Wednesday, September 8th, 2010 at 4:33 pm  |  72 responses

Photos: The Elusive Six

Kobe Bryant’s ‘super friends’ are his rings.

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Photos by Martin Schoeller
Originally published in SLAM 136

Go ahead. Film your hour-long specials. Sign up to play with your buddies. I’ll be over here, getting better. Call me when you’re ready. –Adam Figman

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  • Toronto’sFinest

    Black Kamla u just took me back. I’m talking Payton to Kemp days bra!
    Kobe is the best in the L right now and i can honestly say my Canadian pg Nash need to give him those 2 MVP trophies. As far as fitting in, he don’t need to do all that. His on court accomplishments speaks for itself.Buuuuut!!! I still gotta say, from 96-2002 AI (BUBBA CHUCK) was that nucca! Repped the hood maaad hard! Made anybody 6’0 and under wanna pick up rock and break ankles on a court. remember when he dunked on Camby! Sheeeet!! alley oop pass to himself! MVP! MAD SCORING TITLES! HE PREETY MUCH SAVED REEBOK EVEN THO HE COULDA WENT WITH NIKE! MADE GROWN ASS MEN WANNA BRAID THEY HAIR AND ROCK TATS! 1 CROSSOVER CHANGED THE LEAGUE MAN! HE WAS THAT DUDE! BY THE WAY F%CK LEBRON JAMES! SHOUT OUT TO WEST TORONTO! REXDALE STAND UP!

  • money

    lebron hater are so corny

  • Drew

    Where’s the rings?

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    The commercial that Kamla posted with all the dunks is crazy.

  • pterradacto

    @haslem
    I’m a laker fan to the heart. Your comment resonated with me enough to leave my real email address. good stuff
    go lakers!

  • Tupack Shakur

    @ Robb,

    I’m assuming you thought I was hating on Kobe. I like Kobe. I was hating on the juxtaposition of the caption saying “Kobe’s thinking, I’m over here getting better” and the photo saying “I’m filing my nails”.

    Therefore it’s like saying, filing my nails/lounging = getting better.

  • Remo Williams

    Id rather be “great” than “cool” any day of the week

  • sh8kz

    AI is in china with no rings though….

  • http://kb24.com jbn74sb

    These pictures give me a stiffy.

  • str8 from samoa

    wata bored dude haha!

  • kg

    see poeple do anything to tear down kobe. has 5 rings so you cant even compar him to lebron or wade anymore the only thing people can do is to complare him to mj who has been retired for a long time. and mj has pulled stunts to how many times has he reitred and came back ? you dont have to be cool when your the best

  • wottywo

    Yes he has 5 rings, but 3 of those rings was being a sidekick for Shaq,so those don’t even count, Because I only count finals MVP trophies, that lets you know who’s team it was that year. So I only see Kobe with 2 true rings to his name.
    If you count the rings,m then you have to say Robert Horry(7 MBA rings) is better then Kobe

  • wottywo

    I meant Robert Horry(7 NBA rings)

  • wottywo

    I meant Robert Horry (7 NBA rings)

  • RyandC

    does that mean we count Pippen with 0 rings?

  • JTaylor21

    @No because Pip had slightly more of an impact than Kobe did, not taking anything away from KB because without him LA doesn’t win ish.

  • http://www.bruno-wong.com Bruno Wong

    Kobe.

    If you want real photographs. Give me a shout.
    http://www.bruno-wong.com

    Peace.

    Bruno

  • Robert Womack

    JTaylor: I agree with what you said, but all Im saying is, you can’t put Kobe with Jordan, because Jordan has 6 Final MVP Trophies, that means it was his team every year. And yes Pippen was more important when it came to the sidekick role.

    RyandC: I’m just saying,people stop comparing Kobe to MJ.

    One: Kobe doesn’t have the hardware Micheal has, and Kobe never transformed the game of basketball like Micheal Jordan did.

    2: The most important thing is,Kobe’s game is based off of Micheal Jordan’s. Meaning Kobe is basically copying Micheal’s style of how he played the game.

    3: (This makes me laugh every time)If prime Micheal Jordan was in this era, and prime Kobe faced Micheal who would win? Simple Micheal Jordan, the two reasons above should tell you why easily. If prime Micheal just came into the game the same time Kobe did, the game of basketball wouldn’t have been transformed. So that means Kobe would not have adopted Micheal’s style because that style of play wouldn’t have existed. So that means the now prime Kobe probably wouldn’t be the best player in the game today. So yes, Micheal would kill Kobe.

  • M5

    @ Womack:
    So, are you saying that Michael Jordan invented the moves he did on the court, or did he take from other great players before him? I mean why would Jordan ask David Thompson to present him into the Hall Of Fame. Maybe because his game influenced Jordan to the point where he wanted to be like David Thompson.

  • Robert Womack

    @M5: No, I’m said Mj took the moves and transformed them into his game, meaning he took one style of play, and he transformed it or turned it into something new. What’s so hard to understand about the point I made? Evidently you are a Kobe fan. All I’m Saying is, KOBE’s game is based off of the style MJ Invented. Meaning MJ is the teacher, and Kobe is the student. In the Nba just like anything else, there’s only a certain amount of moves you can do. (Let’s not forget Mj is not the first NBA player to play the game. So basically every move on the court has already been done.)But Mj perfected them, yes many players can do the moves MJ can do, but have they perfected the moves to the point where it amazes the human eye but its also money in the bank?Mj was smart, he’d take one move and add something with it(like the switch up in the air). I guess you could call MJ a combo guard, because he always had the talent to mix that second move with the first move that was invented. I hope this helps you understand what I’m trying to say. If not, this should shorten what I just wrote. Kobe is adopting what MIcheal Jordan perfected. Micheal Jordan took the moves of many great players and either mixed or perfected them to the point where they not only looked amazing, but at the same time they were unstoppable, and money and the bank.

  • Robert Womack

    And I actually meant it that way, Money and the bank, because those moves made Jordan $$$$$$$$$$$$$. Why do you think anything MJ sells is the SH!t? Because MJ defined what the game is suppose to be about. And lets not forget MJ could play defense also. I just compare Kobe’s offense to MJ’s Offense because truly Kobe’s defense can’t touch MJ’s. And another thing, people are talking about Kobe’s team is better then MJ’s team. False, whoever thinks that needs to be shot. This day in time, Kobe has a that Micheal Jordan team. Mj’s Bulls would destroy Kobe’s Lakers. Because the Bulls alway’s came to play, and they where no joke.
    I can’t beleive people actually think these Lakers could take the Bulls. Look the Celtics are a taste of what the Lakers would have to face if they took on the Bulls. And let’s not forget both the Celtics and Lakers played each other when one of there key players(bynum in finals for the Lakers and perkins in the past finals) was hurt. Did nobody see what the Celtics did to the Lakers? The Celtics beat the Lakers 4-2. Game 6 they beat the Lakers by 30 something points. The Lakers beat the Celtics 4-3. Game 7 they beat the Celtics by like 10 points? That isn’t revenge in my book, but a win is a win. If Kobe’s Lakers can’t really dominate a taste of what the Bulls will bring(The Celtics are that taste) how in the world will Kobe’s Lakers beat MJ’s Bulls? Oh yea, that would make a nice dream, but not in reality.

  • M5

    It is true that I am a Kobe fan, but you are short selling Kobe’s game by saying he is Jordan’s copy cat. Like you said Jordan was the teacher and kobe was the student, but at one time Jordan was the student, learning from others before him. It’s a cycle that is going to continue and progress, it didn’t just stop after Jordan. Kobe has taken from Jordan’s game and expanded on it just like Jordan did from others.

    And as far as the Lakers Vs Celtics series. In 2008 Bynum didn’t play a second in that Final and Trevor Ariza was returning from a broken foot, but in 2010 Perkins only missed game 7. He was able to contribute in six games, while Bynum never played a single second in that series.

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