Where would Peak Kobe Bryant rank today?

[Matt15]

Where would peak Kobe rank overall in todays league?

[Lebronnygoat]

Not over Jokic, Shai, Luka, or Giannis. So right at 5.

[One_and_Done]

Somewhere in the 7-15 range maybe.

[ceoofkobefans]

It’d be between him and Jokic for best in the world

Might add SGA to that depending on how the rest of the year goes

[capfan33]

Could have him as high as 2nd or as low as 5th depending on various factors. If SGA continues doing what he’s doing in the playoffs he would be capped at 3rd.

[IG2]

Top 3

Only one with a definitive argument over him would be Jokic

[Pelly24]

No. 5 behind Jokic, Shai, Luka, and Giannis.

[iggymcfrack]

It’s not often I’m in the top half of a Kobe vote! I’d go #3 though. Clearly behind Jokic and SGA, but he’s def better than Tatum or decline phase Giannis and I can’t take Wemby over him until I’ve seen him prove it in the playoffs. Now if the Spurs make the playoffs and Wemby plays well in a first round loss, I’d consider switching them.

[One_and_Done]

I think it's a bit harsh to call this decline phase Giannis. He's not playing like he was at his peak, but alot of the problem is the situation around him is a mess. Guys like Lopez and especially Middleton have declined, and the coaching is rubbish. The team has recovered well from their awful start. If the situation around Giannis improved we likely see him looking more like peak Giannis. He's still better than Kobe at any rate.

[Lexluthor]

I would take him over anybody in the league right now

[tsherkin]

Somewhere from 5-7, I think. Bunch of guys who are clearly better, but would still be amazing.

[sca]

I think 2005-06 Kobe was the peak version, although the team around him was mostly rubbish.

I’ve tried adjusting his 2006 stats to 2025 according to the team per game stats. I’ve also adjusted his MPG accordingly. Anyway, according to my calculations, Kobe would average 36.8 MPG / 37.6 PPG (8.27 2PM / 4.77 3PM / 6.71 FTM) / 5.2 RPG (0.8 ORPG) / 5.2 APG / 1.9 SPG / 0.4 BPG / 2.8 TPG on .585 TS% on a team that is on pace to win 47 games.

[iggymcfrack]

I think it's a bit harsh to call this decline phase Giannis. He's not playing like he was at his peak, but alot of the problem is the situation around him is a mess. Guys like Lopez and especially Middleton have declined, and the coaching is rubbish. The team has recovered well from their awful start. If the situation around Giannis improved we likely see him looking more like peak Giannis. He's still better than Kobe at any rate.

The thing about Giannis is he was never anywhere near as impactful offensively as his box score numbers would suggest since he got so many of his points either in transition or finishing off a chance that someone else created. He never had the offensive impact of a Kobe or a T-Mac or a Reggie Miller. At his peak, he was a deserved MVP because he got more value from his defense than he did from his offense.

Well, his defensive value has gradually slipped year after year since 2020 until he's really not impacting the game much defensively at all any more. It's actually not dissimilar to Kobe where he still has the physical ability to be one of the best defenders in the league at his position and he'll show it in the last 2 to 5 minutes of a close game, but most of the time he's just standing there. He might be slightly better on offense than he was at his peak, but his defense is probably only 10-20% as valuable compared to an average defender. I'm not impressed with him right now.

[Dr Aki]

Peak Kobe? 2005-2010 Kobe? Kobe getting better in the playoffs Kobe? Kobe having his way going through a man premier wing defender AND 2 big men Kobe?

Lakers had a severe lack of over-the-top shot making these last 2 post-seasons under Ham. Kobe would've been that and more. Peak Kobe instead of Lebron would've beaten the Nuggets over the last 2 seasons. Especially when you consider how close those games were. And then where would people be ranking Jokic given the playoff failures?

Top 3 easily. Top 1 depending on how much ESPN and social media slobbers over the mamba mentality stuff considering Jokic and Giannis benefit from big man effficiency.

[One_and_Done]

I think it's a bit harsh to call this decline phase Giannis. He's not playing like he was at his peak, but alot of the problem is the situation around him is a mess. Guys like Lopez and especially Middleton have declined, and the coaching is rubbish. The team has recovered well from their awful start. If the situation around Giannis improved we likely see him looking more like peak Giannis. He's still better than Kobe at any rate.

The thing about Giannis is he was never anywhere near as impactful offensively as his box score numbers would suggest since he got so many of his points either in transition or finishing off a chance that someone else created. He never had the offensive impact of a Kobe or a T-Mac or a Reggie Miller. At his peak, he was a deserved MVP because he got more value from his defense than he did from his offense.

Well, his defensive value has gradually slipped year after year since 2020 until he's really not impacting the game much defensively at all any more. It's actually not dissimilar to Kobe where he still has the physical ability to be one of the best defenders in the league at his position and he'll show it in the last 2 to 5 minutes of a close game, but most of the time he's just standing there. He might be slightly better on offense than he was at his peak, but his defense is probably only 10-20% as valuable compared to an average defender. I'm not impressed with him right now.

I dislike commentary like 'oh, but he gets his points from transition, etc', because it implies that in the playoffs teams can stop him. That doesn't gel with some of the truly epic offensive performances Giannis has had at the highest levels. It's like when Shaq got criticised because 'all he does is dunk'. Who cares? As long as it goes in and they can't stop it.

His defense is not at it's peak, but it's still better than Kobe has ever been. In fact both his D and O are better than Kobe has ever been, even now.

Giannis per 100: 44/17/8 on 617 TS%. That's better by far than any season Kobe ever had. Ever.

The Bucks started the season terribly for various reasons, but are now back to a healthy 26-18. After that 4-9 start they've gone 22-9, and Giannis is driving all that.

[TheGOATRises007]

Top 3. I'd take Jokic and SGA over him.

Might change depending on how SGA finishes the year/plays in the playoffs.

[tsherkin]

I dislike commentary like 'oh, but he gets his points from transition, etc', because it implies that in the playoffs teams can stop him. That doesn't gel with some of the truly epic offensive performances Giannis has had at the highest levels. It's like when Shaq got criticised because 'all he does is dunk'. Who cares? As long as it goes in and they can't stop it.

Yeah. Giannis from 2018 forward has averaged 29.2 ppg and shot 56.7% FG (61.6% inside the arc), posting a 62.4% TS in the RS.

Come the playoffs over that same stretch, 58.3% TS (dropped primarily by 22 and 23) over 28.2 ppg. He was, of course, injured in that last postseason.

And this year, he appears healthy, and is crushing it again. Plus, aside from the past couple of postseasons, he's generally maintained well. He does have a title, after all. He led the playoffs in rebounding that year, and rocked 30.2 ppg on 59.9% TS, which was WELL above playoff league average. ANd of course, he's an incompetent boob at the foul line, which affects his raw efficiency, but he has traditionally still been smoking hot from the field when even semi-healthy.

His style of play doesn't appear to cause him issues against higher-order defenses. He's pretty nasty.

[Hair Jordan]

Kobe would be on par with Anthony Edwards: an overhyped, inefficient chucker.

[70sFan]

I dislike commentary like 'oh, but he gets his points from transition, etc', because it implies that in the playoffs teams can stop him. That doesn't gel with some of the truly epic offensive performances Giannis has had at the highest levels.

It's true that Giannis gets a significant portion of his points in transition though, take a look at his transition numbers each year:

2025: 8.0 ppg (#1 in the league) on 71.2 FG%
2024: 7.8 ppg (#1 in the league) on 68.3 FG%
2023: 9.1 ppg (#1 in the league) on 60.0 FG%
2022: 8.5 ppg (#1 in the league) on 58.4 FG%
2021: 8.2 ppg (#1 in the league) on 63.6 FG%
2020: 8.3 ppg (#1 in the league) on 60.9 FG%
2019: 7.3 ppg (#1 in the league) on 64.0 FG%

Total: 8.2 ppg on 63.1 FG%

Non-transition scoring: 21.5 ppg on 55.6 FG%

Now compare that to the postseason:

2023: 5.7 ppg on 45.5 FG%
2022: 10.2 ppg on 57.6 FG%
2021: 6.8 ppg on 55.8 FG%
2020: 6.3 ppg on 61.5 FG%
2019: 8.2 ppg on 61.5 FG%

Total: 7.7 ppg on 58.0 FG%

Non-transition scoring: 20.8 ppg on 51.7 FG%

It's very evident that:

1. Giannis is less effective in transition in postseason compared to the RS.
2. Giannis is significantly less efficient in halfcourt against postseason defenses, which reduces his overall offensive value as the main option.

Shaq comparison isn't fair, because Shaq's main strengths remained unchanged in the playoffs.

[tsherkin]

Kobe would be on par with Anthony Edwards: an overhyped, inefficient chucker.

So Kobe wasn't actually inefficient in his own era... and Ant is actually above league average this season.

Younger Kobe without playing behind Shaq would probably be killing it in today's game as a scorer.