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May 18, 2013, 2:54 pm
michael jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time but kobe is the best,what i mean is that in terms of transcedning the sport and having the most impact then its MJ no doubt buit when it comes to being a master of the craft then kobe tops mj
this is a high baskegtball iq break down of the kobe bryant mj comparisons an intelectual discussion that wont be diminished by those who look at jordan as if he is the god of basketballl like challenging his supermacy is an act of blasphemy or somthin you know the type im talkin bout ,the niggaz that actualy think jordan can fly or act like he never missed a shot
in my opinion kobes the best player the nba has ever seen in terms of talent but since i couldnt bring myself to put the number 2 in front of mjs name i ended up ranking kobe as number 1 and jordan as number 1A .i did nt come to my conclusion by looking at their stats .OBVIOUSLY jordans stats are far superior but i had 2 reasons for this, the first reason is that Kobe and jordan played in different era s this had a significant impact on their stats because
1) in jordans era teams typicly averaged FAR more points per game than teams do to today in fact 102 ppg today is good enough for a team to lead the league in scoring, shit back then that might be good enough for 7th 9th or 10th place
A. more points equals more chances for assists ,more points equals more shot attempts which equals more chances for rebounds and blocks ,you get where im going with this?
B. its easier to pat your stats in this type of game enviorment .jordan was known to head over to the scoring table and frequently check his stats up until the 89 season
C Jordan had more opprtunitys to play one on one balll because in that era the zone defenbse was illegal kobe does not have that luxury since david stern legalized the zone defense in 2001
. its true that in jordans era defenders where allowed to play way more physical than defenders do today and that did make it harder for jordan to score ,but the flip side of that coin is that it benefited him when it was his turn to play defense because he had the luxury of hand checking and playing physical defense ,
in addition players in kobe s era are far more athletic than those in jordans era ,n thats not up for debate some of thos cats playin in the 80 s couldnt make an nba roster today because advancments in technology and medicine have made todays players a completly different breed than those from the past
the seccond reason i didnt weigh stats so heavily is because kobe and jordan had two very different paths to follow in terms of what role s they played on their teams
jordan only had 1 role and that was being the center piece ,kobe s role has evolved from playing 15 minuter a game as a rookie ,then being a sixth man of the year canidate as a sophmore to being shaqs sidekick in 1999 and their 2000 title run ,then one half of a dynamic duo from 2001 to 2004 it wasnt until kobes 9th season that he finaly got the chance jordan had enjoyed his entire career to be option 1.
basicly kobe sacrificed stats for tittles he had to share shots with shaq resulting in his points taking a hit ,that plus being on the bench his 1st 2 seasons (becaui\se the coach thought he was too flashy)OBVIOUSLY wasnt doing kobe any favors in the stats department
in ranking KOBE number 1 And jordan number 1 A i didnt use career awards as a scale either why? well lets put it this way,the best movie doesnt alwayz win the oscar.
if we where to base who the best player is on how many awards he has won then we wouldnt have any discussion here .bill russell has 11 rings
so if the debate of who is the best player in history revolves around accolades then that clearly must mean bill russells the greatst but neither you nor i would choose russell over jordan in a pick up game therefore accolades cant be the end all be all of the debate if it was then i guess you would have to rank kareem over jordan because he has 6 mvps to jordans 5 and has scored more points than Any 1 else but few people would do that therefore accolades are not the only thing that matter
people should know by now the politics behind the nba for example steve nash only won back to back MVPS for the same reason the leuge was more than happy to give dirk the nvp in 07 to appeal to an international market besides at the time kobe was a highly polarizing and slightly contreversial figure,after the rape case the nba couldnt afford to take a chance and have him be the marquee player though he deserveds the mvp in 2003,2006,2007 before winning it in 2008
this is not to say i have left stats or accololades out of the equation because i took them into account but in my opinion those who really understand the game of basketball recognize only 1 true test to see who the best player is.
the eye test ,as in what you see with your own two eyes, i dont need no advanced metric blah blah blah stat to tell me carmello can shoot and neither should you if you actualy got love for the game i judge players on their skill level above everything else so those whio say jordan would completly shit on kobe in a match up ,that he could beat kobe 50 to 5 in a 1 0n 1 game must have forgoten that kobe and jordan played in the same leuge at the same time and how an 18 year old kobe str8 off the bench and fresh out of high school hung 36 on jordan in their 1st game against each other then dropped 55 on him the last time they played against each other
i ve watched ENIRE games from both of their careers not just higlights of kobes 81 point game or jordan switching hands in mid air but full lenght games.'
in my studys i break it down like this
SCORING: kobe needs less space to create a shot than jordan does and frequently makes many shots i have never seen jordan or anybody else make he is a better shooter than jordan in any scenario but especialy from behind the arc ,kobes has made nearly 3 times more 3 s in his career than jordan did in his
.
kobe may have been more explosive with his 1st step and have better body control in mid air (watch his limbs during ever lay up attempt )but jordan stays up there longer he got more hang time and can soar to the rim from a further distance in addition to that he had those big hands which allow him to go str8 up in the air and handle buissness as opposed to kobe who has to waste one split seccond securing the ball in his hands before going up,and basketball is a game of split secconds so that is a major difference so i give jordan the slightest edge on who is better scoring around the rim though MJ has the clear advantage when it comes to getting there in the first place
the very first thing scottie pippen said when asked to compare jordan to kobe (rember paxson has said kobe is the better player ) and what he always repeats is that Kobe can really dribble the ball and thats y he is harder to stop than jordan ,this is the real differnce between the two offenslvy ,that kobe has superior handles ,not BETTER but SUPERIOR and anybody with two eyes can see this
PASSING
f the 5 names in the NBA 30 000 point club kobe has the most assists showing the greatest ability to score and pass simultenously ,kobe was the primary facilitator on his 3 peat team with shaq and has always been the one to intiate L.A S offense a burden MJ did not alwayz have because that burden usually belonged to scottie pippen kobe is the better passer stratigcly as well as i terms of skill even phil jackson has said he hasa better court awarness than MJ
Of course Michael jordan has the edge in defense but kobe is close enough to make it interesting apart from ball denial ,there is nothing on defense jordan did that kobe cant do it s just that jordan ALWAYZ played both sides of the ball with equal intensity thats never been the case with kobe hiowever jordans defensive prowess declined dramticly by the 95-96 campaign to below the average (,iverson exposed this fact with that 96 crossover)while kobe s defense is still in an elite class even if it has fallen off ,meaning kobes been able to stay an elite defender for a longer period of time than jordan was able to do
kobe is a more versatile defender because while jordan was able to guaud smalll forwards and shooting guards the same way kobe can ,kobe s ability to match up with quicker ,skilled point guards is unrivaled by any other big guard in nba history .there are plenty of players i ve watched kobe shutdown regatrdless of position including chris paul,dwayne wade,rondo ,T mac,jason terry etc but jordan remains on top and is more likly to come up with a steal or a blocked shot
i ve seen jordan play with the flu but i also saw kobe head up to cleveland and sink clutch shots in the 4th quarter in lebrons face while also playing with the flu ,i watched kobe drop 24 points in 1 quarter over and around tracy mcgrady while playing with an injured shoulder ,jordan never did that .rember that 1 shot lebron hit during the 2012 finals against oklahoma with a sprained knee impresive but kobe played through the entire 2010 post season draining his knee before every game on his way to a championship ,the point is even when his hurt you can count on kobe n while no one disputes MJs ability to play through pain kobe bryants ability in this regard surpasses michaels
im not gonna choose against either one in a clutch situation but i swill say this,in the clutch you can count on jordan to take and make a good shot but you can count on kobe to take and make a bad one .when it comes to competetive drive i give kobe the edge because i cant imagine him vo;untarily retirng from basketball to go play baseball
some impresive accomplishments under kobes belt include
- becoming the only player in NBA history to single handedly out score a team by himself when he outscored the dallas mavericks 62-61 on his way to having the only 60 point game in 3 quarters or less that the nba has ever seen (note, even jordans 63 points against the celtics came in 4 quarters with an overtime and MJ s career high ,69 ,against cleveland came in 4 quarters with 2 overtimes.kobe later dropped 61 in only 32 minutes at madison square garden in 09 )
-kobe holds the record for most 3 s in a game at 12 vs seattle
-the most game winning or game tieng shots with 10 secconds or less in Nba History
- a 40 point 1st half when he dropped 55 on jordan back in 03
-4 game streak scoring 50 or more points in 2007(seccond most all time behind wilts 7)
-being the youngest player in NBA history to recieve defensive honors ,and the youngest player to win the slam dunk contest
-the only NBA player in history to score 600 or more points in 3 consecutive playoff runs(2008,2009,2010
- 9 game streak scoring 40 or more points in 2003(seccond most all time behind WILTS 13)
-4 game streak scoring 40 or more points in 2012(the most ever for a player over 30) ,and a 56 point effort thru 3 quarters against memphis in the year 2000
-did i forget the 81 point game against toronto in january 06?
-tied for the most all star game MVPS in NBA history
-most 3 pointers in 1 half (8 against MJs Wizards
-kobe has the most defensive 1st team honors in NBA history
-133 career 40 point games third most all time behind wilt and jordan
-averaged 43.4 ppg the month of january 06 ,the 2nd highest total in a month for any player not named wilt chamberlain
-also averaged 40.6 ppg the month of febuary 03 ,5th most all time for any player not named wilt chamberlain
-2009 finals averaging 33 points 5.5 rebounds and 7 assists ,the highest combination of assists and points for any player in thde finals accept jerry west in 1969
-lakers all time leading scorer in addition to holding 13 other laker records
-holds NBA record for most consecurive 3 pointers made at 9
-holds record for highest percent of teams points made in any 1 game at 66.4% when he dropped 81 at staples canter vs toronto
-13 straight 35 plus point games streak
- one of only 4 players with more than 1 60 point game incling wilt,MJ and elgin baylor
-5 straight 40 plus point game sreak in 07
-3rd most 50 point games in nba history(the vast majority of them came AFTER Shaq left L.A)
-most points at madison square garden and 5 other arena s
-lead his team to the finals 7 times
-5 time NBA Champion (2000 2001 2002 2009 2010
-2008 NBA MVP
-2006 ,2007 SCORING CHAMPION
-1997 slam dunk Champion
-2 TIME Finals MVP(2009,2010
-15 time ALL Star
-4 time All STar Game MVP
-15 all NbA Team selection s( 11 ALL NBA 1st Team)
-12 All Defensive team selections (9 All defensive 1st team)
-highest win shares in 2001 playoffs at 3.8
-most all star game points
-Record for most offensive rebounds in an ALL Star game at 10
-most freetjrows made in a 4 game series 51 vs sacremento in 2001
-Nba record for most steals in 1 half at 6 on February 13, 2006 vs. Utah Jazz
-most points on christmas day showcase
-1996 naismith high school player of the year (averaging 30.8 points, 12.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 4.0 steals and 3.8 blocks per game)
-1996 gatorade high school player of the year
-1996 mcdonalds all american
-The all-time leading scorer in Southeastern Pennsylvania school history with 2,883 pointssurpassing Wilt Chamberlain (2,359
-PIAA Highschool state championship after leading his team to 27 straight wins
-27th player to enter NBA straight out of high school
-TNT player of the Decade Award (2000s)
those who say kobe was shaqs sidekick for his 1st 3 rings are simply incorrect ,so ok they have a point about the 2000 season the only championship kobe was shaqs seccond banana but even that tittle would have never made it to tinsel town if L.A had lost game 7 of the western confrence finals to the blazers evrybody forgets that while shaq scored 18 points in that game he disapeared in the 2nd half kobe on the other hand finished the game with 25 points(most of them in the 2nd half) 11 rebounds 7 assists and 4 blocks ,then there was game 4 in the 2000 finals againsr reggie millers pacers ,after not playing in game 3 because of an injured ankle kobe returned to drop 24 points in the 2nd half of game 4 including the clutch shots in overtime after shaq fouled out this gave L.A a 3-1 series league .
kobe was always the primary facilitator on those championship teams people like to say shaq made the game easier for kobe cuz he was getting double teamed i find rhis hilarious because kobe was drawing double teams roo and made the game easier for shaq too ,hnow many times have we seen bhiglights of kobe penetrating into the paint drawing a seccond defender then dropping the ball into shaqs hands for a wide open power slam ,in thise season s kobe was averaging simular numbers to vince carter,sand tmac even though they where option 1 and he was option 1A on their respective teams
in addition kobe was the closer on thos teams yes i know derek fisher and robert horry where instrumental at the end of games also,but there s a differnce between hitting 1 game winning shot and controling the action for a 5 minute duration in the 4th quarter or overtime what i mean is without kobe s skill in closing games L.A would nt even be in the position to take or make a game winning shot regardless of who makes it if kobe doesnt do enough to get them kinto striking range in the first plasce,kobes game winners from this era are quickly forgoten
jordans best season stats wise is when he put up 32 points 8 rebounds and 8 assits so tell me how anybody can honestly say shaq carried kobe during their run when kobe put up 30 points 7 rebounds and 6 assists in 1 of those seasons they say shaq was the only reason for even the 2001 tittle dispite the fact kobe wasa putting up 29.4 points 7.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists during the 2001 playoffs . shaq was averaging 29.5 points ,do you mean to tell me that a .10 differnce in scoring justifys people saying shaq carried kobne that year ,even the next season in 02 it was kobe s effecient ,self sacrificing style of play that kept the lakers running like well oiled nachine his near triple double in game 7 of the 2002 western confrence finals is entiley forgaotten
another argument against kobe was his shooting percentage in game 7 of the 2010 finals fair enough but kobe STILL was the games leading score and he DID have 15 rebounds ,in a game decided by 5 points 15 rebounds makes all the difference in the world . i rember after game 5 when he had 38 points including 17 straight during a 3 minute span in the 3rd quarter the only thing the media sayed about it nthe next day was how selfish kobe was which brings me to my next point
the number one differnce between jordan and kobe s legacy s is how they where potrayed by the media MJ is a heroe the media has no love 4 kobe whatsoever even right now with his injury we see many media members gloating about it this wouldnt happen with lebron or jordan becuase david stern has a love affir with both of them .they have mostly been media darlings with lebron you watch a heat game or the highluight reel and all hyou here bout is LBJ it got tlo the pouint the other day that i was watching a heat gsme then when they showed the back of wades jersey i was suprised because i had completlky forgot he was on the court nall they choose to tsalk about is lebron they tellin you what he ate for breakfast what he wore to sleep etc
when watching kobe it s almost like you can feel him holdin baxc he does just enough to secure a victory and is not as cioncerened about patting his stats like lebron james or a younger michael jordan if you book back thru his most memroable poerfomances it s suprising jut how many of them where born out of neccesity
like the 50 point streak in 2007 when he scoreed 50 or mnore points for 4 straight games ,the most consecutive 50 point game streak behind wilt s 7 though he averaged 31 points for the vseason kobes primnary focus was keeping his teamatres involved and he did not lookj to score as much as he could have it was onkly after a 67y gvame losing satreak that phil jackson gave him the green light to do what he does
gthe 81 point game is another example bdecause the lakers where trailing most of that game and where still down buy as much as 19 points even after kobe caught fire
his 9 game streak scoring 40 or more points back in 2003 was only neccesary because the defending champion lakers found themselfes with a losing record at that point in the season this streak is the most 40 point game streak in nba history behind only jordans 13 game streak
i envy kobe vcuz he had the opportunity to face the games most legendary players he is literally the only 1 that can say that at one point or another in his career he had serious rivalrys 1st with MJ in the 90s Iverson and his own teamate shaq in the early 2000 s Tracy mcgrady and wade in the mid 2000 s and now lebron who else can say they played against charles barkley david robinson carmelo anthiony reggie miller karl malone allen iverson kevin durant kevin garnett derek rose penny hardaway scottie pippen dwight howard hakeem olujuwon and tim duncan all in 1 career
this is a high baskegtball iq break down of the kobe bryant mj comparisons an intelectual discussion that wont be diminished by those who look at jordan as if he is the god of basketballl like challenging his supermacy is an act of blasphemy or somthin you know the type im talkin bout ,the niggaz that actualy think jordan can fly or act like he never missed a shot
in my opinion kobes the best player the nba has ever seen in terms of talent but since i couldnt bring myself to put the number 2 in front of mjs name i ended up ranking kobe as number 1 and jordan as number 1A .i did nt come to my conclusion by looking at their stats .OBVIOUSLY jordans stats are far superior but i had 2 reasons for this, the first reason is that Kobe and jordan played in different era s this had a significant impact on their stats because
1) in jordans era teams typicly averaged FAR more points per game than teams do to today in fact 102 ppg today is good enough for a team to lead the league in scoring, shit back then that might be good enough for 7th 9th or 10th place
A. more points equals more chances for assists ,more points equals more shot attempts which equals more chances for rebounds and blocks ,you get where im going with this?
B. its easier to pat your stats in this type of game enviorment .jordan was known to head over to the scoring table and frequently check his stats up until the 89 season
C Jordan had more opprtunitys to play one on one balll because in that era the zone defenbse was illegal kobe does not have that luxury since david stern legalized the zone defense in 2001
. its true that in jordans era defenders where allowed to play way more physical than defenders do today and that did make it harder for jordan to score ,but the flip side of that coin is that it benefited him when it was his turn to play defense because he had the luxury of hand checking and playing physical defense ,
in addition players in kobe s era are far more athletic than those in jordans era ,n thats not up for debate some of thos cats playin in the 80 s couldnt make an nba roster today because advancments in technology and medicine have made todays players a completly different breed than those from the past
the seccond reason i didnt weigh stats so heavily is because kobe and jordan had two very different paths to follow in terms of what role s they played on their teams
jordan only had 1 role and that was being the center piece ,kobe s role has evolved from playing 15 minuter a game as a rookie ,then being a sixth man of the year canidate as a sophmore to being shaqs sidekick in 1999 and their 2000 title run ,then one half of a dynamic duo from 2001 to 2004 it wasnt until kobes 9th season that he finaly got the chance jordan had enjoyed his entire career to be option 1.
basicly kobe sacrificed stats for tittles he had to share shots with shaq resulting in his points taking a hit ,that plus being on the bench his 1st 2 seasons (becaui\se the coach thought he was too flashy)OBVIOUSLY wasnt doing kobe any favors in the stats department
in ranking KOBE number 1 And jordan number 1 A i didnt use career awards as a scale either why? well lets put it this way,the best movie doesnt alwayz win the oscar.
if we where to base who the best player is on how many awards he has won then we wouldnt have any discussion here .bill russell has 11 rings
so if the debate of who is the best player in history revolves around accolades then that clearly must mean bill russells the greatst but neither you nor i would choose russell over jordan in a pick up game therefore accolades cant be the end all be all of the debate if it was then i guess you would have to rank kareem over jordan because he has 6 mvps to jordans 5 and has scored more points than Any 1 else but few people would do that therefore accolades are not the only thing that matter
people should know by now the politics behind the nba for example steve nash only won back to back MVPS for the same reason the leuge was more than happy to give dirk the nvp in 07 to appeal to an international market besides at the time kobe was a highly polarizing and slightly contreversial figure,after the rape case the nba couldnt afford to take a chance and have him be the marquee player though he deserveds the mvp in 2003,2006,2007 before winning it in 2008
this is not to say i have left stats or accololades out of the equation because i took them into account but in my opinion those who really understand the game of basketball recognize only 1 true test to see who the best player is.
the eye test ,as in what you see with your own two eyes, i dont need no advanced metric blah blah blah stat to tell me carmello can shoot and neither should you if you actualy got love for the game i judge players on their skill level above everything else so those whio say jordan would completly shit on kobe in a match up ,that he could beat kobe 50 to 5 in a 1 0n 1 game must have forgoten that kobe and jordan played in the same leuge at the same time and how an 18 year old kobe str8 off the bench and fresh out of high school hung 36 on jordan in their 1st game against each other then dropped 55 on him the last time they played against each other
i ve watched ENIRE games from both of their careers not just higlights of kobes 81 point game or jordan switching hands in mid air but full lenght games.'
in my studys i break it down like this
SCORING: kobe needs less space to create a shot than jordan does and frequently makes many shots i have never seen jordan or anybody else make he is a better shooter than jordan in any scenario but especialy from behind the arc ,kobes has made nearly 3 times more 3 s in his career than jordan did in his
.
kobe may have been more explosive with his 1st step and have better body control in mid air (watch his limbs during ever lay up attempt )but jordan stays up there longer he got more hang time and can soar to the rim from a further distance in addition to that he had those big hands which allow him to go str8 up in the air and handle buissness as opposed to kobe who has to waste one split seccond securing the ball in his hands before going up,and basketball is a game of split secconds so that is a major difference so i give jordan the slightest edge on who is better scoring around the rim though MJ has the clear advantage when it comes to getting there in the first place
the very first thing scottie pippen said when asked to compare jordan to kobe (rember paxson has said kobe is the better player ) and what he always repeats is that Kobe can really dribble the ball and thats y he is harder to stop than jordan ,this is the real differnce between the two offenslvy ,that kobe has superior handles ,not BETTER but SUPERIOR and anybody with two eyes can see this
PASSING
f the 5 names in the NBA 30 000 point club kobe has the most assists showing the greatest ability to score and pass simultenously ,kobe was the primary facilitator on his 3 peat team with shaq and has always been the one to intiate L.A S offense a burden MJ did not alwayz have because that burden usually belonged to scottie pippen kobe is the better passer stratigcly as well as i terms of skill even phil jackson has said he hasa better court awarness than MJOf course Michael jordan has the edge in defense but kobe is close enough to make it interesting apart from ball denial ,there is nothing on defense jordan did that kobe cant do it s just that jordan ALWAYZ played both sides of the ball with equal intensity thats never been the case with kobe hiowever jordans defensive prowess declined dramticly by the 95-96 campaign to below the average (,iverson exposed this fact with that 96 crossover)while kobe s defense is still in an elite class even if it has fallen off ,meaning kobes been able to stay an elite defender for a longer period of time than jordan was able to do
kobe is a more versatile defender because while jordan was able to guaud smalll forwards and shooting guards the same way kobe can ,kobe s ability to match up with quicker ,skilled point guards is unrivaled by any other big guard in nba history .there are plenty of players i ve watched kobe shutdown regatrdless of position including chris paul,dwayne wade,rondo ,T mac,jason terry etc but jordan remains on top and is more likly to come up with a steal or a blocked shot
i ve seen jordan play with the flu but i also saw kobe head up to cleveland and sink clutch shots in the 4th quarter in lebrons face while also playing with the flu ,i watched kobe drop 24 points in 1 quarter over and around tracy mcgrady while playing with an injured shoulder ,jordan never did that .rember that 1 shot lebron hit during the 2012 finals against oklahoma with a sprained knee impresive but kobe played through the entire 2010 post season draining his knee before every game on his way to a championship ,the point is even when his hurt you can count on kobe n while no one disputes MJs ability to play through pain kobe bryants ability in this regard surpasses michaels
im not gonna choose against either one in a clutch situation but i swill say this,in the clutch you can count on jordan to take and make a good shot but you can count on kobe to take and make a bad one .when it comes to competetive drive i give kobe the edge because i cant imagine him vo;untarily retirng from basketball to go play baseball
some impresive accomplishments under kobes belt include
- becoming the only player in NBA history to single handedly out score a team by himself when he outscored the dallas mavericks 62-61 on his way to having the only 60 point game in 3 quarters or less that the nba has ever seen (note, even jordans 63 points against the celtics came in 4 quarters with an overtime and MJ s career high ,69 ,against cleveland came in 4 quarters with 2 overtimes.kobe later dropped 61 in only 32 minutes at madison square garden in 09 )
-kobe holds the record for most 3 s in a game at 12 vs seattle
-the most game winning or game tieng shots with 10 secconds or less in Nba History
- a 40 point 1st half when he dropped 55 on jordan back in 03
-4 game streak scoring 50 or more points in 2007(seccond most all time behind wilts 7)
-being the youngest player in NBA history to recieve defensive honors ,and the youngest player to win the slam dunk contest
-the only NBA player in history to score 600 or more points in 3 consecutive playoff runs(2008,2009,2010
- 9 game streak scoring 40 or more points in 2003(seccond most all time behind WILTS 13)
-4 game streak scoring 40 or more points in 2012(the most ever for a player over 30) ,and a 56 point effort thru 3 quarters against memphis in the year 2000
-did i forget the 81 point game against toronto in january 06?
-tied for the most all star game MVPS in NBA history
-most 3 pointers in 1 half (8 against MJs Wizards
-kobe has the most defensive 1st team honors in NBA history
-133 career 40 point games third most all time behind wilt and jordan
-averaged 43.4 ppg the month of january 06 ,the 2nd highest total in a month for any player not named wilt chamberlain
-also averaged 40.6 ppg the month of febuary 03 ,5th most all time for any player not named wilt chamberlain
-2009 finals averaging 33 points 5.5 rebounds and 7 assists ,the highest combination of assists and points for any player in thde finals accept jerry west in 1969
-lakers all time leading scorer in addition to holding 13 other laker records
-holds NBA record for most consecurive 3 pointers made at 9
-holds record for highest percent of teams points made in any 1 game at 66.4% when he dropped 81 at staples canter vs toronto
-13 straight 35 plus point games streak
- one of only 4 players with more than 1 60 point game incling wilt,MJ and elgin baylor
-5 straight 40 plus point game sreak in 07
-3rd most 50 point games in nba history(the vast majority of them came AFTER Shaq left L.A)
-most points at madison square garden and 5 other arena s
-lead his team to the finals 7 times
-5 time NBA Champion (2000 2001 2002 2009 2010
-2008 NBA MVP
-2006 ,2007 SCORING CHAMPION
-1997 slam dunk Champion
-2 TIME Finals MVP(2009,2010
-15 time ALL Star
-4 time All STar Game MVP
-15 all NbA Team selection s( 11 ALL NBA 1st Team)
-12 All Defensive team selections (9 All defensive 1st team)
-highest win shares in 2001 playoffs at 3.8
-most all star game points
-Record for most offensive rebounds in an ALL Star game at 10
-most freetjrows made in a 4 game series 51 vs sacremento in 2001
-Nba record for most steals in 1 half at 6 on February 13, 2006 vs. Utah Jazz
-most points on christmas day showcase
-1996 naismith high school player of the year (averaging 30.8 points, 12.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 4.0 steals and 3.8 blocks per game)
-1996 gatorade high school player of the year
-1996 mcdonalds all american
-The all-time leading scorer in Southeastern Pennsylvania school history with 2,883 pointssurpassing Wilt Chamberlain (2,359
-PIAA Highschool state championship after leading his team to 27 straight wins
-27th player to enter NBA straight out of high school
-TNT player of the Decade Award (2000s)
those who say kobe was shaqs sidekick for his 1st 3 rings are simply incorrect ,so ok they have a point about the 2000 season the only championship kobe was shaqs seccond banana but even that tittle would have never made it to tinsel town if L.A had lost game 7 of the western confrence finals to the blazers evrybody forgets that while shaq scored 18 points in that game he disapeared in the 2nd half kobe on the other hand finished the game with 25 points(most of them in the 2nd half) 11 rebounds 7 assists and 4 blocks ,then there was game 4 in the 2000 finals againsr reggie millers pacers ,after not playing in game 3 because of an injured ankle kobe returned to drop 24 points in the 2nd half of game 4 including the clutch shots in overtime after shaq fouled out this gave L.A a 3-1 series league .
kobe was always the primary facilitator on those championship teams people like to say shaq made the game easier for kobe cuz he was getting double teamed i find rhis hilarious because kobe was drawing double teams roo and made the game easier for shaq too ,hnow many times have we seen bhiglights of kobe penetrating into the paint drawing a seccond defender then dropping the ball into shaqs hands for a wide open power slam ,in thise season s kobe was averaging simular numbers to vince carter,sand tmac even though they where option 1 and he was option 1A on their respective teams
in addition kobe was the closer on thos teams yes i know derek fisher and robert horry where instrumental at the end of games also,but there s a differnce between hitting 1 game winning shot and controling the action for a 5 minute duration in the 4th quarter or overtime what i mean is without kobe s skill in closing games L.A would nt even be in the position to take or make a game winning shot regardless of who makes it if kobe doesnt do enough to get them kinto striking range in the first plasce,kobes game winners from this era are quickly forgoten
jordans best season stats wise is when he put up 32 points 8 rebounds and 8 assits so tell me how anybody can honestly say shaq carried kobe during their run when kobe put up 30 points 7 rebounds and 6 assists in 1 of those seasons they say shaq was the only reason for even the 2001 tittle dispite the fact kobe wasa putting up 29.4 points 7.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists during the 2001 playoffs . shaq was averaging 29.5 points ,do you mean to tell me that a .10 differnce in scoring justifys people saying shaq carried kobne that year ,even the next season in 02 it was kobe s effecient ,self sacrificing style of play that kept the lakers running like well oiled nachine his near triple double in game 7 of the 2002 western confrence finals is entiley forgaotten
another argument against kobe was his shooting percentage in game 7 of the 2010 finals fair enough but kobe STILL was the games leading score and he DID have 15 rebounds ,in a game decided by 5 points 15 rebounds makes all the difference in the world . i rember after game 5 when he had 38 points including 17 straight during a 3 minute span in the 3rd quarter the only thing the media sayed about it nthe next day was how selfish kobe was which brings me to my next point
the number one differnce between jordan and kobe s legacy s is how they where potrayed by the media MJ is a heroe the media has no love 4 kobe whatsoever even right now with his injury we see many media members gloating about it this wouldnt happen with lebron or jordan becuase david stern has a love affir with both of them .they have mostly been media darlings with lebron you watch a heat game or the highluight reel and all hyou here bout is LBJ it got tlo the pouint the other day that i was watching a heat gsme then when they showed the back of wades jersey i was suprised because i had completlky forgot he was on the court nall they choose to tsalk about is lebron they tellin you what he ate for breakfast what he wore to sleep etc
when watching kobe it s almost like you can feel him holdin baxc he does just enough to secure a victory and is not as cioncerened about patting his stats like lebron james or a younger michael jordan if you book back thru his most memroable poerfomances it s suprising jut how many of them where born out of neccesity
like the 50 point streak in 2007 when he scoreed 50 or mnore points for 4 straight games ,the most consecutive 50 point game streak behind wilt s 7 though he averaged 31 points for the vseason kobes primnary focus was keeping his teamatres involved and he did not lookj to score as much as he could have it was onkly after a 67y gvame losing satreak that phil jackson gave him the green light to do what he does
gthe 81 point game is another example bdecause the lakers where trailing most of that game and where still down buy as much as 19 points even after kobe caught fire
his 9 game streak scoring 40 or more points back in 2003 was only neccesary because the defending champion lakers found themselfes with a losing record at that point in the season this streak is the most 40 point game streak in nba history behind only jordans 13 game streak
i envy kobe vcuz he had the opportunity to face the games most legendary players he is literally the only 1 that can say that at one point or another in his career he had serious rivalrys 1st with MJ in the 90s Iverson and his own teamate shaq in the early 2000 s Tracy mcgrady and wade in the mid 2000 s and now lebron who else can say they played against charles barkley david robinson carmelo anthiony reggie miller karl malone allen iverson kevin durant kevin garnett derek rose penny hardaway scottie pippen dwight howard hakeem olujuwon and tim duncan all in 1 career