#NBArank 6: Kobe Bryant

wcsoldier81 wrote:Rose over Kobe after the season he had makes absolutely no sense ..

Not an easy thing to rank all players regardless of their positions but ESPN one is horrible

I dont follow ESPN much, but I did click the link, and browsing through the comments, it appears that Rose was ranked 8th last year after a MVP season, and this time based on the remaining players he'll be at 5th, after an injury plagued, injury-ended season. Interesting.

Would be more interesting to me personally if they were ranked by position as you said.

With 34 years of age and countless miles on the legs thats still a testimony to his greatness...6 looks a little low though...

definitely top 5. Probably 3 on my list right now behind LeBron and Durant. He can put the dagger in your heart and has that aura that just keeps other teams shaking in their boots.

#6 is a fair ranking for Kobe. The players above him deserve to be.

His ranking improved after the season he had

ESPN is a joke. They know nothing

I had him at number 4, behind Lebron/Durant/D12. No way CP3 and Rose are ahead of him considering one is injured and it's up to debate if he will return to form (Rose) and the other makes a living off playing the refs.

I have him #3 behind James and Durant. Not having him in the top five is absurd.

Hmmm... #6 is OK, especially because Kobe is not young anymore, but it's still a bit low IMO.

1 James
2 Durant
3 Dwight
4 & 5 Paul and Kobe in any order; I would put Kobe @ #4, but again... that might be just my bias, so I'll leave that up to you guys.

(Rose is really good, but he can't even play right now. I'm sorry, he cannot be above Kobe.)

Then you have players like Deron, Wade, Rose, Love, Nowitzki etc. All great players but not quite top 5. Kobe is a top 5 player, arguably top 4.

KB24 wrote:With 34 years of age and countless miles on the legs thats still a testimony to his greatness...6 looks a little low though...

definitely top 5. Probably 3 on my list right now behind LeBron and Durant. He can put the dagger in your heart and has that aura that just keeps other teams shaking in their boots.

Considering his high mileage and even taking into account the fact that he's obviously past his prime and on the decline, IMO the level he's at still on the court is pretty impressive. Not many have been able to actually play at his level after putting in that many hard-fought minutes.

That 40K minutes marker is no joke, not to mention that he'll become the all time leader in playoff minutes played next year unless we have an absolutely disastrous playoffs.

As I said, very impressive.

I still say he's top 5, but whatever, not like ESPN's rankings actually matter in real life. They did have 4 Lakers in the top 20 though so that's kinda high praise anyway. Kevin Love at #7 seems just a bit high though doesn't it? He's better than Wade, Williams and Westbrook and only one spot back of Kobe? I think he's great, but that seems high.

Rose healthy is more substantial than Kobe at an age point of view, same with CP3. All are tied for 4/5/6.

Dwight, Durant, Lebron are the only one's that should be above Kobe.

He is better than D Rose IMO

I'm not that upset about it honestly. I figured they'd drop him from the top 10 honestly. I'm not sure how he goes up a spot after his season last year or how Rose comes in ahead of him when we don't even know whether or not he'll play again.

I think if we can limit Kobe's minutes this season he'll have the opportunity to justify a top 5 ranking still in the NBA. I have him right around the same spot as karacha although I hold Dwight in the same regard as Rose. If Dwight can come back the same strength as before, then he'll be right where he belongs.

That seems about right and honestly at age 34, #6 is really impressive.

Azndude2190 wrote:That seems about right and honestly at age 34, #6 is really impressive.

I agree, if Rose wasn't above him. If it was a stud healthy player, I'd be fine with it. But Rose shouldn't be above Kobe.

oh well, this is just motivation for Mamba. Thanks ESPN!

John3:16 wrote:

Azndude2190 wrote:That seems about right and honestly at age 34, #6 is really impressive.

I agree, if Rose wasn't above him. If it was a stud healthy player, I'd be fine with it. But Rose shouldn't be above Kobe.

oh well, this is just motivation for Mamba. Thanks ESPN!

Same with Howard for now although by the looks of it that could change by Oct.

I didn't expect so much common sense in this thread. I must admit, I'm surprised...

even the biggest Laker fans are getting used to the idea that Kobe isn't head and shoulders above everyone else.

Even though with him on my team...I kind of never get rid of that feeling that he can still win any game by himself alone on a given night. I still expect amazing things from Kobe and I still have the confidence to trash talk and feel confident in close games etc...I still expect him to score on a pull up J whenever we desperately need a basket...


ahhhh....I could cry when I think he is probably retiring in 2 years. I have never followed someone from his baby steps into his retirement with such passion and joy....extreme ups (championships, scoring sprees, clutch shots) and extreme downs (trade demands, finals losses, denver issue)...its going to such so hard for me...I will be devestated, I truly will.

When I sometimes hear older people talk passionately about someone from the 70s, 80s then I think...yawn. Having gone through this now...I fully expect to have the same issue in 30 years when I tell people how AMAZING this dude was that was named after a japanese steak.

I need to mentally prepare myself and that process has begun...I hope I can get in there in time for 2014.

John3:16 wrote:

Azndude2190 wrote:That seems about right and honestly at age 34, #6 is really impressive.

I agree, if Rose wasn't above him. If it was a stud healthy player, I'd be fine with it. But Rose shouldn't be above Kobe.

oh well, this is just motivation for Mamba. Thanks ESPN!

It's whatever, as Lakers fans, we all know how important Kobe is to this team, even at 34 and whether he's ranked #6 now or drops down in the rankings however much in the next couple of years, in the end he'll still be one of the best players to have ever played the game of basketball.

KB24 wrote:Probably 3 on my list right now behind LeBron and Durant. He can put the dagger in your heart and has that aura that just keeps other teams shaking in their boots.

Yes.

Who cares it's about team ball yell™

John3:16 wrote:

Azndude2190 wrote:That seems about right and honestly at age 34, #6 is really impressive.

I agree, if Rose wasn't above him. If it was a stud healthy player, I'd be fine with it. But Rose shouldn't be above Kobe.

oh well, this is just motivation for Mamba. Thanks ESPN!

This! look what ESPN done did now!

Why is everybody so mad? This year Kobe and the #6 go hand in hand and that makes me happy.

#6 is pretty fair considering how inefficient he was last season.

Frank Dux wrote:#6 is pretty fair considering how inefficient he was last season.

I think if he was #1 or #2 we would have made it to the finals. Kobe always will need a second strong player (Shaq, Pau) playing at their best to make him the best. Now that he has both Nash and Dwight, things should be better this season for him.