Which did you find more entertaining, Peak Kobe or Peak Curry?

[ReddoverKobe]

I actually liked young Kobe better. Watching him in that first three peat was so fun. Then all the stupid "mamba mentality" nonsense started.

[JRoy]

Curry changed the game.

Nothin a good way, but he was such as outlier that the rest of the league tried to copy the GSW formula.

[durden_tyler]

Watching Kobe was just watching Mike, so there was an appeal to that kind of play. Steph's range just changed the game though so going with Curry on this one.

[tsherkin]

For me, it's Steph, no question. Kobe was a frustrating player to watch and follow and there was always a lot going on around him beyond the actual game which added to that.

With Steph, there's a greater exuberance and energy about his game, and I like watching him navigating among the trees. Plus, he's generally a better offensive player. Kobe was extremely good, but I like watching Steph do his thing more. It's a lot more than JUST threes; especially at his peak, he was giving you drives, PnR action, off-ball movement, a pretty good floater game, etc.

It's all subjective in terms of what you prefer to watch, but for me, it was definitely watching Steph artfully carving up the D then it was hoping that Kobe's penchant for making his life harder with his shot selection. Can't fault someone who enjoyed him for the style he had, I just enjoy watching Steph more.

[JellosJigglin]

I never found Currys game entertaining. I have said this since he was a young up and coming player. Nothing personal I just never felt shooting was exciting. I understand he's a well rounded player and more than a shooter, but his draw as an entertainer largely comes from his shooting. Never been my thing. Actually the 3ball era has ruined the NBA for me. Yes I'm grampa simpson yelling at clouds.

[Edrees]

I find both players highly entertaining but I enjoyed watching kobe more, but he played for my team so it's hard not to be biased. But he had a lot of wild plays where the shot should not go in, and a lot of fancy footwork that was amazing, as well as exciting blocks, steals and defensive highlights so there was more variety.

[Old_Blue]

Oh please. Kobe Bryant was a great defensive player. But, offensively, the dude was an over-rated chucker. An overall .447 career FG%. An absolutely wretched career mark of .329 from beyond the arc. A full 25% of his career points from the free throw line (on 10,011 free throw attempts - more than any backcourt player in the history of the NBA). A me first player 24/7. Had Kobe Bryant been traded to the Heat instead of Shaq, you would now be asking the question..."Which did you find more entertaining, Peak Vince Carter or Peak Curry?"

[DS17]

Kobe of course. Steph's play dwindles without an all star by his side, where'as we saw what kobe did with a crap supporting cast.

Most posters here are under the age of 30 so i doubt they have even seen prime kobe play. I mean, im in my early 30s so i have only seen his prime reeally from 2011 and onwards.

[JellosJigglin]

Oh please. Kobe Bryant was a great defensive player. But, offensively, the dude was an over-rated chucker. An overall .447 career FG%. An absolutely wretched career mark of .329 from beyond the arc. A full 25% of his career points from the free throw line (on 10,011 free throw attempts - more than any backcourt player in the history of the NBA). A me first player 24/7. Had Kobe Bryant been traded to the Heat instead of Shaq, you would now be asking the question..."Which did you find more entertaining, Peak Vince Carter or Peak Curry?"

[JellosJigglin]

Kobe of course. Steph's play dwindles without an all star by his side, where'as we saw what kobe did with a crap supporting cast.

Most posters here are under the age of 30 so i doubt they have even seen prime kobe play. I mean, im in my early 30s so i have only seen his prime reeally from 2011 and onwards.

Kobe was must watch TV in his prime. The guy played through all kinds of injuries without making any excuses and every game you felt like there was a chance he'd make history.

[fansse]

Curry is very efficient but pretty much all he does is run around picks and get the switch with a forward defender. Kobe was the most entertaining player by far

[doogie_hauser]

Kobe of course. Steph's play dwindles without an all star by his side, where'as we saw what kobe did with a crap supporting cast.

Most posters here are under the age of 30 so i doubt they have even seen prime kobe play. I mean, im in my early 30s so i have only seen his prime reeally from 2011 and onwards.

What are you on about? Kobe played with Shaq (a top 5 player in the history of the game) for 3 of his chips. None of Steph's teammates would come close to being in the top 25 players of all time

I get the argument for Kobe being the better player I really do, but to suggest Steph had the better supporting cast is just nonsense .

[aliasxn]

I never found Curry to be a particularly entertaining player to watch, his game has always been more about efficiency than showmanship.

[og15]

Kobe of course. Steph's play dwindles without an all star by his side, where'as we saw what kobe did with a crap supporting cast.

Most posters here are under the age of 30 so i doubt they have even seen prime kobe play. I mean, im in my early 30s so i have only seen his prime reeally from 2011 and onwards.

Over 60% of the forum is over 35 my friend, this isn't Reddit or Instagram. Old school forums are not the hanging out ground for the under 30 people.

You're younger than most of the people here being in your early 30's. Also if people can't figure out this thing called YouTube, then don't know what to tell them

Don't forget that Steph averaged 32/6/6 in 20-21 with no All-Star performer next to him.

[dhsilv2]

Has it been established when Curry's peak was? He's known for his 3pt shooting so has there really been a consistent drop in his shooting?

2016 regular season. I suppose one could argue his peak post season was his 4th title when he'd added the size and almost trolled teams to attack him.

[dhsilv2]

Both were fun to watch for different reasons but Curry's shooting was just superhuman.

Maybe even more than the shooting I love the off ball movement, I don't know why, but guys just chasing players around screens and then getting lost and confused and not knowing whether to switch or stay is just super fun...and then both guys go to the shooter and the screener is wide open near the basket. Fun stuff to watch.

When Curry started to add in just flat out checking bigger guys to give his teammates open layups, he really went to another level for me. Suddenly the smallest guy on the court was setting blocks like an offensive lineman. It had both elements of surprise, novelty, and actual genius.

[dhsilv2]

There was a stretch where Kobe's old man "MJ" post game really did capture me. A bit of nostalgia and longing for that magic that Jordan brought to the game. Especially that second 3peat. It really was fun...perhaps just after that 2006 season he really got into that full on MJ bag. But it was watching a poor man's...all be it perhaps a touch more finessed version of MJ. Curry was a nuclear bomb to the game. Taking Miller's off ball action, mixing in a tight end's blocking, and launching a revolution of deep shooting. He really did in many ways destroy the old game as the use of constant motion around his off ball game made it almost impossible to see everything happening. But when you first see it...it's just absolutely amazing.

If someone's newer to basketball the young guards will always be imo the stand out exciting players. Then with some age, you'll start to get excited about big men as there's always something more unique with a big man (not to say a younger guy might not get excited by a shaq or a duncan). Wemby is more unique tha ANT for example. So to have watched the league for decades and to see a 6'2-6'3 guard just show me something I'd only thought about in video games was just something so special.

So for me it's Curry.

[tsherkin]

I never found Currys game entertaining. I have said this since he was a young up and coming player. Nothing personal I just never felt shooting was exciting. I understand he's a well rounded player and more than a shooter, but his draw as an entertainer largely comes from his shooting. Never been my thing. Actually the 3ball era has ruined the NBA for me. Yes I'm grampa simpson yelling at clouds.

This is curious to me, because Kobe was primarily a volume jump shooter. About 30% of the shots he took came from 10-23 feet, and an additional 27% or so came from 3. So it's hard for me to understand the idea that you "never felt shooting was exciting" when you select a player took over 50% of his shots as jumpers, and half of those from 3.

Understand, I'm not trying to sass/grief you: you like watching who you like watching, I'm just authentically interested in the thought process here, because in my head, a jumper is a jumper whether it's a 3 or a 15-footer or anywhere in between. To you, what's the difference between a 3 and a 20-footer?

[tsherkin]

Oh please. Kobe Bryant was a great defensive player. But, offensively, the dude was an over-rated chucker. An overall .447 career FG%. An absolutely wretched career mark of .329 from beyond the arc. A full 25% of his career points from the free throw line (on 10,011 free throw attempts - more than any backcourt player in the history of the NBA). A me first player 24/7. Had Kobe Bryant been traded to the Heat instead of Shaq, you would now be asking the question..."Which did you find more entertaining, Peak Vince Carter or Peak Curry?"

So, you're trying to call him inefficient here, attacking his FG%. But he was a +3% rTS guy for a decade. He was actually reasonably efficient, especially given his volume. And when he had his 35 ppg season, it was about as efficient as Jordan's was back in the 80s. Also, 98-2013, he shot 45.4% from the field.

It's worth remembering that he played 20 seasons, and started as a teenager. So if you take away some of the brutal seasons at the very end of his career after his Achilles was screwed, and his rookie season, that's still 1168 GP and his shooting percentage is pretty decent. And if you compare that to other guys today, for a dude who was taking 4.1 3PA/g, that's not bad. Kobe shot 48.4% FG inside the arc during that stretch, and from 07-13 (e.g. in the faster-paced stretch compared to his earlier seasons), he shot 49.1% inside the arc and had 4 seasons above 50% 2FG%.

Context is important. Using raw numbers without it escapes a lot of the details, like the hellaciously slow pace in Kobe's early seasons, or how slowed-down he was while playing on some rough Lakers teams to close out his career.

[TheHartBreakKid]

I totally get if someone finds Peak Curry more entertaining than Peak Kobe — no issue there.

But can we at least recognize that the results of this poll are probably skewed? Prime Kobe was nearly 20 years ago, and alot of the people voting now likely weren’t watching basketball back then. I’m not saying that in an “old head who knows better” kind of way — just pointing out that when it comes to entertainment, people naturally lean toward the players they actually saw play.