The "Kobe was a sidekick" argument needs to stop

[KingMalik]

I'm the best...this is my team...I carried everybody...he's a sidekick....im the head nikka in charge here

Aye aye Kobe....you gonna still drop 40 when I need you though right?

 

[2Quik4UHoes]

Powerful thread.

 

[Maluma]

kobe has beaten 2 55 win teams in the last 11 years. But yeah, it was all him and definitely not Shaq right brehs?

 

[filial_piety]

lol @ these cats rewriting history...

Anyone who was born before 1990 knows that it was Shaqs team...everyone else was a wingman...including Kobe.

No one thought of Kobe as the team leader/go to guy between 2000-2004

 

[Cyber]

Depending on who you ask Kobe either gets too much credit or not enough credit for his first three titles, you rarely find a middle ground.

If by sidekick we mean 2nd best player, that's not a debate. It's hard to call 01 and arguably 02 Kobe a sidekick in the traditional sense though, and yet that's how Kobe gets viewed when discussing his place among the greats. Robin didn't rival Batman at anything and yet in the 1st 3 rounds both Kobe and Shaq were playing at a similar level. And in the finals outside of his awful game 1 Kobe contributed 27/9/6 in their remaining games, not the 30/15/5 average Shaq put up in their wins but not too shabby either.

I don't have a problem with 2000 getting shafted, and I honestly don't put too much stock in his 2002 ring, but he should get credit for 2001.

 

[Sccit]

who won the 3 finals MVP awards?

who scored 8 points on 4-20 shooting in the NBA finals?

it was Shaq's team

JORDAN SHOT 5-19 IN THE FINAL GAME OF THE 1996 NBA FINALS, YOUNG HACKELINI...WHATS YA POINT?


KOBE-SHAQ=THE GREATEST 1-2 PUNCH EVER. NEITHER WAS A SIDEKICK. SHAQ HAD SENIORITY BECAUSE OF AGE, AND THAT IS ALL.

 

[42 Monks]

RIP Kobe

2015 got all this built up angst because you ain't here anymore

 

[NatiboyB]

Sidekicks don't average 28-30 points per season

You want to give Shaq all the credit. You want Shaq to be the HNIC of the Lakers. Fine. Then that fat muthafukka should have won rings with Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel.....average shooting guards no one would have thought twice about but, instead he had to wait until the second GOAT shooting guard got good enough to help him You can't have it both ways

But at one point he was a sidekick their is no refuting that.

 

[GoddamnyamanProf]

it's not an argument. it's just a fact:MJShrugs:

This 2+2=4 argument really needs to stop, you guys

 

[smitty22]

Shaq wouldn't have won more than one championship without Kobe... It's already been proven.

Shaq was the most "dominant" player in the series because of his opposition... But Who did he play against directly? Vlade? Smitts? Ratliff? Mutumbo? How hard was it to drop 30 on them nikkas?

Yet Kobe was playing the best guards and then playing DEFENSE on the best guards... Even when they lost to the Pistons he was making life hell for Rip Hamilton..


Shaq didn't even win shyt with Penny, Jones, Van Exel, etc... He didn't even win shyt when he tried to piggy back with Lebronze

Shaq is great, don't get me wrong. But he wasn't a champion until he met Kobe and if people don't understand that then they're most likely borderline retarded when it comes to basketball

Who were these best guards Kobe was going against?

 

[malbaker86]

All I know is when the Lakers played the Spurs in the PS, Kobe was often the best player on their team. Used to terrorize them and was a killer in the 4th particularly in that 02 semifinals.

Kobe had the better match up against the Spurs those two seasons. Of course Shaq was gonna take a backseat being guarded by Robinson AND Duncan

 

[the artist known az]

Don't everyone consider Pippen a sidekick?

Jordan couldn't win until Pippen became a perennial All Star

Jordan has the Finals MVPs he gets the credit

Shaq got the Finals MVPs, yall want Kobe to give credit

Sorry but Kobe was a sidekick

 

[Skooby]

Come on. Put Vince Carter, T-Mac, AI, Pierce, Murbury, Ray Allen or even in place of Kobe during that run and they still win 3 'ships.

Those teams were all about Shaq.

 

[I.AM.PIFF]

Powerful thread @KingMalik

 

[the artist known az]

Here's Shaq's stats from the 2000 Finals:
Game 1 43pts 19rebs
Game 2 40 pts 24rebs
Game 3 33pts 13 rebs
Game 4 36pts 21rebs
Game 5 35pts 11rebs
Game 6 41pts 12rebs

He averaged 38pts & 17rebs in the finals

But it wasn't Shaq that won that series