fanofthegreats wrote:Third best perimeter athlete of all time behind Jordan and Bron.
Give me Julius Erving over him.
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fanofthegreats wrote:Third best perimeter athlete of all time behind Jordan and Bron.
70sFan wrote:fanofthegreats wrote:Third best perimeter athlete of all time behind Jordan and Bron.
Give me Julius Erving over him.
fanofthegreats wrote:Pelly24 wrote:ShotCreator wrote:You say that as if all things are equal in other aspects of athleticism.
Drexler’s top speed, first step, leaping and strength all top Kobe’s.
Drexler was an all-world athlete. The only reason he never peaked higher than Kobe is because his fine motor skills weren’t up to par.
Drexler scored at a high level without a good handle for over a decade. His cut, catch and finish and transition game was just that deadly.
Drexler’s offensive rebounding ability was that of Anthony Davis. Probably higher.
I don’t see Kobe’s athleticism being close to as revered as it’s getting ITT. Nothing really backs up the idea he could top Butler, Drexler or Wade athletically.
He just had better fine motor skills than any of them to complement what athleticism he did have.
I think the motor skills are a part of the athleticism, though, especially if it gives you an edge. That's what gives MJ an athletic edge over people like peak Westbrook.
As far as nothing backing up the idea that he could top those guys, I think Kobe was measured with an official vertical of 38 inches when he was 17 coming out of high school. Butler's was 39 inches after a few years in college. DWade's vertical was 35 inches. Kobe has more poster dunks than both of these guys combined. He also had ridiculous reverse dunks on the baseline. He dunked on Dwight Howard and Tim Duncan and Yao Ming. His dunks easily rival or even exceed Drexler's.
Drexler was fast, but Kobe had a great firs step also. His ability to change directions, as well as his lateral quickness and body control were all superior. Kobe was also an elite defender, and those attributes and his reflexes only helped that.
So idk. Kobe jumped as high or higher than Jimmy Butler, and definitely higher than DWade, and he had way more impressive posters/dunks than either of them. Kobe wasn't as strong as Butler but he was way more agile and definitely had a quicker first step.
Kobe's bounce and quickness are without a doubt elite. His refined athleticism—changing directions, balance, coordination, reflexes—were GOAT levels, and that's what helped give him such an edge.
I don’t see how anyone can look at Jimmy Butler and conclude he’s more impressive athletically than Kobe Bryant.
I can see an argument for Clyde, he’s definitely more impressive in an open court setting. But for all useful basketball functions, it’s clearly Kobe.
ShotCreator wrote:Jiminy Glick wrote:Eh when you look at all the components of athleticism I'd put his athletic prime over Drexler and Wade. Kobe was more acrobatic than them.
You say that as if all things are equal in other aspects of athleticism.
Drexler’s top speed, first step, leaping and strength all top Kobe’s.
Drexler was an all-world athlete. The only reason he never peaked higher than Kobe is because his fine motor skills weren’t up to par.
Drexler scored at a high level without a good handle for over a decade. His cut, catch and finish and transition game was just that deadly.
Drexler’s offensive rebounding ability was that of Anthony Davis. Probably higher.
I don’t see Kobe’s athleticism being close to as revered as it’s getting ITT. Nothing really backs up the idea he could top Butler, Drexler or Wade athletically.
He just had better fine motor skills than any of them to complement what athleticism he did have.
Sign5 wrote: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.
nolang1 wrote:For Kobe (and also Jordan, just watch The Last Dance), once LeBron rounded out his game as a shooter and post player and it became evident he was going to eclipse them by many statistical measures, there was a concerted effort to downplay their athleticism in order to lean hard on the idea of them as players whose teams won largely because they were alpha male competitors who had the clutch gene (and all those other cliches). But yeah, Kobe had prototype size for the SG position and was as physically gifted as anyone besides Jordan.
TurinTurambar wrote:I'm not sure I see the point in bumping a thread just to make back-to-back posts with contradictory statements.
McBubbles wrote:TurinTurambar wrote:I'm not sure I see the point in bumping a thread just to make back-to-back posts with contradictory statements.
Was this directed at me? If so, where's the contradiction?