[Highlights] Kobe Bryant’s outrageous contested shot-making compilation from the 2009 NBA playoffs, when he won his 4th ring
While I’m not a Kobe superfan, it’s undeniable this dude took some of the most ridiculous shots imaginable and made it look like an optimal play. Beautiful game and talent
That’s because on some of those teams between the 3peat and teaming up with Pau it probably was the optimal play. You trusting Kwame Brown and Smush Parker to hit an open look more than you are Kobe outta the double lol?
It’s not just that. Kwame even asked Kobe not to pass to him even if he was open.
video
“I got to say, it was tough doing it that year. I was playing with guys, God bless them — God bless them — but Kwame Brown. Smush Parker. We had one game right before…by the way, what I say here, I say directly to them, see what I’m saying, I don’t talk behind people’s back. Things that I say to you, I’m comfortable saying this to them and I’ve said this to them…But like, the game before we traded for Pau, were playing Detroit and I had like 40 points towards the end of the game. This is back when Detroit had Rasheed [Wallace], Chauncey [Billups] and those guys, so we had no business being in the game. So down the stretch of the game, they put in a box and one. So I’m surrounded by these players, Detroit players, and Kwame is under the basket, all by himself. Literally, like all by himself. So I pass him the ball, he bobbled it and it goes out of bounds. “So we go back to the timeout and I’m [upset], right? He goes, ‘I was wide open.’ ‘Yeah, I know.’ This is how I’m talking to him, like, during the game. I said, ‘You’re going to be open again, Kwame, because Rasheed is just totally ignoring you.’ He said, ‘Well, if I’m open don’t throw it to me.’ I was like, ‘Huh?’ He said, ‘Don’t throw it to me.’ I said, ‘Why not?’ He said, well, ‘I’m nervous. If I catch it and he foul me, I won’t make the free throws.’ I said, ‘Hell no!’ “I go to Phil [Jackson], I say, ‘Hey Phil, take him out of the game.’ He’s like, ‘Nah, let him figure it out.’ So, we lose the game, I go the locker room, I’m steaming. Steaming. I’m furious. Then, finally I get a call, they said, ‘You know what, we got something that’s happening with Pau.’ I was like, ‘Alright. Cool.‘…That’s what I had to deal with the whole year.”
“I got to say, it was tough doing it that year. I was playing with guys, God bless them — God bless them — but Kwame Brown. Smush Parker. We had one game right before…by the way, what I say here, I say directly to them, see what I’m saying, I don’t talk behind people’s back. Things that I say to you, I’m comfortable saying this to them and I’ve said this to them…But like, the game before we traded for Pau, were playing Detroit and I had like 40 points towards the end of the game. This is back when Detroit had Rasheed [Wallace], Chauncey [Billups] and those guys, so we had no business being in the game. So down the stretch of the game, they put in a box and one. So I’m surrounded by these players, Detroit players, and Kwame is under the basket, all by himself. Literally, like all by himself. So I pass him the ball, he bobbled it and it goes out of bounds.
“So we go back to the timeout and I’m [upset], right? He goes, ‘I was wide open.’ ‘Yeah, I know.’ This is how I’m talking to him, like, during the game. I said, ‘You’re going to be open again, Kwame, because Rasheed is just totally ignoring you.’ He said, ‘Well, if I’m open don’t throw it to me.’ I was like, ‘Huh?’ He said, ‘Don’t throw it to me.’ I said, ‘Why not?’ He said, well, ‘I’m nervous. If I catch it and he foul me, I won’t make the free throws.’ I said, ‘Hell no!’
“I go to Phil [Jackson], I say, ‘Hey Phil, take him out of the game.’ He’s like, ‘Nah, let him figure it out.’ So, we lose the game, I go the locker room, I’m steaming. Steaming. I’m furious. Then, finally I get a call, they said, ‘You know what, we got something that’s happening with Pau.’ I was like, ‘Alright. Cool.‘…That’s what I had to deal with the whole year.”
Damn its even worse than I was thinking lmao.
This man is a bonafide scrub. He can’t play. No disrespect whatsoever but; the man cannot play the game of basketball. He has small hands, he can’t catch the ball. He’s got bad feet, he can’t really move. He has no game whatsoever, plays no defense.
Kwame made his living as a low post defender
Was deficient in many other parts of the game
Mentally, poor attitude and shrank, can’t catch, not great shooting, low bbiq etc
This rant pushed Stephen A into a new level.
This is a good point that a lot of people gloss over. Kobe and Jordan shot high volume because a contested shot by them was most likely a better shot than an open shot for a lot of the scrubs they played with.
I don’t disagree with the point that his supporting cast wasn’t good, but mentioning Kwame and Smush instead of Odom is a bit disingenuous. Odom was a legitimately great player.
It’s not about Odom at all, it’s about smush Parker and kwame brown being starters and crunch time players. If he had an issue with Odom he would’ve said so. Stop reaching
Odom was too inconsistent. If he just gave more effort he would have been an allstar.
I think something that always gets lost in the modern stats-based analysis is the human element. The sheer phenomenon of watching him is pretty much unmatched. He was a player’s player. His shot making, his overall skillset, his showmanship, his charisma and his flair for the dramatic made him must watch TV.
[deleted]
Hell he treated the all star game like a playoff game. Back when the all star game wasn’t just shooting practice.
This comment reminded me of that all star game in 2003 Where it was Jordan’s last ASG and he still had to earn the win because Kobe was on the opposite team while everyone else was ok giving Jordan the win
The best part about basketball is when players are so talented they can play old school and not have to worry about analytics.
Analytics hated Kobes playstyle but back then you couldn’t argue with success.
Now everything is analytically driven that it sucked most of the cool factor out of basketball. That cool factor been replaced by gambling, unfortunately, and gambling goes hand in hand with analytics and advanced stats.
Even now plenty of players are more efficient than Kobe but why aren’t they winning as many rings as him?
They don’t get to team up with prime Shaq lol. The last two with Pau he was the man tho
Spoken truly like a fan of a Western Conference team where Kobe terrorized the West teams for years in the playoffs lol.
Shaq doesn’t get through some of those playoff series without Kobe.
Most playoff series wins again 50 win teams in nba history.
Yea this post is about him carrying his team to a chip without Shaq, maybe you should rethink your strategy!
Kobe is truly your favorite player’s favorite player
I wish we could posts GIFs. Perfect Batman Begins moment for your comment.
What we also need to realize is that the tough shot maker/scorer archetype is vital to winning championships.
Look how many of these shots were deep in the shot clock. Having a hof level shot maker who can take tough shots anywhere on the floor and after the defense stopped the initial look is huge.
There’s a reason Kobe and mj had very good finals records. When you surround an elite all time shot maker with an elite team, it tends to convert well into actual hardware. So id argue these shots really were optimal.
Exactly. It’s great if you’re an extremely efficient shooter but if you only have a few spots on the floor where you can hit those shots then in the playoffs when the defences tighten up it’s incredibly easy to force those types of players into uncomfortable positions. Kobe being able to take those kinds of shots from anywhere on the court made him just as deadly in the playoffs as he was in the regular season.
Having phil jackson as coach was also a huge factor
I grew up hating Kobe but his talent was undeniable. When he was on it was impossible to stop him no matter what you threw at him. We threw Bowen in his face and had Duncan anchoring the rim and he would still torch us on a regular basis.
Watching this reminds me of when Kobe was asked who could beat him one on one and he said “No one. This is what I do”
Because they didn’t show the 65% of the misses.
Why would they show that? Like what’s the point?
One of the most aesthetically pleasing play styles ever
The most to me
Also that era of unis had just the right amount of bagginess to make everything look cooler imo. Not as baggy as it had been a few years prior but still some movement
I get why it’s gone away I always hated playing in baggy shorts/uni but man watching those jerseys flip back and forth with the players momentum just adds something idk
Yeah, I miss the baggy uniforms. I hate how players wear thigh length shorts, now.
Yea me too as a viewer
As someone that played ball for years tho I get it, I’d play in my underwear if I was allowed all that fabric between your legs just gets in the way
No one wears thigh length shorts anymore
I’ve always thought SGA would look like the shiftiest player ever if not for his tiny shorts and tight ass jersey lmao
Well said
Not sure why, but Kobe always looked more slick in the purple jersey than in gold or white. Maybe it’s an optical illusion or something. But I contend there’s nothing more beautiful in basketball history than purple-jersey Kobe hitting a tough mid-range jumper.
He’s just a slower, less athletic, less efficient Michael Jordan. Ahah.
Great thing is you could die thinking this and not appreciating basketball and I’d be happy knowing you never loved the sport you follow
5 rings. Consensus top 10 player of all time outside of Reddit.
The Lakers organist playing in the background is a cherry on top
His turnaround fade was so nice looking.
Every fade away was a piece of art all the way from the flight of the ball to the physical motion of his body and different limbs during the shot motion.
Like I know that sounds corny. But seriously, the amount of body control he displayed on those fadeaways is a thing of beauty, his legs just go wherever they need to go in the air to keep him on balance
But SGA is aesthetically pleasing, right? Right?
He could be if he just toned down the foul baiting
I don’t get it? Why isn’t he flailing into his opponent for the shooting foul? Is he stupid?
Look what the 3 point revolution stole from us
Luka is in shambles right now
There’s some revisionist history that Kobe wasn’t the best player in the world in 09. He was. LeBron was 100% in the discussion and would have the title in two years max but at this point it was Kobe.
Only here on reddit lol most everyone agrees Kobe was the best in the world from mid to late 2000’s.
Yeah, if you feel that’s Kobe’s common rep you need to get off of reddit. He has like Kim Jong Un in North Korea or Portland, Oregon levels of praise on twitter and meta platforms.
I read it as he was Kim Jong Un in Portland and it still works lol.
Yeah, LeBron didn’t become the consensus best player in the world until 2012 when he finally got over the hurdle in the finals. Sure, we can look back now with hindsight and advanced analytics that didn’t exist back then and say “LeBron was probably the best as early as 2007”, but people who weren’t around back then just will not understand just how highly regarded Kobe was.
More granular impact data still grade out Kobe as being better in the late 2000s, especially in the playoffs.
Kobe improved his teammates TS% by 5% while 2009 LeBron’s was around 3.5%, as per Thinking Basketball. It’s also pretty clear there was a decent gap in their offensive games when you compare LeBron vs. Spurs in the 2007 finals and Kobe vs Spurs in the 2008 WCF.
Specifically when he learned to play with his back to the basket
Yep, frankly, if it wasn’t for the loss to Dallas, LeBron probably wouldn’t have become as great as he is and probably would have retired several years ago. Pat Riley sat him down and told him that he needed to work on those other parts of his game that he didn’t like, like post play, if he wanted to win. Credit to him for doing so since it’s so rare for someone to change their game that much after 7 years in the league.
More specifically, when he had two superstars on his squad to help carry the load.
LeBron won back-to-back MVPs in 2009 and 2010 (following the lone MVP of Kobe’s career in 2008). I was around back then and yes Kobe was highly regarded, but even before the Heat titles LeBron had ascended to a different level (and that’s not hindsight, look at the MVPs). Not to say there was no room for debate, but LeBron had edged out Kobe by this point. And LeBron was doing this with a trash roster in Cleveland. Can’t imagine what he would have done with Gasol, Odom, and Bynum as his top 3.
I love LeBron. I think he’s the GOAT.
But LeBron missing the finals in 2010 might have been better for his legacy. I doubt the Cavs would’ve beat the Lakers.
Yeah, losing to the Lakers would have been absolutely devastating for his legacy. He’d be 100% out of the GOAT conversation. The argument would be “how can LeBron possibly be better than MJ when he couldn’t even beat MJ-lite head to head”.
It would have been worse for Kobe too IMO. He needed to beat the Celtics not only to avenge 2008 but as a bonafide Laker legend.
I remember the Lakers-Cavs Christmas game in 2009. Kobe was hitting ridiculous shots over Lebron.
LeBron’s top 3 teammates in minutes played in 2010 were Mo Williams, Anthony Perker, and Anderson Varejao compared to Kobe’s Metta World Peace, Lamar Odom, and Pau Gasol (not to mention Andrew Bynum further down the list).
Here’s one way to look at it. Agreed that Kobe’s Lakers would have been the heavy favorites, but it still would have been competitive and the Cavs would have had a puncher’s chance (especially having home court advantage). Now swap the teams so that it’s Kobe with Williams, Parker, Varejao etc. and LeBron with Gasol, Odom, Bynum etc. It’s a 4 game sweep and not one game is even close.
I thought making the finals was better than losing in the earlier rounds? That’s the justification Lebron fans says about his 6 finals loses.
It is
Reddit nerds will deadass leave comments and say things like “back in 2009 Tim Duncan was actually the best player in the league”
lol def not.
03 easily
06-10 was Kobe tho it wasn’t even close
I wouldn’t even say easily in 03, Kobe and KG were moving crazy that year
They were, but Duncan in 03 had a better season than both.
Absolutely not
He was both regular season MVP and Finals MVP. He had one of the best postseason runs ever. KG and Duncan regular seasons are comparable but postseason gives Duncan the edge.
Don’t really think 03 Kobe has an argument over 03 Duncan
What argument does 03 Kobe have over Duncan?
The difference between leBron and Kobe in 2009 was that Kobe had poise, finish and confidence of knowing he could and had done it all. He was not phased by the moment . Physically he was slightly past his prime, but adjusted so he was still as good basketball wise
Lbj had the tools and might even have been more dynamic, but he didn’t have that mental edge, crunch time, and had holes in his game that he would fill in years later. He was so talented
It would have been quite a match up
Lebron himself said as much in ‘09. That was the consensus. Lebron’s Playoff run was incredible statistically though but also lost as a massive favorite that year to Orlando.
This was still around the time when people were sincerely debating whether Jordan or Kobe was #1 all time. Those debates seem pretty dumb in retrospect, but they were happening all over online forums.
At the time people thought Kobe was better because his team was making finals. The same thing happened from 2015-2018 when people kept saying Steph or KD was better than LeBron because they were winning. People overrate individuals based on team success.
In 2009 LeBron played 81 games, averaged 28-8-7, was MVP, 1st team All-NBA and All-Defense, and finished second for DPOY. The top 5 players in minutes for the Cavs besides LeBron were Mo Williams, Anderson Varejao, Delonte West, Daniel “Boobie” Gibson, and a 33 year old Zydrunas Ikgauskas and yet he carried them to 66 wins. They lost in the ECF to a better and deeper Magic team despite LeBron averaging 39-8-8 in 44 mpg.
Kobe was obviously also great and in peak form in 2009. Averaged 27-5-5 in 82 games, 2nd place MVP, 1st team All-NBA and All-Defense (but not a contender for DPOY). The Lakers won 65 games and the championship. Main difference is that Kobe had an infinitely better team around him with Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, Trevor Ariza, and Derek Fisher.
As a fan at the time, I thought LeBron was the better player, and that wasn’t a minority opinion. He did win MVP after all.
Both basic and advanced stats beg to differ.
Kobe is not an efficent volume shooter, or a playmaker or a good rim & help defender.
Lebron clears it easily. He had a top-5 all time season, and probably D-wade was better too. Both better playmakers (Lebron is on an another level here) and help defenders. Then you have Chris Paul and Howard, both above Kobe in advanced stats.
Analytically there is not a season you can declare Kobe as the best player in the league.
Funny thing is that he underachieved because of his mentality. He could’ve been a great playmaker, he had the vision but he decided not to play the game that way. If you aren’t Mike, (and he was a better playmaker) there’s not much argument for volume scorers to be the best in the leauge. You are only playing one dimension.
Doing this to Shane Battier and Ron Artest is especially impressive
George Karl had one of the best quotes during their series, “Jesus would have had trouble covering him”.
Well, to be fair, there aren’t a ton of 5’9” Jewish defensive juggernauts in the history of the league.
And yet we have Bill Simmons saying that Paul Pierce covered him and is under appreciated for people not rembering this.
Or harping on his 6⁄24 game 7 without mentioning that everyone else shot like ass that night too because everyone was dead tired from such a hard series, but Kobe still managed to be clutch and play great defense while pulling down 15 boards on a night when KG had just 3.
Jesus was only a 3-time All-Star averaging 18 and 7 as a PG, he wasn’t in Kobe’s league.
And Andrei Kirlineko and Ronnie Brewer. The list of quality defenders he faced in the west during his non-Shaq rings is crazy.
Yes. Loved seeing those Houston highlights. That was when Battier’s defensive method was not to try to block shots, but instead get a hand in the face to try to make it tougher. It probably worked on a lot of guys, but not Kobe.
Wild seeing Battier with damn near his whole arm blocking Kobe’s view and still made no difference. He already had the basket in sight, and the muscle memory/training to sink the shots on autopilot.
Yeah, Kobe definitely didn’t understand the meaning of someone saying, no you can’t do that.
You’re trying way too hard
GOAT tough shot maker
MJ would make the shot easier
Kobe would take the toughest looking shots and make them
Fax
MJ didn’t have time deal with double and triple teams. Most people then say, well Jordan had to deal with hand checking etc etc.
Yes, this is always the debate that pops up when this topic is mentioned.
Defensive rules completely changed how defenses and offenses had to play.
All that to say, we don’t know if Jordan could make this shot be easier. But we could definitely say Kobe was the goat difficult shot maker.
NarrowSpeaks covered both Kobe and MJ.
Just compare the defense they faced. Night and day.
Weird way of saying rapist piece of shit.
He may have been a garbage human but man look at that fadeaway
This run changed his whole legacy. The 2010 run was more emotional but Gasol was huge as well. 2009 is his greatest achievement
2010 was clearly the bigger narrative achievement bc of all the storylines. Revenge for 2008, Lakers vs. Celtics, one more than Shaq, etc.
But I thought 2008 and 2009 was clearly Kobe’s peak as a player.
2009 or 2010 was def his peak. The 09-10 season he had like 7 game winners that season and that was the difference between 1st and 7th seed
2010 he had a messed up finger and knee, was getting his knee drained in the playoffs, and it marginally affected his efficiency and as i recall his defensive intensity. Some advanced stats think its a big deal, some dont, but personally I thought there were just a few more off games and his athleticism was marginally hampered compared to his previous seasons. The next year is when it really affected him and he was taking practices off and dropping his minutes load, but I think it was in part because of how hard he pushed through injury in 2010
Almost no push outs with elbows is the most shocking evolution of the game and for the worse.
And he basically never travelled. Immaculate footwork.
hard to find a player with better fundamentals than kobe
Best in the league during his finals trips 3 straight
I agree some people want to say LeBron was the best during those 3 years but if you actually watched basketball back then it was clear Kobe was considered the best player during those 3 straight trips to the finals
LeBron took over as the best player in the nba in the 2010-2011 season
Yeah I mean Lebron himself literally agreed with you lol
You have stans trying to argue otherwise, even against their own GOAT’s words saying he started being the best in the league from 2006.
Eh lebron def didnt become the best until 2012. 2011 was a terrible time for lebron.
But yea spot on about kobe.
I agree i’ve always said bron took the best player title in 2012. He wasn’t as tough yet mentally in 2011 and he had to go through that to eventually become the best
3 straight finals in that bloodbath of a Western conference is crazy.
Kobe had a good team but they weren’t some historical juggernaut superteam like basically every other team that made 3 consecutive finals like the 90s Bulls, 2000-02 Lakers, or 2015-19 Warriors.
Or heatles or cavs. 2010s were bad for parity.
Weak east, and I consider LeBron to be the goat.
Meanwhile even fringe contenders in the West were going on 22 win streaks like the 2008 Rockets. Kobe has by far the most playoff series wins over 50 win teams
For Game 7 between the Lakers and the Rockets in 2009, my college roommate and I got up at 3:00 AM (Beijing time) to watch the game. Even though we knew the Rockets wouldn’t win, we still held out hope for a miracle. In the end, there was no miracle…
The “miracle” never happen.
If Yao and Tmac were both healthy there could’ve been a miracle
Putting on my “old man yells at clouds” hat
While he did draw his share of fouls, pretty much all of these plays would have been an offensive player trying to draw a foul on a defender these days, instead of taking a tough contested jumper. Yes, it’s way more efficient to do it in today’s way, but god damn it was much more fun to watch during the “old way”.
Imagine being Brewer on that series.
Dude was all over him playing great defense and it didn’t matter
Dude what about Battier? Damn near every clip against the rockets he’s got a hand in Kobe’s face, bucket. Not much you can do.
He’s got stories to tell his grandchildren for love and podcasts for money
If people prefer SGA to this they need a lobotomy. This is basketball pornography.
Goat.
They’ll never make me hate my GOAT BEAN
He was definitely smiling down from Heaven looking at Jalen Brunson score 45 pts in Gm 5
I don’t think kobe made it to heaven dawg
He was smiling up 🥺
I love Kobe’s game but as the great Bobby Lee once said “Down, hell baby”
About that 😬
mans said heaven
Hell nah hell yah
This is so much more enjoyable than push offs and foul baiting from the modern era.
Kobe could get his shot off in a phone booth lol
Now everyoen go to r/nbatalk to see them have a fit about how this is all actually bad and Kobe isn’t in top 10 and Duncan is more impressive and Curry should be ranked higher and blah blah blah blah blah.
Kobe is barely top 15 honestly.
Actual clown level comment. Actually disgusting
His peers say the same.
His peers are the ones who really know his greatness. His peers would smack some people in this sub in the mouth if they talked the kind of mess they usually do
Peers actually talk about Kobe like top 3. Widely known fact players diverge on Kobe most from media and fans like you. But nice try.
Poetry in motion
Every time I see Kobe highlights it makes me want to play basketball. This man is the reason I love the game as much as I do
Just pure hoops
This is a 8min compilation all from ONE playoffs run.
Kobe really turned bball into an art form in his latter championship runs
This is what kids nowadays trying to discredit him will never understand from looking at spreadsheets. The era was different and the skill is incomparable
BEAN!!!
The first dunk in that video is lethal
Id feel like fool running to grab the obvious board for a tough shot and it just swishes in 💀
Greatest tough shot maker in nba history
i genuinely think him making these shots led people to think it was easier than they are, and it leads to them being shock that other pros are in awe.
No weaknesses. One on one, doubled or triple teamed he was a nightmare every night. Eye test easy. Some defenders knew and guessed right and still got swished on. Listen to them if you never watched live instead of just saying dumbshit.
He does it all with S-tier footwork and none of that illegal TRAVEL step through bullshit where people lift their pivot foot these days.
Easily Top 5
Top 2 right behind Karl Malone
His 2008 playoff run was so insane too. Just too many injuries in the finals
“SGA is better”
One of the best playoff runs ever
Dude was pretty good at basketball
MJ taught him well.
All the stuff about Kobe practicing a ton by himself, but none of that practice could prepare for the level of physicality he faced.
Bro was legitimately insane when contested.
This is sga without falling evrytime
top-notch shooting. truly a one of a kind
My favorite player of all time ❤️ rip
Shai could never!
Bro Kobe is perfect
Link doesn’t load for me
4th ring was the clutch year for those shots
So many of these would be fouls these days
That was beautiful
Baddest dude in the game from 08 to 2012
Are there stats from that era for FG% by location plus by level of contest?
This is a good summary of what drove me away from watching basketball for a long time. I was a huge lakers fan but this incessant ball hogging just kept getting worse every year.
Toughest shot taker and maker ever. Its honestly not hard to see why players hold kobe so much higher than media or fans. They had to see that shit done to them or decades lol.
If SGA was taking these shots, he’d be on the floor 99% of the time
#2 all time in my opinion. It’s Jordan/Kobe and then everyone else.
The analytics era has me shook. All I can think of is “Why the long 2’s?! Just take a step or 2 back for 50% more points!“
Yet when I saw a thread about the best tough shot makers all time, some dudes dont even have this guy in HM
This fucker was such a walking bucket. I hated it
I never see anyone bring this up so I hope people see this. Back then, and idk when the rules changed, but dribbling/footwork’s intent was to not look as fluid and natural as walking. The gather-step rule was one change but the other overlooked change is: once you hop stepped and established a pivot, you had to jump off two feet – you couldn’t take a foot off the ground and hop w/ the other. This was considered travel.
That limited distance you can create. Rising over your defender, in-n-out, turnarounds, triple threat, were all moves you had to do. Kobe made a killing off these and so his shots always looked different (some could say aesthetically pleasing).
The modern game took this away and all you see now are step backs and gather step pull ups in all directions. This also means unorthodox movements that foul baits people and so Shai and other’s first intent isnt to make the bucket, but to get bailed out. It’s a shame
“Kobe…w-what are you gonna do?” is kind of a dope call. He wasn’t even hyping him. Genuinely incredulous.
Thanks! More content like this!
Kobe vs. Lebron in short form. Kobe wasn’t laser focused on winning through team play; he wanted to be the best individual basketball player ever every time he was playing. If that wasn’t enough to win, fuck them teammates. They need to get good.
It only worked because he was that damn good. I was never a fan of his style but that almost made it more impressive. He absolutely knew he was going to give you 40 while playing elite defense but he wasn’t going to do that while making you feel like a contributor.
Kobe will always be my favorite player, but all those 19 foot jumpers look rough from today’s lens.
Kobe already has very strong impact metrics, but I wonder how they would’ve looked if all those long 2s were 3 point attempts. I’d think his TS% could’ve gone up a couple percentages, which really is the difference between good and great efficiency.
Regardless, Kobe’s on-court success speaks for itself. 5 rings and 7 finals appearances is no joke
or if, you know, he passed to his wide open teammates instead of jacking up contested long 2pters
That did not happen at the frequency you think it did. Kobe was a very good and effective playmaker who if anything was slightly overcalibrated to shooting.
All the impact data still grade Kobe’s offensive impact as historically great, which is why analytics focused guys like Thinking Basketball considers Kobe to be easily a top 10 offensive player ever
Kobe really was undeniable.
He couldn’t take a no for an answer.
He would get what he thought was his.
Kobe won 5 titles in 10 years so I don’t think those “missed shots that should have gone to an open teammate” matter much
One of the greatest shot chuckers ever
Teammates wide open for 3 every play? Nah, I think I’ll take a heavily contested shot half a step in from the 3 point line.
Someone upload DIRK’s championship run clips
I just see a guy who refused to pass the ball
Just don’t Google Denver Kobe 2003
Sure, he raped a woman, but did you see how good he was at basketball?!
Contested shot making even with the hotel staff.