NoDunksAllowed wrote:basketboule wrote:Name one player in history more skilled than Kobe Bryant. Based on pure basketball-ability alone it would be even hard for me to rank Kobe below Jordan and I actually like his chances to finish #1.
I seriously challenge everybody here to come up with reasons to still rank Kobe lower than #2.
Kobe < Shaq, Duncan? that's sad...
Not sure how that is sad at all. Those two have still accomplished more than Kobe has. I think you might have missed Duncan and Shaq's peak years if you think it's sad to say they are greater/better than Kobe was. Kobe is my favorite of the three, but if you think it's sad to say Shaq and Duncan were greater. You clearly do not understand what you're talking about.
I could go in more detail, but Shaq had arguably one of the dominant primes ever as did Duncan. You might need a recap of what Shaq did in the 1999-2000 season and you might need a recap of what Tim Duncan did in the 2002-2003 season.
unfortunately for me, I'm not that young anymore, so neither do I need an update on Shaq's or Duncan's accomplishments, but also not on Jordan's or anybody elses. You say those guys had great legacies, sure, and I'm aware of that. But being considered the best basketball player is not only about awards, not only about stats and not only about championships.
Kobe is the most fundamentally sound and complete basketball player I could think of - in history that is. he also is one of the greatest competitors, he has some incredible stats to back up his individual talent. his scoring ability, considering the competition and athletic ability of defenders at his position is unreal and every bit as dominant as shaq's or anybody else's. and don't be fooled, do you really think kobe wouldn't have scored against handchecking defenders? seriously... 5 championships do their talking and considering all of this together kobe clearly outduels every player except Michael Jordan.
None of the guys on any of these lists are bad, so maybe "sad" was really not a fitting expression, but once you really take into account multiple factors you will realize how kobe is better than pretty much everybody except Jordan and he really is closer than many admit.