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Absolutely a top shelf athlete....only the most athletic players in NBA history could have highlight reels comparable to this:

Not as athletic as Jordan and Lebron, but still one of the most athletic wings of all time

More athletic than Harden or Curry.

Kobe is sometimes kinda mislabeled as being just an "above average athlete" but really he's as functionally athletic as any 2Guard ever besides MJ. He literally had the balance, body control and all around dexterity of a 5'11" halfback. Only thing is he was 6'6" lol. Then he also had the first step of an explosive 6'1" point guard and he had a 40 inch vertical and he had unlimited stamina and amazing durability and ability to play through injuries. To me he's unquestionably the second greatest Shooting Guard ever, and maybe the second greatest guard ever when you really come down to it. His athleticism would make him top 5 most athletic in the game today.

No-more-rings wrote:More athletic than Harden or Curry.

Ok tbf thats not really neccessary lmao

I have kobe above them but I dont think anyone will ever say curry is more athletic than kobe was

Dr Positivity wrote:Not as athletic as Jordan and Lebron, but still one of the most athletic wings of all time

Pelly24 wrote:Kobe is sometimes kinda mislabeled as being just an "above average athlete" but really he's as functionally athletic as any 2Guard ever besides MJ. He literally had the balance, body control and all around dexterity of a 5'11" halfback. Only thing is he was 6'6" lol. Then he also had the first step of an explosive 6'1" point guard and he had a 40 inch vertical and he had unlimited stamina and amazing durability and ability to play through injuries. To me he's unquestionably the second greatest Shooting Guard ever, and maybe the second greatest guard ever when you really come down to it. His athleticism would make him top 5 most athletic in the game today.

The biggest physical difference between Kobe and Jordan is the hand size, which affects the way you do things on the court in a lot of ways.

As far as pure athleticism there isn't a significant difference between them other than trade-offs like Jordan being stronger and Kobe being more flexible(Phil's words)

Pelly24 wrote:Kobe is sometimes kinda mislabeled as being just an "above average athlete" .....

I have never once heard anyone refer to him as merely an "above average athlete", fwiw.

Amazing athlete.

I think he was a tier below the best though.

LakerLegend wrote:

Dr Positivity wrote:Not as athletic as Jordan and Lebron, but still one of the most athletic wings of all time

Pelly24 wrote:Kobe is sometimes kinda mislabeled as being just an "above average athlete" but really he's as functionally athletic as any 2Guard ever besides MJ. He literally had the balance, body control and all around dexterity of a 5'11" halfback. Only thing is he was 6'6" lol. Then he also had the first step of an explosive 6'1" point guard and he had a 40 inch vertical and he had unlimited stamina and amazing durability and ability to play through injuries. To me he's unquestionably the second greatest Shooting Guard ever, and maybe the second greatest guard ever when you really come down to it. His athleticism would make him top 5 most athletic in the game today.

The biggest physical difference between Kobe and Jordan is the hand size, which affects the way you do things on the court in a lot of ways.

As far as pure athleticism there isn't a significant difference between them other than trade-offs like Jordan being stronger and Kobe being more flexible(Phil's words)

I think Jordan is more athletic. Arguably the best first step ever for a wing, like Wade in a bigger body. More dynamic in the air. More athletic on the defensive end.

I mean, Kobe was definitely exceptionally athletic but when you compare him to his peers like Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Dwayne Wade, I think it's difficult for me to put him above any of them.

LakerLegend wrote:

Dr Positivity wrote:Not as athletic as Jordan and Lebron, but still one of the most athletic wings of all time

Pelly24 wrote:Kobe is sometimes kinda mislabeled as being just an "above average athlete" but really he's as functionally athletic as any 2Guard ever besides MJ. He literally had the balance, body control and all around dexterity of a 5'11" halfback. Only thing is he was 6'6" lol. Then he also had the first step of an explosive 6'1" point guard and he had a 40 inch vertical and he had unlimited stamina and amazing durability and ability to play through injuries. To me he's unquestionably the second greatest Shooting Guard ever, and maybe the second greatest guard ever when you really come down to it. His athleticism would make him top 5 most athletic in the game today.

The biggest physical difference between Kobe and Jordan is the hand size, which affects the way you do things on the court in a lot of ways.

As far as pure athleticism there isn't a significant difference between them other than trade-offs like Jordan being stronger and Kobe being more flexible(Phil's words)

Isn't bigger hand size a detriment when it comes to shooting and ball-handling?

His body control was his most impressive athletic attribute. That aspect of his athleticsm was tier 1. There were guys who were more explosive, but none who had better body control. He and Jordan were 1/1a in that respect

dcstanley wrote:

LakerLegend wrote:

Dr Positivity wrote:Not as athletic as Jordan and Lebron, but still one of the most athletic wings of all time

Pelly24 wrote:Kobe is sometimes kinda mislabeled as being just an "above average athlete" but really he's as functionally athletic as any 2Guard ever besides MJ. He literally had the balance, body control and all around dexterity of a 5'11" halfback. Only thing is he was 6'6" lol. Then he also had the first step of an explosive 6'1" point guard and he had a 40 inch vertical and he had unlimited stamina and amazing durability and ability to play through injuries. To me he's unquestionably the second greatest Shooting Guard ever, and maybe the second greatest guard ever when you really come down to it. His athleticism would make him top 5 most athletic in the game today.

The biggest physical difference between Kobe and Jordan is the hand size, which affects the way you do things on the court in a lot of ways.

As far as pure athleticism there isn't a significant difference between them other than trade-offs like Jordan being stronger and Kobe being more flexible(Phil's words)

Isn't bigger hand size a detriment when it comes to shooting and ball-handling?

I don't think there's any real correlation between the two.

trex_8063 wrote:

Pelly24 wrote:Kobe is sometimes kinda mislabeled as being just an "above average athlete" .....

I have never once heard anyone refer to him as merely an "above average athlete", fwiw.

You just did

LakerLegend wrote:

Dr Positivity wrote:Not as athletic as Jordan and Lebron, but still one of the most athletic wings of all time

Pelly24 wrote:Kobe is sometimes kinda mislabeled as being just an "above average athlete" but really he's as functionally athletic as any 2Guard ever besides MJ. He literally had the balance, body control and all around dexterity of a 5'11" halfback. Only thing is he was 6'6" lol. Then he also had the first step of an explosive 6'1" point guard and he had a 40 inch vertical and he had unlimited stamina and amazing durability and ability to play through injuries. To me he's unquestionably the second greatest Shooting Guard ever, and maybe the second greatest guard ever when you really come down to it. His athleticism would make him top 5 most athletic in the game today.

The biggest physical difference between Kobe and Jordan is the hand size, which affects the way you do things on the court in a lot of ways.

As far as pure athleticism there isn't a significant difference between them other than trade-offs like Jordan being stronger and Kobe being more flexible(Phil's words)

I think MJ just had another level of bounce and speed than even Kobe. MJ had Zion Williamson-Esque bounce and was more like a graceful peak Westbrook with his explosion to the rim.

Zeitgeister wrote:I mean, Kobe was definitely exceptionally athletic but when you compare him to his peers like Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Dwayne Wade, I think it's difficult for me to put him above any of them.

Big Meh on TMac and Vince. Their functional basketball athleticism wasn’t on the level of the GOAT wings IMO. Neither is really impressive at all when it comes to getting to the rim or foul draw rate. Kobe has a better basketball body than either IMO.

I would put Jimmy Butler, for example, 1 or 2 tiers above either guy.

He was an elite athlete just under 'freak athlete' status. Even Wade who I felt was slightly more athletic falls just short of being in that category.

Lebron, MJ, Westbrook, Wilt, Zion, Shaq, Dominique, Giannis are all freak athletes that were more athletic than Kobe. Again though he was still a superb athlete especially in his fro days.

Dr Spaceman wrote:

Zeitgeister wrote:I mean, Kobe was definitely exceptionally athletic but when you compare him to his peers like Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Dwayne Wade, I think it's difficult for me to put him above any of them.

Big Meh on TMac and Vince. Their functional basketball athleticism wasn’t on the level of the GOAT wings IMO. Neither is really impressive at all when it comes to getting to the rim or foul draw rate. Kobe has a better basketball body than either IMO.

I would put Jimmy Butler, for example, 1 or 2 tiers above either guy.

I should clarify, I meant to say that I can't see Kobe being clearly above any of them, I wouldn't fault someone for having him as the best athlete among that group but I don't think it's obvious and the Jimmy Butler comment seems a bit out there honestly.

Zeitgeister wrote:

Dr Spaceman wrote:

Zeitgeister wrote:I mean, Kobe was definitely exceptionally athletic but when you compare him to his peers like Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Dwayne Wade, I think it's difficult for me to put him above any of them.

Big Meh on TMac and Vince. Their functional basketball athleticism wasn’t on the level of the GOAT wings IMO. Neither is really impressive at all when it comes to getting to the rim or foul draw rate. Kobe has a better basketball body than either IMO.

I would put Jimmy Butler, for example, 1 or 2 tiers above either guy.

I should clarify, I meant to say that I can't see Kobe being clearly above any of them, I wouldn't fault someone for having him as the best athlete among that group but I don't think it's obvious and the Jimmy Butler comment seems a bit out there honestly.

Why? One look at his insane offensive rebound rate should tell a lot if the story about his athleticism. His game, much like Kobe, is based around jumping so high that no one can contest his made range shots. He overwhelms guys physically to the point he’s drawing fouls on 70% of his shooting attempts this season.

If you consider things like strength, balance, coordination, body control and muscle memory to be athletic traits it doesn’t really get any better than Kobe.

For me the line between athleticism and skill is very blurry. Harden is another guy I consider absurdly athletic with his GOAT lower body and core strength and his ballerina-like footwork. Vince and McGrady could work three times as hard and still never replicate what Harden or Kobe could do with The ball IMO.

Dr Spaceman wrote:

Zeitgeister wrote:I mean, Kobe was definitely exceptionally athletic but when you compare him to his peers like Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Dwayne Wade, I think it's difficult for me to put him above any of them.

Big Meh on TMac and Vince. Their functional basketball athleticism wasn’t on the level of the GOAT wings IMO. Neither is really impressive at all when it comes to getting to the rim or foul draw rate. Kobe has a better basketball body than either IMO.

I would put Jimmy Butler, for example, 1 or 2 tiers above either guy.

no way, t-mac and carter were absolute freaks. butler just isnt on their level