Why Kobe Bryant is the Jordan of today
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By Mr Sports, 29 Oct 2009 Mr Sports is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- Basketball, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, NBA
With the NBA season starting this week, my friends and I held our annual Fantasy NBA draft recently. When it came to my turn to pick a player, I looked at the ESPN player projection cheat sheet and it became apparent that the player I would have to select was Kobe Bryant.
Now, let me be clear, I didn’t want to pick Kobe. But this fantasy stuff is a serious business. You’ve gotta give yourself the best chance to win.
Like most non-Lakers fan, I’ve always disliked Kobe.
He always seemed like a self-centred so and so, who obviously piggy-backed on Shaq’s ample shoulders to his first three titles, and then had the temerity to force Shaq out of Los Angeles all together.
However, whether it’s because of rationalising my fantasy selection or because I’m sick of ESPN Sports Guy Bill Simmon’s anti-Kobe ravings, I am starting to come around on Kobe.
Let’s start off with the Kobe versus Shaq debate.
This one always seemed so clear. Who was at fault, the charming and witty Shaq or the over-competitive and impersonal Kobe? Easy one, huh?
No way Shaq was the problem.
But now, with hindsight, Shaq seems like more and more of a tumour all the time. He has left four separate teams on bad terms (the Magic, Lakers, Heat and most recently the Suns) and has never, ever acknowledged that another player was the top dog.
Even when he does praise teammates, it is always “with me protectin’ him he done gone.”
But even if Kobe isn’t entirely to blame for Shaq leaving town, surely he’s culpable for the Lakers’ lost years when he was selfish (86 point game anyone?) and routinely critical of his teammates?
There’s no justification for that behaviour, right?
Well you know who else had a similar four or five years being a one man team, trying to win everything on his own? Yeah, that’s right, the master himself, Michael Jordan.
Both Kobe and MJ are ultra-competitive do anything to win no matter what they’re doing type guys. Both have a history of throwing any teammate who didn’t live up to their standards under the bus. Both have a history of not getting along with management.
Now before people start writing the angry comments, I’m not saying that Kobe is as good as Michael, or anything foolish like that.
But I’m curious, why is one obvious jerk beloved and the other obvious jerk hated?
I think I have the answer. It’s because people think Kobe didn’t deserve the early titles. They think he got everything for free right near the start of his career.
People forget the pre-Championship seasons. All they see is a spoiled jerk, and unfortunately for Kobe he doesn’t have the personal skills to sell himself as anything else.
If the Lakers never get Shaq and Kobe doesn’t get those three “free” titles and maybe has to work for seven seasons with a cast of also-rans but then gets a Pippen like side-kick and then wins a title or three then perhaps public perception of him goes in a more Jordan-esque direction.
So next time you see Kobe excoriating a teammate for a missed shot or a bad pass, think back to Jordan doing the exact same things. Maybe Kobe just did his career around the wrong way and got his titles too early.
Or maybe I’m just rationalising having him on my fantasy team.
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katzilla said | October 29th 2009 @ 7:13am | Report comment
I don’t like Kobe either but I guess the stats don’t lie.
He definately an easy choice for a Fantasy Pick in the regular season.
Is he MJ? I don’t reckon so.
MJs playoff career was better, which meant when it came to the crunch MJ stepped up.
Kobe only averages 25points/game in post season. Nothing to scoff at I know but 8 points worse off then his regular season points tally.
His Assists tend to go down also which tells you hes passing the ball less and making less shots, either that or hes passing it to the wrong people.
MJ on the other hand, his playoff average went up (on almost all seasons) over his regular season score and his Assists most of the time did too.
Knives Out said | October 29th 2009 @ 7:37am | Report comment
http://www.soleredemption.com/pics/2006/04/MikeSpaceJam.jpg
Kobe why?!
katzilla said | October 29th 2009 @ 7:44am | Report comment
And he got to dance with Michael Jackson too.
Knives Out said | October 29th 2009 @ 8:12am | Report comment
Is dancing with MJ cool these days? I’m not really sure anymore. I forgot that Bill Murray was in ‘Space Jam’. What a guy.
fox said | October 29th 2009 @ 8:28am | Report comment
Lebron is putting up better numbers (in terms of +/- and PER) earlier in his career than Kobe and will surpass him. Today I’d already pick him over Kobe. I am not disrespecting Kobe by saying this, but Lebron is more capable of challenging Mike from a statistical point of view. If he manages to win some championships then he’s a shoe-in to be held up there with Mike. Kobe will not come close to Jordan at the end of his career on any measure that mean anything. Statistics, of course, can always be disputed and certainly Kobe is a better player nopw than he was 5 years ago when he commanded too many shots and would score 50 on a losing team, but Mike never had this problem – he always made the players around him look better. Kobe only discovered this later in his career and this is why he’s no Jordan.
If you want a good fantasy pick, try Kevin Durant as your SF. He’ll put up big numbers on a weak Oklahoma team.
Hoy said | October 29th 2009 @ 8:57am | Report comment
Watched Shaq last night. I am by no means a basketball officianado, but he is well past it now, and will not be helping James to any championship.
Slow up and down the court, got to the ends late because of that, every shot I saw missed, was ineffectual at best with his screening.
Now I know he is getting long in the tooth, but maybe that means it is time to give it away.
Gibbo said | October 29th 2009 @ 10:56am | Report comment
are u sure people dont like him because of that one time he raped a girl?
do i need to put an “allegedly” in there? i got nothing to sue for…
mushi said | October 29th 2009 @ 11:31am | Report comment
Just rationalising. Whilst yes I think MJ gets a free ride (but the worm is turning after his induction speech) there are many differences that work against kobe.
1. he just flat out isn’t as good so you are basically forced by delusional lakers fans to constantly seek out his faults or avoid talking about him
2. His handling of the rape allegations was callous and immature
3. He regularly throws his team mates under the bus publicly
4. He quits, comparing his drive to Jordan’s is ridiculous. The 2007/08 finals he gave up. He has both refused to shoot and refused to pass to prove a point about his game. The point being that everyone knowing how important he is to the lakers is actually more important to him than winning the game.
5. The trade demand
He is a quality player, one of the best in the league, but I took him in one of my fantasy leagues and am now torn.
ohtani's jacket said | October 29th 2009 @ 12:12pm | Report comment
You need to take into account how carefully Jordan controlled and marketed his image. Nothing — and I mean nothing — was left to chance. If you look at the business side of Michael Jordan’s career, it was one of the most carefully orchestrated marketing and promoting campaigns in the history of sport. He was without a doubt the most image conscious sportsman in history. His Achilles’ heel was gambling and when that threatened his image they shifted him off to minor league baseball. The Colorado rape allegations could’ve destroyed Kobe Bryant’s career. In the end, he was let off, but he was never gonna be like Mike after that.
But it’s a different era. Jordan came along at exactly the right time. The Bird/Magic era had revitalised the NBA from death’s door during the 70s and the global age was dawning. Kobe is recognised as the best player in a league where there’s not the same depth or rivalries as there were in the late 80s/early 90s. He won his solo title beating the Magic. Big deal. Compare that to Jordan’s ’91 title and there’s hardly a story there. He’s only got a couple of more top level years left. He needs to win another couple of titles to cement his legacy, but he was All-NBA for this decade.
ohtani's jacket said | October 29th 2009 @ 12:13pm | Report comment
Forgot to add that the media never warmed to Kobe. Jordan charmed the media guys like he did everyone else. Hence all those MVP titles, though to be fair Jordan deserved even more than he got.
True Tah said | October 29th 2009 @ 12:27pm | Report comment
My favourite MJ story was that he was travelling with the Bulls on a plane and when they got to the airport, he bet some of his team members that his luggage would arrive before theirs. His luggage did arrive before theirs and it turned out Jordan had paid the luggage handlers to make sure his was first!
OJ growing up, the NBA was one of the premier comps in the world, certainly when I was at school and you said Bulls, you could only mean the Chicago Bulls. Now if you said it, Im sure a lot of people (well in Sydney) may think you’re talking about a South African rugby team.
mushi said | October 30th 2009 @ 11:27am | Report comment
Yep Kobe is the SG of the decade MJ is the Captain off the Hall of fame team with Magic, Bird, Wilt and Kareem (and I’m playing two centres because Malone can’t get in front of Kareem and Russell)
In terms of team of the decade who would get the point guard? I think shaq and Duncan grab their own spots with the championship rings, Kobe definitely gets the nod at the 2. Lebron has probably been the Best SF for all but his rookie year (and that is debatable) but at the point is it Nash or Kidd?
I love the suns style of Basketball but I think Kidd gets the nod for consistent production. Whilst Paul arrived a fraction too late I think to take it away from either of them
Thorny said | October 30th 2009 @ 12:54pm | Report comment
Being both a Kobe and MJ fan, I have come to see that they appear to have some of the same traits. I thought MJ was the most squeaky clean superstar on the planet and he completely trancended the sport, people who did not follow the NBA or Basketball could still pick MJ out of a lineup in the 90′s. Kobe won’t get to this stage as he doesn’t come across in the media as a fun lovin’ guy that you would love to be around as MJ did.
After reading ‘The Jordan Rules’ and ‘When Nothing Else Matters: Michael Jordan’s Last Comeback’, I discoved that he was a pretty horrible team mate unless you were as competitive as him. Kobe’s apparent treatment of his teammates during the non-championship years appear to reflect this.
It is dissapointing, but I agree that Kobe will never get anywhere near as much respect as MJ did for his titles because he got them so early and he was the second best player on the team for the first 3. It took MJ a few years to get his title and he was always the best player on the team. 4 titles is an amazing effort though and there are plenty of superstars who never even got one title (Barkley, Ewing, Malone), so I think he should definately be talked about in the same breath as MJ, although I doubt he will ever surpass MJ for titles (although there’s still time), stats or have everyone love him even when he clearly shows fairly major character flaws.
I wonder if Kobe will have as much trouble adjusting to retirement that MJ is having? Kobe is all about basketball, 24/7, what else could possibly motivate you after all the crowds have stopped cheering your name?
mushi said | October 30th 2009 @ 2:44pm | Report comment
The only reason kobe should be talked about in the same breathe is to say: Kobe was no Michael Jordan.
ohtani's jacket said | November 3rd 2009 @ 3:38pm | Report comment
Neither Kobe or Lebron have that killer streak that Jordan had. Lebron has the potential to be a world wide star if he can ever win a championship with Cleveland, but it was really those three peats and constant MVP awards that catapaulted Jordan into the stratosphere. I don’t think Lebron has it in him.