Quote:
Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis
Kobe hasn't been the best player today for at least several years. Again not liking LeBron is one thing, but to not acknowledge he's the best player in the league is silly. I still think Shaq and Duncan at their peaks are also better, because they made their entire teams better, while Kobe made Kobe better. I always hoped LeBron wouldn't actually be an a-hole, but ego is ego and it destroys all. I mean the Lakers are screwed now because Kobe's ego will not allow him to reduce his ridiculous $30 million he's owed each of the next two years.
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Not for nothing, but Kobe did win two titles and went to three finals without a second big name on the team. Gasol and Bynum are decent secondary players, but they are definitely not superstar material. It's hard to say Kobe only made himself better, when you are essentially saying he was a one man team. LeBron may have been the best player in the regular season the last few seasons, but who really cares about that? Kobe was the best player in the game from the day Jordan retired to his last NBA Championship two years ago. 5 titles and 7 finals appearances gives him that title imo.
Sure you can can say Shaq played a bigger role in the first couple title runs, and that may be true, but many people consider O'Neal's career to have been somewhat disappointing (even with 4 titles). Shaq was also just as much to blame as Kobe was for that falling apart (Jackson and Buss deserve some blame as well).
LeBron is the best player in the game today without question, but I am not sure I would choose him over any player with a big game on the line. Also Kobe is probably 2-3 years until retirement, so his play being surpassed by others was going to happen eventually.
I would no longer consider myself an NBA expert, but Kobe has to be considered among the top 5 players of all time. Considering LeBron has Wade playing with him I believe he needs multiple titles (at least 3) to be ranked higher.