Kobe Bryant is a basketball legend and icon worldwide. We don’t even need to review the luster of his accomplishments – 5x NBA Championships, 2x Finals MVPs, 18 All-Stars, 9x All-Defensive teams, etc. In fact, some of Kobe’s accolades sell him short – he only has 1 MVP to his name, but many consider Kobe to be the best player of his generation. (This is why accolades shouldn’t hold as much weight. And to be fair, it goes both ways with some of Kobe’s later all-defense nods.)
For much of Kobe’s career, the Lakers were the team to beat, even after Shaq left and was successful with the Heat.
Bryant was a fearless “assassin” – but beyond this mythos, Kobe is arguably the most skilled player in history; Kobe could shoot from everywhere on the court – from 3, mid-range, post, the elbow, baseline, and inside the paint (don’t let his 3pt percentages fool you) – and when willing to pass, showed great court vision, and passing instincts, which is why he played so well with Pau Gasol. His ability to score from anywhere in general – and his ability to close – made Kobe such a natural fit with most big men. If he has to get out of the way and work on the perimeter, he could do so – even in times where he was the only perimeter threat on the floor.
Additionally, Kobe’s defense – even if it may have fallen off later in his career – was overall very strong, and very versatile. It allowed him to cover for Shaq’s vulnerabilities out on the perimeter.
The following below is a great thread by @KbsGOAT showing Kobe’s defensive versatility in the 2008 NBA Finals.
Simply put, Kobe is an incredibly versatile player. It is why he was able to lead teams to titles as a shooting guard. He was dynamic on both and offense and defense.
Kobe elevated his scoring and overall team offense in the playoffs as well.
He can play alongside elite big men. Despite his reputation by some for being selfish, he has shown the ability to defer, and can win in a secondary role as well as a primary role (#2 and #1).
If you are picking a player to start a team with, Kobe is a great choice.
And yet despite all this… Kobe Bryant is seldom mentioned as the GOAT. Even players and fans who think highly of him, never go the extra mile in calling him the best – they settle for putting him in their top 5, and 2 at best. Why is this the case?
Well, people hang their hat on the fact that Shaq was the best player on the team and in the world for Kobe’s first 3 rings. And thus, they view that as “Kobe only has 2 rings as the number 1 option”.
Well, there are a few flaws with this logic. One being that Bryant literally showed that he was capable of winning multiple rings as a #1 option by literally doing that between 2008-2010. By focusing on the outcomes (Shaq winning Final MVPs), you’re ignoring the capability/ability of the players. Yes, Shaq was the better of the two in their Finals runs. Yes, the team ran through Shaq – which is why we give Shaq his flowers! But this doesn’t take away from what Kobe is capable of, and showed he is capable of. Kobe led multiple Finals teams as the guy after Shaq left, and after people questioned his ability to do so. Kobe answered this call, which is why he is well-regarded.
It also ignores how important Kobe was in many of the series leading up to those Finals. As great as Shaq was, the Lakers could not have replaced Kobe with any All-Star guard or even any All-NBA guard. Kobe’s diverse skill set allowed him to drain tough perimeter shots on end, and then help Shaq defend the Pick n roll on the other end.
People also hold Kobe’s similarities to Jordan against him – viewing him as an inferior version of Jordan. But this is rather faulty. Again, they are mainly using efficiency stats (and, to be fair, Finals performances) to argue this. But it leaves some of the things Kobe has going for him: Kobe is a stronger 3PT shooter, and went up against bigger defenders than Jordan did. The average size for a shooting guard when Jordan entered the league was around 6’4″, as where it was around 6’6″ during Kobe’s day – and that’s not even including weight and muscle. Zone defenses did not hurt scoring production for veterans when it was first introduced – but it is worth wondering how Jordan’s production would have been affected had he played deep into the 2000s and early 2010s, as zone defenses became more complex, and as playoff-caliber teams with strong coaches could put together a scheme for a 7-game series.
So Kobe is being underrated compared to Jordan.
And that’s just his skills.
Kobe has arguably more impressive feats than many highly ranked players.
Let’s get down to it.
Kobe Bryant faced – and more importantly, beat – the best collection of talent throughout his career than probably anyone else. More specifically, Kobe was able to pull this off even without Shaq.
Kobe has beaten a record number of a 50-win teams in the playoffs.
Even more specifically, from 2008-2010, Kobe beat the Spurs in 5, beat the best of Carmelo Anthony’s Nuggets teams, the best of the late 2000’s Jazz teams (back when Deron Williams was a top 2 Point Guard), and beat 09 Suns (who, admittedly, weren’t the best iteration of those classic Suns teams but were still good) – and he did it with this roster.
The Lakers roster during this time was considered pretty good, and Gasol provided some great value – but from an overall skillset standpoint, this roster was not a roster that even other legends could have won a championship with as a #1, let alone two championships with (and get out of the Western Conference with three times!).
Especially the backcourt players. People criticize Kobe for his lack of efficiency compared to the likes of Michael Jordan and LeBron James, but they don’t mention how during parts of Kobe’s prime, Kobe not only played in the most slowed down, iso-heavy, zero-spacing era (which limited clean shot attempts) – he also did not consistently have any strong scoring threats to take pressure off of him. Derek Fisher was a fine shooter, but he was not a ball-handling guard that could make his own tough shots Kyrie Irving.
Throughout Kobe’s career, he was also matching up 1 on 1 against players like Tracy McGrady, Paul Pierce, Vince Carter, Carmelo Anthony, LaTrell Sprewell, etc. This makes Kobe’s statistical feats very impressive. And even as he got to play with “better” teams, he still had an uphill battle, playing all the teams mentioned above.
This is also worth bringing up when analyzing some of Kobe’s less than stellar Finals performances during his last three finals appearances. He was burned out from all the play beforehand.
As mentioned in another article… Michael Jordan was a great player, but it can genuinely be stated that much of the teams he was tasked with beating were not very strong. The easy statement is “Jordan only starting winning when the Celtics and Pistons got old” – but while that sounds dismissive, the reality is that Jordan’s prime did coincide with many great teams ending. On the other hand, Kobe’s prime featured the big 3 Celtics when they were still fresh, and he also had to play against Duncan’s Spurs for virtually all of his career – and Kobe still had great success against them, even after Shaq left.
Kobe Bryant is an icon for a reason. People may dislike the “Mamba Mentality” marketing, for fear that it romanticizes the reality of Kobe Bryant; they feel it shields criticism from his rather spotty clutch shooting and sheer efficiency and overall playoff performances.
But the value of Kobe Bryant as a player goes beyond measurements of sheer efficiency – it’s about what can be accomplished with a Kobe Bryant-led team. That’s what makes Bryant special.
The reality is that his skills, versatility, and mindset allow him to affect the game in a variety of ways beyond sheer scoring. When dialed in, he can play lockdown defense on anyone, snag rebounds, hustle for loose balls, and still operate the offense by moving off-ball effectively, allowing other players to shine. And lastly, Kobe can make contested tough shots when his team desperately needs a bucket to be made – including threes. This makes Kobe perhaps the ultimate player; he can quite literally do anything you ask him to, and thus build any type of team you need to. With a regular good roster, a Bryant-led team can beat many strong teams and make the finals with regularity. With another superstar by his side, a Bryant led team literally owns the league, and is instantly one of the best teams ever.
Lastly, during much of Kobe’s career, the Lakers organization did not have the same luster it did in the 1980s and 1990s; they were no less susceptible to drafting busts and having trouble signing free agents than any other team. Kobe helped maintain the profile of the organization with incredible consistency, and did this for years until he physically couldn’t. Apparent attitude issues be damned, Kobe Bryant is a special player, and is perhaps the best ever.
