Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Almost universally, if you asked followers of pro basketball, people who really care and follow the game, where is Kobe on the GOAT list:
a)to a man nearly everyone is going to say Top 15, easily. The majority of people will put him between 10 and 12...
b)next to nobody will rank him below 15...
c)a substantial less than half will put Kobe inside the Top 10. Most people feel that if Kobe is Top 10, he's at the very back end; very few people think Kobe is higher than 10...
d)next to nobody believes he's really #1. Maybe in the one percentile or less. I've heard a person or two call Kobe the all-time GOAT. Besides that person or two he's never mentioned there and only very rarely in the Top 5...
Kobe Bryant was a great player, one of the best ever, and nothing can deny that. Conversely, if you asked people who really follow the sport where Lebron is on the GOAT list:
a)the overwhelming majority, probably 95%+ at this point, would say he's Top 10 without a doubt. The days of straight faced saying Lebron is not Top 10 died at least 14 months ago but in all reality probably died a year or two before that...
b)only the most dense of Lebron haters will rank him below 10. Absolutely nobody has him past that besides delirious Kobe fans...
c)over half of true students of pro basketball have in the Top 5 already. There is still probably a sizable 15% give or take that don't want to give that to him, but that minority is dwindling very quickly...
d)there is a very small minority, if say 5% tops, that currently believes he's #1 ever. Bit that five percent multiples dramatically with the people who have him #2 or #3. It's not a stretch to say that at this point, there is at minimum a third of us who look at Mike being the only player above him. Not the majority of us, mind you, but definitely a very sizable and notable block consider him the next best thing to Jordan...
Lebron's record speaks for itself. That's including his negative qualities and taking repeated ass kicking in The Finals. But his legacy is infinitely greater than the minuses one can dock him for...and he's still playing...it is beginning to be very uncomfortable for even the hardest Jordan fans to deny he's knocking on the door of Jordan's legacy. Lebron could announce his retirement in the morning without ever hitting the floor again, and realistically, all things considered--that means every important metric of being an NBA basketball player--, besides Mike, who are we saying has done it bigger and better than Lebron? It's an extremely short list if one is being objective, honest, and open-minded...
Kobe Bryant was great but he was not Lebron. Not close. There are comparables to Kobe's scale. Lebron is playing and created a legacy in the rarest of rarefied air. Hate him all you want, you have to admit that much...
I think your confusing sports media and radio talk shows as the true judges of how nba players are ranked.
You know alot of Nba all time great player's including Mike himself has Kobe over LeBron.
Here's a few players that said Kobe tops Lebron
Dwayne Wade
Kevin Durant
Charles Barkley
Russell Westbrook
Kenyon Martin
Ron Artest
Kyrie irving
Caron Butler
Gilbert Arenas
Klay Thompson
Larry Bird
Magic Johnson
David Robinson
Scottie Pippen
Mark Jackson
Steven Jackson
Reggie miller
Gilbert Arenas
Tracy Mcgrady
Dennis Rodman
Shaquille O'neal
Micheal Jeffrey Jordan
So you think they're all delirious ? Lol ok
Maybe 60% of 70,000 fans are delirious as well
Recent ESPN poll across America chose Kobe over Lebron
70,876 people have voted through ESPN and Kobe came out on top 60% to Lebron 40%
Looks like the majority of our readers agree with Jordan that Kobe is better
Seems like the only ones that rank Lebron over Kobe are the sport analyst at ESPN and a few talk show personalities.
When ESPN ranked Kobe #12 and Lebron #2 at the time with only 2 rings,the fans around the world knew it was for ratings and Trolling at best.
A guy with only 2 rings at the time was ranked over everyone in history except Jordan. So a player with 2 rings is better than Kareem and Magic according to ESPN !!!! HILARIOUS
This is why the players and so many fans are so dismissive of any opinion from the sports media.
Is Lebron great ? No doubt about it
Better than Kobe ? Depending on who you ask of course
Better than Jordan ? His hardcore fans think so
Let him win 4 more rings and he's numero uno in my book.
I think your confusing sports media and radio talk shows as the true judges of how nba players are ranked.
who/what are the "true judges" of how nba players are ranked? is there a set ranking? if so who set it?
other then statistics, there ISNT a true judge and its all subjective. so once again i point out, lebron is WELL PAST kobe in every statistical category except points. and again, that wont last a lot longer.
You know alot of Nba all time great player's including Mike himself has Kobe over LeBron.
Here's a few players that said Kobe tops Lebron
Dwayne Wade was asked where kobe ranked during his "farewell tour" so chalk that one up to nostalgia.
Kevin Durant he also said he is better than lebron himself. take with grain of salty rival.
Charles Barkley https://www.usatoday.com/story/gameo...iller/1613981/
Russell Westbrook link, ive been through 3 pages of the google and nothing on the subject. (you just throwing names out)
Kenyon Martin a kobe friend. a role player basically a nobody in the grand scheme. shannon sharpe on the same episode of undisputed took lebron. so?
Ron Artest a kobe team mate, got a couple rings with kobe, of course he picks him.
Kyrie irving he picked kobe for his all time 5 RETIRED players. he also told lebron and everyone lebron is the GOAT after the 2016 finals
Caron Butler in the middle of the kobe farewell tour, and a teammate.
Gilbert Arenas who? the guy that was kicked out of the league. he also didnt say kobe was better, he said he would want kobe to finish a game but he wouldnt build a team around him. lebron is the man he would build a team around. and that was in 2014.
Klay Thompson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN3d4tbJQ6Y
klay says lebron is better in 2012
Larry Bird in 2012. and said lebron is by far the best player in the league. he would pick kobe as who he would play with.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAEiIdQwX50
Magic Johnson hmmm a life time laker on a lifetime laker?
he says kobe plays like mike, lebron plays like him. not kobe is better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9XTgugALpk
David Robinson link? 3-4 pages of hte google and nada. never happened because david robinson doesnt do those types of interviews.
Scottie Pippen I don’t think he’s surpassed Kobe at all, no,” Pippen said.
“And I don’t think he should be compared to either of those players [Michael Jordan and Kobe] because they’re playing different positions. Kobe and Michael are both 2 guards. They’re both scorers. They’re mostly like a Kyrie [Irving] — they’re looking to score the basketball.
“I like to compare him to Magic. I think he plays a lot more like Magic, a lot more like myself — how I played, but obviously he’s more dominant than both me and Magic because of the way that he plays the game. His physicality, his athleticism surpassed Magic as well as me.”
Mark Jackson mark jackson says kobe is the greatest player to ever live, better than jordan...
Steven Jackson stephen says kobe and lebron are two different players and cant be compared.he also says lebron would have just as many rings as kobe with shaq and phil on his team.
Reggie miller same guy in the same sentence said hakeem is #5 all time. over shaq, over duncan, over wilt, over kobe and lebron, etc.
Gilbert Arenas
[/b]you said that already[/b]
Tracy Mcgrady he never said that, he said "kobe is the hardest player to guard" and it was in 2013. a year after mcgrady was out of the league. he also never/rarely played on lebron, out of position.
Dennis Rodman in 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uona-ArJiy8
Shaquille O'neal a very long time teammate. won 3 rings with him... hmmm go figure.
Micheal Jeffrey Jordan kwame brown, nuff said
heres where shaq says kobe is better, barkley and malone both say lebron. all in the same inside the nba.
Seems like the only ones that rank Lebron over Kobe are the sport analyst at ESPN and a few talk show personalities.
When ESPN ranked Kobe #12 and Lebron #2 at the time with only 2 rings,the fans around the world knew it was for ratings and Trolling at best.
A guy with only 2 rings at the time was ranked over everyone in history except Jordan. So a player with 2 rings is better than Kareem and Magic according to ESPN !!!! HILARIOUS
This is why the players and so many fans are so dismissive of any opinion from the sports media.
Is Lebron great ? No doubt about it
Better than Kobe ? Depending on who you ask of course
Better than Jordan ? His hardcore fans think so
Let him win 4 more rings and he's numero uno in my book.
its the same argument, its like ground hogs day with you. lather rinse repeat.
heres isiah thomas saying lebron is better than jordan.
Sounds like you was up all night on Google and Youtube obbssesed with looking for the answers ,Next thing your gonna come up with is more excuses and it's exactly why from now on i gotta call you out for TROLLING !!
Clearly I've been left you alone but over and over you continue to respond to me like it's an obsession.
Sounds like you was up all night on Google and Youtube obbssesed with looking for the answers ,Next thing your gonna come up with is more excuses and it's exactly why from now on i gotta call you out for TROLLING !!
Clearly I've been left you alone but over and over you continue to respond to me like it's an obsession.
you made that video.
we all know thats your youtube page.
what does that even mean?
im still waiting on your new material. same on same on. lather rinse repeat.
its like ground hogs day round here.
LeBron changed the NBA by just saying 7 words/1 simple sentence:
"I'm taking my talents to South Beach."
The NBA changed that very day. A team that had become an also-ran and had missed the playoffs and was in the lottery became NBA Finals bound automatically and a true bonafide title contender. Whereas a team that was a title contender became a shell of itself and became the worst team in the NBA once he left them. The roster creation and accumulation of talent in Miami served as the catalyst to the rise of smallball hence after.
His on court and off court impact is irrefutable. Now when Kevin Durant joins a stacked team, he just points to LeBron for doing it first. That's now become Durant's defense mechanism towards the criticism he's absorbed for doing what he did. Now when Kyrie exercises his ability to request a trade, he does it knowing, that in a way, that LeBron paved the way for all of this to happen.
Even just 7 words directly from LeBron's mouth proves to be an instrumental weapon and that eventually became a symbol of empowerment for NBA players alike.
LeBron changed the NBA by just saying 7 words/1 simple sentence:
"I'm taking my talents to South Beach."
The NBA changed that very day. A team that had become an also-ran and had missed the playoffs and was in the lottery became NBA Finals bound automatically and a true bonafide title contender. Whereas a team that was a title contender became a shell of itself and became the worst team in the NBA once he left them. The roster creation and accumulation of talent in Miami served as the catalyst to the rise of smallball hence after.
His on court and off court impact is irrefutable. Now when Kevin Durant joins a stacked team, he just points to LeBron for doing it first. That's now become Durant's defense mechanism towards the criticism he's absorbed for doing what he did. Now when Kyrie exercises his ability to request a trade, he does it knowing, that in a way, that LeBron paved the way for all of this to happen.
Even just 7 words directly from LeBron's mouth proves to be an instrumental weapon and that eventually became a symbol of empowerment for NBA players alike.
Great post. Big question there though.
The current players are reaping HUGE rewards from teh TV contracts etc. that the guys before them built.
So if the "super teams" suck interest out of the league could we possibly see a contraction in interest and salaries? Maybe. Maybe not. Global expansion might rule that out.
I personally don't know but I know MLB used "home run derby" years to rebuild it's brand after the strike by turning a blind eye to roid abuse and possibly more.
We'll see what the owners vote for, but dang they all got rich in recent years as franchises tripled in value.
LOL...I remember a thread maybe 5-6 years about about popularity and some baseball players were in denial of the slow death of their sport and cited franchise values. It's grossly lopsided now.
^^^^Nothing like a fresh gallon of gasoline for this dumpster fire.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
kwame brown, nuff said 
