The "Kobe was a sidekick" argument needs to stop

Luke Cage

Coffee Lover
Supporter
Joined
Jul 18, 2012
Messages
54,679
Reputation
20,240
Daps
279,351
Reppin
Harlem
Get ur weight up
Not your hate up
Jigga man is diesel
When I lift the 8 up

:usure:

hqdefault.jpg


:sas2:
Alpha Dogs don't play the bytch role in photo ops brehs:sas2:
look at Kobe cheesing while a grown man holds him in his arms.
you think MJ would ever take a pic like that? :mjpls:
 

Skooby

Alone In My Zone
Supporter
Joined
Sep 30, 2012
Messages
25,660
Reputation
10,710
Daps
60,675
Reppin
The Cosmos
put KG, Duncan, Dirk, Webber, or Rasheed in place of Shaq and they still win 3 rings.

see how easy that was?
Except it isn't true. I'll give you Duncan but that's it.

No even my boy Sheed could have got them 3-straight rings. Maybe those other guys get them 1 or 2 if they replaced Shaq...but not 3.
 
Joined
May 16, 2012
Messages
39,600
Reputation
-17,871
Daps
84,291
Reppin
NULL
Except it isn't true. I'll give you Duncan but that's it.

No even my boy Sheed could have got them 3-straight rings. Maybe those other guys get them 1 or 2 if they replaced Shaq...but not 3.

Kobe (past his prime) went to 3 straight finals with Gasol. KG, Dirk, Webber, and Rasheed were all better in 2000-02 than Gasol was in 2008-10. plus I would argue Kobe in 2001-03 was better than Kobe from 08-10.

so you have a better version of kobe with a big that is better than Gasol. how could he not win 3 rings? he already won 2 with an inferior player.
 

Gravity

Banned
Joined
May 1, 2012
Messages
18,816
Reputation
2,160
Daps
56,251
Don't know about of course, the way people talk about the Kobe/Shaq dynamic you'd think there was no such thing as a disadvantageous matchup for Shaq and that Kobe was never needed as the primary option. In reality they were nothing short of a tag team that together dismantled teams and completed a dynasty
Yes they were a tag team. Shaq=Batman Kobe=Robin

A lot of Kobe fanboys just don't know basketball. They keep posting up stats trying to prove that Kobe was just as valuable without understanding context. Kobe would shine against the Spurs during that Lakers run because the Spurs strength was on the frontline and their game plan was to stop Shaq. The floor was wide open for Kobe because of the attention that Shaq garnered. Shaq was who the team was built around, he was the 1st option, and the main focus of the opposing team. Not Kobe. That's why Shaq was the man and Kobe was the sidekick. He was a great sidekick, but a sidekick nonetheless.
 

Dirty D

Vikes & Raptors 4 Life
Joined
May 1, 2012
Messages
3,450
Reputation
1,009
Daps
6,919
Reppin
The 6
Kobe (past his prime) went to 3 straight finals with Gasol. KG, Dirk, Webber, and Rasheed were all better in 2000-02 than Gasol was in 2008-10. plus I would argue Kobe in 2001 and 2002 was better than Kobe from 08-10.

so you have a better version of kobe with a big that is better than Gasol. how could he not win 3 rings? he already won 2 with an inferior player.

Gasol, Odom and Bynum. Those other 2 fell off but together that was one of the best frontcourts in the league during that run.

If you take Shaq from the Lakers and Kobe+one of those other guys has to go through him in the playoffs and he's got a good team with him, that's a problem. They'd def still be one of the heavy contenders but it's a step down from Shaq to those other guys. IMO the same applies to if you replace Kobe with Vince/AI/Ray in 2002. The other 2 years I'd take Shaq with any one of those guys.

I'm listening to Jalen and Jacoby right now and Jalen literally just said "Shaq was the most dominant player of my era" in my ear.
 

IGSaint12

Superstar
Joined
May 1, 2012
Messages
14,467
Reputation
2,350
Daps
39,497
Reppin
NULL
Come on. Put Vince Carter, T-Mac, AI, Pierce, Murbury, Ray Allen or even :francis: in place of Kobe during that run and they still win 3 'ships.

Those teams were all about Shaq.

Are you serious? Look at some of the numbers Kobe was putting up when Shaq was injured or what he did to the spurs. Are you serious with these guys replacing 40 pt games on great efficiency? :camby:
 
Joined
May 16, 2012
Messages
39,600
Reputation
-17,871
Daps
84,291
Reppin
NULL
Gasol, Odom and Bynum. Those other 2 fell off but together that was one of the best frontcourts in the league during that run.

If you take Shaq from the Lakers and Kobe+one of those other guys has to go through him in the playoffs and he's got a good team with him, that's a problem. They'd def still be one of the heavy contenders but it's a step down from Shaq to those other guys. IMO the same applies to if you replace Kobe with Vince/AI/Ray in 2002. The other 2 years I'd take Shaq with any one of those guys.

I'm listening to Jalen and Jacoby right now and Jalen literally just said "Shaq was the most dominant player of my era" in my ear.

so i'm guessing you also agree with durant, wade, and dirk saying kobe was the best during their era.

Dirk on Kobe: http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/mave...56/dirk-kobe-greatest-player-in-my-generation

Wade on Kobe: http://www.axs.com/dwyane-wade-calls-kobe-bryant-the-second-best-player-in-nba-history-15274

Durant on Kobe: http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on...ays-kobe-bryant-is-the-goat-along-with-jordan


if we're talking respect from peers, kobe is second only to michael in that regard.
 

Sccit

LA'S MOST BLUNTED
WOAT
Supporter
Joined
Jun 22, 2013
Messages
60,896
Reputation
-20,370
Daps
78,935
Reppin
LOS818ANGELES
Yes they were a tag team. Shaq=Batman Kobe=Robin

A lot of Kobe fanboys just don't know basketball. They keep posting up stats trying to prove that Kobe was just as valuable without understanding context. Kobe would shine against the Spurs during that Lakers run because the Spurs strength was on the frontline and their game plan was to stop Shaq. The floor was wide open for Kobe because of the attention that Shaq garnered. Shaq was who the team was built around, he was the 1st option, and the main focus of the opposing team. Not Kobe. That's why Shaq was the man and Kobe was the sidekick. He was a great sidekick, but a sidekick nonetheless.



EXCEPT KOBE WAS DEFINITELY A FOCUS ON OFFENSE, SO UR BASING UR ARGUMENT ON A LIE...KOBE WAS CONSISTENTLY DOUBLE AND SOMETIMES EVEN TRIPLE TEAMED ON THE PERIMETER, WHICH PRETTY MUCH DISCREDITS THE BASIS OF YOUR RETORT.
 

Sccit

LA'S MOST BLUNTED
WOAT
Supporter
Joined
Jun 22, 2013
Messages
60,896
Reputation
-20,370
Daps
78,935
Reppin
LOS818ANGELES
Gasol, Odom and Bynum. Those other 2 fell off but together that was one of the best frontcourts in the league during that run.

If you take Shaq from the Lakers and Kobe+one of those other guys has to go through him in the playoffs and he's got a good team with him, that's a problem. They'd def still be one of the heavy contenders but it's a step down from Shaq to those other guys. IMO the same applies to if you replace Kobe with Vince/AI/Ray in 2002. The other 2 years I'd take Shaq with any one of those guys.

I'm listening to Jalen and Jacoby right now and Jalen literally just said "Shaq was the most dominant player of my era" in my ear.



ODOM WAS AN INCONSISTENT PLAYER....GOOD ROLE PLAYER WHEN HE HAD HIS ISH TOGETHER, BUT NEVER MADE AN ALL-STAR SQUAD AND HIS BEST ACCOLADE WAS 6TH MAN OF THE YEAR. BYNUM WAS CONSTANTLY INJURED AND AVERAGED ABOUT 20 MINS IN THE FINALS. YOU TRYNA OVERGLORIFY THEM TO DOWNPLAY KOBE AINT GUNA WORK BROBRO.
 

Consumed

Superstar
Joined
May 6, 2015
Messages
5,990
Reputation
1,410
Daps
16,122
Yes they were a tag team. Shaq=Batman Kobe=Robin

A lot of Kobe fanboys just don't know basketball. They keep posting up stats trying to prove that Kobe was just as valuable without understanding context. Kobe would shine against the Spurs during that Lakers run because the Spurs strength was on the frontline and their game plan was to stop Shaq. The floor was wide open for Kobe because of the attention that Shaq garnered. Shaq was who the team was built around, he was the 1st option, and the main focus of the opposing team. Not Kobe. That's why Shaq was the man and Kobe was the sidekick. He was a great sidekick, but a sidekick nonetheless.

Kobe's success against the Spurs was much more so because of his transcendent abilities as a perimeter scorer than any attention Shaq attracted or the focus of the Spurs defense. He's cooked that team historically in the postseason even post Shaq and they've consistently struggled to handle him on that stage. The Lakers forcing the opposition to pick their poison between two dominant scorers was what made them such a legendary team and it wouldn't have been possible without those two together working in concert. What Kobe did was not the role of a side kick, but a co-superstar. That doesn't have to mean that Kobe consistently plays at a level that's superior or on par to Shaq's dominance, but that his impact for those teams at the peak of their powers was immeasurable and both were top five players during the majority of their tenure together. At no point in this games history should you be able to deem one player a sidekick to another if they're both among the very elite in this game regardless of gap in skill. Its flat out disrespectful
 
Top