The best team Kobe played on? Either the 99-00 or 00-01 Lakers, and he led in shot attempts on the latter. Shaq still averaged more points (though barely).

You are putting the wrong emphasis on why he got rings. He’s been on stacked teams. You Laker fans hate this, but Kobe has NEVER been the best player in the finals in any of those 5 ring years. I’m just being honest here. Some of you will get crazy defensive, but I have been a huge NBA fan throughout Kobe’s career, and I am just stating what I have noticed. Yes, it’s my opinion. But lots of people share this opinion, and it’s not hate.

Why would he change? What the hell are we talkin’ about, here?! If he wanted a better chance to win, he would change! That’s why!

Lakeshow–You claim that no one says anything when the Lakers win? That’s incorrect. There have been so many examples of the Lakers winning close games that had no business being close in the first place. It almost always comes out to Kobe taking dumb shots and letting the other team back in. And fans/commentators have brought it up many times. Don’t pretend that these things aren’t issues even when they win.

The Lakers are damn good, and they’ve had the best frontcourt in the league for the last 5 years if you count this year. And yet you point to Kobe being the primary reason they have won chips. We can just as easily point to the “success” the Lakers had when Kobe WAS the primary threat for the Lakers…

IMO Unchecked has eliminated himself from the conversation due to that Finals statement..

But for humour.. pure unbridled humour..

Who was the best player when we played Orlando in the Finals???

I know the buffoonery surrounding our last chip against Boston.. ive yet to hear about the Orlando series lmao

@kdizzle… how about you get off my nuts, you the one responded to me imbecile.

I don’t agree with the statement that Kobe wasn’t the best player in all the Finals that the Lakers have won, but I understand why someone would say that. Kobe has two NBA Finals MVPs despite playing faaaaar below his normal level.

Kobe is never going to be Jordan, but the one thing Jordan will always have over Kobe is that he performed amazingly every time in the Finals. Kobe hasn’t played well in any Finals to be truthful, and maybe besides the 2000 Finals OT game (game 4, I think) when Shaq fouled out, he doesn’t have a single memorable performance.

@Ab
“And sorry to break it to you, but Kobe passed Bird a while ago”
And your insistance that because we aren’t NBA GMs/Coaches we can’t question their actions?

hahahaha I’m done with you. There is nothing left for us to talk about from here on out.

@KDizzle
Yes I hate Boozer, but that has more to do with him being a Dukie lol. But remember I also have been one of the main guys saying Pau Gasol was overrated because he was on the Lakers. No one cared about him when he was in Memphis. He was like Lamarcus Aldridge is today.
Look at the post again, I never said Boozer for Gasol straight up. I figure the Bulls throw in a good role player too. Something the Lakers claim they need. And while Boozer is clearly not better than Gasol, he may actually be a better fit because of the circumstances with Gasol not playing like his normal self.

@Lakeshow
But Gasol also flamed out in the playoffs last year right?
Something about him not being happy.
Other than that, Boozer and Gasol have been pretty good playoff performers.
I can’t believe you got me defending Boozer wtf.

Anyway, I was just making the argument as to why trading Gasol for Boozer would actually be addition by subtraction. If it was my team, I would never trade Bynum or Gasol. I would make Kobe’s punk ass learn how to share. But that’s a different story.

@ 3 Stacks

Ummmmmmm dude avg 30+ points with 5 rebounds and 7 assists THE WHOLE SERIES

That aint memorable to you???? You should go play 2k12 too since you aint interested in the real games..

I really want to hear who was the best player during that Orlando series lmao

I really really want to hear it lmao

boozer to la would be a bad idea for the lakers(good for chi obviously) his defensive liabilities would be even more exposed in that conference and all the talented 4′s out there… can’t stand that dude tho, and i’m a duke fan. he just needs to go to a garbage team and disappear.

also…to whoever said i was bowing to melo and how he lost in his first game back…the knicks already lost without him, what’s your point? did deron hav a career night? was melo coming back rusty? was he coming back into an offense he’s never played in before? you guys are so funny trying to connect the reason they lost to carmelo, lol. i’m sitting here smiling at that. i was mad the knicks lost..but all you guys were thinking about is not that the knicks lost, but rather, that the knicks lost with melo on the floor. shows you don’t look at the events that transpired within the game.

but anyway…back to your kobe bash, the 5time champion kobe bash.

Laker fans are damn sensitive and defensive. This has become pretty funny.

BI–Yep. That was one thing Kobe has done recently that I really agree with.

It shows you don’t look at the facts even if they’re right up that cummed filled face of yours.

@EN FUEGO — You don’t think the Knicks loss had just a LITTLE bit to do with Jeremy Lin’s man busting him for 38 points? Just a little bit?

@LakeShow84 — Obviously the best player in the 2010 Boston series was Sasha Vujacic. And remember, L.A. only won that series because Kendrick Perkins didn’t play in Game Seven. So really the MVP was whoever injured Perk.

AB – A bunch of people have Bird ahead of Kobe because 24/10/6 with .496, .376 and .886 shooting > 25/5/5 with .454, .337 and .837 shooting. And some guys don’t count the 3 rings that Kobe got with Shaq to be “Kobe’s” championships since Shaq was putting up 30 and 15 while getting all 3 finals MVPs. Top that off with Kobe is just more hated in general and you have all of the reasons why some people, including myself, have Bird rated above Kobe. I would take Kobe’s career over Bird’s career because he’s been going forever, but in their primes, I would take Bird.

hehe…the rice-n-beans boy is just looking to blame carmelo for anything. it doesn’t take glasses to see that. i wonder if kobe’s averages would be any higher had he played the competition of the 80s.

Gotta remember Austin is a basketball racist!

Beiber also said Baron Davis would light it up for NY, lets see how that plays out…

smh…..could you imagine what this comment section would look like if the lakers hadn’t won yesterday?

Failing to understand common sense? I’m sorry, but the bullshit has just gotten way too deep for me at this point. You guys can ride with Kobe all you want and you’ll never understand why most people disagree with you.

I know plenty of Laker fans that are frustrated for the very reasons many posters on this site have laid out. There are just a select group that refuse to acknowledge any wrongdoing by Kobe. We’re not saying the guy sucks, because that would clearly be wrong. He’s not as great as you make him out to be, and he’s had far more help than you admit.

Last year, Kobe led the most talented team in the NBA to a second-round exit in the playoffs.

And yes, in both post-Shaq championship series, Gasol was the best player on the Lakers. You can pretend that’s a ridiculous statement all you want. If you paid attention to the games, it isn’t ridiculous at all.

It’s ridiculous to automatically put Kobe ahead of Bird. I think it’s a fair discussion to have and honestly I’m not sure who I’d rank ahead.

@Kdizzle

I don’t know if its the debate/argument that’s getting to you or what, but you are writing some outlandish shyt right now.

Kobe has 5 rings. You keep saying that shyt. So when someone points out that he wasn’t the best player in the finals (4 of 5, I’ll give him the Orlando one he killed) it’s to combat you throwing the 5 rings shyt in out there.
It’s not an educated guess, or an opinion, Kobe Bean Bryant has played WELL BELOW his normal standards in EVERY FINALS BUT ONE. Not only that, he actually cost the Lakers the 04/08 finals by playing the way he is playing this year, and he probably cost them several other trips to the finals.
It doesn’t take a elite basketball knowledge to understand any of this. It’s all over youtube, and the internet. No matter how many times you and other Lakers fans try to justify his selfishness, he just continues to prove you wrong day in and day out.

The season the Lakers beat Orlando in the finals, that entire season, I thought Kobe was the best player in the world hands down. Why? Because he used his teammates. He played like he truely cared about winning. I don’t know what his stats were, but im pretty sure he deserved MvP that year (i think Lebron won it, i don’t know). I seriously had convineced myself Kobe had turned the corner and was about to become the legend everyone wants him to be.
Then came the next season, and he was clearly out to crush any hopes i or anyone else had of him moving into that elite HOFer category.
Every since then he’s been playing like it’s MyPlayer mode in NBA2k. all about his numbers.

@AB
To help out En Fuego, Jeremy Lin scored 38pts and as you say, was the major reason why the Lakers lost.
Well why didn’t the 10x’s all-defense first teamer go over and shut him down??? What great player in their hey day would have allowed a no name player with a weak handle and fragile frame, take the game from them on the “basketballs biggest stage” the first time they faced them?
Larry Bird wouldn’t have let that shyt fly. Nor would any of the other greats.

@AB, KDizzle
Now to my main point.
Big Is and Enfuego already hit it on the head. Bird has 3 NBA regular season MvP awards all in consecutive season. Back-to-back-to-back. In the toughest era in basketball. Playing with great teammates whom he actually passed the ball to.
Not only did Larry Bird average 24/10/7 but he had several season where he did or damn near shot 50-40-90!
All this with about as much athletic ability as Luc Longley!!!!!!!

Im getting pissed just typing this shyt. I’m done. I can’t do this anymore. It’s not even a f^cking argument. The fact that anyone who considers themself a basketball writer or fan would think Kobe is in the same gym as Larry Bird is infuriating. Larry Bird? Bird? Kobe ain’t even better than TIM DUNCAN or SHAQ!!!! And you trying to talk LARRY F^CKING BIRD!!!!!?????

You MFers prolly think Lil Wayne is a top ten all time rapper because of his record sales.

You probably think Emmit Smith is better than Jim Brown, Walter Payton, and Barry Sanders because he passed them in yards/TDs.

You prolly think that Marioano Rivera is the greatest picther ever because he pitched one phenominal inning every other game.

you prolly think that Tim Tebow is better than Mike Vick.

This is exactly why i don’t watch ESPN. And whenever NBAtv, NFLnetwork, MLBtv, or the Dan Patrick show start talking that dumb-ratings booster- shyt, i turn it off.

@ Chi-rilla:
Chill, bruh.
You mighta missed this:
“@ Big I – when it’s all said n done, only Mike n Magic will be ahead of Kobe. I respect Bird cuz of who he beat to get his chips, but Kobe plays on so we’ll see”

Where did you see that I said Kobe was better than Bird already? If Kobe wins another championship or catches MJ in career scoring, I’d be happy to revisit this. I don’t get into ranking players all-time…when they still playin.

@ Uncheckedaggression – must be tough talkin out both sides of that hole. In one breath, you sayin, “We ain’t sayin Kobe sucks” then in the next, you pull out stupid shit like “Gasol was the best player in the Lakers finals win vs Orlando”
Gasol avg’d 19, 9 n 2 assists with 1.8 blocks….all nice, except Kobe avg’d 32 points with 6 boards 7 ASSISTS 1.4 STEALS n 1.4 BLOCKS. See how ridiculous you look right
now?
p.s. Yeah, we do shit on Johnny-come-lately Laker fans who
jumped on the bandwagon in time to get in for 5 chips in 10 seasons, then at the first sign of trouble, they gonna tell those of us who been reppin the squad thru the dark days of Terry Teagle, Sedale Threatt, n Cedric Ceballos how Kobe should be playin.
Like I said before, it looks FOOLISH to real Laker fans that dudes claimin other squads with no chips since the league was all white are “upset for us” cuz Kobe’s soooooooooooo selfish. Shit, if Kobe played like Ray Allen, Shaq would have 2 rings…TOTAL.
It’s the gift and the curse. What makes Kobe great is that
irrational confidence y’all don’t understand. Same dudes clown John Starks for the 3-18 even though he was cookin em in game 6….

o my goodness, definitely the comment of the day by far:

“must be tough talkin out both sides of that hole.”

lmao.

does anyone else think en fuego focuses on me a lil too much….or is it just me?

K Dizzle–That shit is hilarious. You make it sound like I countered myself, yet I didn’t do anything of the sort. You’re getting so crazy you can’t even come close to making a valid point. Yeah, I said we aren’t saying Kobe sucks. And we’re not. How does saying Kobe wasn’t the best player in the finals against the Magic mean he sucks? Dude, you got some issues.

And again, I’m not the only one that thinks Gasol was the MVP of the Lakers in both finals series. I can see you don’t agree. Cool. Whatever. But don’t try to act like numbers tell the whole story. When it comes to Kobe, numbers are especially misleading.

There you go again on the fans you don’t consider “real”. Some of the fans I’m talking about have been supporters through it all. From before Magic to now. And yet you won’t accept for a moment that they might have a point. That is a little strange, don’t you think?

… ’cause I actually talk hoops, dimwit. We all tried to do it with you but all you wanna do is be a hero saying I said this, I did that first. When somebody says something legit at you, you dodge, run and avoid then comeback talking BS again. You never give credit to anybody except to yourself, you are nothing but one way street wannabe hoophead.