Is Kobe a Top 3 Laker?

[Jimmy76]

Start a polled thread on the lakers board "Magic or Kobe number 1" with an "other say in the thread" option

Not ideal but better than this and any big trends should pop up

I'd do it but I'm a suns fan

[The-Joker]

many of you havent even been alive to see jerry west play ..infact he gets by on reputation alone because none of us never really seen him play so i cant really put a player that i havent seen play in my top 3 list

1.Magic
2.Kobe
3.Shaq

[semi-sentient]

I guess you haven't seen Kareem then?

[D Nice]

Lol at some of theses list. Perhaps non-Laker fans should refrain from making these lists? Seriously...what Laker fans do you know in real life with Shaq in their top 3? As long as we're talking about contributions to a franchise, and not how good they were for a year or 2 in the uniform, Shaq belongs on nobody's list. Anyway...

1. Magic Johnson (No argument...period)
2. Jerry West
3. Kobe Bryant

Honorable Mention: Kareem Abdul Jabar (5 Titles is insane, but half of his career was spent in another uniform. Jerry was a Laker from day 1. Not to mention his tenure as a GM, bringing in Shaq and drafting Kobe, saving the franchise from the booth years after his play).

[Andrewchos]

Shaq belongs on nobody's list.

oh god.. yea Shaq didn't revive this dead franchise.

Kareem
Magic
Shaq

All ahead of Bryant who hasn't even caught up to the Diesal in terms of Finals MVP's and hasn't had a single playoff performance on a similar level to Oneals (even more so if you consider Final's performances important), and yet we want to prop him up ahead of him? Meh..

[NYK 455]

Magic
Shaq
Kareem

HM: Kobe, West

When it's all said and done, Kobe will be on this list. But I don't think he had the on court impact those three had, so he's not on it yet.

[Sedale Threatt]

If Shaq hadn't played almost half as many seasons less in a Laker uniform than Bryant, or acted like a total douche since he's been gone, then yeah, putting Kobe ahead of him would be somewhat unreasonable. But unfortunately for him, those things matter.

Personally, I would never dream of putting Bryant ahead of Magic, but the sheer combination of years and achievements makes for a pretty solid case.

More than anything, it speaks to what an incredible franchise the Lakers have been that a case can be made to put players like O'Neal and West -- who would be the slam-dunk best players in history for about half the teams in the NBA -- at fourth and fifth.

[Andrewchos]

Your opinion that Shaq was a douche is irrelevant, also the fact that he has played a number of seasons on other team's are irrelevant when you look purely at what he has accomplished for the Laker franchise which is more then Bryant period. Many consider Bryant the douche and the reason they split up and the reason they lost the 04 chip but I don't judge his career based on any of those thing's because that's ignorant. Thats like me saying Kobe doesn't belong on any all time list because he is a rapist... its just dumb.

Shaq has accomplished more in his short time in LA then Kobe has done so far without him and he has had far far better performances. to say its not even close or that Bryant is clearly ahead of him is just not logical your basing your arguments on how much you like a player...

[nonemus]

Ranking the top X players of a team has a much more personal aspect to it than other rankings. That's why in most lists, Shaq won't be there. He only has three rings with the franchise. West gets the nod over him because he spent 14 years with the franchise. #1 is Magic and 2-5 is fluid between Kobe, Kareem, West and Shaq in that order of probability.

[Andrewchos]

So Prime Play / Playoff Performances / Impact on the team / and Finals MVP don't hold any weight? Not to mention consistency.

[Sedale Threatt]

Your opinion that Shaq was a douche is irrelevant, also the fact that he has played a number of seasons on other team's are irrelevant when you look purely at what he has accomplished for the Laker franchise which is more then Bryant period. Many consider Bryant the douche and the reason they split up and the reason they lost the 04 chip but I don't judge his career based on any of those thing's because that's ignorant. Thats like me saying Kobe doesn't belong on any all time list because he is a rapist... its just dumb.

Shaq has accomplished more in his short time in LA then Kobe has done so far without him and he has had far far better performances. to say its not even close or that Bryant is clearly ahead of him is just not logical your basing your arguments on how much you like a player...

Where did I say anything about it not being close, or Bryant clearly being ahead?

You're the one who inferred that type of distance between Shaq and Kobe in your previous post, when in fact it simply doesn't exist.

And I'm certainly not basing it on who I like more; that would be Shaq, hands down. Pre-trade, at least. Like it or not, Shaq's attitude since he left has had a huge impact on how many Lakers fans view him. But fine, let's take that out of the equation.

As for longevity -- that is absolutely a key factor. The factor, in my opinion.

About the only area I can see where Shaq has on Kobe is Finals MVP. Otherwise, Bryant has him beat in just about every other measure possible -- championships, points scored, years of service, All-Star games, All-Defense teams, the same number of RS MVPs...am I leaving anything out?

He's gotten to the point where the sheer bulk of elite seasons is just too much to ignore.

[Andrewchos]

Your ignoring alot in my opinion. If you look at the whole picture I still think Shaq is clearly ahead even if the gap is small as you said.

Nothing wrong with disagreeing though, plenty will agree with my opinion and plenty with yours.

[MarvAlbert'sTwin]

Hmm... I'd have to go with the life-long Lakers

1. Magic
2. Kobe
3. West