around, take Kobe off of LA and plug him down in San Antonio with Tim Duncan and it's 7 rings You see how good Pop got Kawhi looking? Imagine if he had a young Kobe down there

 

[MalikX]

Wade never gets the credit he deserves he carried that heat team they literally have no shot of winning without him dude was a certified, superstar, cold blooded killer by just his 2nd/3rd year a healthy wade is just as great as anyone in the history of the game and I'd take a healthy prime wade before any 2guard not named mj

I still prefer Kobe but, in their primes, there's very little difference between them. Over their career, there is but, Prime Wade v.s. Prime Kobe used to be must watch TV.