Kobe's Legacy? Is he any better than Clyde Drexler and Dirk

[thegreatblaze]

Not saying Drexler wasn't a great player, he was, and I have a lot of respect for him as a player. At the same time I have no problem rating Kobe ahead of him without much doubt.

Don't forget the 8-0 advantage in All D selections either.

Clyde's also an underrated defender. He averaged over 2 steals per for his career, and I believe he is 2nd all-time in blocks for a guard (behind Jordan). He was a pretty good man-on-man defender as well. Again, if Jordan wasn't around I would bet my money that he would make a few All-D teams over his career.

[conleyorbust]

Seriously though, compared to Dirk who is at worst comparable in aggregate stats like +/- and PER, what edge does Kobe have? Before these playoffs, most people would have told you that unlike Dirk, Kobe was "clutch" and had a "killer instinct". Its not that he doesn't, but maybe Kobe was put on a pedastal and given the benefit of the doubt in terms of intangibles when he didn't really deserve it.

Obviously we have no clue what would happen if you put Dirk next to a guy like Shaq, Duncan, or Hakeem. We do know that Dirk's individual accomplishments WITHOUT one of those guys are as impressive as Kobe's WITHOUT one of those guys, so why give Kobe the benefit of the doubt.

At the end of the day Kobe is still going to be considered a top 20 talent of all time both because of what he did with Shaq and without him, I just think that he still gets the benefit of the doubt even though he hasn't proven to be a transcendant talent.

[TMU]

Kobe fans are absolutely ridiculous. When Kobe gets bashed, his fans become very defense; just like how the United States' will respond to terrorism. I don't understand why their fans get upset and pissed off when someone compares him to lesser players.

While I think Kobe is clearly better than Dirk or Clyde. Kobe's legacy is comparable to Clyde's. Like Clyde, he has never won a championship as a first option.

8 in all-defensive recognition? Do you Lakers fans seriously believe he deserved all 8. Come on, don't be ridiculous. We all know that all-defensive recognitions have turned into a joke for the past 5 years.

[ronnymac2]

Kobe Bryant is better than Dirk and Clyde. And btw, Clyde is better than Dirk. Drexler and Bryant are comparable though; I think that's a very fair comparison, mainly because Clyde was that good. It's not a knock on Kobe. But Kobe is better.

To me, this past NBA finals doesn't really change how I think of Bryant. I still think he's the best player in the league ( by just a little bit over Lebron). The Celtics deserved to win this series. They played Kobe Bryant as well as anybody could. They were always there, doubling and tripling Kobe.

All this series did was illuminate for me the biggest fault of Kobe. He's so talented that he makes the game more complicated than it should be. Instead of catching the ball at the 3 point line, driving, getting turned back, then shooting a fadeaway over 2 guys (which he can make), he should set up within the 3 point line. Like in the midpost, foul line, or foul line extended. Then attack from there, a la MJ. Instead, he tried to make these insane plays that aren't effective. I take "constant effectiveness" over "the ability to do crazy-ass things from all over the floor but only sometimes," because, well, you can only do those crazy-ass things sometimes lol.

He didn't lose this series. (He, imo, lost game 4 tho.) The Celtics took it away from the Lakers. These Cetlics are a very, very good team. And I'm a Laken fan. I'm not terribly dissappointed that my team lost, partly because I like a lot of players on Boston and Im happy for them (like KG, now all those dumasses that say he can't win can't say nothin). Partly because I think the team that deserved to win won. And partly because Kobe Bryant showed how great a player he can be this season (in terms of being cohesive with the team). I hope we get Boston-L.A. again next year.

[tkb]

Kobe fans are absolutely ridiculous. When Kobe gets bashed, his fans become very defense; just like how the United States' will respond to terrorism. I don't understand why their fans get upset and pissed off when someone compares him to lesser players.

While I think Kobe is clearly better than Dirk or Clyde. Kobe's legacy is comparable to Clyde's. Like Clyde, he has never won a championship as a first option.

8 in all-defensive recognition? Do you Lakers fans seriously believe he deserved all 8. Come on, don't be ridiculous. We all know that all-defensive recognitions have turned into a joke for the past 5 years.

Doesn't matter if I think he deserved all 8 or not (I don't btw). The fact is that he did receive those honors, and Clyde didn't. When you look at their legacy, that matters whether you like it or not.

Kobe has accomplished more in his career before he turned 30 than Drexler did until he retired, and I don't really think it's debatable either.

Was Clyde Drexler an amazing (and underrated) player? Without question.
Would it be wrong to compared him to Kobe based on skills? I don't think it would.
Is the comparison close when you look at career accomplishments? Not really. Kobe basically doubles or triples up on just about any accomplishment at this point compared to Drexler.

I sort of think you can compare Drexler to Kobe the same way you can compare Kobe to Michael Jordan. Similar types of players, insanely talented, but looking at accomplishments they stand out from each other which makes it pretty easy to rank them in different tiers on an all time list.

[prekazi]

2 weeks ago everyone was overrating Kobe, now it's time for underrating I guess.

[writerman]

I'm one of the prime Kobe haters on this board, but his being downed because of one series isn't fair. Better players than he is--Wilt, Oscar, West, and Jordan for instance--had their moments of failure and frustration as well.

I also don't think it's fair to saddle him with "best in the league." IMO, that title now belongs to that guy in Cleveland.

[conleyorbust]

I also don't think it's fair to saddle him with "best in the league." IMO, that title now belongs to that guy in Cleveland.

Delonte West?

[Cybulski37]

I also don't think it's fair to saddle him with "best in the league." IMO, that title now belongs to that guy in Cleveland.

Delonte West?

REDZ 4 MVP. You want him to play wit a sock, he'll play wit a sock!

[BBallFreak]

Doesn't matter if I think he deserved all 8 or not (I don't btw). The fact is that he did receive those honors, and Clyde didn't. When you look at their legacy, that matters whether you like it or not.

Kobe has accomplished more in his career before he turned 30 than Drexler did until he retired, and I don't really think it's debatable either.

Was Clyde Drexler an amazing (and underrated) player? Without question.
Would it be wrong to compared him to Kobe based on skills? I don't think it would.
Is the comparison close when you look at career accomplishments? Not really. Kobe basically doubles or triples up on just about any accomplishment at this point compared to Drexler.

I sort of think you can compare Drexler to Kobe the same way you can compare Kobe to Michael Jordan. Similar types of players, insanely talented, but looking at accomplishments they stand out from each other which makes it pretty easy to rank them in different tiers on an all time list.

But here's the question; would Kobe have gotten those honors playing in Portland?

I'm not trying to trash Kobe, but it's much easier to gain national recognition playing for the Lakers, with a guy like Shaq, than it is to play in Portland, Oregon with guys like Jerome Kersey, Bucks Williams, Kevin Duckworth, and Terry Porter...

[tkb]

Doesn't matter if I think he deserved all 8 or not (I don't btw). The fact is that he did receive those honors, and Clyde didn't. When you look at their legacy, that matters whether you like it or not.

Kobe has accomplished more in his career before he turned 30 than Drexler did until he retired, and I don't really think it's debatable either.

Was Clyde Drexler an amazing (and underrated) player? Without question.
Would it be wrong to compared him to Kobe based on skills? I don't think it would.
Is the comparison close when you look at career accomplishments? Not really. Kobe basically doubles or triples up on just about any accomplishment at this point compared to Drexler.

I sort of think you can compare Drexler to Kobe the same way you can compare Kobe to Michael Jordan. Similar types of players, insanely talented, but looking at accomplishments they stand out from each other which makes it pretty easy to rank them in different tiers on an all time list.

But here's the question; would Kobe have gotten those honors playing in Portland?

I'm not trying to trash Kobe, but it's much easier to gain national recognition playing for the Lakers, with a guy like Shaq, than it is to play in Portland, Oregon with guys like Jerome Kersey, Bucks Williams, Kevin Duckworth, and Terry Porter...

You may be right, but I don't think it has a ton of impact. If you're a top tier player in the NBA you'll get recognition wherever you play. I would agree with you when it comes to lower tier players/role players though, but a top 50 player of all time will get recognition regardless of the team he plays for.

Either way I don't look too much at what ifs. Kobe did play for the Lakers, and he did get all the the accolades he did. Drexler didn't, and that matters. I see this comparison the same way a lot of people look at Bryant vs Jordan. Jordan simply accomplished too much for Kobe to be in the same tier, and Kobe has accomplished too much for Drexler to be in the same tier on an all time ranking.