Re: Kobe Bryant's legacy People will remember the 81 point game, but when they look back on Kobe's career (if he retired right now), they would still look at him as Shaq's sidekick simply because he only played two seasons without Shaq, and ALL of his major team success came alongside Shaq. That's why he'd be remembered mainly as Shaq's #2 man.
Re: Kobe Bryant's legacy <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BigMo763 @ Aug 28 2006, 05:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>People will remember the 81 point game, but when they look back on Kobe's career (if he retired right now), they would still look at him as Shaq's sidekick simply because he only played two seasons without Shaq, and ALL of his major team success came alongside Shaq. That's why he'd be remembered mainly as Shaq's #2 man.</div>Nah, people don't remember that the big O never won a championship without kareem. What they remember is his all around play. What people will remember is what they see on espn classic and they'll see all kobe's barrages. No-one will remember that shaq crap in 20-30 years.
Re: Kobe Bryant's legacy I agree with CelticBalla. People will always say that Kobe had Shaq next to him for those 3 straight titles and he was the main reason why LA won all those titles. Well they dont realize that both of em couldnt have done it by themselves. Whenever a team wins a title, you usually have that 1-2 punch on that team. Such as:'90s Bulls: Jordan and Pippen. '80s Lakers: Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar. '80s Celtics: Bird and McHale. '00-'02 Lakers: Kobe and Shaq. '06 Heat: Wade and Shaq. However, teams like the Pistons have dont have 1-2 punches. They had a team where everyone in the starting line could make a huge impact in the game. And no one really knew who their best player was, until Billups won Finals MVP.
Re: Kobe Bryant's legacy Yup, just like what I said. Every team has a major sidekick. Normally they aren't the best player in the league, but it is in Kobe's case. He's not a sidekick anymore, he's on a team with Odom and Smush, and he is leading them to great things these days.
Re: Kobe Bryant's legacy If Kobe Bryant retired today or his career ended today he would be ranked right behind Michael Jordan and with a small handfull of other great wing players. I think people will give him a fair shake when it comes to him being Shaq's partner....I mean look at the year he had...etc...