Kobe Bryant Discussion: Mamba Out!

I miss this man dearly. What a horrible tragedy. It still hasn't sunk in completely. It's too sad.

 

It will be a long, long time before I can even wrap my head around it...maybe never. Last time I felt this way was when Johnson announced he had HIV but 24's a whole other level.

 

Love this praise from Pippin! I do believe Kobe had a more complete offensive arsenal than Michael Jordan. I won't say he's the better player although of course I liked him more. But I do feel that he was the most complete offensive player I've ever seen. He studied the greats including MJ and Olajuwon and he perfected their moves. He was the ultimate basketball scholar. But we all here know that already.

 

I can't believe I have to defend Kobe again. On a Laker's site.

KD was a great scorer. Who knows what he will be when he returns. But 4 scoring titles is impressive. If we are talking scoring titles, then KD is better than Kobe. If we are talking lethal (your word), then KD is not in Kobe's league. Also, everything you described about KD's offense Kobe had and was better with the exception of 3pt shot. But if we are talking lethal, then you have to compare KD killing teams vs. Kobe killing teams. No comparison. And MJ compared to KD regarding lethality is no comparison either.

 

Big deal... It was not like he denied them food or something like that. I don't think Lin got over 24 downplaying Linsanity at its height.

 

Oh no doubt KD is a scoring phenom. Although if you talk about lethal scorers I think you'd have to put Wilt at just about the top. The guy scored 100 points in a game. One year he averaged 50 points per game. His numbers are video game like as Kobe said.

I'm really talking about the fact that Kobe is the most COMPLETE offensive player I've ever seen. His skills are unparalleled IMO. His footwork was ridiculous . . . and he's a guard! Anyway, nice to see him get such heartfelt praise from Pippin who said he was even better than Jordan because of how diligently he worked on his craft.

 

Lakers News: Shaquille O’Neal Calls Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan’s Mentalities ‘Pretty Much Equal’

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Published on05/26/2020
AUTHOR
Ron Gutterman


ESPN’s “The Last Dance” made Michael Jordan the center of basketball conversation for the past several weeks.

Jordan’s killer instinct and will to win – as well as a short segment from the fifth episode – reminded Los Angeles Lakers fans of Kobe Bryant. He exhibited very similar traits from his time with Shaquille O’Neal all the way to the end of his career in 2016.

While Jordan never had a name for his mentality the way Bryant did, the two looked like carbon copies on the court. They both wanted to win no matter the cost, and often made enemies out of teammates because of it. They both could take over a game whenever they felt like it, and both had a tendency to hit immensely clutch shots when the moment called for it.

O’Neal, while watching “The Last Dance,” couldn’t help but notice the similarities between the two all-time greats. He believes Bryant and Jordan shared an identical mindset and added that any conversation about the greatest players should have Bryant’s name in it, via “After the Dance with Stephen A. Smith“:

“I would think it’is pretty much equal. I never really spent a lot of time with Mike but, of course, watching him win a championship, watching his demeanor, and watching him wanting the ball at the last second, I would say it’s pretty equal. And Kobe made a great point: we all look at players before us and we take a little something from them. I wanted to be mean like Patrick Ewing in the post, I wanted to run the floor like David Robinson, I wanted to dominate like Wilt Chamberlain.

“The only difference is Kobe was able to have a telephone number and have a relationship with these guys. The rest of us, we just had to see how people emulate other people, and steal what they had. But I’m actually glad they had a relationship. A lot of people always say, ‘Who is the greatest player in the game: Jordan? LeBron?’ I think you must respectfully add Kobe’s name in that conversation.”

Bryant and Jordan’s relationship off the court is well-known at this point, and it’s likely part of what made them so similar on the hardwood.

Bryant, as he always did, set a goal for himself and did everything he could to achieve it. He wanted to be the next Jordan, so he went to icon himself for advice on how to do that. There is nobody that has resembled anything close to Jordan other than Bryant.

That’s also why Bryant has made his way into G.O.A.T. conversations among players and fans, as everybody knows Jordan’s dominance. To see it be replicated so well by Bryant definitely had an effect on those who saw either player first hand.

 

Sigh... In today's climate of social unrest, I really wish 24 was around just to listen and read about his thoughts/comments. No doubt it would have been poignant, intelligent and hit home.