Bryant Needs Accolades

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Kobe Bryant might be surprised to learn that as he begins his second decade in the NBA next week, the one-time prodigy is a little behind the curve.

Yes, we're grading on a very tough curve here, comparing the accomplishments of Kobe's 10years in the league to those of pro basketball's all-time greats.

But his talent and ambition demand nothing less than comparison to stars of the first magnitude, right?

How does Bryant stack up? Can a player with three championship rings but no MVP trophies so far be remembered as one of the best ever if he just keeps doing what he's doing? Or will he make it to Mount Olympus Arena only if he picks up the pace, leading the Lakers to more titles, winning more awards, topping more stat lists?

To Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of those greats, Kobe is right there already.

"Just because of what he's accomplished, individually and as a team player, he's in the equation (for greatness)," said Abdul-Jabbar, now a Lakers assistant coach. "It's up to him where exactly he ends up."

What does Bryant have to do to guarantee himself a roster spot on anybody's all-time Dream Team?

Let's cut out the bias, posturing and histrionics that blur the debate about

L.A.'s most controversial athlete. To start with, let's pick the all-time greats to use as measuring sticks.

Based mostly on career accomplishments, here's a 12-man roster of the best of the modern (say post-George Mikan) NBA:

Centers (chronologically) - Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O'Neal.

Forwards - Bob Pettit, Elgin Baylor, Julius Erving, Larry Bird, Karl Malone.

Guards - Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan.

OK, that's 13. Somebody has to come down with a strained oblique by opening night.

Now, let's compare Kobe Bryant with them in five areas: NBA championships, Most Valuable Player awards, NBA Finals and All-Star Game MVP awards, scoring, rebound and assist titles, and All-NBA first-team selections.

Kobe is ahead of the curve on NBA championships. He has three (Lakers, 2000-01-02). Although Russell had 11 rings, Kareem and Jordan six, and Shaq four, the typical member of our All-Time Team (the median, if you want to talk math), had one in his first decade in the league and two by the end of his career.

But Kobe is behind in all of our individual departments.

MVPs? He has none (his highest finish in the voting was third in 2003), while the typical great had two after a decade and two when he retired.

Finals and All-Star MVPs? He has one (All-Star Game, 2002), while our immortals usually had two by now and two at the end.

Stat titles? He has one (35.4 points per game, 2006), while our average hero had two by now and two at the end.

All-NBA selections? He has three, in 2002, '03 and '06, while the guys he'd like to emulate generally had seven by now and nine when they hung it up.

Ironic, huh? The player who's slammed as not being a team player and too much of an individual is distinguished by team titles, and needs to pile up more individual ones.

Kobe says it's all about the NBA championships.

"That's the challenge, to win more championships, not to win an MVP," he said after practice in El Segundo on Wednesday (he took part, but his recovering knee could keep him out of Tuesday's opener against Phoenix at Staples Center). "Some of my peers think I'm the best in the game, some don't. That's a debate that goes on.

"When it's time to look back, I'd like to be able to say we got to the top, then we went through a period where we struggled, then we got back to the top. If we pull that off, that'll be something."

Bryant is right in one way. History asks that he win another NBA championship, without Shaq.

But history practically shouts at him to win over those MVP and All-NBA voters, too. To be considered an all-timer is hard if you weren't stamped the best at any one moment. </div>

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