Kobe Bryant Doesn’t Think He’s Ever Had a Rival in the NBA

According to Kobe, those who were once considered rivals faded away, and the current crop of stars is too young and haven’t won enough rings to truly measure up. From ESPN: “Despite Bryant’s acknowledging that it’s not just another game, he wouldn’t characterize his relationship with LeBron James as a rivalry. ‘Not for me,’ Bryant said. ‘I get up for everybody just the same, to be honest. It’s hard for me to turn my meter up any higher than it normally is.’ OK, Bryant was asked, how about Dwyane Wade? [...] ‘He’s too young,’ Bryant said. ‘He’s too young. When I came into the league, he was in elementary school.’ Bryant is three years older than Wade, but was already a seven-year veteran when Wade was drafted in 2003. Bryant said it is ‘a little late in the game’ for him to develop a rivalry with any current NBA player, so instead he is chasing names in the record books rather than in box scores from the 2011-12 season. ‘At this point my rivals, in terms of what I have left to accomplish in my career, (left the game) when Magic (Johnson) and Michael (Jordan) retired in ’98,’ Bryant said, referring to the second of Jordan’s three retirements that came after he won his sixth and final championship with the Chicago Bulls. ‘That’s it. In terms of what I’m looking to accomplish, that’s about it.’ [...] ‘What I have left to accomplish, those players retired a long time ago,’ Bryant said. The San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan won four championships to Bryant’s five throughout their shared careers, but Bryant said while the Spurs might have qualified as a team rival to his Lakers, Duncan’s individual rivalry came against Shaquille O’Neal as a fellow big man. ‘He was never in my position,’ Bryant said. ‘He was more Shaq’s rival than mine. As a team, the Spurs were always a team that we had to go through. So from that standpoint, yes, but in terms of personally, no. I’ve outgrown them all, from A.I. (Allen Iverson) when I first came in to (Tracy) McGrady to Vince Carter and so forth and so on.’”

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Tags: Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

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http://dsjfkl.com Jukai

NBK: He retired cause of injuries. He thought about coming back despite the injuries.
http://Slamonline.com nbk

Hmm not that i don’t believe you but where you read/hear that?
http://www.kb24.com The Seed

Sporting News’ NBA Athlete of the Decade: Kobe Bryant, SG, Lakers
PUBLISHED Thursday, Sep 24, 2009 at 5:18 am EDT
Sporting News Sporting News
We say…

Is he the next Michael Jordan? Can he win a title without Shaquille O?Neal? Is he still better than LeBron James? When it comes to Bryant, the talking points have always missed the mark. No player in the history of the sport has been as hell bent on muscling up and improving his game every offseason. Bryant continues to set the bar on hard work, and there?s no sign of anyone reaching his level in that regard.

Read more: http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2009-09-24/sporting-news-nba-athlete-decade-kobe-bryant-sg-lakers#ixzz1oJLMvaTw
http://www.kb24.com The Seed

Sporting News’ NBA Athlete of the Decade: Kobe Bryant, SG, Lakers
http://www.kb24.com The Seed

Feb 14, 2010
Kobe wins Player of the Decade–TNT
http://www.slamonline.com TADOne

Kobe also didn’t think he had a rival in that Colorado hotel room.
http://www.kb24.com The Seed

During the 2000s decade (2000 – 2009), Leading the pack is obviously Kobe Bryant, who was named the NBA Player of the Decade by TNT and ESPN.
hushabomb

Allen is right. Kobe is a phag!
Maniac

You know, I just read through all the comments and I must say, some of the hate towards the guy is amazing… Anyways I must applaud Allenp for not letting AI get forgotten. He was in fact my favorite player growing up, even more so than Kobe. With that said, you were really really reaching dude, but perception is reality…. sadly. I really have nothing to say because opinions are like a**holes and some are just unbelievably misinformed by bias, ignorance, stupidity, or a combaination of the three. I’ve stayed away from posting on SLAM because some of the people on hear just sicken me from their lack of knowledge and/or intelligence. I rarely ever agree with nbk or Allenp, but at least they can hold up a decent argument; others will just continue to disrespect themselves with their comments. Btw, what’s good LakeShow.
Maniac

*combination, *here
Rainman

I’d like to say, that even tho cuz of work i wasnt able to comment any, this is a debate i enjoyed reading over , some good insight. BOOK THAT !
Rainman

oh, and biiiiiig shout out to the dude that brought up Manu, i was thinking the same thing. Great, GREAT player.
JoeMaMa

Kobe Bryant is a great player who, through his own mental process, believes he’s the greatest player in the game today. I don’t necessarily agree with that, but that’s his attitude, and I respect that. There are probably 10 guys in the league who say that very thing: “I’m the best”. The problem is, because of successful marketing, his dominance, and this attitude, his fans go over the top for him…and as a result, there’s this blowback from others. They swing the other way, and actually give him less credit than he deserves. It may be that these individuals just want to be different, or that they dislike the bullsh*t, self-serving marketing campaigns of the league and Kobe’s sponsors…and I get that. But this thread shows that there are alot of posters that simply don’t respect Kobe’s level of play, and they hide behind “media portrayals” or what have you. Which is kind of sad. But to get back to the original point RE: rivalry, I think that Kobe’s referring to the fact that he’s never had a Bird to his Magic…the guy that was the ‘other’ for his career. Kobe’s always his contemporaries, and they’ve all been stated: TMac, AI, Vince, LeBron, Wade…all guys who, for a few years, were rubbing shoulders with Kobe. But they weren’t really competing for titles with him, nor have any of them maintained his level. I would’ve liked to have seen DWade earlier in Kobe’s career, because that would’ve been an AMAZING rivalry. But, through timing, good fortune, and longevity, Kobe’s never had that classic rivalry. I think he’s playing it the wrong way, as an ego boost and legacy tool, but I think, in a way I can understand, he’s correct. In his own Kobe way.
mike

Look. If you know basketball it should be very obvious that kobe is the best player of his era and when it comes to talent he’s definitely top 5 all time. I think if you put him in any era he would easily dominate and outshine any player except for jordan. You have to look at his situation differently than a lot of other superstars. Yes he was very fortunate to play with shaq but he was the younger player so for about 8 years he had to hold back his individual game. I dont know of anybody else who had their whole team ripped apart and was able to come back and win 2 championships. Nd even after 16 years with a screwed up knee, a finger he cant move, and a
a bad wrist he’s still able to lead the nba in scoring
mike

and i think everyone knows that A.I loved to score just as much as kobe and i never seen him score consecutive 50 point games let alone 81 points. if Kobe was drafted to a losing team his numbers would be way higher than they are now
Maniac

Great post JoeMaMa. I find it really sad that “basketball fans” are witnessing greatness right before their eyes and can’t appreciate this man for his talent, accomplishments, and dedication to this game. I agree that there are many many stupid Kobe fans that take things far beyond what they should be, but there are just as many of those fans for other popular players. The fact of the matter is that he could very well go down as the second greatest player of all-time and half of the basketball community can’t accept/appreciate it due to their obsessions of other players’ legacies and/or hate for him. I find it out right disgusting. It just saddens me that he isn’t going to be around too much longer (I believe 2 more years after this season) and a lot of people are going to look back 10 years from now and realize just how great he is how wrong they were about him. It sucks to see one of the game’s truly great players so disrespected by “fans” and the media. (I hope that LeBron doesn’t suffer from this after he gets his act together, though the hate for Kobe is 10x worst).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JL4wQcbNL0&context=C3c6088dADOEgsToPDskInY_JnRrlwHg4s1VwAbsO7 anynomous

wow. kobe never stops talking. Iverson was indisputably better than kobe from 96 to 08 before he left denver and was reduced to just 2/3 of the shot attempts he`s been accustomed to his entire career. In contrast, kobe has played with one team forever and is attempting 4 more field goals per game than last season. He`s at about 24 shots a game. If AI`s probational/sentencing period ever comes to an end, it would be interesting to see how many points he would average on 24 shots a game. Even in 07/08 on a team with a primary scorer in Carmelo Anthony, Iverson continuously lit the lakers up. One game in particular I remember him dropping 51 points. When you`re discussing individual rivals, titles (TEAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS) do not come into to play especially when the one player who mops the floor with you is in the eastern conference so that you only get to see him twice a year unless both teams get to the finals. Unfortunately, AI didnt have the luxury of a shaq, or a phil jackson, or a pau gasol, or a supreme front office management. I certainly hope that AI gets an opportunity to return so he can refute some of these claims.
Justin G.

Jesus Christ AllenP, you can be incredibly arrogant and aggravating at the same time. Maybe it’s not what everyone else is missing. Maybe it’s what YOU are missing! You are proving without a shadow of a doubt what it’s like to watch the game through blinders. Iverson was a very good to great player and you can’t just conveniently discredit Iverson’s low shooting percentages while simultaneously bashing others (like Kobe) for the same thing. If he was such a great player he would have made those supposed scrubs around him better than, wouldn’t he? Maybe in practice he could have worked on that instead of having such a flippant attitude about it. The greats like Jordan, Magic, Kobe, Bird…they took practice as seriously as they took the games and it helped make their teammates better so they wouldn’t have to chuck up ill advised shots and have people like you make excuses for them with “It’s better he shoots than any of those other guys”. I am so sick and tired of reading the “He played with Shaq and then later Pau” BS too. EVERY GREAT PLAYER PLAYED WITH ANOTHER GREAT PLAYER(S) TO WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP!!! Detroit in 04 was an enigma, not the norm. Good Lord man, give your head a shake!

JoeMaMa’s post at 1:36 is perfect in basically translating what Kobe is saying. Kobe didn’t say he had no equal. Too many of you are equating “rival” with “equal” and that’s not what he’s saying at all. @anynomous, to say that Iverson was indisputably better than Kobe from 96 to 08 is just plain ridiculous. Iverson was better at first because he played through college and was older when he first got into the league. Kobe was 17 years old and playing on the bench behind Eddie Jones. From ’03 on Kobe has been by far the better player.
anynomous

@justinG What great player did hakeem olujawon play with when houston won back-to-back? What about the detroit pistons? There were NO HOFs on that team. Everybody doesn`t have to play with great players? It depends on the era, the competition, and the team struture. kobe was fortunate to play on shaq`s team when oneal led them to 3 rings and fortunate that memphis gave up pau for nothing because before that trade that lakers team was heading towards a future full of first round knockouts. As I said before, Allen Iverson was hands down better than kobe from 96 to 2008? He was averaging 30+ points, 7+ assists, and 2 steals before going to denver where he averaged 26, 6, and about 1.5 steals alongside Melo. If AI would have stayed in philly he would have continued to put up 30+ and 7+ because he would have been the primary option which would have made him a strong candidate for a couple more scoring titles. I think there have only been 5 players in nba history who have put up 30 and 7, and AI did it twice. known fact: kobe has never been able to handle Iverson when he`s healthy. Iverson just makes him look like he`s standing still. And AI already knows kobe couldn`t stop him.
http://slamonline Jimbo

@the philosopher oh, ok then. I was kinda scared for a minute there.
Justin G.

OK, you got me with Hakeem. I already mentioned the Pistons. So that’s 3 championships in the history of the league that did not have at least two great players on the team. Well done. Is it not plausible that Shaq was fortunate to play with Kobe as well? Do those Laker teams win championships without Kobe putting up 25+ on top of what Shaq was doing? Probably not. And sure Iverson was putting up 30 points. But as I pointed out his shooting percentages were borderline pathetic at times. He took that Philly team to the Finals in what could mildly be called a weak conference. And stating whether Kobe could guard Iverson or not is pointless. Of course he was too quick for a 6’6″ shooting guard. Iverson wouldn’t be able to stop Kobe either but does that mean anything? Again, of course not. So many people were taken in by his thug, brash style and of course the way he played with reckless abandon. Don’t get me wrong, I was a fan as well but I could also see through that other stuff to know he was a chucker in every sense of the word
Mo

2001 wasn’t even Iverson’s prime. That came about 4 years later as far as all-around game PLUS his 2001 speed.
Mo

from 1996-2003 Iverson was clearly better.
From 2004-present Kobe is clearly better.

That’s 7 years for A.I. and 8 years for Kobe. I see Iverson getting demoted a lot by fans in their 20 and younger that never really saw him. Kobe will be the first to tell you that A.I. was the real deal and not just someone with the green light to shoot. He said the same sentence at the AllStar game last year.
http://www.slamonline.com TADOne

It’s 2012 and people are still trying to call Iverson a thug?!
havoc33

I’d say Kobe had a few rivals during his career, but in all fairness he has left them all in the dust. McGrady was probably the only one who could match Kobe skill wise, from 01-03 he was almost there with him. Also, Iverson and Carter in their prime was pretty good, those interconference battles between LA vs 76ers and LA vs Raptors used to be great to watch.

But Kobe is right in the fact that when he peaked 06-09, all his competition started to fade, so in that sense he does not have a true rival. More than anything, you could say Phoenix as a team has been Kobe’s rival, but no single player stands up to him. Steve Nash still owes Kobe one of his MVP’s.

@anonymous: Iverson hands down better than Kobe from 98 till 08? my god, you have to be the biggest AI fan in the world. You can argue from 96-01, but no further. I never questioned AIs heart, but if he had even half the dedication of Kobe he could have been so much more than the constant underachiever he was.
havoc33

@Justin G: it’s so convenient that people forget that for large parts of the 01 and 02 Playoffs, Kobe was the best player for the Lakers, not Shaq. Kobe dominated the Kings and Spurs in 01, and also had a spectacular series agains the Spurs in 02. Shaq was deservedly so their Finals MVP both those years, but a lot of times it was Kobe who made sure they even got there. Let’s not even start to talk about the regular season, please, Shaq started coasting big time after his MVP campaign in 2000. They way Kobe benefitted from having Shaq, Shaq also benfitted from having Kobe around. Like Jackson pointed out recently as well, Kobe was one of the few people on that team apart from Shaw who could consistently find Shaq below and throw a decent post pass. Kobe was a lot of times their playmaker, yet still put up 25-27 ppg.
Justin G.

Sorry. Should I have said “thuggish, brash style”?
http://www.thedynastyboys.com lix

Justin, your argument is ridiculous and plain silly. Clearly your opinion isn’t all basketball based so there’s no point in arguing with you.
http://www.slamonline.com TADOne

Meh. AI was and is very confident in his abilities. Brash is definitely a good word. However, AI is no thug and thug is not a style. Al Capone was a thug. Suge Knight was a thug. AI was a ball player from an impoverished background. Sorry,not trying to single you out Justin but that label really bothers me.
jay

if Iverson came out today we wouldn’t even call him a thug. He’s only known as a “thug” because tattoos and cornrows were so shocking 15 years ago. Today he’d be just another young player with a sketchy past.
ctk

question for the AllenIverson fans …since 1990 to now…Startin a team from nothing …would u really take Iverson over Wade,Drexler,or McGrady
http://slamonline.com Allenp

Man, if you’re talking about titles, then how can you give Kobe all that credit for having his team there without acknowledging that none of his contemporaries had SHAQUILLE O’NEAL!
Kobe fans are funny. I already said dude, based on longevity and team success can joust with Duncan as the greatest player of his generation and is clearly the greatest wing player by a large margin.
But this rival stuff is a slick way to set himself up on the mountaintop alone. Dude played with Shaq for the first and largest chunk of his career. That’s an incredibly massive advantage as far as team success. Then, when he had “poor” teams, which weren’t really horrible compared to some of the teams his contemporaries were dragging around, he couldn’t get out of the first round. Then, he gets a top five power forward in Pau, a good young center in Bynum and Lamar Odom, and he starts winning again and people act like it’s all him.
That doesn’t make sense. Every time dude has had team success, he’s had superior talent. Without superior talent, he hasn’t had team success. So, which one of his contemporaries actually had talent like Kobe’s throughout their careers?
No one.
He’s been the hardest working, most fortunate cat in the NBA his entire career. It’s not even close.
havoc33

Allenp: Smush Parker is happy that you show such confidence in him! And I would argue that Jordan had a better supporting cast than Kobe ever had: Pippen, Grant, Rodman, Kukoc, heck even Armstrong was an Allstar without Jordan. Not to mention two of the deadliest shooters of all time in Kerr and Paxson, never to be underestimated when you talk about the success of the Bulls.

So there is no point trying to discredit Kobe for having a good supporting cast during his championship years – everyone needs one in order to be successful.
http://slamonline.com Allenp

Who compared Kobe to Jordan, or Kobe’s supporting cast to Jordan’s?
I compared his supporting cast, and team success, to those of his contemporaries and potential “rivals”?
Iverson, T-Mac and Vince Carter. Possibly Ray Allen.
When you look at those players, their team success was directly tied to their overall team talent. Just like Kobe.
Only while Kobe has typically had loads of talent around him, those players did not.
That was my point. Team success is a tricky metric because it’s often not completely tied to how well a player performs. Very few players can take talent deficient teams and make them contenders. And Kobe is not one of the few and neither were most of his contemporaries.
Rainman

I know a lot of ppl have been scoffing at the Manu Ginobili comparisons, but since 2003…since Manu first came into the league, he’s been battling Kobe in the playoffs more years than not.(the playoffs are where rivalries are maintained right? ) Lets take a deeper look into it:

2003- Manu Ginobili’s rookie year, by the time the playoffs come around he’s a big rotational player, and the Spurs meet the Lakers in the playoffs, in a battle in which the Spurs win and end up winning the ring. MAnu played Kobe relatively well that year.

2004- Met again in the playoffs, a great series in which Manu and Kobe actually went bak and forth. Lakers win the series. (also the series Derrick fisher hit the shot at 0.4 seconds over Manu)

2005- Lakers miss the playoffs(See: Shaq Left.) The Spurs cruise through, and Manu was jsut dominant all the way through (Especially againsy my Suns…MAN was he dominant…) Can u guys remember the long hair flopping all over the place as he made all the crucial plays against the Pistons in the 7 game Finals? To me, he deserved Finals MVP that year. Stern said when announcing it, that it was super close (either 2 total votes, or 2 percentages ,considering a few percentage of votes probably went to Tony as well).

2006- Lakers and Spurs dont meet this year, Lakers get eliminated by the Suns, and the Spurs fail to repeat, get defeated by the Mavs in a GREAT 7 game series, in which Manu Ginobili played great basketball. (Excpet for that costly foul on Dirk on that drive in game 7 that we all remember)

2007- Dont meet for the 3rd consecutive year, Kobe and the Lakers get defeated by the Suns (BTW, why is noone making any cases for Nash? Nash and kobe have played on 2 of the best teams in the West for the past decade, First Nash with the MAvs, then the Suns. Have we already forgotten the 2010 conference finals and how close that was? Sure the rings dont add up, but still) MAnu Ginobili helps his team go all the way to another title.

2008- LAkers trade for Pau, Kobe finally gets what he wants for a title run. Lakers and Spurs meet in conference finals, Lakers were clearly the better team, but Manu-Kobe once again was a battle to watch. Kobe was motivated to another level that year tho, but again, they meet in a battle.

Look, i know in terms of dominance u may not say its all that close, i’d say so too. But when u’ve put these two in a playoff series (Which has happened clearly more than once, and who knows? maybe again this year) its been fun to watch .
lisa

Dang, yall are really making Kobe look like he wasn’t a great player. So what if his supporting cast was better or if he was “lucky”. Yall are so off topic…. Hating this early in the morning? Yall don’t have anything else to do huh? Next time on your lunch break just go wack off.
lisa

@Rainman… I LOVE Manu. It’s sad that a lot of great players from this decade are aging fast. Kobe, Manu, Steve Nash, Duncan, Garnett, T-mac… Gonna miss those guys.
http://www.sonichurricane.com Guile

LOL @ the bum quoting kobe 04/05 injury ridden stats as his post shaq production, how many game did he miss that year?40?that’s the year where the lakers miss the playoffs right?with caron butler as their leading scorer?i believe that the lakers was above 500 when kobe got injured too, if i recall right.

the post shaq years, when he’s been healthy, kobe has average more points with chris mihm/kwame brown at center, so yes, without shaq, kobe’s stats would’ve been inflated, it’s not until pau gasol came to the lakers, that his points production decreased.

without shaq, the lakers won’t win the chip between 00-02, but kobe’s stats would’ve been very inflated.

AI was a 40 percent shooter his whole career, he was a bum, he IS a bum, he couldn’t even get a starting spot on a turkish team a few years back when he was as old as kobe is now.

why people @slam magz always glorifying him, i don’t know, the guy is a terrible player, not smush parker level, obviously, but he’s overrated.
http://www.sonichurricane.com Guile

and let me say this, kobe was undeniably, the best 2 guard in the league, since 2001 up to now, and he was always been in the all defensive first team, all nba first team, most of that span (not counting the season when he got injured and miss 30-40 games (04-05), of course)
http://slamonline.com Allenp

You need to use basketball reference more often if you’re going to make those comments about Iverson.
His worst shooting years came playing at the two guard. At the point guard, he was around 45 percent.
And using shooting percentages in a discussion about Kobe is hilarious.
dazzy

Guile, if you really believe that those all defensive teams were accurate than you are probably too young to have watched enough of Kobe’s career. He definitely shouldn’t have been picked over the likes of Allen, Bowen, etc. Just stop.
lisa

@Allenp… It’s funny how you really just hating on Kobe. People are really trying to compare AI to Kobe? Lol… I use to HATE Kobe with a passion but damn yall take it to another level.
Drig

Allen………..Kobe was the better two way player compared to AI since ’01. Kobe has never been elite on D for a season’s stretch sans probably ’03. However, he has shown he can be elite-great for short bursts ( for quarters max basically ). AI played the passing lanes well but man-to-man D? AI didn’t leave enough on the plate for me to rank him above Kobe. And with regards to why Kobe didn’t defend AI…..come on now! Why doesn’t Kobe defend CP3? Because it’s a bad matchup and pointless to try to lockdown a PG with a great offensive ability which AI had. Vice-versa with AI defending Kobe. Simply put Kobe had the height advantage but AI had the speed advantage. The result is as clear as daylight.
Drig

T-Mac and Yao came together for 2 years but didn’t manage to get out of the 1st round in Houston. This was the T-Mac before he got injured continuously. So no. VC was never on T-Mac or AI’s level, let alone Kobe’s since ’01 as far as their skill are concerned. VC did have the talent and the athleticism but never the drive.

Now with regards to his team………Jordan never had any rivals only because his team was so good right? Jordan managed to make a talent deficient team into a contender right? Magic did it as well right? Bird too didn’t he? No. Kobe never played with a team that had mediocre talent. He either had a superstar or an all-star with him or had the pits.( Yeah, ’06 Kobe had a worse squad than ’02 TMac ). So saying, “Very few players can take talent deficient teams and make them contenders” is a stretch.
Drig

BTW, I just wanted to know if you considered the ’05 Cavs as legit contenders??? Because that would make your definition of a contender and mine entirely different. Because personally, I never thought they were a contender compared to the teams on the West coast. Same with EC finalists when Kobe-Shaq LA, Spurs and Kings were in town.
Justin G.

Drig, that’s partly why Philly and the Nets were able to get to the Finals in the early 2000′s. Everyone knew that the winner of WCF was going to be the champion, that it was the real Finals. The Eastern Conference was so weak. That’s not to necessarily downgrade what guys like Jason Kidd and Allen Iverson did during those years but it’s a factor. @Allen…that’s why I had said in this and in other threads when discussing the two that it was so funny how much Iverson was loved on these boards but still pointed out Kobe’s lack of great scoring proficiency. You can’t have it both ways. Neither of them was a very proficient scorer
http://slamonline.com Allenp

If you think the Bulls, Celtics and Lakers of the Jordan, Bird and Magic eras were talent deficient when they were contenders, then you don’t know basketball.
I really feel like that. Those three teams had a surfeit of talent when they were contenders. Magic has played with some of the best talent of any player in NBA history. The only person who played with more talent is probably Bill Russell.
Bird had three other Hall of Famers in this starting lineup, and another one coming off the bench, who while hobbled, was still quite good.
Let’s be real.
http://slamonline.com Allenp

They were both proficient scorers.
Neither was efficient.
Drig

Sigh. Re-read my post again about Magic, Bird and co. I implied that even all of them had great teams all the time or bad team in case of Jordan. Never in between just like Kobe. Why act like 3 out of them 4 are on another planet compared to him????
http://slamonline.com Allenp

Drigs
Kobe played with Caron Butler and Lamar Odom. That team was very mediocre. Then they traded Caron for Kwame and became horrible.
I apologize for misreading the part about Jordan, Magic and Bird. I went back and I see what you were trying to say, even if I disagree.
I think Mike’s team steadily improved with a growth in talent, and through his production. Magic and Bird inherited more talent.
But, I’m not comparing Kobe to them, I’m comparing him to his peers and noting that when you throw team success into the discussion, it skews things which is unfair because none of Kobe’s peers were ever consistently surrounded by the sort of talent he had. Ever.

Kobe Bryant Doesn’t Think He’s Ever Had a Rival in the NBA

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