Anybody who wants to keep him here is overrating him, IMO. There aren't many, but there are a few. Of course, you may be right. That may just be his mom on multiple accounts... I've wondered that a time or two...
Ma’am, I never said anything about FG%. I said he was 5’10” and UNSTOPPABLE. Swear he was the same height as Damn Stoudamire. I’ve stood next to both before and they were my height FAMS.
People always thought he was clutch but his clutch shooting percentage was awful. He had two awful game 7s- the one where he refused to shoot in the second half against Phoenix and the one against Boston when he shot 6/24 from the field.
Many say he's on the same level as Lebron, top 5 all time, etc. I don't believe he belongs in that conversation.
Only stat all time Kobe ranks highly on is missed shots. He's a chucker that had some great teammates and won a few titles with them. I certainly think he's a hall of famer. But saying he's in the top20 or top10 of NBA all time is a joke. He's right there with Wade and Ginobili and many other great guards who won titles when paired with very good teammates. Without great teammates his teams were irrelevant and often in the lottery.
Jordan said Kobe was better than LeBron just because everybody thinks Kobe is the poor man's Jordan, so it was just a way of saying that he (Jordan) is better than LeBron. Kobe's one truly elite feature was singlemindedness. Which is perilously close to assholery.
That's why he's legit hall of fame. Great player on both sides ofwthe ball. Probably top 25ish... Maybe...
I used to hate the Lakers but don't really care enough to hate any more. I follow the whole league and history. Magic and Shaq were both much better than Kobe. Magic is top5 all time, I have no problem acknowledging great Lakers such as him. I think Kobe was a very good defender in his younger years but got later awards from reputation not his performance. It's not like I'm saying he was bad. Wade and Ginobili were amazing players too just like Kobe and all of them can lead teams to a title. He is up there for players in NBA history just not close to top10 as many overrated him. Kobe has an odd following and cult fans. If he spent his career in Minnesota or Indiana I suspect he'd be remembered much differently.
Jordan and Lebron. Those guys won with top 50 players of all time on their squads. Are we dinging them for that?
For example, Kobe was never as good of a defender as Jrue Holiday, at any point. Certainly not after he was 30.
