How Kobe Bryant Is Re-Defining Our Expectactions For All-Time Greats

[KingJudah]

Im a Knicks fan


but I always watch the Lakers just for Kobe

nuff said.. Every game its like you get a gem or two of plays that have your jaw hit the floor

 

[Jplaya2023]

Sure, but don't act like the minutes played has no effect on players' bodies.

Nash is still effective and he's damn near 40, but that's also because he hasn't played nearly the minutes Kobe or Duncan has.

I never said minutes played didn't have an effect on the players. My point is being older has a BIGGER impact than minutes played.

 

[Regular_P]

I never said minutes played didn't have an effect on the players. My point is being older has a BIGGER impact than minutes played.

There's no argument there, but no other high school player has maintained this level of performance like Kobe. Not KG, not Moses Malone. That's special.

Do you think Jordan would have played as well as he did with the Wizards if he'd played straight through from '84 to '03 with all those minutes?

 

[GoddamnyamanProf]

kobe has made me appreciate the player i used 2 hate this season .. he has suprised me

he doin shxt at his age mj couldnt do .. and im a mj fan

Really, like what? At Kobe's age, Jordan was in the middle of another three peat, still winning MVP's, finals MVP's, scoring titles and leading his team to the best record in NBA history.

Kobe just got a couple more HOF teammates and is struggling to make the playoffs. You think anyone left Mike off any top 5 lists when he was 34?

Kobe is at the point in his career where he can only add to his legacy not detract.

Putting together a "super team" only to miss the playoffs/squeak in as the 8th seed automatically detracts from his legacy. Duncan never did that.

 

[boskey]

All hate aside Kobe is an amazing player and always has been.

But this article and this whole convo is starting to sound real Roger Clemens-ish. I hope it isn't true...

 

[Raw Lyrics]

Screw athletics, at Kobe age MJ was still WINNING TITLES, not struggling to make the playoffs. Instead at the age of 35, he carried his team to their 6th title. Scoring the last 8 points, game winning steal and jumper.

People fukin forget!!!!!

 

[Jplaya2023]

There's no argument there, but no other high school player has maintained this level of performance like Kobe. Not KG, not Moses Malone. That's special.

Do you think Jordan would have played as well as he did with the Wizards if he'd played straight through from '84 to '03 with all those minutes?

I don't think he would've, a reason would be jordan wouldn't be flying to Germany to dip in lazarus pit either

 

[KingJudah]

All hate aside Kobe is an amazing player and always has been.

But this article and this whole convo is starting to sound real Roger Clemens-ish. I hope it isn't true...

He probably goes to sleep at 11pm everynight, hits the gym, spa etc. It's not like he's dunking all over ni99as still. He's mastering subtleties of elusiveness and keeping the jumper on point

 

[Raw Lyrics]

Yeah but look at the sharp cliff every other high schooler and 1 and done player hit way earlier. Outside of KG whose nowhere near the same level he was at but still a great player the rest fell off quick. Look at the Iversons, Webber (came in as a sophomore), Marbury, JO, McGrady and most hit a cliff around 30 and experienced an early prime.

Also MJ may not have played as good over the course of the second 3-peat if he had the wear and tear of two extra seasons on his legs. That alone may have helped extend the years he was able to play. But it is a crime that we got to miss what could've possibly been his best years.

Yea, but Jordan was gambling, drinking, sleepin around, smoking cigars, playing baseball during that time off...so he wasn't exactly preserving his body. The layoff atrophied him a little, cuz I know the Jordan that played in the second three-peat wasn't the Air Jordan of the first.

 

[Sunalmighty]

Yea, but Jordan was gambling, drinking, sleepin around, smoking cigars, playing baseball during that time off...so he wasn't exactly preserving his body. The layoff atrophied him a little, cuz I know the Jordan that played in the second three-peat wasn't the Air Jordan of the first.

But that's just how GOOD he was. The level MJ was at before he retired was insane, and I still think he was a slight shell of himself during his second three peat. But he came back and picked up like it was nothing. Ridiculous. And them came back in 2001 and played for FREE, with this "new era" and averaged 20 5 5. Crazy

 

[boskey]

He probably goes to sleep at 11pm everynight, hits the gym, spa etc. It's not like he's dunking all over ni99as still. He's mastering subtleties of elusiveness and keeping the jumper on point

He did a couple times this year and people were giving him props talking about "after 17 season he can still.."


I'm not accusing him at all tho. I'm just pointing out the fact that once we start talking about great players getting even better after their primes it starts sounding similar to all those older baseball players that were cheating. We've seen some physical freaks, but father time catches up with everybody eventually...

 

[C-Styles]

Yea, but Jordan was gambling, drinking, sleepin around, smoking cigars, playing baseball during that time off...so he wasn't exactly preserving his body. The layoff atrophied him a little, cuz I know the Jordan that played in the second three-peat wasn't the Air Jordan of the first.

No he wasn't he was actually BETTER!! He was much wiser and mature where he knew what to do with every possession instead of being wild and wreckless with the ball like he was in his early days. He made players around him better his second go-round and if not being the same equals to having the BEST RECORD OF ALL TIME with 72 WINS, then anyone would take that "FALL OFF" how are you gonna say he wasn't a BETTER player on his second 3-peat? he made those years seem like it was easy to hit the finals and win it each time, No LARRY HOLMES about that!

 

[Homeboy Runny-Ray]

Yeah but look at the sharp cliff every other high schooler and 1 and done player hit way earlier. Outside of KG whose nowhere near the same level he was at but still a great player the rest fell off quick. Look at the Iversons, Webber (came in as a sophomore), Marbury, JO, McGrady and most hit a cliff around 30 and experienced an early prime.

Also MJ may not have played as good over the course of the second 3-peat if he had the wear and tear of two extra seasons on his legs. That alone may have helped extend the years he was able to play. But it is a crime that we got to miss what could've possibly been his best years.

the keyword is all-timers. none of the names you mentioned fit that description except for allen iverson who has years on kobe and was far from a 1-and-done player. he did 2 years at gtown and a year upstate...and he didnt hit a cliff at no dam 30.

It's about the mileage on his body.

KG went straight to the league and he hasn't been a top-5 player since '08.

McGrady's done. Jermaine O'Neal is a shell of himself.

sure, kobe has mileage on his body but at the end of the day, hes still a 34 year old kid that never suffered a major injury.

and again, when have you ever heard any of these guys mentioned with the all-time eilite?

kobe was the first all-timer to enter the league as a teenager......KG? close but no cigar. T-MAC? couldve been if he wasnt riddled with injuries. marbury may have been a teenager. i'll throw his name in there since he had the talent, but he didnt capitalize on it for whatever reason.

with that said, kobe is the 1st of his kind, but hes not gonna be the last. celebrating kobe's longevity is premature. lets see what lebron can do first. and MAYBE rose, melo & durant IF they can achieve such a status, and all these other youngns that are entering the league as teenagers now. lets see how they do.

sure, kobe has the mileage but hes still a 34 year old man with no

 

[Joe Sixpack]

Really, like what? At Kobe's age, Jordan was in the middle of another three peat, still winning MVP's, finals MVP's, scoring titles and leading his team to the best record in NBA history.

Kobe just got a couple more HOF teammates and is struggling to make the playoffs. You think anyone left Mike off any top 5 lists when he was 34?


Putting together a "super team" only to miss the playoffs/squeak in as the 8th seed automatically detracts from his legacy. Duncan never did that.

This is beautiful posting.

 

[Johnny Kilroy]

Every "youngest" record Kobe sets LeBron just breaks a few years later.