RealGM

If he can do anything about his fingers, he definitely should. It's clearly hampered his shooting ability - his numbers have declined on threes, from 16-23 feet, and even FT%. It'll definitely be interesting to see how he adjusts, he said he wants to get stronger in his legs which makes me think he's going to play in the post more.

ginobiliflops wrote:Not anymore. Top 20 though.

Quit trolling. He's definitely top 10 at worst.

Well after these playoffs he's dropped out of my top 5.... His game has diminished in all aspects. I actually kept him in top 5 because he is Kobe Bryant, but it's just obvious he isn't the same player he used to be.

Him getting back into the top 5 is pretty unlikely next year....

1. LeBron James
2. Dwight Howard
3. Dwyane Wade
4. Chris Paul
5. Deron Williams
6. Kevin Durant
7. Dirk Nowitzki
8. Derrick Rose
9. Kobe Bryant
10. Amare Stoudemire

The top 8-9 players in the NBA are pretty closely grouped together. It's pretty easy for any of them (with the possible exception of LeBron) to slip in or out of the top 5.

As for Kobe, yes, he'll be a year older, but he also won't be coming off knee surgery and a deep finals run. He could drop a bit, or he could come back rejuvenated. I personally wouldn't bet against him being top 5 next year.

Let's break it down. 1995 playoffs MJ is getting ripped by Nick Anderson, and looking mediocre that series against Orlando. That summer while filming the movie "space jam" he works out everyday, lifting weights, working on his game, and comes back in much better shape.

Kobe is not coming off a 1 1/2 year layoff, but the arthroscopic knee surgery that he had in July 2010, affected him from working out all summer. Basically it was NBA Finals, surgery, no basketball or training for 3 + months until training camp. A 25 year old would look less explosive in that situation. You can't workout all summer.

Im a laker fan, but not to the point where im all positive all the time as you know.

Kobe had arthroscopic knee surgery in july of 2010, and when i saw him in preseason, you could clearly see not being able to workout all summer affected his explosiveness. I believe Kobe in his exit interview when he said this summer i will be able to train and work on my legs unlike last summer.

He might not regain the explosion as when he had the afro, but expect to see 2008 Olynpic Kobe Bryant next season. Hopefully their is no lockout. If not, he will come in to training camp after a summer of training.

Im not saying he will be the best player, but it's a huge difference when you can train for 3 to 4 months leading up to a season, compared to you can't do anything at all. Maybe he won't be winning any dunk contest, but my point is the conditioning in his legs will be much better in situations like Game 1 and 3 of the Dallas series in which he legs seemed to give way.

I see this similair to MJ where ppl where saying this aint Mike. He trained all summer and came back the MVP of 1996. Kobe will be focused, and with his knee PAIN FREE....He can train alll summer just like Jordan when he had NBA players playing full court the summer of 1995 filming the movie.

hes done

If Dirk Nowitski had arthroscopic knee surgery and could not train during the summer his game would suffer big time. The same for majority of NBA Players. Can't workout for 3 to 4 months is huge, because now you have to work to get your legs back during the regular season, and your timing and conditioning is way off because you had to lay off for so long.

Training camp....Kobe's legs will be strong, ready to roll after a summer of NO SURGERY and being able to workout.

top 4 for sure will be--
1. lebron
2. dwight
3. durant
4. rose

and its tough not to put kobe in the top 5.

TennesseeFan wrote:Nah, hes #8 for me...

1. LeBron James
2. Dwight Howard
3. Kevin Durant
4. Dwyane Wade
5. Derrick Rose
6. Dirk Nowitzki
7. Chris Paul
8. Kobe Bryant
9. Carmelo Anthony
10. Brandon Roy

Brandon Roy...?

Deron is definitely top 10 in the league. Rondo is easily ahead of Roy too.

TennesseeFan wrote:Nah, hes #8 for me...

1. LeBron James
2. Dwight Howard
3. Kevin Durant
4. Dwyane Wade
5. Derrick Rose
6. Dirk Nowitzki
7. Chris Paul
8. Kobe Bryant
9. Carmelo Anthony
10. Brandon Roy

notsureifserious.gif

9abovetherim wrote:

TennesseeFan wrote:Nah, hes #8 for me...

1. LeBron James
2. Dwight Howard
3. Kevin Durant
4. Dwyane Wade
5. Derrick Rose
6. Dirk Nowitzki
7. Chris Paul
8. Kobe Bryant
9. Carmelo Anthony
10. Brandon Roy

notsureifserious.gif

10.blake griffin

As already stated, he wasn't even Top 5 this year.

1. LeBron James
2. Dwight Howard
3. Kevin Durant
4. Dwyane Whistle
5. Dirk Nowitzki (no this is not bandwagon hype due to playoffs. I've always felt he was Top 10 material)

6. Kobe Bryant
7. Derrick Rose
8. Deron Williams
9. Amar'e Stoudemire
10. Blake Griffin (Top 15 PER as a rookie, surely he's going to improve his game)

Hell no. Kobe's been getting by on his Finals MVPs more than his actual play in the past few years especially this season. That doesn't mean he's done but he's clearly in significant decline. And it should be no surprise to anyone considering his mileage and age.

His defense fell off a cliff and offensively it took 2.5 games before he could make his first layup in the series where they got embarrassed by the Mavs. He had career lows in total steals/blocks since the '05 season where he only played 66 games.

He couldn't dominate against a 38 year old Jason Kidd and the rest of the Mavs defenders...let that sink in for a little bit. A 38 year old Jason Kidd....

Opponents are able to strip the ball more from Kobe and challenge him on the court when a few seasons ago he could make them pay.

Kobe's been reduced to being a volume jumpshooter that can make contested shots. He doesn't have the defense or driving ability to help take over games anymore unlike the younger Wade and James. Also can't take over games in the 4th anymore.

Wait a minute, wtf is going on here....

Lakers fans are conceding this is probably the beginning of the end for Kobe...

Meanwhile, B-Scott is comparing next year's Kobe to 96 Jordan.

My head is about to explode.

Tim_Hardawayy wrote:Wait a minute, wtf is going on here....

Lakers fans are conceding this is probably the beginning of the end for Kobe...

Meanwhile, B-Scott is comparing next year's Kobe to 96 Jordan.

My head is about to explode.

I thought I was the only one that realized we had slipped into an alternate time space continuum...

I would rank Lebron, Howard, Wade, Dirk, Rose, and Durant ahead of him this year. Because of the age/mileage of those players and Kobe, I see no reason why that would change going forward. I think Kobe's days as a top 5 player are over, but I don't think there's a huge separation and cause of his team, he'll still be contending for titles.

Next season?

1. Kobe
2. LeBron
3. Rose
4. Durant
5. Wade/Dirk/Paul

LOL at the haters ITT

Kobe is still a 25/5/5 guy on a championship caliber team

Right now, all we know is that he's a 25/5/5 guy on a second-round sweep calibre team. If it's easier to put up numbers on worse teams, then presumably he couldn't deliver at that level on a top-3 team. Then we add another year and see what happens....