Date: June 17th, 2022 12:46 PM Author: Aromatic Greedy Prole Personal Credit Line
the argument about Curry is that his skill has changed the entire approach to the modern game. if Kobe hadn't existed then other people would have won those 5 championships but Kobe didn't change the game itself. Curry did.
Date: June 17th, 2022 1:20 PM Author: Wild wagecucks wrinkle
Kobe’s skill was the opposite. It was so boring watching his hero ball antics lead to an 8 seed and first round exit that everyone decided to copy the euros.
Date: June 17th, 2022 3:40 PM Author: curious space
I would love to watch someone like Kobe in the current era. One in a trillion combo of natural athletic/cerebral gifts; 3-way scorer/slasher who can win dunk contest but tries hard on defense, demands the ball in clutch situations, approaches every game like a highly functional sociopath with severe untreated Asperger's, constantly trash talks other team's stars the entire game and usually backed it up. Unlikely that we'll ever see anyone else come along like that in our lifetime.
Date: June 19th, 2022 12:13 PM Author: Wild wagecucks wrinkle
Here we are completely agreed. Kobe was like the b-ball version of “worker harder not smarter” ie he overcame the obstacles created by the post-Jordan/emerging AAU domination of US basketball to be great despite focusing immense effort on developing and playing in a fundamentally stupid and inefficient way. But the dude was basically built in a lab to score and win, and he was as mentally tough as anyone, I have him ahead of Jordan and Ray Allen in terms of having the most obsessive approach to the game ever.
Date: June 22nd, 2022 3:44 PM Author: curious space
Always rooted against him when he played but happened to sit next to Kobe and his whole family at the Lion King on broadway shortly after he retired. He remained perfectly still in his chair the entire show, never looked around other than to chat with family. His kids never made a peep the entire time and had 0 refreshments to eat/drink. They also had 0 bodyguard detail hovering around so Kobe was clearly ready to throw down against Knicks fans. Kobe became my favorite person in the world that day.
Date: June 17th, 2022 1:58 PM Author: Aromatic Greedy Prole Personal Credit Line
Kobe made 12 All-Defensive Teams so when we compare the two as complete players there's an entire half of the game where Kobe was dominant and Curry was ordinary.
But on offense Curry is clearly the stronger player if we're looking at contributions to the team winning.
And Curry is on a short list of people whose talent changed the way the game is played: Wilt, Baylor/Irving, Curry.
Date: June 17th, 2022 2:09 PM Author: Infuriating Round Eye
I think Kobe was vastly overrated as a defender. Better than Curry, but the difference between the two on that end is vastly overstated in the popular imagination, in terms of impact.
Date: June 17th, 2022 3:36 PM Author: Wild wagecucks wrinkle
Kobe was a wildly overrated defender, mainly bc he was elite when he tried but he rarely tried and generally thought defense was the obligation of the other four players on the floor before him.
Date: June 17th, 2022 3:55 PM Author: Wild wagecucks wrinkle
It is when Kawhi Leonard or Bruce Bowen plays it. It was when Kobe shut down prime DWade. Not as important as guys who can also protect the rim, though (which Kawhi does).
Steph could have won Kobe's championships, but Kobe couldn't have won Steph's championships. That said, Kobe was probably the more talented player by a narrow margin.
Date: June 17th, 2022 3:28 PM Author: Wild wagecucks wrinkle
Kobe was nowhere near as good a pure shooter and had nowhere near Curry’s handle. He was arguably the best ever (yes better than MJ, but I would have Durant #1) at creating and making very, very difficult shots off the dribble. He could’ve easily been an elite defender and when he really bothered to try he was. But based on his actual output, including especially his insanely high usage rate paired with his very low TFG%, he doesn’t belong in the conversation for top 25 let alone top 10.
The reality is that Kobe didn’t win a single championship without another top 5 player and in the case of the first three he had the literal most dominant player ever in his absolute prime and for the last two he had a top 3 dude and another top 10 dude. The two Durant championships were similarly stacked for Curry but he beat Lebron and Kyrie in their primes for one of them, which is way better than anyone the Lakers beat in any of their five (Spurs are the only real contender and Manu didn’t arrive until 2003 when they smoked the lakers, Manu was hurt in 2009, and by 2010 the Spurs are old and ready to make the move for Kawhi that next draft).
Curry as the best shooter of all time doing over such a long time span and with 4 rings 2 with his completely homegrown team is waaaaaaay ahead of Kobe and will likely pad that lead over the next two seasons.
Date: June 22nd, 2022 3:04 AM Author: Wild wagecucks wrinkle
Admittedly Pau was merely #5 in win shares per 48 in 09 and 10 but he was #3 in 2011, and he deserves an extra boost because he played with Kobe during the period in his career when Kobe was setting records for usage rate ie he was a historically greedy ballhog. But fine let’s call him top 5, because he literally was. You’re right that I overrate Odom because he was a stretch 4 before that became popular and wildly improved the triangle at a time when it was thoroughly dated and his willingness to play with the second unit was another key corrective for a Kobe led team of the mid/late 00s. He wasn’t top 10 but he was definitely among the ten best fits of any b-ball player on the planet for the 2008-2011 Lakers.
Date: June 17th, 2022 1:23 PM Author: Infuriating Round Eye
Kobe was maybe better at raping women and getting away with it in his day (the case that went public had some holes in it, but there were supposedly more behind the scenes where the women weren’t interested in coming public)
It was uncomfortable and unnatural how all over him she was last night post-game. Marking her territory. It was his moment, not hers, but she acted like a jealous HS bitch.
I like him (by NBA-player standards); she’s annoying.
kobe was more sensational and exciting to watch but that style of low efficiency 2 guard hero ball has kind of been exposed as not that effective in today's NBA.
Date: June 17th, 2022 5:38 PM Author: flushed vigorous telephone
Ludicrous. Anyone who watched kobe knows he was a GOD. Kobe was the consensus best player in the world for many years. Curry never been that. Kobe was an elite defender, curry somehow learned to play defense this year but has been a nobody on defense for most of his career. Curry gets too much of a boost for being a nice dude
Date: June 17th, 2022 5:55 PM Author: Wild wagecucks wrinkle
Lol retard Kobefag schtick is so pathetic. Kobe was never better than Tim Duncan in any year, but especially not before 2005, and he wasn’t the best player on his team any year he played with Shaq (or Pau but we don’t need to get into that). By 2005 (first year after Shaq) Kobe was not in the top 25 in win shares and Lebron (#3 in win shares and wildly underrated by that metric) averaged 31/7/7 on way better shooting and is unquestionably a better and far more valuable defender in his second year. And lol at anyone who watched what Lebron did to the Pistons in 2007 saying Kobe was the best player in the world then or at any point after. Kill yourself you pathetic inland empire gook.
Date: June 17th, 2022 5:59 PM Author: Wild wagecucks wrinkle
He was not. His entire career the answer was always either Shaq, Duncan or Lebron. This isn’t really even worth debating it’s so obvious to anyone who isn’t from a place within 30 miles of San Bernardino.
Date: June 17th, 2022 7:18 PM Author: Wild wagecucks wrinkle
Look at win shares for those seasons. Kobe is horrifically low in 2005. Higher in 2006 and 2007 but with astronomically high usage. Lebron in his second year averaged .2 ppg less in 2005 on far more efficient shooting and actually played defense and got rebounds and assists. There’s no colorable argument that Kobe was better in 2005. By 2007 it wasn’t really a question that Lebron was the best and he showed it dramatically in the playoffs. 06 and 07 Kobe was better than 2005 but the lakers were a dog shit barely .500 team that was an easy first round out in the playoffs. 2005-07 was an impressive display by Kobe of hitting 17 foot fade aways against multiple defenders which is entertaining for dumb fans to watch but it’s bad basketball and it ultimately loses games. The better argument is “was Dirk actually the best from 2005-07?” He was the best offensive weapon but I have a hard time giving it to a player that’s as big a defensive liability as he is, especially when Lebron was already changing the game with his defensive versatility.
Date: June 17th, 2022 10:27 PM Author: curious space
I don't follow. Kobe's shooting % (true, fg, whatever) was a lot better than most of his "superstar" shooting guard peers like Allen Iverson and Baron Davis, on par with Dwayne Wade, and slightly worse than Ray Allen. But Kobe took way more shots and commanded a lot more defensive attention, in addition to being more valuable on D himself.
Date: June 18th, 2022 12:50 AM Author: Wild wagecucks wrinkle
Kawhi tfg% is 60. Curry 62.4. Lebron is 59%. Fucking Paul George is 57%. Jordan’s also 57, higher than Kobe’s (55) and would’ve been way higher if he shot as many 3s as Kobe did in the triangle.
The other hilarious one is career +/-. Kobe 4100. Duncan 8910, Lebron 7009 and counting, Curry 5421 and counting, Shaq almost 4900 with stats not available for his first four seasons, so it’s easily 6000+.
Date: June 17th, 2022 10:11 PM Author: Wild wagecucks wrinkle
Scoring titles shooting a TFG% that is utter garbage ie being a ballhog, finals MVP same, championships = Shaq and to a lesser extent Pao were way better and more valuable than him but he takes all the credit because he was a self important douche. Everyone who was even vaguely aware of the advanced stats revolution during the aughts understood that the fundamental insight it revealed was that Kobe was insanely overrated.
Date: June 17th, 2022 10:19 PM Author: Wild wagecucks wrinkle
Shaq did in fact win without Kobe. And Kobe ate his ass. This despite Shaq being super old and fat and playing limited minutes due to his foul shooting and general decline. Guess that proves DWade is better than Kobe!
Date: June 18th, 2022 9:26 PM Author: Wild wagecucks wrinkle
And how many did Kobe win without Shaq or Gasol/Odom again? Oh they were a barely .500 7/8 seed who didn’t belong on the floor with actual title contenders? Weird.
Date: June 23rd, 2022 12:21 AM Author: Wild wagecucks wrinkle
This subthread was an argument about who was the best player in the league and I’m arguing the answer during all of Kobe’s career is “not Kobe” and more specifically first Shaq then Duncan for a couple seasons then Lebron. Kobe still ranks ahead of Curry in all time rankings imo but Curry has closed the gap considerably and if he racks up two more seasons like this last one at this age he passes Kobe easily and probably Magic too.
Date: June 23rd, 2022 3:05 PM Author: Wild wagecucks wrinkle
This is laughably wrong. Shaq? Sure. Wade I also have below Kobe during that period though he got to an insanely high level by 2008 Olympics. Kobe was trash in 2005 and Lebron nearly equaled his scoring output while averaging 7 boards and 7 assists on far better shooting. KG in terms of advanced stats was likely #1 through out this period. Duncan was the best in the world in 2003-04 as Shaq got too fat. I notice you left off Dirk who may have the best claim of all relative to Kobe. Kobe was at best #4 in 05-07.
My argument is a bit non-committal. I was responding to a post that "Kobe was the consensus best player in the league for many years".
This is a ludicrous claim. My point wasn't that Kobe was definitely not the best player in any season, just that you could argue taking another player over him in just about every season. There was never a time when it was Kobe >>>>> everyone else.
I'm not going to argue advanced stats because that's not my thing, but from '05-'07 a team could justifiably have chosen any of the following players over Kobe:
- Garnett
- Lebron
- Duncan
- Dirk
- Wade
- Melo (i'm biased)
- Iverson
Again, I'm not saying "everyone on this list was hands down better than Kobe". My argument is limited to "Kobe was not in a league of his own above these dudes".
Date: June 24th, 2022 12:24 AM Author: geriatric poppy state cumskin
I'll asume you're serious. Curry has a better 3pt percentage and he shoots from 3 feet farther away on average. Curry changes the game when he's in because he forces defenders to come out to him to defend his ability to hit 40 foot 3s at 50% if he's open. This opens up passing lanes and holes for everyone else. And even small thing like the fact that he can be so accurate from so far away actually makes offensive rebounds more likely. It's quite interesting what he does to the game.
Date: June 24th, 2022 12:32 AM Author: geriatric poppy state cumskin
If you're saying you could put a 27 year old ray allen into GS's roster and they would be the same team, absolutely not. If you're saying the best 3 point shooter, then sure. But it's like equating babe ruth and gavvy cravath
Date: June 24th, 2022 12:34 AM Author: Wild wagecucks wrinkle
Also has an elite handle generally regarded as one of the all time greats and behind only Kyrie in today’s NBA. 1000+ more assists than Allen and will probably nearly double Ray Allen (admittedly a shoot first, last and every other time SG). Ray Allen is one of the 100 greatest players of all time with an argument for top 50. Curry is top 20 with a solid chance to end up top 10 if he has a few more seasons left in him at the elite level he played this past year.
Date: June 24th, 2022 12:50 AM Author: Wild wagecucks wrinkle
Ray Allen needed a creator to maximize his abilities. Kobe created for himself at an elite level. But you’re right that eg if you took a time machine to 2002 and told Popovich that you were there to kill Ginobili but he could have his pick of either Kobe or Ray Allen he takes Ray Allen in a heartbeat.
Date: June 24th, 2022 1:14 AM Author: curious space
Cr. Same people will claim Kobe's 35ppg season is a knock on him, like it just shows that he's selfish, when in reality the Lakers dumped everyone else on the team who was good, including Shaq, and literally nobody else on the team could create a shot. And Kobe still made the playoffs that year.
Date: June 24th, 2022 1:26 AM Author: curious space
So Kobe wasn't the best possible teammate that any of Shaq, Odom, Artest, Gasol, Derek Fisher, Andrew Bynum, Jordan Farmar, Luke Walton etc could have hoped/asked for? That's an interesting take.
Date: June 24th, 2022 1:29 AM Author: Infuriating Round Eye
well, lebron and steph would've been better, for starters. wade during his brief prime. durant too. there were and are others, and this is just nba 2000+ we're talking about.
Date: June 24th, 2022 1:30 AM Author: lemon fantasy-prone address milk
chalmers is not the smartest guy around. But give Curry credit for taking cumplete advantages of rules changes that have made big men obsolete and allow zero contact on the perimeter. But the idea that a completely one dimensional player is an all time great is laughable.
Date: June 24th, 2022 1:34 AM Author: curious space
Seems to have some weird personal grudge/vendetta against Kobe based on all of the childish insults. I never rooted for Kobe but I'm confident he would've adapted to the rule changes just fine. He shot nearly .40 from 3p his rookie season and could've easily gone in that direction if it enhanced his game and odds of winning rings.
Date: June 24th, 2022 1:23 AM Author: Infuriating Round Eye
not only not "perfect" inferior to true contemporary greats like lebron, steph, durant, many others. kobe was pretty good and won some championships, a few hard carried by shaq. not so bad, but not so great.