rocketpig said:
It's hard to tell with Kobe. He's one of the first tests of how it impacts a player to enter the NBA at 18. He's got a lot of miles on those legs. One thing that is vastly underrated about Bryant is his durability. If he keeps it up at this level for 3-4 more years and pulls down two more championships, we can start talking about Jordan. Right now, he's a half-step behind. Remember that as great as Jordan was, the NBA was a very different animal than it is now. The kick-out jumper is illegal, tugging on jerseys (something Jordan was famous for doing to gain position), and several other moves are either dead, non-calls, or offensive fouls now. |
Next 5 years is pushing it.
But then again Kobe is playing it smart.
He's put a lot of mileage on his legs but he's also changed up his game like Jordan has.
He drives a lot less and shoots a lot more fadeaways. He's doing the right thing to extend his career but who knows if he's still got it.
As for Jordan level....
That's just an understatement at how talented Jordan was.
I mean... even when he came back for a second time for the Wizards... he was amazing. Long after his actual physical abilties were gone he was still able on nights to school top talent at the 3 purely with his skill.
Jordan was by far the most talented basketball player to play the game. Kobe is a close emulation of MJ but he isn't close in talent. Nobody was... outside of possibly Magic.
Magic had it all... size, unebelivable talent... two things really held him back from being considered the greatest.
1) He pretty much always had great teammates, unlike Jordan, where it was He, Pippen and then a bunch of Scrubs. Or Kobe where he had Kobe, Shaq and a bunch of scrubs... or now...
Well actually Kobe has a lot of great players they're just really underrated. Gasol is possibly the most underrated person in the league. He'd be THE guy on almost any other team in the league... top 15 player maybe even top 10 in my book. Odom has always been great... when he's on etc.
2) He was too nice a guy. He didn't have that "screw my team... i'm taking this game over." instinct. He was always teammates first and going to the open man... and to be considered the best you have to take crazy illadvised shots... the kind your coach would bench you for if you took them in a highschool game...
and you've got to make those shots.
