Lol that’s so on brand that it hurts haha

Fanaticism is a hell of a drug.

Also why does Duren taking it hurt Flagg taking it in a couple years? If he really just wants to hit free agency and go to somewhere else isn’t that his best route?

Tbf he didn’t say he thinks he’s gonna do it, he said that’s what he hopes he does and wants Duran to set the precedent.

Nephews absolutely incapable of separating jokes from real statements good god.

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Honestly I think there are fair arguments people can give for him being top 5 even if I disagree, but I will say, if the argument is mentality and winning then I better see Bill Russell in that same top 5. If the argument is aesthetics then idk

A lot of these players also have about 10 players in their top 3’s when you put all their quotes together. So don’t take their word as gospel, they just love glazing each other heavily…

I think this younger generation of players, now in the same fraternity as him, have definitely gotten a more positive version of him. Was Flagg even alive for the rape? I don’t knock guys for having that drive as a model. I also don’t think having him at 12 is any kind of a knock, that’s still one of the best players in the league ever

Don’t forget that most current players were little kids when Kobe played, so they see him from their little kid nostalgia eyes and how awesome he was at that time.

Kobe Bryant is a well known rapist

There are definitely more Kobe stans than Kobe truthers on this sub imo.

They’ll tell you it’s because players are dumb, so their opinions don’t count, or that the media is revisionist, so that doesn’t count either. You just can’t have a normal discussion about Kobe on Reddit. The discourse somehow seems to get worse every year since his death.

he is the #1 all-time basketball player amongst rapists

Kobe aint on my top 5

will just call him a rapist lol

Because he was.

“lol”

I meannnnn it’s pretty fucking crazy to say you have a lot of respect for “how he carried himself” when the guy was actually a rapist. Reddit can be pretty shrill about it but like…he raped a girl, and lots of people really want to talk about what an inspiration he was. Kind of weird.

Top ten, not top 5 in my opinion.

Lotta guys have Kobe outside of top 10 as a defensive move to protect a certain someone

That’s because majority of Reddit are Gen Z or very late millennials and too young. They weren’t old enough to remember the actual impact on winning. And they can’t separate the art from the artist.

He’s the only player people go by eye test and mentality and not their actual accolades

Perfectly balanced

but he’s right

somebody bring him some hot wings.

Hell, Brandon Miller is entering year four and him putting PG13 on his personal Mount Rushmore still gets talked about

He just asked Novak Djokovic the same question btw

It would be a really good conversation for baseball players too

He asked Djokovic, but it’s really easy to answer in tennis. Big 3 + Sampras or Borg. Or if you’re doing men and women, it’s Big 3 + Steffi Graf or Serena. There’s not as much debate as there is in basketball because 3 of the top 4 are just so obvious, and you can’t go wrong with either one of Borg or Sampras as the 4th.

Football, as in the global sport one, they get asked this type of question this all the time

Wow

he is a bit of a heat seeker so i assume the ice repels him?

I wouldn’t have Kobe in the top 5 but apparently that one is fine

Is Mount Rushmore a pure top 4? I always felt it’s a list of most important/influential.

Bird in the Top 4 is a more defensible take than Kobe in the Top 4. Both are locks for Top 10 all-time, but Bird is borderline Top 5, while Kobe (and Duncan/Curry) are not.

I think it’s a laugh track

People instantly make it a race thing and cry that anyone puts a white guy in their top 4

It also just depends what your definition of mount Rushmore situation is.

Is it the literal 4 best players ever?

Or is it like, most influential on the sport.

Influential is absolutely unquestionable that it’s Michael, Larry bird, Kareem as basketballs Rushmore.

After that it’s up to you whether you put LeBron in there or Kobe. I lean LeBron personally.

Edit - magic is a weird one imo. Cause I think magic deserves to be up there, but so does Kareem and Bird, but you cant feasably have all 3 up there.

true. the whole list itself is pretty well thought and justifiable. Each considered one of if not, the best of their era. Each known having the stereotype winner mentality to the maximum. Each of them are beloved and well respected, impacting the game in that specific era’s style of play. If youd make limited edition 2K covers for each decade, theyd all be there. (Likely Magic too but not Kareem because the style of play is too old/unfamiliar to modern style). Cooper’s list is as good as it gets.

Kobe is a worse pick than Bird. How can anyone reasonably pick him over Kareem or Magic? My top 4 would be LeBron, MJ, Kareem, Russell. I could be convinced to put Bird or Magic over Russell, but not Kobe.

That ain’t a real crowd, bro

There is no crowd

He didn’t say, “obviously, for me another one.” He said “those two on there, obviously,” referring to Mike and Bron. I’m not lost on the humor of the situation but you’re making it sound way funnier than it was, because he didn’t say it like that

> “it’s just a bit funny the way cooper said it ‘obviously for me another one is Larry Bird’“

that’s not what Cooper said at all

That’s Kevin hart lmao

Nate Robinson 😆

It’s not that deep. It’s a comedy show

Why?

recession indicator

It’s funny that Birdman was the first thing that popped into my head reading the comment above before I even saw yours

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The only show I ever liked with canned laughter is friends

Reddit can be pretty Get Out at times

It’s Reddit. Don’t expect anything from them

“aave” oh man not only are you white but also performative.

Kobe single handedly gang raped on and off the court. Penetrated women from both sides. So I agree Kobe is tier 1. Just not in basketball

Wasn’t even born when Kobe raped that girl in Colorado.

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Mamba mentality was a corporate pr campaign to rebrand after the rape case. Wild how it’s been turned into this mythical bs like Kobe invented hard work. Apparently anyone who shows up early to practice and such wants to copy kobe.

Describing westbrook

It’s like, have none of you met a hard worker that isn’t also a gaping asshole?

Kobe changed his cell phone number after his new teammate Caron Butler called to say how excited he was to play with him. Such a great mentality!

And yes, he was always willing to take the shot to the point he’d hit game winners and his teammates didn’t even care because he went against the play drawn up. It took the Lakers crawling back to Phil Jackson asking him back for them to be relevant again. The 1 year Kobe had the team to himself post Shaq and Jackson they missed the playoffs.

Kobe represents how they view themselves. That’s why it resonates with them. Players are essentially saying they think they have these qualities.

*separating the rape from the rapist.

That mamba mentality of never quitting, never going after what you want, even when she says no.

Not if you’re Karl Malone though? Personally, while I respect his game and achievements, I don’t particularly respect his approach to the game. If everyone came into the league as a rookie demanding to be respected and capitulated to because you know, they’re really good and they love and study the game so much and just know they’re going to be a star, it would be a bad time for a lot of teams. I also sort of feel like there are a lot of players that were close to his talent and skill that could have risen to his level if they were as insistent and pigheaded as Kobe was, but again if everyone were to act that way…

Dude was deluded, thinking he was more dominant than Shaq too, just pure ego. Yeh, maybe you were more skilled and devoted, but results are results Kobe. And, sure,ego always has to play a part for somebody to be a great nba player and yes Kobe did indeed end up as a great player. But you know what? He didn’t have to be such a separatist douche that placed himself on a higher pedestal than everybody else, purely for his work ethic and talent. Tim Duncan was also a great player, as is Steph Curry, reportedly they’re actually not trash human beings! He didn’t have to throw the baby out with the bath water you know.

His last game was i bet cool for fans but super fucking lame for a hater like me, but the man loved to chuck those shots up so at least it was authentic and true to himself. That was probably how Kobe wished he could have played every night tbh, so that’s nice for him. And all this without mentioning the rape, which I don’t really know how to process because the police interview I read the other week didn’t portray a rapist to me, he said she wouldnt let him cum in her face and like do rapists ask that? Isn’t their whole thing taking what they want? Or maybe he was lying i don’t know

But clown any player with the same mentality who didn’t have the benefit of playing with Shaq. They’ll clown that player for not being humble

Oh, so you mean he definitely shouldn’t be on there?

Recency bias. Ignores Bill Russell and Kareem for starters. Both of them were greater players and people than Kobe.

edit: I guess it’s too much to ask the kids that dominate this sub to google “top 5 basketball players of all time”.

Kareem and Russell are consensus top-5 picks across many, many people’s lists.

Jesus Christ this sub sometimes.

Exactly. There’s not much to argue with. Kobe was highly charismatic.

The way you brushed aside him being a rapist is insane lmao

He’s not coming back from the dead to fuck you bro

“Yeah he was probably a rapist too but..”

Kobe wasn’t considered cool. He was actually considered to be lame.

Am I in the twilight zone? Dude was a weirdo especially early in his career. Even his own teammates are on record calling him weird, insecure and corny as hell. His attempt to turn the 98 all star (that he shouldn’t even have made) game into a 1on1 with Jordan was one of the lamest things I’ve ever seen in my life.

I uh, yeah I got nothing.

Never convicted

I don’t think you know what the word “probably” means.

People really forget that part. His peers viewed him as an asshole and hated playing with him.

I’m gonna be honest people didn’t discuss the 06 stuff any more then either. Once he won in 2010 all of his off the court stuff went away for most men nba fans

I wonder why you think sports culture cares about who is a bad person or not. Like 99% of combat sports performers are awful human beings. Slightly less so for MLB, NFL, & NBA. And if the fans don’t care the players definitely don’t.

Kobe is hugely popular internationally lol

Players are inspired by “mamba mentality.” Flagg also grew up a Celtics fan, so watching Kobe against his team plus being inspired by his competitiveness and work ethic probably contributes

You can say that about stans of anything

I feel like nobody really likes Kobe but they him it out of requirement

YouTube has tons of full games

Yeah cause some dork making a tiktok in his car has “the truth” 🙄

ok

This is so true. it’s crazy, there are people with an intentional negative persona who actually get paid behind the scenes to bring up openly toxic political stuff. Like even some of the people bringing up Hitler in a non negative light, they are doing it for views and engagement. But not everyone can see that. The consequences of things like that is terrible. People want to laugh at Stephen A saying he’s gonna run for president, it’s not that different though is it? First Take is a basically scripted show where the people play characters, we’re basically living in First Take though…

It used to be so different. Interactions on here used to sound like group chats. Way more cordial and conversational.

There’s a certain type of “Reddit language” that’s standard here now. It has a specific flow and repeatable verbiage. Most interactions are assumed to be arguments too. And now there are endless statements followed by a random “LMAO.”

I’m not surprised Kobe is on a lot of player’s Mount Rushmore but it doesn’t mean it’s not disappointing. Especially when they talk about “how he carried himself” and his “mamba mentality”, which was part of his PR spin after the rape case

But they’re not talking about favorite rapists. They’re talking about basketball. Shitty people some time have talents

OK whatever say

I wonder what you have done for victims of rape besides using their trauma for upvotes by virtue signaling on a forum lol You feel so proud of yourself by just repeating the same phrase over and over and thinking you’ve accomplished something, just like every other pathetic user on here who thinks they’ve done the so called victim a great service.

u/FrankSamples somehow believes I will be able to convince the refs to do away with the flopping… The mental gymnastics Kobe stans go to try and make it ok to praise a rapist.

Tbh, I do think there are countless redditors who do think they change change someone’s mind with a comment.

I get that… But some of these athletes are morons

The average r/nba nephew certainly holds a lot of weight

I wonder with idiots like them. How do they feel about their favorite player they watch who idolizes Kobe. Are they not doing the same? Cheering on their favorite player who idolizes a “rapist”? How does that work? Does their favorite player not have to abide by the rules and morals they challenge others on here to follow? Or themselves? They’re cheering on someone who cheered on a “rapist”. It’s funny how you can’t be a fan of Kobe but their favorite player who they watch can be.

Right! They truly think we give a fuck and that it holds more weight than pros talking😂 I literally just scroll past the non-basketball related shit they spam. They don’t even care foreal, they spam purely for reddit points 😂🙄

You do know most of these comments are complaining that Flag has Kobe in his Mount Rushmore right? Nobody is shits on Bird, Magic or Kareem for having great players around them, Kobe is the only one.

Where in this thread are Kobe fans doing that?

Not really he grew up in Maine of course he thinks highly of Larry Bird

There is no objective anything in top 5, top 10, whatever.

Considering it is entirely subjective, there is no objective measure for any player being in the top 5 lol.

I don’t think this is Cooper’s “objective” measure. This is his subjective opinion. Same way Ant thinks KD is his GOAT.

its like everything’s made up and the points don’t matter

Yea, top 4-5 is crazy. He’s easily top 2-3.

Muh objectivity

You were hearing a lot about Kobe during his retirement. Dude was winning awards outside of ball.

And you also hear stories of players of how Kobe was the famous among famous people. Especially in the sports world.

Most people don’t rank players they never saw just because people before them did. Jordan is the only player up till now that transcends time.

When he was alive there was a YouTube video where they went around locker rooms asking players who the best was and everyone was saying Kobe.

It was around 09.

NBA players always have rated Kobe high and even before his death top 5 talks amongst real humans was very common

No if anything what you said is the over correction. Players have always elevated him to this level. Analytics obsessed people try to attribute it to his death but it’s really always been this way

Any famous person who dies young gets some level of legendary status. There are mediocre musicians who are remembered like gods because they died young and when they were still popular.

Kobe was super targeting girl dad stuff, wnba, film aspirations, and always supported other athletes (Ala Olympics). Hed be even more loved if he hadn’t died.

he was never better than Tim Duncan but was always sexier to casual fans.

Kobe did feel like top dog in like 08/09 when he and Pau beat the Celtics but it was a short lived time as best of the world

And im amazed how people are so quick to assume kobe is a rapist when it was a he say/ she say. What’s makes her story more credible than his?

It’s not something that one can conclusively say he was without any doubts whatsoever. If you’re comfortable calling him a rapist, then your bar for proof is low.

I hoop in Kobes and I’m a Kobe hater. They’re just fire shoes and good for basketball

The key is that he was never convicted. There were even reports she bragged about the fact that she had sex with Kobe which is a weird thing to do if you were just raped. No one knows what went down that night other than him and her. In the end, he was convinced of no crime. People don’t give a shit about facts, they just want to run with what they want to believe to be true and retort it as gospel.

Yeah people equating Kobe to Cosby and Deshaun Watson are fucked in the head. Insanely different.

Honestly I think that’s what hurt him. Lot of people considered that as him admitting to rape.

She told him to stop. He didn’t. He said so.

You can conjure that it was because of his work issues, but that would be for him to deal with and no excuse to rape someone. Her not seeking to put him behind bars is her decision and doesn’t erase the facts.

And btw, he was also banned from showing at a high school for the disturbance he caused picking up his minor gf.

I probably have Kobe in the same bracket as the average Reddit dork. Kyrie I haven’t really thought about. The KD hate is so weird to me. He’s unbelievable.

Except that people were saying the same shit before he died and during his actual playing days lol. It’s an easy and convenient excuse to say that people only started talking about him the way they do because he died. People were calling him the greatest Laker over Magic and Kareem long before he died.

What are you talking about. It’s the opposite. When he played he was in the GOAT conversation. Top 3 all time. MJ, Kobe, LeBron. After he passed media and the general public keep putting him outside the top 10.

It just dawned on me the media is doing this deliberately so that the ppl that actually watched Kobe play end up having to comment. I’m convinced it’s rage bait.

It’s the opposite.  You even have former players in their little gossip groups…podcasts saying they could/would do this or that to Kobe, whereas when when he was alive, they wouldn’t dare make a peep, cause Kobe would probably show up to their doorstep with a ball.

not even close. Kobe was voted best player of the decade in 2010 by a WIDEEE margin yet redditors think Duncan was better

Do you know around the late 2000’s there were serious conversations of Kobe being a top 5 player after he did his repeat?

Was he convicted and do you know for certain the circumstances surrounding what came after the trial? He was “reported” to have done something is not the same as he actually did that something. In any case, we are talking about the player, not the person.

Raping someone as a big deal. It tends to follow a person. Kobe stans act like people are discussing him leaving a bad tip at a restaurant when this comes up.

we can objectively say he was more than just “pretty good” at basketball. i get it though

“Pretty good at basketball” is wild

Okay, and vice versa. Nothing can change the fact that hes more than just “pretty good”.

So we really taking personal incidents into ranking whose the most talented? Just seems like your to emotional and not mature enough to be objective about it yet then.

Proof?

Smh dude. The girl wanted a payday. You really think Kobe needs to be raping ppl.

Pretty good at basketball lmao stfu

Mavericks fan being on their high horse talking about this when your (former) owner tried to hide the sexual harassment and assault going on around the organization is hilarious

the first thing your girlfriend did after getting “raped” by Kobe is brag about having sex with Kobe at a party. Real normal rape victim behavior right here. Totally not making a bag play. Real big brain good one bro. Defend this

He cheated on his wife but Kobe wasn’t a

rapist

Imagine getting worked up because a kid likes Kobe. Go out, make some friends, get some drinks. Go live life buddy.

“Bitch had Noah’s ark in her panties “ - Dave chapelle , she was there for a check even said she was gonna get paid and did , I can post an entire outline of what actually happened if your interested , lebum fanboys

Exactly. It’s funny cuz Karl Malone gets all the hate. (Deserved) and Kobe gets like less than none

People are condemning him as if he was guilty is the problem. The deeper you question others on it they go ahead and stop responding or just bring up the statement that was part of the settlement as an admission of guilt.

Everybody just wants to drag a dead man in here to be edgy or as a response to anything basketball related which is completely disingenuous.

But this is why your concern is not genuine. You are not a perfect person . & to bring up someone else’s personal flaws when we are clearly discussing basketball is a character flaw that only exists on the internet ..

None of us (in real life ) are allowed to call out anyone for their flaws . Only on the internet because you get to hide behind the phone and not actually stand on values or principles .

Its a hater mentality that anyone can pick up ..

And of course your rebuttal will be that rape is wrong. Of course it is , but dont use someone elses flaws to prove whats right and wrong . Thats so easy to do . Low hanging fruit and not genuine concern for the issue at all

And you can appreciate him as a player and athlete without making everything about off court agendas

respect

You don’t seem to be able to take no for an answer either.   I can see why you respect him.

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No, he settled like most wealthy people who can afford to do when they are guilty

I love his earlier ones. So ridiculous at times. The Nick Young one is good.

You’re going through this thread a lot saying this acting like you care about rape victims. Why is that?

I think he’s overrated but he’s more influential than like a Kareem. Mt Rushmore doesn’t have to be the four best

Fellas, is it virtue signaling to think rape = bad

You’re on the other side of the stupid coin

he is obviously talking about the Mamba Mentality gimmick but of course NBA reddit hates Cooper so they will look at any angle to frame him in a bad light

Never convicted 😭😭😭

Right that’s why I said he’s a Celtics fan. That’s why he has Larry and then the other 3 are optimized for popularity

So many memories of me sitting in the back on long car rides with my VCR and tv watching movies when I was a kid. Good times