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Kobe’s Legacy By John Nguyen
06.20.2008 - Updated on 06.20.2008
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First off, congrats to the Boston Celtics for truly showing that for every “Kobe is the best player on the planet” statement that people shoot off, great defense turns that type of player into a mere mortal living in Orange County, California. And that’s where Kobe resides.
Kobe’s legacy has not been cemented yet. I have a good picture of it already since I’ve seen enough of his work. This Finals series, for me, resembles what the NY Giants did to Brady and the Patriots: Kobe and Lakers are the unstoppable offensive machines wrecking squads on their way to the title series much like how the Pats did it through their run. They made it look too easy dismantling Denver, Utah, and the defending champs San Antonio. Most picked them to win just like New England. Then what happened? Defense is what happened. Brady and Pats looked like shit. So did Kobe and Company.
I live in California so I’ve seen plenty of Laker games since 1991 to be able to have some credibility. Give Black Mamba another 5 seasons and we’ll have the complete picture on the first true successful Michael Jordan clone. Why just 5 seasons? Kobe is simply getting old in basketball years. Yeah I can’t believe it either. I first saw this skinny 18 year-young kid back in 1996 coming out of Lower Merion dribbling a basketball advertising Adidas stuff. Kobe getting old? No way! Yes, it has been that long. He’s currently going on 30 years young, but with heavy mileage on his legs. At this rate, things will start to wear down. He’s already not as explosive as the Kobe of 2 years ago. I simply do not see Kobe playing until he’s 40 years old. His legs cannot take it. Remember that Jordan took 2 retirement breaks to be able to come back and play at a high level. Kobe will not do that. He’ll just keep on playing until he hits 35 and he’s done.
A lot of fans, even me, see Kobe as this unstoppable scoring force who can find sneaky baskets in tight space. In the 2008 Finals, he mainly just showed us that there’s a lot of space between him and MJ. Are they players with similar skill set? Yes, however the gap is as big as the gap between Michael Strahan’s teeth.
Yet this is not a slight against Kobe. Kobe is a damn great player; a player who is on my all-time team, but he’s on my second squad.
Kobe is definitely head and shoulders above Clyde Drexler, Joe Dumars, and Scottie Pippen, but he’s never going to be near MJ or Magic. I actually get disgusted when many Kobe fans and some Laker faithfuls claim that Kobe is the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time). Do you realize you just bitch slapped Magic, Jerry West, Wilt, Kareem, and The Diesel with that garbage?
Is Kobe a better sidekick/teammate than Pippen? I chose Scottie as a comparison because he’s the ultimate example of a sidekick who can be the number one option himself, but he humbly deferred to Mr. Nike. Scottie did mess up tremendously in the final seconds of a 1994 playoff game against the Knicks, but Kobe ran the most dominant center of this generation out of town. So is Kobe better than Pippen in this aspect? I’m going to say, “Oh hell no.” You can disagree all you want though.
As I see it, Kobe Bryant is the new barometer for the fresh shooting guards coming into the NBA. That’s his legacy. He’s the most realistic measuring stick for any young big guard prospect. No one ever should be compared to Michael Jordan. Ever. It’s stupid. You’re setting yourself up for disappointment. The MJ comparisons do more bad than good for anyone so dead it. Jordan is just too God-like. It’s like trying to fill the Grand Canyon full of water.
Anyone remember this? http://www.nbadraft.net/profiles/deshawnstevenson.htm
That’s embarrassing whoever wrote that. You’re a damn fool.
So any new 6-6 shooting guard can be compared to Kobe Bryant. Bryant should feel honored. That’s high praise. Take Demar DeRozan for example. He’s a 6-6 shooting guard compared to Vince Carter. http://www.nbadraft.net/admincp/profile ... rozan.html
I hope that Demar is thinking “I’d rather pattern my game after Kobe” because that ceiling has become the highest that anyone can hope to attain realistically yet even that is going to be extremely difficult to do.
Now let’s find the next Kobe.
-John Nguyen |
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Posted by
byronc
on 06.26.2008 | In my opinion Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant are the top. Everbody else is at the bottom, kobe will win 2 to 3 titles if this team stays healthy. . | Posted by
amccrary
on 06.24.2008 | I really think it is really silly to question Kobe’s legacy. Loosing in the finals should not have an impact on his legacy. Why in the hell does people want to compare him to Jordan anyway? I think it is unfair that these sportswriters want another Jordan so the tag a guy as being the next and if he falls short he is humilated. And the stupid fans falls right in line with the media. The hatred that this thinking has created among fans are unbelievalble. Some people hate Kobe’s guts for being tag Jordaneques. I have never heard Kobe say he want to be like Mike. I have heard him say he want to be the best he can be. Kobe will win more championships. . | Posted by
amccrary
on 06.24.2008 | Its funny how no one could see the nba wanted the Celtics to win this championship. I was hoping the Lakers would have let the celtics sweep, just to teach Stern about having his refs to prolong a series. The Lakers knew they could not win playing 5 on 8 so they stopped competing. I think Stern made sure that the Lakers made it to rhe finals just to humilate Kobe Bryant. He hates him for what happened in Colorado. . | Posted by
bwill
on 06.23.2008 | Kobe Bryant is the closetest to MJ. This is a good laker team with bynum kobe will win 2 to 3 titles. . | Posted by
on 06.22.2008 | MJ is a better play-maker than most modern guards that emulate him. Jordan was a better post-scorer than most guards too. He thought out of box. He did some things that made you think differently about the game of basketball and had kids imitating his moves in the backyard. Kobe is very talented but Jordan will always be better. His impact on the game is immeasurable. When he retired it was like the game died for a brief period. I don’t see how you can compare anyone to him right now or ever. . | Posted by
jumper
on 06.22.2008 | yo go fcuk your mom playmaka, do you know how to read? playmaka never said kobe was the best. in fact, he even said jordan’s the best. go fcuk yourself mentally retarded dipshit . | Posted by
fcuk your mom playmaka
on 06.22.2008 | playmaka931 you make me laugh... yeah jordan+pippen=kobe+pippen. but think about it... what if it was jordan+shaq,,, what would happen? dumba-------stop saying kobes the best because hes not. . | Posted by
LOL!
on 06.21.2008 | I’m still tripping on DeShawn being compared to MJ and Kobe. How’d that work out. That scout is probably unempolyed right now . | Posted by
ronh
on 06.21.2008 | Kobe Bryant is still in his prime if this team stays healthy. he will win 2 or 3 more titles. . | Posted by
playmaka91
on 06.21.2008 | insert pippen into the current lakers roster and lets see how many championships they’ll win..kobe< jordan+pippen,, kobe+pippen= jordan + pippen....similar players..different situations......for my main man kobe..s---happens:S....for my man mj..dude, u had pippen and rodman....true, mj is the best to ever play the game, but kobe is not that far away... . | Posted by
Ed
on 06.21.2008 | Look don’t start comparing players across the century. Wilt was good but now he would not score 100 and he would look like a simple good center in front of garnett. Same goes to West I respect him but c’mon get Bowen to defend him and he would lose the ball everytime and eventually lose his nose too. I know these are landmark players but you have to think NOW kobe is in one of the shittest teams in the NBA. c’mon Pau is ok and he managed to "defend" Duncan only letting him score 30 a game..Odom is too old and the rest are too young.Jordan would have won nothing with a team like that, I’m not saying he is not the greatest I’m just comparing things so you see there are diffferent circumstances but Kobe has achieved things that allow the comparisons. The only thing I agree with is that he is getting old..that sucks . | Posted by
john
on 06.21.2008 | mj won jack s---for 6 years until he had pippen at his side. jordan couldn’t accomplish anything on his own until he had a good team surrounding him. sound familiar? of course, because no player can win a ring by himself, just like kobe can’t without good team mates. just like shaq, just like magic, just like bird, just like kareem, and just like duncan. kobe’s team this year isn’t even as good as the 90’s jordan teams that own those championships (probably closer to the first 3-peat team but still worse, and definitely not in the same league as the second 3-peat team), and jordan’s team definitely didn’t beat any team that had 3 hall of famers like the celtics did this year. jordan couldn’t get over the hump until bird and magic became irrelevant.don’t get me wrong, jordan is the best, but kobe’s just following the same path jordan did. all these "kobe’s not jordan" talk is foolish because they’re all ignoring jordan’s failure years in the beginning of his career. it doesn’t make any logical sense to compare the beginning of kobe’s journey to the end of jordan’s journey. . | Posted by
on 06.20.2008 | MJ, joined a team in 1994 that won 55 teams WITHOUT HIM. If you take a team that wins 55 without the so called greatest player of all time and you add MJ and Dennis Rodman in their prime, of course they’re gonna win a championship.You could’ve added Ewing or Robinson to that team and they would’ve won.Pippen really deserves the credit for leading those sorry teams to 55 wins and deep in playoffs. . | Posted by
lakerman34
on 06.20.2008 | There will never be another Michael Jordan. Likewise, there will never be another Kobe Bryant. They are GOAT 1.0 and GOAT 1.1. Don’t say I’m slapping anyone in the face. MJ had Pippen and won, Kobe had Shaq and won. Now Kobe has LO and is about to win too. And, last time I checked, LO . |
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