Is Kobe The Best Laker Ever? Jerry West And Magic Johnson Think So

Kobe single handedly broke up the Lakers dynasty? I forgot how easy going shaq was… the guy wanted 30 million to come in camp fat and out of shape, and would call out the owner while playing on the court… not a good article at all.

and btw the mvp doesn’t mean your the undisputed best player in the leauge… that award is chosen by sports journalists, most of which have their own one sided opinion and agenda, and considering this article, im sure your not the only completely unqualified journalist out there.
.. Kobe has been the best player in the league for most of his career.

You need to relax. I like Kobe Bryant. But there’s not way he’s been the best player in the league for most of his career. He’s been consistently one of the top 5 players in the league, but the best players in the league while Kobe has been around have been Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Shaq, LeBron, etc. Kobe is great, but he hasn’t been “the best player” all that often.

Phil Jackson retired because of Kobe, not because of Shaq. The Lakers traded Shaq because Kobe wanted him gone. No doubt that Shaq’s work ethic should have been better, but if Kobe had waited his turn, the Lakers never would have broken up that team.

Joe your article sums up what the conversation that me and a friend just had regarding you guys ( so called media ) and Kobe. Most of you guys in the beginning said Kobe wouldn’t be great, then he’s great you guys say he’s not as good as whoever. Now you admit he’s a top player but nothing more. You are out of your freaking mind placing Tim Duncan higher than Kobe. You have no insight as to who broke up the Lakers, yours is a tired old mistruth. Fact is Jerry West and Magic know a hell of a lot more about basketball than you. Also go read what Jordan himself has said about Kobe. My opinion is Kobe is a top 3 player in the history behind Jordan, possibly Wilt. I am not a Kobe lover but a Basketball lover in general. Kobe hate runs deep I understand that, but you are talking about a guy who scores 60 something points against dallas with 5 1/2 minutes left in the 3rd! And MVP’s Kobe should have had more than 1 more than 2, at least 3.

True

Wrong

You sound like someone who has played one too many basketball video games. There’s more to the game than stats, son. Why do you think everyone ranks Bill Russell higher on the “greatest of all time” list than Wilt Chamberlain?

I don’t hate Kobe at all (I’m actually a Kobe fan), but nice attempt at trying to paint me as a hater.

As far as whether or not Kobe broke up the Lakers, I’ll let you Google that one.

You’re so misinformed its a little sad. Time to look for a new job because everything written in this article is purely fiction. I hear fox is looking for new sports writers and maybe they could hire you the
y already have a few other people who suck at their jobs on payroll you’ll fit in well.

Thanks for your input.

Kevin Garnett? Now I know you are a hater. Kobe was the undisputed best player from 2006-2009. He was always top 3 best from 2001 till now. Also how you going to say Shaq is a greater Laker then Kobe when has done more for the franchise and been there twice as long. Admit it you are a hater cause your ariticle has that written all over it.

Shaq left because he wanted a 30 mil/ year contract and Jerry Buss didnt want to give it to a declining big man. It was the best move the Lakers made because that 30 mil over 5 years would have put Lakers in mediocrity for 5 years. Lakers rebuild and went from the worst roster to NBA champs in 4 years.

Joe Levine – Kobe ahead of Wilt Chamberlain? Are you kidding me? You lost any credibility after that assessment. And to say that Shaq was a greater Laker, even though he only played 8 seasons with the Lakers (only 2-3 of them where he was really great) is another zinger that should be held against you.

Joe Levine, Kobe has a better career and legacy than Shaq or Duncan period. I’d have Kobe in my top 5 of all time behind MJ,Magic,Bird,and just ahead of Dream.Kareem,Russell,Wilt and Oscar are after them. If Kobe keep setting other records he could move past Magic and Bird as well. So right now, I’d have Kobe at #4.

Shaq wanted that huge contract after the Lakers lost in 2004 and still wanted to be the leader when he was out of shape and declining. The Lakers went with the upcoming prime superstar player in Kobe instead of the out of shape and immature Shaq.

Shaq isn’t better than Hakeem Olajuwon either. Shaq played for how many franchises? Got swept in the finals in 1995.Underachieved for clearly being the best center for a decade. ONLY 4 rings? Look at the teams Shaq tried to chase titles with? He went to Miami that had D. Wade. He went to the Suns team with Nash and Amare. He went to Cleveland that had Lebron. He went to Boston where they had KG,Pierce,Allen,and Rondo. Shaq played for the Celtics, am I reading that correctly. After knowing all that joe: safe to say Kobe has the better career and legacy than Shaq.

Kobe is breaking all type of records set by laker legends.

Kobe has a very strong argument as being the greatest laker of all time.

Hard to argue without knowing how many additional rings the Lakers would have won if Kobe had waited his turn and not pissed off Shaq, Phil, etc.

You rank Wilt ahead of Kobe? Am I reading that right? I don’t think anyone would agree with you there.

As for Shaq being only really great for 2-3 seasons as a Laker; he was 1st team All-NBA for 7 years as a Laker. He has 3 rings as a Laker. He has 1 MVP (should be more) as a Laker. What more did he have to do to be considered a Laker great? Eight years is plenty long to spend with a team to be considered one of their legends, especially if you won multiple rings for them. Ask Knick fans if they consider John Starks to be a Knicks legend. He only spent 8 years in New York and actually lost a championship for them.

Hard to rip Shaq for winning “only” 4 rings when he played during Tim Duncan’s prime. Shaq was great, but don’t forget Tim Duncan is the best power forward of all time.

Also, you’re comparing Shaq’s twilight to Kobe’s prime. Not very fair, don’t you think?

Horribly written and misinformed… Tim Duncan is as great as he is because of the talent he played with and the coach he has had….Any normal NBA fan can realize how the talent of big men have depleted. Through the 80′s and 90′s the bigs ruled the NBA and most GMs and owners thought that you cannot win without a skilled big man (Ex: Look at all the number 1 draft picks though out the 80′s and 90s). Duncan is in an era with bigs that are not so great anymore. There is a reason why Shaq couldnt win in the finals before he got with the Lakers, not only did he partner up with Kobe but the talent of which he was facing was depleting. I understand that this is all opinionated however you should look as some facts about Kobe before hating on him (just like the mentally insane, you might not realize your statements are crazy but somebody has to tell you)..Kobe as a Laker Ranks: First in Total Points, Minutes/Games played, Steals, Most Points in a Season by a Laker ever, most points in a Quarter/Half/Three Quarters/ Full Game by any Laker ever, Most Championships (tied with Magic and Kareem) as a Laker, Most playoff appearances by a Laker, Second in total Assists, 8th in total Blocks (still climbing), 5th in Total Rebounds(still climbing). That’s just regular season achievements, he also has many playoff records and has the most Gold medals by any Laker all time..
Kobe is probably last in one category and that LIKEABILITY…him and Kareem are probably the most hated Laker players all time but you shouldnt hold that against him

Also, as for who broke up the Lakers, Kobe does not own or manage the Lakers. He is not the one that traded or chose not to pay Shaq. That you have to take up with ownership and cannot or should not blame on a player. The bottom line, management made a choice and so far Kobe has brought two additional rings while Shaq won one and is now retired. If you do the simple math, seems to me they made the right decision. Furthermore, you are not taking into account the competition to which Kobe has to (had to) play against. You state that during Kobe’s career there were many stars and that he was the undisputed best maybe once or twice, this in return is also a testament to his greatness and he was able to win 5 rings even with the greater competition he was facing. Other than MJ, I have never seen another player be compared to so much, first Vince, then TMac, Grant Hill, Agent Zero, AI, Dwade, Lebron and countless others and yet the guy is still standing strong 17+years leading the league in scoring and is Top 5 PER efficiency… that my friend is the best Laker ever

This article is horrible… This kind of sounds like a Kobe hater stating his opinions and putting it into an article…. It’s your opinion that Bryant has not been the best player for most of his career… And it’s your opinion that he is not the greatest Laker ever… If Jerry West and Magic think so, does ur opinion really matter?? Didn’t think so…

To me, Kobe was the best player in basketball in 2002-03, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09 and you could argue he is currently the best player in the NBA, and if his Laker team did not go thru so much drama at the start of the season (3 different coaches, Steve Nash injury, Pau Gasol injury) his Lakers would have a much better record, probably top 3 in the west and top 5 in the NBA and he’d be the no doubt MVP and probably the best player.

As someone who has watched the Lakers from the 70s to the present… I completely agree with you about Magic Johnson being the greatest Laker of all-time. He and Larry Bird transformed the league in the 80s. While Kobe’s stats might be gaudy… Magic made that team go and he made other people around him better. No one ran a fast break as consistently great and as exciting as Magic did. Those 80s teams were truly the golden years and in my mind the best Laker teams of all time too.

My four greatest Lakers would be 1. Magic Johnson. 2 Kobe Bryant. 3. Jerry West 4. Kareem Abdul Jabber

I believe Michael Jordan was the greatest player of all-time. Kobe is not in Jordan’s league. I hate saying that being a lifelong Lakers fan but from everything I have observed it seemed that Kobe lacked the consistency of Jordan. And he is nowhere near what Jordan was defensively despite having a few good defensive years.

Shaq ahead of Kobe,… is it a joke? you mean 5 rings with lakers to 3 rings? ok I know you’ll gonna talk about kobe was not “THE MAN” when he won that 3peat but dude you can’t take away the fact that Kobe was a big or maybe the biggest factor why the Lakers won that 3 rings especially at the 3rd one. and Wilt is behind Kobe?. its MJ Russel Wilt Kareem, you cant touch that big 4 dude. maybe Kobe is a close 6 or 7, but still Kareem is the best laker there is.

Kareem Magic Kobe Wilt Shaq

So are u saying Michael Jordan’s MVPPPPPPPSSSSSSS doesnt mean anything?