RealGM

I get this odd feeling that Kobe doesn't ever wear his three championship rings, as they mean nothing to him.

Isn't it weird that Kobe pursuit of his FOURTH championship is as epic as Steve Nash chasing his first, John Stockton and Karl Malone chasing one, and so on...?

I think its a fire inside of him that people say "he never won one without shaq" or "he just tagged along shaq". He wants to be the man that was the main reason they won a ring.

Kobe was a big part of those 3.

It's a TEAM sport people. Those rings aren't just Shaq's.

Believe me, when Kobe is chasing Jordan and looking for his 7th ring (and thus, establish himself as the greatest 2 guard ever), he will count those first 3 rings as much as the other ones.

good thing for Kobe is that even with his super young stud center missing he still will probably win a ring this season..... This Laker team is going on a run and everyone knows it.

Kid Vicious wrote:Kobe was a big part of those 3.

It's a TEAM sport people. Those rings aren't just Shaq's.

Believe me, when Kobe is chasing Jordan and looking for his 7th ring (and thus, establish himself as the greatest 2 guard ever), he will count those first 3 rings as much as the other ones.

LOL

There seem to be a epic battle between Jordan fans and Kobe fans brewing in the years to come over how those first 3 titles come into the equation as Kobe is in pursuit of ring 7. It should be pretty funny.

If you think Shaq would've won those rings without Kobe, you have no clue.

What?

HE won 3 rings, just the same way Shaq won those 3 rings.

Of course he cares about it, but getting one on his own would be of greater personal value to him....

+1 to Flash..

Kobe's 3 titles are great and all..he was a big contributor, only 2nd to Shaq..but obviously he'd rather win at least 1 or 2 this year and the next few as the #1 option, which is what every "top 10 player" of all-time has already done..

I think Kobe will be extremely angry if the Lakers don't win a title with him as the #1, as he should be..

I hate the opinion that Shaq won those three rings by himself.

With no Kobe in game 4 against Indiana how would LA have won?

With no Kobe during the Sacramento and San Antonio series in 01' how would LA have won? That year I would have put Kobe as the playoff MVP.

Of course, Shaq was at his most dominant during those years but to say Kobe was riding on the wave of Shaq's dominance is a display of one's ignorant and short-sighted perspective of how the three-peat was achieved.

Also, the number of rings on your finger should not determine your overall greatness. Why isn't Bill Russell considered the unanimous GOAT with his 11 rings? We might as well put Robert Horry in the discussion

What are you guys talking about? If Kobe wins a ring this season, sure it will be without Shaq, but now he's got Gasol and Odom. Having those two big men on the court with Kobe is unreal. So even if he does win it this year will people be saying, "he never would have won it had they not had Gasol."
People will try to take anything they can from Kobe because of his greatness.

that isn't the point though..he's the clear #1 option..

The Main Event wrote:What are you guys talking about? If Kobe wins a ring this season, sure it will be without Shaq, but now he's got Gasol and Odom. Having those two big men on the court with Kobe is unreal. So even if he does win it this year will people be saying, "he never would have won it had they not had Gasol."
People will try to take anything they can from Kobe because of his greatness.

This is Kobe's team though. The Lakers three-peat in the early 00s was Shaq's team.

The Main Event wrote:What are you guys talking about? If Kobe wins a ring this season, sure it will be without Shaq, but now he's got Gasol and Odom. Having those two big men on the court with Kobe is unreal. So even if he does win it this year will people be saying, "he never would have won it had they not had Gasol."
People will try to take anything they can from Kobe because of his greatness.

Dude, honestly. Look at the last 20 years of Champions. Tell me who did it by themselves.
Pistons: Dumars, Isaiah, Lambieer, etc
Bulls: Jordan, Pippen, Cartwright, etc
Rockets: Dream
Bulls: Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, Harper, etc
Spurs: Robinson, Duncan, Parker, Ginobli
Lakers: Kobe, Shaq
Pistons: Sheed, Billups, Rip, Tay
Heat: Shaq, Wade

with the exception of Dream who rode some really, REALLY hot shooting and a weakened league (he also wasn't playing with slouches, just no clear star at 2), no one has done it alone.

In your mind does Kobe have to win it with this lineup?
Derrick Martin
Kobe Bryant
Ryan Bowen
Mark Madsen
Kwame Brown

Does that make it his own team yet?

Original Baller wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



LOL

There seem to be a epic battle between Jordan fans and Kobe fans brewing in the years to come over how those first 3 titles come into the equation as Kobe is in pursuit of ring 7. It should be pretty funny.

hopefully by then there will be a seperate board for ****


and maybe a separate board for people like you?

Consider this a Public WARNING! --Check your PMs

The Main Event wrote:What are you guys talking about? If Kobe wins a ring this season, sure it will be without Shaq, but now he's got Gasol and Odom. Having those two big men on the court with Kobe is unreal. So even if he does win it this year will people be saying, "he never would have won it had they not had Gasol."
People will try to take anything they can from Kobe because of his greatness.

the only people who will be saying that are the blowhards who just want attention.

i'm not in anyway saying kobe>jordan but it's not like jordan had a team of scrubs. he had another top 10 player in pippen as well as horace grant/kukoc/rodman who are on par with lamar. if anyone says that you can counter with "mj wouldn't have won it without pippen".

he knows this will confirm his legacy. i think a major part of the what he brings goes unnoticed, and that's his leadership.

although he may not be the most liked, you know that the amount of work he puts into his game rubs off on the his teammates and if one them slacks off then he's going to get in their face. if kobe was 38 (and not good anymore) and put him on the knicks i bet that the team would be 15 games better, just because he would berate anyone who was out of shape/lazy. same thing with jordan, pippen had the tools but if he didn't have mj shouting in his ear, telling him to be a killer then he may have not been much than a caron butler (not putting down caron but he's nowhere near pippen).

He thinks he's one of the best so winning them as a sidekick probably doesn't sit well with his ego. He needs that Finals MVP.

Shaq has been to the NBA Finals with 3 different lead guards in Kobe, Penny and Wade - he couldn't have done it without each of them but that does suggest that maybe he could have done it with other players as well like a in-his-prime Paul Pierce or Tracy McGrady, etc. Shaq was the MVP candidate during those title years in LA and overshadowed Kobe.

It is obvious Shaq and Kobe had a fight over whose ego would rule the Lakers and Kobe won the future of the team. Since Shaq was traded, the Lakers haven't done anything significant in the playoffs and Shaq won another title which leads to further overshadowing of Kobe. I am sure Kobe sees his next title as the one that cements his greatness - despite the fact that I think everyone recognizes that he was indispensable to the prior Laker championships.

People are right that it will be different for him winning a championship as the clear #1 option, though. It will be winning with "his" team for the first time. Kobe already has a place in basketball history but he will significantly elevate it with another championship, IMO.

While Shaq was clearly the best player on those 3 championship teams, I do think people overlook Kobe's value on those teams... especially in 2001, 2002.... Hell, in 2002 Kobe was the key to getting past the Spurs and Kings... However Shaq always had the HUGE advantage in the Finals so he would always get the Finals MVP...

Honestly, I thought Shaq was going to retire a Laker back then.. I think most people did.. So I think a lot of us were waiting for the torch to be passed from Shaq to Kobe as the best player on the team, which would have given Kobe his chance to be without question, the best player on the team...

I think what ended up killing the team was that Kobe wanted the torch before he was ready, and at the same time Shaq wasnt ready to give it up...

But it all worked out for the better... Had we kept Shaq we would have had a chance at MAYBE 2 more championships and then been stuck in salary cap hell until Shaq retired but now we will likely be one of the best young teams in the league for years to come

In response to the thread title without reading all of the posts, Kobe probably thinks "thank you Shaq and Phil."

He also probably thinks, why do I cheat on my wife, why do I open my mouth and demand to be traded only to recant and deny it, and thank you Lakers org for not trading me like I demanded.

Oh and thank you Stern for arranging a Boston-Lakers finals

Atlanta Hawk Fan wrote:Shaq has been to the NBA Finals with 3 different lead guards in Kobe, Penny and Wade - he couldn't have done it without each of them but that does suggest that maybe he could have done it with other players as well like a in-his-prime Paul Pierce or Tracy McGrady, etc. Shaq was the MVP candidate during those title years in LA and overshadowed Kobe.

It is obvious Shaq and Kobe had a fight over whose ego would rule the Lakers and Kobe won the future of the team. Since Shaq was traded, the Lakers haven't done anything significant in the playoffs and Shaq won another title which leads to further overshadowing of Kobe. I am sure Kobe sees his next title as the one that cements his greatness - despite the fact that I think everyone recognizes that he was indispensable to the prior Laker championships.

People are right that it will be different for him winning a championship as the clear #1 option, though. It will be winning with "his" team for the first time. Kobe already has a place in basketball history but he will significantly elevate it with another championship, IMO.

I think this post hits the nail on the head IMO - and you make way too much sense to be posting on Realgm.