"Sports Illustrated" journalist Robin Lundberg recently said that Kobe is one of the most overrated players in history. Kobe Bryant is a great player, but he has a lot of flaws. He has to make him a misnomer, and his historical status is overestimated. This issue of "Large NBA" explains why Kobe is overrated.
Unqualified younger brother and friend
Kobe is young and famous. He completed his career opener at 18 and 72 days and completed his rookie season at 18 and 262 days. In the 1997 Dunk Contest, Kobe won the dunk contest with his handsome sun and dunking action. At that time, the dunk contest was attended by the superstars such as Dominique Wilkins and Michael Jordan, and the aura of God. It was one of the biggest attractions of the All-Star Game. The attention was not a single event such as the three-point contest. Can be compared to enough to make people famous. Kobe became famous in the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest and won numerous fans. This made him the All-Star starter in his second season of his career (1997-98 season) and initially had a superstar aura. But the Lakers' first star at the time was not Kobe, but the superstar Shaquille O'Neal, who had already become famous and entered the peak period. Kobe averaged 15.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in 1997-98, with an efficiency of 18.5. O'Neal averaged 28.3 points, 11.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 1997-98. The efficiency was 28.8, ranking first in the league.
At that time, O'Neill was recognized as the first center in the league, the most dominant inside. Looking back now, it is not an exaggeration to say that O'Neill was the No. 1 center in NBA history. In the face of such O'Neill, Kobe can only play the role of younger brother in terms of strength, experience, leadership and status. However, Kobe is not satisfied, and has always been the main goal of crowding away O'Neill as the Lakers boss, which makes him and O'Neill have a constant contradiction. O'Neill is backed by strength and initially had an absolute advantage in the competition with Kobe. "Zen" Phil Jackson is facing O'Neill and regards O'Neal as the absolute first choice for offense.
The choice of Zen Master is undoubtedly correct. The Lakers won three consecutive championships from 1999-2000 to 2001-02, relying on O'Neill's absolute dominance in the paint. O'Neill won the Finals MVP for three consecutive years. That's why O'Neal only played for the Lakers for eight seasons, but the Lakers have to give him the main reason for setting up bronze statues. In the 2000 Finals against the Pacers, O'Neal averaged 38 points, 16.7 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and 2.3 assists, shooting 61.1%. In the 2001 Finals against the 76ers, O'Neal averaged 33 points, 15.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 3.4 blocks, shooting 57.3%. In the 2002 Finals against the Nets, O'Neal averaged 36.3 points, 12.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.8 blocks per game, shooting 59.5%.
In the 2000 Finals against the Pacers, Kobe averaged only 15 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game, shooting 36.7%. In the 2001 Finals against the 76ers, Kobe averaged 24.6 points and 7.8 rebounds 5.8, shooting only 41.5%. In the 2002 Finals against the Nets, he averaged 26.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game, shooting 51.4%. During the Lakers' three consecutive championships, Kobe's performance has increased year by year, but compared with O'Neill's performance is very large. As O'Neill's age rises and his dominance declines, he is at a disadvantage in the competition with Kobe. Kobe Bryant let the Lakers choose between him and O'Neill in 2004. The Lakers chose a younger Kobe and sent O'Neill to the Heat.
O'Neill joined the Heat, whether it is for the Lakers, O'Neill and Kobe are the three loses - OK combination can be more legendary, but because Kobe is not willing to let him and O'Neill, the Lakers have to send O'Neill, let The Lakers rebuilt in the middle of the OK combination, delaying the Lakers and Kobe for a few years, and let O'Neill accelerate the decline. To put it bluntly, Kobe could have achieved even higher achievements during the OK combination, but because he refused to accept O'Neill, the Lakers' internal friction affected him, O'Neill and the Lakers. Kobe is not a qualified younger brother, nor a qualified friend.
Partially exaggerated dominance The Lakers' dominance during the OK period was actually dominated by O'Neill, who was only the second home of the Lakers. After O'Neill joined the Heat in 2004, Kobe led the team in 2004-05. He averaged 27.6 points, 6 assists, 5.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game, shooting 43.3% from the field and 33.9% from three. This is a good data, but the Lakers only scored 34 wins and 48 losses, the winning percentage is only 41.5%, the winning percentage from the 50% difference is 8 wins, only ranked 11th in the West. At this time, Kobe has entered the peak, but with Michael Jordan's early career to stop the killing, the Buddha blocked the Buddha, with the personal dominance to bring the Bulls into the playoffs, Kobe did not play enough in his peak 2004-05 season. Dominance.
In the next 2005-06 season and 2006-07 season, Kobe fired all the way to bring the Lakers into the playoffs, but the Lakers were eliminated by the Suns for the first two consecutive seasons. Comparing LeBron James' performance from the 2005-06 season to the 2009-10 season during the Cavaliers' single-core lead, Kobe's dominance in the single-core team from 2004-05 to 2006-07 was actually very limited. Kobe’s now dominant doctrine is mainly reflected in his key ball and killer traits, but the reality is that Kobe’s key hit rate is not high.
Take the 2000-01 season as an example. Kobe shot a total of 169 times in the last five minutes of the regular season, ranking fourth in the league, behind Paul Pierce, Jerry Stackhouse, and Gary Payton. His key shot percentage is only 42%, only ranked 60th in the league. O'Neill made a total of 83 shots in the last five minutes of the regular season, hit 51 times, and shot 61.4%, ranking first in the league. It can be seen that whether Kobe’s personal dominance or key ability to the game is not as high as people think, he has a big gap with Jordan, O'Neill and even James.
Exaggerated leader leadership In Kobe's career, two people helped Kobe the most, one is O'Neill and the other is a Zen master. During the OK combination period, O'Neal ruled the inside line, providing the Lakers with enough dominance to provide Kobe with enough restraint to allow Kobe to fully grow and play. At that time, Kobe was replaced by any excellent scoring guard. For example, Vince Carter, the Lakers can dominate the league and even dominate the league for a longer period of time. In other words, during the OK combination period, the real boss and leader of the Lakers was O'Neill.
After O'Neill left, Kobe did not show enough dominance during the 2004-05 and 2006-07 seasons alone, and did not show enough leadership. Later, after Paul Gasol joined, the Lakers were the true Zen Master at that time. He used his triangle offense system to make up for Kobe’s lack of leadership. During the 2007-08 season to the 2009-10 season, the Lakers entered the finals for three consecutive years. The connection between the Lakers system was actually Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. Gasol's 2008-09 season and the 2009-10 season's championship contribution ranked first in the team.
The Lakers have Kobe, Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard and Steve Nash in the 2012-13 season, but because there is no Zen master and his system, Kobe has no leadership on the court or in the locker room. The Lakers have been a mess this season. It can be seen that Kobe’s ability to lead the team throughout his career is actually not as exaggerated as he imagined, and some are exaggerated.
Ball wind selfish
In view of the selfishness of Kobe's style, this is actually confirmed by data. Bryant has lost a total of 14,481 shots in his career, ranking first in history, that is, he is the first iron king in history. On November 8, 2002, in the game of the Lakers' 95-98 loss to the Celtics, Kobe Bryant fought 47 times in the game, hit 17 times, and hit the iron 30 times. In the game, the Lakers shot a total of 95 times, Kobe's personal shot is almost half of the team.
Kobe has averaged 4.7 assists per game in his career. This is a very good number, but he can't make his teammates better in the context of Kobe's absolute possession. Whether it is the OK combination period, or Kobe Bryant alone, the point guards who can stay with Kobe, for example, Derrick Fisher can not be the ball, because the Lakers control in the hands of Kobe .
That's why Steve Nash, the legendary point guard who joined the Lakers, is hard to play with his strength even when he is healthy, because the ball is in Kobe. Kobe's entire career, in addition to getting up early but Zen Master and O'Neill, other times he played with his own center, including the last few seasons of his career, even if the serious injury to the state of serious decline, he still did not give up his own ball. In the 2014-15 season, Kobe averaged 22.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, shooting only 37.3% from the field and 29.3% from three, but he is still the Lakers' offensive core. The Lakers' talent at the time was insufficient, but Kobe's own style of play also had problems. Ball tyrants From Shaq O'Neal to Smush Parker to Kwame Brown, as long as they don't fit Kobe's mind, in the end, only the roll cover will leave the road. Among them, Parker was the worst. He was not given Kobe on the court and was threatened by Kobe. In the context of the Lakers playing well, the Lakers’ contract was not renewed. Earlier, Kobe also let the Lakers trade all-star players Nick Van-Exel, Eddie Jones and others because of the ball and the status of the team. It can be seen that Kobe is not a good locker room leader. Whether it is on the court or inside the locker room, other players are basically the same as the defender. He is the player of the ball level and has almost no sacrifice for his position and ball. The right to exchange for the quiet of the Lakers locker room. This has affected the Lakers' achievements and Kobe's personal achievements to a certain extent.
Coach killer
Looking back now, Kobe is a typical coach killer and very difficult to coach. During the Lakers' first three consecutive championships, Kobe emerged at that time and began to compete with O'Neill for the boss position, and the conflict with O'Neill continued. In the frustration of the Zen master, he had to play the role of mediator, and he was between Kobe and O'Neill, but he could not completely convince Kobe. At the end of the book, the Zen master publicly declared that Kobe could not be coached.
The Zen master could not completely convince Kobe, but he coached Jordan, won six championships in the Bulls, and led the Lakers to three consecutive championships. Finally, Kobe was convinced by his own qualifications. The cooperation between the two was generally successful. Other coaches who are cooperating with Kobe are not so lucky, whether it is to play Mike Brown of the Princeton system, or Mike D'Antoni who wants to run the tactics, or Byron Scott who doesn't know what tactics he plays. In the end, because Kobe controlled the absolute ball, their tactics became Kobe's personal tactics.
Unsurprisingly, Brown, D'Antoni and Scott were both fired by the Lakers and they were very disgraceful. Because of Kobe's existence, their tactics have never been implemented in the Lakers.
Old horse love stack
Not accepting defeat is Kobe's biggest advantage, but also his biggest shortcoming, which makes him squeeze O'Neill, let him become the NBA's first star, the Lakers' greatest player in the history of the Lakers and the closest player to God in the post-Jordan era, and also make him a career. Later became the burden of the Lakers. Kobe’s salary for the last three years of his career totaled $78 million and he could hardly play any more. From Kobe's contribution to the Lakers, he has no problem with this salary, but it has hindered the Lakers' reconstruction plan. While Kobe is taking a super salary, as long as he debuts, he will continue to control the Lakers' rights and give the Lakers other players limited performance opportunities. This aspect hinders the growth of the young players of the Lakers and affects the future potential of the Lakers; on the other hand, other star players are afraid to join the Lakers, because according to Kobe’s position in the Lakers, even if he drags a leg to play, he will always be the Lakers. The boss, Howard is a forerunner.
Therefore, in the last three years of his career, Kobe showed us his unyielding will, and also the old horse love stack, which hindered the reconstruction of the Lakers.
Conclusion: Kobe is great but historical status is overrated
There is no doubt that Kobe is a great player. He has scored more than Michael Jordan in his career and ranked third in history. He once created 81 miracles in a single game, and once and for all contributed to the killing of the people. But his shortcomings are also very obvious. These shortcomings made Kobe's mixed reputation, affecting his personal achievements and affecting his historical status. In the eyes of the media and professionals, James as a rising star, the historical status has far exceeded Kobe, chasing Jordan, and Kobe is only Jordan's shadow, Jordan is hard to match.
