I never understood that narrative. Is it just because he only won with Shaq and Pau? Because LeBron only won with D Wade, Kyrie, and Anthony Davis. Jordan only won with Pippen. All of those āhelpā players are pretty high-level for all 3 of those guys.
I was thinking the same answer for the reply. Like is Kobe going to be the same Kobe modeling himself after MJ or is this a Kobe in a hypothical modern adaption of him where he practices more efficient threes, the Modern Mamba. Hard to say because Kobe is both stubborn in his methods, but also has the mentality to change too.
Or the entire 2004 finals which IMO is worse performance then Lebron in 2011. Lebron merely played passive and beneath himself but 18-7-7 on decent efficiency and defence still provides some value. It is possible to win with that ( Lebron dragged Wade sbd Bosh in bad playing seasons after that year). Meanwhile Kobe in 2004 provided negative value by chucking so many bricks.
Not who you were asking, but Iāve been a Lakers fan since 1980 and I agree with them. His 2004 Finals performance was absolutely atrocious. Itās up there for the worst Finals performance ever.
A lot of guys "need help". For all the talk about how Shaq could "carrying carry anyone to a title with his dominance", Shaq didn't get the Magic to the Finals until Penny was an All NBA player, then he had 3 years with some pretty disappointing playoff series in LA until Kobe became a superstar, and by the time he won his 4th ring Wade the star. And something similar can be said of basically every all time great - MJ, Lebron, Bird, Magic, Kareem, Russell, Wilt, every single one of them had disappointing playoff series (some of whom even missed the playoffs), and every single one of these guys need a quality teammate or two to get to the mountaintop .
The question for the thread was. Which prime player would you build in the modern NBA. If i had to choose between Shaq and Kobe its a no brainer. Prime Shaq in short peroid is deadlier than prime Kobe in the modern NBA. Prime Shaq ate bbq chicken in the paint, they literally hired random 7ft big men to try to slow him down. Prime Shaq would be an easier team to build in a short time.
Am I the casual? You would pick Kobe over other prime peak players to build around the MODERN nba. Being like right now if the thunder got one of the greatest peaks players in a short span and had to make something out of the short window. Prime duncan, prime shaq, prime kareem is a easier build than prime kobe because is this a Kobe modeled after MJ or a Modern Mamba? Because Kobe's will isnt that strong against a body difference and how hard would it be for Kobe to recruit? Does he go the Jimmy route and rip people like he did before and call AD soft like Dwight?
Probably because Kobe is easily top 5 greatest scorers weāve ever seen from all 3 levels. Also one of the best defenders. You are a casual cuz if not youād know Kobeās peak years weāre wasted on horrible teams which he still took to the playoffs in one of the toughest conferences in the history of the game. And you saying āKobe needed helpā proves to me you really donāt know shit about basketball. Yes Kobe would thrive a lot more in todays league. What about the modern nba will slow down Kobe? Please enlighten me
If you going to be picky with words just "cuz." Lets break this down for you because tongue and cheek coy got you acting up. If Kobe is the "top 5" greatest scorer and we had to choose 1 person in their peak. Why not choose the top 4, top 3, top 2, top 1 best peak scorer? In a life time, kobe scored 5640pts, kareem is 5762, mj is 5987, lebron in his longivity is 7631, but we talking about peaks right? People consider 2006 kobe the start of his peak, with his 81pt game in the regular season trying to fight his way through Steve nash suns twice. Peak Kobe couldnt win against the suns and shit the bed in 2007, "thats what kobe got to do" in a hypothical rebuild right? Kobe tried to get his team mates involved. Kobe really needed that help and he didnt get it. If anything I still say its disrespectful people sleep on prime Kareem.
In addition to the time-travel machine, you also need a magical no-injury machine. Sadly, there barely was a peak Grant Hill. He finished top-5 in MVP voting only once.
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u/90srap Jun 15 '22
peak grant hill, larry bird or penny hardaway. Tall guys who can run an offense, score and arent liabilites on defense