Amare_1_Knicks wrote:jaypo wrote:Amare_1_Knicks wrote:They probably don't three peat. I feel like people have selective memory when it comes to the early 2000 Lakers. They were oh-so-close to not three-praying, or even repeating by way of very game Portland and Sacramento teams -- both of which went 7 games, and one of which was literally rigged for the Lakers to win. No way they three peat with A.I, that's crazy.
Also, for me, Kobe is clearly in the Duncan tier. If one wants to put Duncan ahead for career value or even peak vs peak, then I can see that, but to say their not in the same tier is ridiculous. Kobe's a five time champion, 2 time finals MVP, league MVP, scoring champion, has some legitimate defensive work under his belt, a multitude of highly successful seasons, and he knocked out the most 50 win teams in the postseason of any player in history(Not to mention All NBA teams, All defensive teams, and etc).
Point being, his credentials stand with just about anyone not named Lebron, Jordan, Kareem, Wilt, or Russell. Even if you want to put him at the back end of the next tier so to speak he's right there with those guys.
I'd also put him below Shaq, Akeem, and Bird. He wasn't the best player on his team for 3 of his 5 (Shaq was), and some argue that Pau was the real FMVP in at least 1 of his other 2. All the others you mentioned have similar accolades, and they didn't have to miss the most shots in NBA history to achieve them.
At the end of the day it is five titles though. Yes, Shaq took home the finals MVP's, but in 01 and 02, it was more or less a 1a/1b situation with those two. Magic and Bird, and Kareem and Shaq weren't the finals MVP's on all their teams either; I feel like that's such a convenient argument to try to berate Kobe compared to others. Kobe averaged 32/6/7/1.5/1.5 in the '09 finals and 28/8/4/2 on .528%TS in the 2010 finals. Gasol, for reference, averaged 18.6/11/3/2.6 on .556%TS in that same series.
A negligible efficiency advantage considering the amount of attention Kobe was garnering and that Gasol at least to some moderate degree, was playing off of Kobe. Gasol was big time and came through in that game 7 but he wasn't the finals MVP. Also, Kobe had a 20 year long career -- Lebron and Carmelo are approaching that record themselves, and MJ likely owns that missed shot record if he doesn't retire for two years. The fact is Kobe was notably above league average in terms of efficiency in any given season regardless of his missed shot total at the end of his career.
I wouldnt bother responding to known trolls, you're preaching to the choir by in large here on realgm.
You bring up facts and people including some retired mods etc continue to spew false narratives that were proven a decade ago. Its like the Charlottesville white supremists... they will exist no matter what you do, you cant communicate to ignorant people.