Young Kobe was a terrific athlete, but he wasn't one of the All-time athletes. Jordan, Carter, Nique, etc.
Ah agreed. I think it's safe to say that Kobe is up at the very very top of the list of elite skill + elite athleticism, though.
See I think you have it backwards. Jordan in my opinion and many others was definitely the stronger player physically than Kobe. Phil even said that Kobe was the better shooter but jordan was stronger in the body and those hands of his made him a better finisher around the basket. Kobe is quicker and a better shooter but Jordan was definitely stronger.
There are different parts to athleticism. There's more than just jumping high, or being the fastest. Kobe in his prime had great agility and body control (especially in the air) for a guy his size. He was damn athletic.
Exactly. It's not just about flashiness and dunks. Kobe's patented triple ball fake fadeaway threes and jumpers are also partially due to athleticism. You need strong legs, a strong core, and good hops for that stuff too.
I never said he wasn't athletic. Never said he wasn't an elite athlete in his prime. I said he was never a next-level athlete like Jordan and Carter. It was meant as a compliment: he was able to approximate Jordan's movements/mannerisms/game style with less athleticism.
As far as natural ability, Kobe had elite athletism coupled with elite coordination. Very few players have both.
Yeah he really wasn't an elite athlete in almost any category. But he worked as hard as anyone I've witnessed at making the absolute most of what he had. I think that's why many fans(including myself) rate him so highly. He wasn't as strong as MJ, he didn't have the natural gifts like the huge hands, he didn't have the hops, yet the only thing that was comparable to watching prime Kobe was watching prime MJ. I don't think I'd say Kobe had great overall body control. His body control when creating space to get an impossible shot off was insane. But when he had to use all of his explosion and finish at the rim while contorting his body he struggled a bit. Not with getting the shot off but landing after. I don't think I've ever seen a Superstar on Kobe's level fall so many times after dunking.
http://espn.go.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/13327970/nba-radar-free-agents-2016 Gives a decent breakdown of various salary scenarios for Jordan next summer...here's the text for those without insider: Get ready to hear the name "Gilbert Arenas" in conjunction with Clarkson repeatedly over the next 11 months. Like the former NBA point guard, Clarkson has performed beyond his second-round draft status, setting him up for a big payday as a restricted free agent next summer. Because Clarkson will be a free agent with two years of experience, he'll be subject to the so-called "Arenas provision" limiting other teams from offering more than the mid-level exception as a starting point on an offer sheet. In year three, however, teams can offer Clarkson what would be his maximum salary -- somewhere in the ballpark of $23 million, depending where the cap falls -- setting up the possibility of a three-year, $34 million offer similar to the one the Houston Rockets used to acquire Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin as restricted free agents in 2012. Or teams could go an additional year and offer four years and up to around $58 million. To justify such a big offer, Clarkson will need to build on his solid rookie season while sharing the ball with No. 2 overall pick D'Angelo Russell. If so, his free agency will be fascinating to watch.
Clarkson is already worth more than Asik and Lin were in 2012. He's going to be payed big next summer.
Well I wouldn't count any chickens before they hatch, but it really is kind of not that important... If he gets offered the PP Contract everyone is leery of... We get him at 5 million for two years during the exact time frame that the Lakers want to be spenders in the market. Sure his contract blows up out of proportion in the last two years of the deal, but at that point we shouldn't care as we SHOULD have our team in place for a deep playoff run. If we're paying for a playoff team the Lakers have made it abundantly clear that they're willing to break the bank. We get him for 5 million in 2016/2017 when we need to add at least one max contract. Then we get him for 5 million again in 2017/2018 when we can likely add ANOTHER max contract (just because the cap will continue to go up). Then when his contract explodes, we're supposed to already have our team set to go. If it's not set to go by then, well we've got more problems than just Jordan's contract. And who is to say we don't work out an extension some time this year anyway? It's possible if he keeps playing the way we all want/expect him to.
When you look at Clarkson’s shot chart from the last season, you can see that he excelled from mid-range (except on the baseline), but he mostly struggled from behind the arc. He shot just 31.4% from three last year, a number that’s going to have to improve if he wants to take his game to another level. Unless you’re as skilled and athletic as Russell Westbrook, Dwyane Wade, or pre-injury Derrick Rose, not many guards can reach All-Star status without at least being an average three-point shooter. The league average three-point percentage in 2014-2015 was 35%, so that’s the rate I want Clarkson to make his threes at in 2015-2016. If Clarkson can become that type of shooter with his athleticism and ability to get to the rim, we could be looking at a future All-Star. Otherwise, his absolute ceiling would be around Monta Ellis’ level. Considering where the Lakers drafted him, I’d be thrilled if he could get to Monta’s level, but obviously I want to see him get to a higher level than that. http://lakersoutsiders.com/2015/07/30/five-things-i-want-to-see-from-the-lakers-this-season/
