re: Why is Kobe Bryant not considered 2nd or 3rd best player of all time?

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Lebron is 2 or 3.

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Not sure if he’s on my all time starting 5.

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let’s not pretend Kobe was this mature leader who actually improved situations at this point in his career, disingenuous.

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okay but that balances with being literally the only reason to watch the team, which he was between the Shaq trade and the Pau Gasol trade

Because he isn’t even close to #3? If there was a redraft held today of every NBA player in history Kobe would be lucky to go in the 15-20 range.

MJ, Lebron, Kareem, Magic, Bird, Hakeem, Shaq, Duncan, Wilt, Russell, Garnett, DWade are obvious choices ahead of Kobe. Strong arguments could be made for choosing Steph, Hardwn, Durant, Dirk, Nash and a bunch of obvious guys I’m forgetting. Kobe wasn’t a great shooter — he just shot a lot and then got FTs bc he was a popular Laker. He wasn’t an elite defender — go look at where he ranked among guards in defensive bpm and win shares the years he made the all defensive teams. There were several guards who were better defenders. He would’ve been a different story in Charlotte, NO, Memphis, or OKC

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I’m curious what point this attempts to make

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the point is, Kobe was the situation there. He’s not KOBE without the 81 point game or the 62 in 3 quarters. You ever think he was right to bitch about bad teammates when they really were bad?

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the point is, Kobe was the situation there.

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Was definitely the situation when he undermined the 04 season with his rape charge, when he shifted to ballhog mode in the 04 Finals and submitted a dreadful performance, when he flirted with free agency to push Shaq out rendering him LITERALLY responsible for the rebuilding era pre-Gasol trade, when he quit on his team in Game 7 of the 06 first round on the verge of a big upset, when he bitched for a trade throughout the 08 season, when he constantly bitched about and at Phil Jackson, when he submitted a dreadful performance in the 08 Finals and spent most of it bitching at teammates, etc.

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You ever think he was right to bitch about bad teammates when they really were bad?

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On top of the aforementioned examples listed to dispel the myth Kobe's this top 2-3 player of all-time taking everything into consideration, not sure that's something a champion does, that conduct reflects immaturity and selfishness not championship mentality

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Why is Kobe Bryant not considered 2nd or 3rd best player of all time?

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Because he's not