Monday, March 19th, 2007 at 11:58 am  |  292 responses

Kobe Is Top 10 ALL-TIME. Accept it.

Khalid on Kobe’s place in history.

By Khalid Salaam

For the record I actually do enjoy watching him play and when we counted down the best players in the L, my post had Kobe at number 1 and I meant every word I said then and now.

Amidst all the March Madness, uh Madness, I know you noticed how he dropped back-to-back 50 plus games. He’ll have another before the season’s over, we all know that. I’ve already decided and converted others in saying Kobe is top 20. But now I’m thinking maybe higher than that. I’m thinking there are only 9 players who I would rather have on my team if everything depended on it. Not a measly 5 dollar bet with your boys. No, I mean say for instance in some weird situation (it will never happen but lets say it did okay?) your family was kidnapped and you could only win them back by winning a game of basketball. I mean, you could get them back with a battle plan and a sawed off but as Pun said, you ain’t a killa, so lets just nix that.

So its you and 3 people who aren’t players and for the 5th spot you could pick any one player in history. Are you saying that Kobe Bryant would not make that list? For me its Jordan, Shaq, Wilt, Magic, Dream, Kobe, Moses, Bird, Kareem and Dr. J. And i’m not even sure in what order. You wanna go big and just get Shaq first but what if they start hacking and he’s at the foul line. He says he won’t miss them when it counts, but I don’t know. I’d have to take MJ first and I guess Magic although if you need excess scoring you might consider Wilt then Kobe. Plus you’d need a defender against the other team too. So, still MJ comes up, then Dream. But the fact is that Kobe would be on your list. Don’t front. We ‘re not talking about hanging out after the game and worrying about if this guy is anti-social or not. I’m talking about winning.

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  • phanb

    ok… I agree with you Sam… some poeple need to re-adjust how they remember players from past era’s and take off their haterade shades because a young Kobe faced off against Jordan near his prime… when I say young Kobe, I mean young young Kobe…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC5sW1Xnj3g

    are you telling me that Jordan was that much better in his late 20′s then he is at that particular juncture in his career??? also are you telling me that Kobe is not leaps and bounds better NOW then he was at that time???

    No that we’ve gotten the skill sets out of the way, would it kill all you MJ lovers to just admit that the man was an ego-maniac??? As I recall he wrote a book bad mouthing teammates, that were still on his team… They are cut from the same mold as far as confidence & ego

    KB24 is only 28 and he’s going to dominate, barring injury, for the next few years… So save yourself some heartache now and just start thinking about the possibility that yeah, this guy is that good… if you can’t enjoy watching a player put a cold shooting team on his back to come back from a large deficit, then you don’t enjoy watching the game of basketball…

  • `(-_-)`

    now one seems to notice how harder kobes competition is than those like drj. Kobe is top 5

  • Chingster

    Alot of players want to win lots of games and lots titles… irregardless of the contributions.. But only if you are the oustanding one..winning the MVPs…will you be in the book of history.

    all the top ten guys i mentioned above and some left outs have done that.

    clear cut…shaq – 3 finals mvps..one season mvp..

    kobe = zero..nothing. top 10? come on.. he is the most explosive..player in the league right now.. this season and last..that’s about it.

  • BUM

    Chingster, what the fuck is wrong with you? Tim Duncan over Kobe? Fuck no. And Russel, Bird and Magic ani’t got shit on him. Kobe is one of the top 3 offensive players in league history and let’s not forget he was the youngest player in league history to be named to the NBA ALL-DEFENSIVE 1st team. He was only 21 years old. FUCK THE WORLD

  • Chingster

    TO SUM IT ALL UP. Take the effort to go through NBA top 50 players etc..their achievements, awards…

    Do consider the recent greats as well like duncan, garnette, wade, nash, etc.. show respect to them. you need to know the whole picture to say all this. especially Khalid who started this topic/thread.

    From what i c…most of you have little knowledge of the NBA history .. perhaps only the last few yrs..you are focusing on games to games..
    It is about the whole career that define the player greatness.. I take nothing away from kobe. He always amazes me with his incredible moves etc.

    But he is still not in Top 10 of all time and may never be. Even if that happens it will be many yrs for us to conclude again.

  • ScottyB

    Sure he may be a Top-10 all time TALENT.
    But basketball is a team game.
    If I was making a team from the all time greats, he wouldn’t be on it.

  • Chingster

    Hey BUM…ya i agree that kobe is one of the top offensive players in the league right now.. cos we couldn’t really wind back to c the 60s 70s…etc. to compare.. even if he is indeed top 5 offensive players ever.. it will not make him a top 10 of all time. 21 yrs old as first team defensive is nothing worth of mention. Again just looking at a liitle record here and there.. Please learn all of NBA stats, records, awards etc then you will know.
    It’s like seeing a beautiful babe in Miami and you confirm she is the most prettiest on earth..where as you have never gone through other part of the world!!! it’s like a kid wanting that best toy not knowing that’s also others better!!

  • Jonathan

    Ok now give him his proper due and give KB24 another SLAM cover and article he deserves.

    Knowing SLAM though they’ll continue to ride Lebronze dick and give 5 more SLAM covers before Kobe gets another cover.

  • Chingster

    TO ALL KOBE FANS, HE have not yet earn the rights to be in ALL TIME top 10 greatest. IF you wan like all time greatest offensive players..perhaps in top 5 i give it to you.
    he has not earn his dues… NO MVP titles, NO finals MVps…only one scoring title..few times first team and defensive team.. that’s not good enough. FEW YRS LATER…if he wins more…i will rank him higher..if not he is still in the debatable of top 20-30 range.. how about checking this link if it helps..put kobe in ..see the differences your self. http://www.michaeljordansworld.com/comparison_nba_stars.htm

  • http://click.CyberTVPartner.com?PID=8561c49c-bfa7-4493-987b-a22444879ce8 Dave

    I laugh at when people say Kobe plays in a watered down era. The shooting guards today would be a much more difficult challenge for MJ then back in the days. Wade ,Kobe ,T-mac ,Lebron ,Arenas all have point guard ball handling skills and are 6-4 to 6-8 in height. Majority of the shooting guards back in the 80s and early 90s were come off the screen shooters with the exception of MJ.

  • http://click.CyberTVPartner.com?PID=8b61c49c-bfa7-4493-987b-a22444879ce8 Dave

    Reggler Miller ,John Starks ,Steve Smith ,Byron Scott were all come off the screen shooters. None of those guys could create off the dribble like the 2 guards today. Joe Dumars could create ,but keep in mind he was only 6-3 185 pounds. Kobe is 6-7 225 , T-mac is 6-8 225 , Lebron is 6-8 240 , Wade is 6-4 210. MJ would have much more problems in todats era. Especially on defense.

  • Elyse

    Isn’t this who you would have to save your family when picking one NBA player to play on your scrub team? That is different from 10 best all time. Although, I would have Kobe in both groups regardless.

  • http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=hoopsencyclopedia Embarassment to SLAM.

    I’m not going to get into this. But skimming through the nonsense, I noticed one little point here.

    In all the talk about ‘fighting for points’ etc, Max mentioned Jordan got 64 on Orlando in ’93 (Shaq almost knocked him out in that game, elbow to the head on a drive if I remember), but failed to mention that Kobe scored 41 points from 47 shots in late ’02.

    Selective analysis from a bunch of half assed amatuer journalists.

    Find an appropriate place for this, and I’ll glady take you up on the subject further.

  • http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=hoopsencyclopedia Embarassment to SLAM.

    Oh, my bad… I forgot to mention Mike also had a sprained shooting wrist that game and re-injured it on a fall, yet still managed to go above 60% for the game.

    Kobe went 48% in his 51 last game. When was the last time you saw a game go under 48%?

    Jordan’s career average for 50+ point performances (all 38 of them) was 60.8% which included his 82.5%FG 52 points against Barkley in 89 (the highest percentage for a 50 game ever). Kobe’s career average is under 52%.

    Forgive my vague comments and lack of interest. My posts are probably coming off as a little hard to comprehend, but like I said, we should have a place where this can be discussed properly in a larger communication medium (perhaps a forum thread).

  • Froggiestyle

    Dear Lord, look at this thing get all way out of control. I know I’m too late to say anything and no one in their right mind would read this far – yeah that means you punk, get back to work before your boss fires you already !@#!@##!@# …. BUT Kobe is also the most suave American ball player to go along with all the rest. My Man speaks Italian and can get down in Milano. Who else (US born) is gonna bring THAT kinda game along with his game. Just another reason that many haters have and will hate on him – he is the Brad Pitt of pro hoops. Come on ovah to Europe and see him in get down in Italian on TV here in the commercials. There will never be another Jordan, Shaq daddy is a self-made business genius (and that was all him “the Mind” not the genetics freak of nature), but Kobe has got it goin on on sooo many levels it’s not even funny. Kobe : Molti grazie mi fratello – Merci beaucoup mon frère – Many thanks brother.

  • Harlem_World

    As an interesting side, since we’re only talking about offense, what effect do you think the DETERIORATION of solid fundamentals has had on Kobe’s reign? Kobe seemingly has mastered the fundamentals, but perhaps just how good he is, is somewhat inflated in a league where we have to go overseas to bring in solid fundamentals.

  • http://myspace.com AJ Hawkins

    as the biggest kobe fan i know i must say that you are a great man for writing this article but if i could pick of course i would pick mike, the next would be kobe i just want to revise your list order real quick

  • Eric

    I agree, But in my list kobe makes top 5 all-time!

    and Slam, dont be like EA Sports, just put him on your covers, and make sure that you guys dont do that alternate stuff, because its just disrespect.

  • Coach

    I guess I am really addressing this to Khalid directly…I appreciate the clarification as to what this blog should really be about. I have to admit my previous comment was somewhat tainted by my disdain for all these newjacks jumping on the jock of a kid who was RIDING Mike’s even when his OWN father was a professional baller himself. To this DAY Bryant tries to shake the “notion” that he is trying to be like someone other than himself. Mr. Salaam, with all due respect, you can’t be serious. Your saying you’d rather have an imitation, wanna be Mike, instead of the real thing? You were one of those people who liked NEW Coke too, huh?
    I have just one question for you… you truly believe in your heart of hearts that when it comes to crunch time, family on the line and all, that KOBE would out perform the man who changed the face of the game? You pick Kobe, you know who I’ll take. Mike and I will send you a nice wreath to your fam’s funeral.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Khalid Salaam

    Coach, read my previous posts. I have MJ over Kobe. I also jave Shaq over Kobe. what the hell are you talking about? seriously.

  • http://mybleedingfingertips.blogspot.com/ Max Airington

    Maybe next time…

  • Benedict

    Duncan and Shaq over Kobe. Kobe’s good, but he ain’t that great

  • joleroke

    I’d definitely want MJ taking the last shot in crunchtime, especially in this day and age where good defense (if it exsists) is penalized. To those guys who said Jordan would have a harder time guarding today’s guards, that may be true, but he’d also average 40+ points in today’s game. Like I alluded to, today’s rules cater to TV ratings so lock-down defense is extinct. But on the flipside, you put today’s guards in the 80′s-90′s era where centers actually existed and physical play was allowed, Lebron would stay in college, T-mac’s back would give out after pre-game warmups, and Gilbert’s shooting %-age would be worse than it is now. And Kobe would NOT be throwing his elbows around for fear of getting owned by players more intimidating than Chris Childs or Reggie Miller..but still, out of today’s group only Kobe would excel; but like everybody else, he’d be in MJ’s shadow.

  • Shiz

    wow…MJ vs KB24 = pandamonium

  • phanb

    it’s sad that Khalid’s blog has turned into such a mess of an argument… the man was naming 10 players he’d like on his squad because of their ability to play the game of basketball and this has turned into an argument over who is the G.O.A.T. haha which only begs the question to all these people that are hating on Kobe…

    If some random topic like picking a baller for your squad to save your family’s life can erupt such fear as to where your beloved MJ stands on the pantheon of ballers, then aren’t you secretly fearing that one day Kobe is going to take his place??? hahahaha

  • RedRum

    can we stop please mentioning Wilt because of his stats? you cannot compare players 40 years ago with players now, because their stats are skewed. scoring was around a 130ppg, which means more available points, more possessions, more boards, more assists. Big O’s triple double average is a by product of that. had kidd or lebron playing in that era, they would average a triple double too. had kobe played then, would have scores 120. his 81 is amazing by today’s standards, considering the slower pace of the game and the complexity of defences. As for Shaq, people seem to forget that he is a 3 times final MVP, having the record for most ppg in NBA finals for a centre. He led those teams in 3 championships, with a lot of help with kobe, but face it, no shaq not rings…

  • Paolo

    Kobe is definitely top 10. Definitely ahead of Dr. J

  • bay area

    If I have to win one game, huh? You mean like a real pressure situation. Like a game 7 playoff game, 2nd half. I want someone who will take over the game and simply refuse to lose. And what would Kobe do in that situation? Be a cutthroat competitor like people are saying? Nope, how about refuse to shoot, turn his back on his teammates, and watch his squad get blown out. Please. Give me Russell, the big O, or Duncan over Kobe.

  • SpeakTheTruth

    Congratulations on such a badly written article, just mention the names Wilt Shaq MJ Larry Magic and the words defense scoring and thats an article about top 10 players all time. Its ppl like this that ruin the very little respect in the game, comments that rely purely on hype and popularity. Its not really surprising tho, every big statement made about Kobe are from analysts who resort to making controversial statements purely to keep their jobs as they are unable to do their job properly. If kobe played for Wolves, Nets etc his whole career he wouldnt be mentioned as top 50 at age 28…
    Here is an example of Kobe dominance: up until this season KB had scored 20 or more FGs in a game 3 times, he has missed 20 or more FGs in a game 24 times…what a talent!!!
    Of his 80 games last season in 22 of them he shot 40% or lower whilst missing at least 15 shots, while he shot 60% with at least 15 shots made in only 3 games!!!!…what a year!!!!
    Kobe undeserved loving > Kobe undeserved hating

  • bay area

    And has anyone brought up Isiah? He was a beast. If I needed 1 game? He f-d up the Lakers on one leg in the playoffs. And the series against Bernard King. He was a mean dude on the court too.

  • joleroke

    This blog hasn’t turned into a mess of an argument. It’s stayed true to what it is: Pick ONE player in history to be on your team with a little bit of ‘who’s in your top 10 all-time?’ mixed in. If it’s gotta be ONE player out of 10, then naturally the blog is going to lead to who truly is the GOAT.

    Funny how all these people are picking Wilt, Bill, or some other big men. You realize that the conditions state they’ll be teamed w/ 4 scrubs (you and 3 others), right? So chances are, they’ll never get the ball in the post to score for you in the first place. I’ll take 10-time scoring champ and 9 time first-team all defense, thank you very much.

    I agree w/ you phanb in that some hate on Kobe so much because they’re subconsciously afraid that their beloved MJ will be replaced. I don’t see what the worry is. Props to kobe for being ‘hated’ cause it just shows that he is indeed the closest representation of MJ today. There’s no shame in being 2nd best SG of all-time.

  • dat go

    Kobe is defineately an historically significant player. Riley’s comments were telling…”Bron and Wade want to be where Kobe is. 2nd best 2 of all time…
    1) MJ, 2)Kareem, 3)Russel, 4)Magic 5)Kobe
    6)Wilt 7)Duncan 8)West / Robertson 9)Moses / Karl 10) Benard King for one palyoff series.

  • Shiz

    I wouldn’t take Duncan just for the simple fact that if it came down to 2 free throws under pressure he wilts, and I aint talkin bout the Big Dipper…same wit Dirk

  • dj

    kobe might be top 25 alltime. but he is a punka$$ snitch and he gets no respect cause he punk queen

  • dj

    kobe isn’t disliked cuz he a ballhog. he disliked cause he a selfish snitch who would rather score 35/game than win championships. i’m from LA and hate the guy. w/ shaq, we’d still be winning.

  • joleroke

    I’m not gonna argue Kobe’s drama and the skewed mentality that you mentioned dj. I totally agree. But you know what? I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love that Kobe tries to sound ‘humble’ and ‘intellectually’ say the most obvious things. It’s hillarious. Imagine how boring it’d be if he was so ‘likeable’. He’s an entertainer and for me, he’s doing his job very well.

    As for as shaq goes, i know this is off-topic but the laker break-up is 50/50 imo. Shaq was as much to blame as Kobe. He couldn’t swallow the fact that Kobe was getting the limelight and he practically demanded all this money that his weight/conditioning couldn’t justify. So then he leaves for Miami, miraculously drops 25 lbs, and keeps referring to Miami as Wade’s team, and Wade being the leader, the no. 1 option, etc. Why the sudden turn-around? Probably cause it was easier on his ego. It’d be like Kobe signing w/ the Suns and all of a sudden, he’s a team player taking 10-15 shots a game. So, yea..they’re both drama queen punka$$es, but I’ll still watch ‘em.

  • sirius

    I put kobe in top 5. In my list, he is just behind Wilt and MJ.

    He is better than Magic, cause Magic is surrounded with so many great players. If you give Kobe the star players around Magic, he can get more rings.

    He is better than Bird. Both are scorer and kobe is better in that.

    He is in the same level of Shaq. Talent wise, less, but effort wise, much better.

    In my list, Wilt and MJ top 2,
    Kareem, Kobe and Shaq are equal at #3

  • Ajay

    Finally, I see a magazine writing the plain truth.

  • Sesa

    All controversies aside, Kobe belongs on that list. Lebron, Kidd and Nash will belong on those list too once they earned their championship title.

  • http://myspace.com/bodiebarnett jbn74sb

    And climbing. Think of all of your favorite players. All of them. Wilt, Mike, Kobe, and Elgin Baylor. Noone else has accomplished what he did tonight (and the last 2 games). And Kobe has the 2 highest scoring 3 game stretches of the last 40 years. Don’t be blinded as to how good he is because of your misguided perceptions as to what he is like as a person, assuming it were even relevant anyway.

  • snyper 48

    I know is kinda late but I got to throw my two cents (by the way 50 is going to perform today here in Angola)…if kob not better than Mike, he’s the closest one.period.Khalid, you are leading in blog soundscan,this blog sold 3x platinum.

  • Cams Tha Beast

    Man, some of you guys are crazy. Yeah, TD has a few rings but c’mon, he is not as talented as the top 50 of all time. KG, Dirk, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley are all remarkably better but werent lucky enough to have as good as a supporting cast. Jobe is going to end up second best all time. Only problem is that he has no MVP’s. Yeah, he’s been robbed at least once, but can’t we give him one. A couple more 40-50 point games he might finally get one, even though either Dirk and Nash are going to win it.

  • Orlando

    Kobe is for sure top 10, but I dont know about leaving out Oscar. (As I write this kobe has just gone 50 4 times in a row)not in order:

    Jordan
    Magic
    Larry Legend
    Wilt
    Oscar
    Kobe
    Hakeem
    Kareem
    Russell
    Shaq

  • Robman 07

    Kobes easily top 10. The scoring hes doing has never happened before. ever. back when wilt put up those numbers teams averaged about 15-20 more points a game than they do now, and shot about 50% from the floor. Couple that with the fact that back in the day when west, russel, and wilt were battling for championships there were only like 10 freaking teams. put him in.

  • Robman 07

    mj
    magic
    bird
    wilt
    shaq
    kareem
    Dream
    TD
    Moses
    Kobe
    with apologies to big O, West, and Dr.J

  • Robman 07

    and Russel

  • Kobe Berg

    Kobe may well be a more highly skilled offensive player, and he definitely has more range than MJ ever had. But Kobe is not a better overall player than MJ. MJ was the best on the ball defender not named Scottie Pippen in history. Kobe, while a good defender is not an 8 time first team all NBA defender, and he will never win a defensive player of the year award. Kobe may be the most highly skilled offensive player ever, but offense does not a total player make. That is the main difference between MJ and all his heirs, he played “lock down” defense, while they all are just OK defenders. And every real NBA fan knows that with the current rules MJ could have averaged 40 a game in his prime, on about 52% from the field. I think you can make an argument that Pip is a better “overall” player than Kobe. Anyway, my list:

    1. MJ
    2. Russ
    3. Bird
    4. Magic
    5. Wilt
    6. West
    7. Duncan
    8. Oscar
    9. Kareem
    10. Pippen ain’t easy

  • allan

    kobe will definitely be top 3 when he retires. dont all of u guys know that kobe is barely in the prime of his career right now and hes already accomplished soooo much. jordan won his first championship when he was 28 and kobe is barely 28 right now also. What alotta u people dont know is kobe has that work ethic just like jordan so kobe will dominate the next 7 years still. all i gotta say is kobe is the best player in the world right now. period.

  • J.J.

    Kobe sukcs! T-mac is the shit! Aight?

  • http://nba.com tt

    Berg, your list was pretty good until I saw Pippen. Pippen!!! You’re kidding right? Top 50 but 10, i don’t know about that one.

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