GP: Kobe's still the best in the game

[RsxPiimp]

Q: As a former Los Angeles Laker, what do you think about the situation with Dwight Howard leaving the Lakers?

*Gary Payton: “It’s a player doing what he wants to do. The Lakers knew what they were getting into when they got him. They gambled and lost the game. Kobe Bryant, to me, is still the best basketball player in my mind. He played with me and he was in my era. I still love him to death. He’s a little brother to me. They’re going to struggle for a little while, and Kobe is on his way out. He has two more years to his contract and they will probably sign him back another two years and try to rebuild. They’re going to struggle. It’s going to be a hard time to the Lakers fan, but they will come back. It’s going to be a transition that they will get through.”

yet another legend pickin the mamba over lebamba :hat

[Michael Jordan.]

Q: As a former Los Angeles Laker, what do you think about the situation with Dwight Howard leaving the Lakers?

*Gary Payton: “It’s a player doing what he wants to do. The Lakers knew what they were getting into when they got him. They gambled and lost the game. Kobe Bryant, to me, is still the best basketball player in my mind. He played with me and he was in my era. I still love him to death. He’s a little brother to me. They’re going to struggle for a little while, and Kobe is on his way out. He has two more years to his contract and they will probably sign him back another two years and try to rebuild. They’re going to struggle. It’s going to be a hard time to the Lakers fan, but they will come back. It’s going to be a transition that they will get through.”

yet another legend pickin the mamba over lebamba :hat
You mean the same asshole who said John Stockton was the toughest to guard? :lol

[AchillesHeel]

Kobe has 1 year left and not 2, and that opinion's coming from someone who said Stockton is harder to guard than MJ.

Lakerfans, tell me, which player is better?

a) The player who played in his 17th season with an all-star cast and was out of the playoffs most of the season and tore his achilles
b) The player who's currently in his prime, had one of the greatest regular seasons since MJ himself, won an mvp, won a finals mvp and his 2nd consecutive championship with clutch shots in games 6 and 7 in the Finals.

[Michael Jordan.]

Kobe is the best at getting Swept.

[spurraider21]

:lol payton says kobe is the best player in the league
:lol he also thinks the Lakers will struggle
:lol the talent pool in the league must be really weak if the team with the best player in the league is expected to struggle, even with pau gasol on his side
:lol imagine a LeBron team struggling to make the playoffs right now

[AchillesHeel]

Replace Kobe with Lebron on the Lakers, do they still struggle to make the playoffs, tbh?

Howard
Gasol
Lebron
Meeks
Nash

[RsxPiimp]

You mean the same asshole who said John Stockton was the toughest to guard? :lol

That same asshole that held jordan to 41% fg in the finals:lol

[Medvedenko]

Lebron is better now.

[AchillesHeel]

That same asshole that held jordan to 41% fg in the finals:lol

He only guarded MJ for the Final 3 games, tbh.

[StrengthAndHonor]

He only guarded MJ for the Final 3 games, tbh.
Tbh? I don't think you saw a full game much more the series. Payton barely guarded Jordan in Game 3. He had his chance in Game 4.

This is a quote from Game 4

"[In Game 4, Jordan had his] lowest output in a Finals game, much of it with Payton guarding him. Though afterwards, Jordan refused to give Payton credit, saying 'No one can stop me, I can only stop myself. The truth is, Jordan finds the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year [Payton] annoying. He views the [young Payton] as impudent, and he would love to have a big game in Game 5 at Paytons expense"

In games 1&2, Pippen was actually Payton's assignment, while Karl applied the double team on Jordan. That chaned in Game 3 and Games 4-6, when Payton guarded Jordan.

Payton held Jordan to a Final's career low 23 points on 6/19 shooting, while scoring 21 and dishing 11 assists for himself. And that was the story from there and out. From Games 4-6, Jordan shot just 36.6%, and if you want to count Game 3, where Payton guarded him halfway (And the times he did guard him, Jordan shot less than the whole game) he was still in the 30s shooting percentage wise.

[StrengthAndHonor]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9ryMgGogyo

[lefty]

The same Payton eho got assfucked by MJ in 96 ? :lol

Looks like someone is still not able to walk

[unforeseen]

Payton is still salty over Jordan.
:lol

[AchillesHeel]

Tbh? I don't think you saw a full game much more the series. Payton barely guarded Jordan in Game 3. He had his chance in Game 4.

This is a quote from Game 4

"[In Game 4, Jordan had his] lowest output in a Finals game, much of it with Payton guarding him. Though afterwards, Jordan refused to give Payton credit, saying 'No one can stop me, I can only stop myself. The truth is, Jordan finds the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year [Payton] annoying. He views the [young Payton] as impudent, and he would love to have a big game in Game 5 at Paytons expense"

In games 1&2, Pippen was actually Payton's assignment, while Karl applied the double team on Jordan. That chaned in Game 3 and Games 4-6, when Payton guarded Jordan.

Payton held Jordan to a Final's career low 23 points on 6/19 shooting, while scoring 21 and dishing 11 assists for himself. And that was the story from there and out. From Games 4-6, Jordan shot just 36.6%, and if you want to count Game 3, where Payton guarded him halfway (And the times he did guard him, Jordan shot less than the whole game) he was still in the 30s shooting percentage wise.

Final 3 games - games 4,5 and 6
smh

[spurraider21]

Payton is still salty over Jordan.
:lol

? his quote had nothing to do with MJ tbh...

[Michael Jordan.]

Replace Kobe with Lebron on the Lakers, do they still struggle to make the playoffs, tbh?

Howard
Gasol
Lebron
Meeks
Nash

Nope. LeBron doesn't miss the playoffs in his prime, for starters. And that lineup is better than anything he had in Cleveland, and can very well be argued better than his Miami cast.

[D-Wade]

Yet he rang by coattailing the 06 Heat not the staked Faker team with Bean and Co. Actually, I won't be too harsh, Payton hit some nice 3s against the Mavs and I've always respected his game. Like any other great trash-talker, he's just bullshitting.

[Leetonidas]

yep Kobe's so great which is why Payton stayed in LA to win rings with Kobe



Oh wait.....

[RsxPiimp]

He only guarded MJ for the Final 3 games, tbh.

yeah, and when he did, Jordan shot like an 30% on the field.:lol

[spurraider21]

:lol MJ's worst finals shooting performance > Kobe's average

[RsxPiimp]

:lol MJ's worst finals shooting performance > Kobe's average

you're a retard

[Amaso]

Replace Kobe with Lebron on the Lakers, do they still struggle to make the playoffs, tbh?

Howard
Gasol
Lebron
Meeks
Nash

That team is still pure garbage. The one luxury Lebron has had his entire career is teammates who can spread the floor(and a good defense). Kobe has basically had Derek Fisher + a mediocre 3. Lebron would have no one to run the floor with, the paint would be cluttered, and the spacing would be dreadful.

Meeks is the 4th guy off the bench on an average team, and might not be in the rotation of a championship calibur squad. His shot is wildly inconsistent and despite giving it 100% defensively is still barely scraping average in terms of actual effectiveness. Nash is DONE; can't even spread the floor since he doesn't have a quick release and because he's so short. I don't even need to get started with him on the defensive end, basically playing 4v5 every possession. Gasol is almost useless with Howard on the floor, can't rebound anymore and can't spread the floor.

Even though Lebron is the best player by a mile right now, that team is maybe 3-4 wins better with him instead of Kobe... assuming you take into account all the injuries the Lakers had this year. The Lakers had no depth and struggled with injuries the entire year. Kobe had a better than expected regular season, and was even a legitimate top 3 MVP candidate on a terrible team with lots of supposed "talent", which almost never happens. He even had a 20-25 game stretch where he was carrying the defensive load as well.

[pookenstein]

I'm still confused about the title of the thread tbh. Why does it read "Kobe's still the best in the game"? He never was, so how can he still be?

[Joseph Kony]

you're a retard

:lol talking shit about Jordan shooting 41%
:lol not realizing your faggot idol frequently shot a lower percentage
:lol dumbfuck retard

[Arnold Toht]

I'm still confused about the title of the thread tbh. Why does it read "Kobe's still the best in the game"? He never was, so how can he still be?

He is an 18 year vet, 5 time World Champ, so.....

[AchillesHeel]

That team is still pure garbage. The one luxury Lebron has had his entire career is teammates who can spread the floor(and a good defense). Kobe has basically had Derek Fisher + a mediocre 3. Lebron would have no one to run the floor with, the paint would be cluttered, and the spacing would be dreadful.

Meeks is the 4th guy off the bench on an average team, and might not be in the rotation of a championship calibur squad. His shot is wildly inconsistent and despite giving it 100% defensively is still barely scraping average in terms of actual effectiveness. Nash is DONE; can't even spread the floor since he doesn't have a quick release and because he's so short. I don't even need to get started with him on the defensive end, basically playing 4v5 every possession. Gasol is almost useless with Howard on the floor, can't rebound anymore and can't spread the floor.

Even though Lebron is the best player by a mile right now, that team is maybe 3-4 wins better with him instead of Kobe... assuming you take into account all the injuries the Lakers had this year. The Lakers had no depth and struggled with injuries the entire year. Kobe had a better than expected regular season, and was even a legitimate top 3 MVP candidate on a terrible team with lots of supposed "talent", which almost never happens. He even had a 20-25 game stretch where he was carrying the defensive load as well.

Kobe right now plays 0 defense, look at the defensive stats for crying out loud. Lebron alone would do wonders for that defense paired with a motivated Howard (he'd actually try to get Howard his touches and he's a much better teammate). Lebron also wouldn't just jack every single shot in the 4th as his team is down, he'd try to get Howard and Nash easy looks, as Howard is a great finisher inside and Nash is a good shooter from basically anywhere on the floor. Lebron is a much better passer and a team player per stats and looking at games.

Lebron as a much better finisher, better from most areas (including 3pt shooting) and he converted more in the clutch and was more efficient. And he can take on a bigger scoring load than Kirby as he's in his prime and he's hard to stop, Kirby might have a better post game and he might be able to convert tougher shots, but no one will stop Bron from doing what he usually does, at least not RIGHT NOW.

Lebron had a pretty medicore cast in Cleveland + Mike Brown, he still won 66 games and won 2 MVPs there, look at his 09 regular season + playoff run, Kirby has never been as good with such a shitty cast.

Your excuses are pure shit and full of homerism, look at the facts and stop giving me all that other crap. Heat weren't healthy as well, Wade and Bosh were pretty medicore most of last season, including playoffs with a few exceptions, of course.

Kirby had some good stretches last season, but rarely was it mentioned because Lebron outshined him with his 30+ppg 60% FG stretch.

My point is, Lebron right now is better than Kirby ever was and comparing TOSB Kirby to Lebron is laughable, tell me one statistic where Kirby beats Bron aside from rings(7 more seasons than Bron, he'll get there with the ring count).

[pookenstein]

He is an 18 year vet, 5 time World Champ, so.....

All true, but that doesn't make him the "best in the game". Throughout his carreer there were better players in the league, hence my question. One of the best, no doubt, but never the best.

[RsxPiimp]

That team is still pure garbage. The one luxury Lebron has had his entire career is teammates who can spread the floor(and a good defense). Kobe has basically had Derek Fisher + a mediocre 3. Lebron would have no one to run the floor with, the paint would be cluttered, and the spacing would be dreadful.

Meeks is the 4th guy off the bench on an average team, and might not be in the rotation of a championship calibur squad. His shot is wildly inconsistent and despite giving it 100% defensively is still barely scraping average in terms of actual effectiveness. Nash is DONE; can't even spread the floor since he doesn't have a quick release and because he's so short. I don't even need to get started with him on the defensive end, basically playing 4v5 every possession. Gasol is almost useless with Howard on the floor, can't rebound anymore and can't spread the floor.

Even though Lebron is the best player by a mile right now, that team is maybe 3-4 wins better with him instead of Kobe... assuming you take into account all the injuries the Lakers had this year. The Lakers had no depth and struggled with injuries the entire year. Kobe had a better than expected regular season, and was even a legitimate top 3 MVP candidate on a terrible team with lots of supposed "talent", which almost never happens. He even had a 20-25 game stretch where he was carrying the defensive load as well.

Amaso with the nagasaki troof bombs:toast

[RsxPiimp]

All true, but that doesn't make him the "best in the game". Throughout his carreer there were better players in the league, hence my question. One of the best, no doubt, but never the best.

2006
2007
2008
2009

kobe owned the league

[Clipper Nation]

2006
2007
2008
2009

Duncan and LeBron owned the league
fify

[pookenstein]

fify

This.

[ambchang]

2006
2007
2008
2009

kobe owned the league

:lol 1 MVP despite playing in one of the league's biggest market
:lol Never led his own team in WS during the 5 championship years
:lol Never top three in the league in WS
:lol Scoring machine led the league in scoring twice, when Iverson did it 4 times, Durant 3 times and T-Mac twice in the same time span
:lol His team missed Odom more than they missed him
:lol His team played better without him from 2000 to 2004

[RsxPiimp]

None of the players you mentioned also won a title In that time span bitch ass:lol

[spurraider21]

2006
2007
2008
2009

kobe owned the league

how does a player owning the league not see the second round and demand to be traded from his team?

[ambchang]

None of the players you mentioned also won a title In that time span bitch ass:lol

None of them played with Shaq or the most dominant front line.

:lol food stamps

[spurraider21]

:lol best player of a generation
:lol reg season mvp once in 18 years
:lol finals mvp in 40% of his championships (and should realistically be 20%)
:lol needs the league's best frontline to make him look good
:lol missed playoffs in his prime

[Clipper Nation]

:lol reg season mvp once* in 18 years (*CP3 was the real MVP that year)
:lol finals mvp in 40% of his championships (and should realistically be 0%)
fify

[spurraider21]

fify

meh. i'll give him the fMVP against Dwert pls

[AchillesHeel]

Amaso with the nagasaki troof bombs:toast

So, you totally ignored my response that ethered his bullshit? Kirby "carrying" the defensive load is laugable, he managed to shut down Brandon Jennings, which was the highlight of his defense for the season.

Here's Kirby "carrying the defensive load" against a real offensive player:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrHiSzL1hAo

[RsxPiimp]

how does a player owning the league not see the second round and demand to be traded from his team?

see my brother lemme educate you

Basketball is a team game. kobe is an incredible individual, but history has proven time after time that one player can never go too far on his own, be it Wilt Chamberlain, Jordan, garnett or any other superstar you can think of. Van Gundy mentioned something quite notable in this regard when he brought up Kevin Garnett’s overall record in 2007 (32 total wins with the Minnesota Timberwolves) and 2008 (82 total wins with the Boston Celtics). Garnett didn’t transform into a better player from one season to the next. He simply found himself in a much, much better situation, which allowed him to win, and subsequently, alter his previous reputation of being an amazing talent who couldn’t win. Clearly, reputation matters in the league no matter how much of the details it tends to leave out.

in

[RsxPiimp]

So, you totally ignored my response that ethered his bullshit? Kirby "carrying" the defensive load is laugable, he managed to shut down Brandon Jennings, which was the highlight of his defense for the season.

Here's Kirby "carrying the defensive load" against a real offensive player:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrHiSzL1hAo
that's stupid, no offense. how you gonna make a point by showin a clip of a 34 yr old 17 season vet guarding a player whose not only younger but naturally quicker by position:lol


Come on son

[RsxPiimp]

:lol best player of a generation
:lol reg season mvp once in 18 yrs
which means nothin. shaq also has the same amount
tyson chandler has more d poy than rimmy you get the point:lol

[ambchang]

see my brother lemme educate you

Basketball is a team game. kobe is an incredible individual, but history has proven time after time that one player can never go too far on his own, be it Wilt Chamberlain, Jordan, garnett or any other superstar you can think of. Van Gundy mentioned something quite notable in this regard when he brought up Kevin Garnett’s overall record in 2007 (32 total wins with the Minnesota Timberwolves) and 2008 (82 total wins with the Boston Celtics). Garnett didn’t transform into a better player from one season to the next. He simply found himself in a much, much better situation, which allowed him to win, and subsequently, alter his previous reputation of being an amazing talent who couldn’t win. Clearly, reputation matters in the league no matter how much of the details it tends to leave out.

in

So by the same logic, one should not be judged by the number of rings either.

[ambchang]

that's stupid, no offense. how you gonna make a point by showin a clip of a 34 yr old 17 season vet guarding a player whose not only younger but naturally quicker by position:lol


Come on son

Would you prefer dratings and dws?

[AchillesHeel]

that's stupid, no offense. how you gonna make a point by showin a clip of a 34 yr old 17 season vet guarding a player whose not only younger but naturally quicker by position:lol


Come on son

Because it's what happened all season, Kirby had a few decent defensive games and a bunch of bad ones. Constantly let guys like Wilson Chandler light him up for 20+ points because he didn't bother defending the 3, no defensive rotations, bricks his shot and doesn't bother to run back on transition most of the time...

Now you come with the age thing, like I'm supposed to ignore facts when it comes to the actual game. Didn't see anyone make excuses for MJ when he was 34...Oh right, he was too busy winning his 2nd threepeat.

MJ, even at 34 had higher DWS Kirby's ever had and had a 15.8 WS, even "prime" Kirby couldn't do that, Lebron has been leading the the league in WS 5 years in a row, despite Kirby "dominating" and being "the best player in the league".

My point is that Kirby's overrated and he's nowhere near the best player in the league, hasn't been the best since 08, and even that's debatable. Gasol led the Lakers in WS in 09 so you could argue Kirby was the 2nd best player that year, 2010 Pau also led the postseason in WS so you could argue Kirby was the 2nd best then as well.

For an all-time great, Kirby has never even led the league in Win Shares, while Lebron has now led the league 5 seasons in a row, MJ led 7 seasons in a row and 9 total. Funny, eh? Cue the "WS proves nothing" response.

[spurraider21]

see my brother lemme educate you

Basketball is a team game. kobe is an incredible individual, but history has proven time after time that one player can never go too far on his own, be it Wilt Chamberlain, Jordan, garnett or any other superstar you can think of. Van Gundy mentioned something quite notable in this regard when he brought up Kevin Garnett’s overall record in 2007 (32 total wins with the Minnesota Timberwolves) and 2008 (82 total wins with the Boston Celtics). Garnett didn’t transform into a better player from one season to the next. He simply found himself in a much, much better situation, which allowed him to win, and subsequently, alter his previous reputation of being an amazing talent who couldn’t win. Clearly, reputation matters in the league no matter how much of the details it tends to leave out.

in


So by the same logic, one should not be judged by the number of rings either.

bait taken. point proven. but still, LeBron was leading those shit Cleveland teams. one would say "eastern conference sucked" but these guys would be up there with north of 50 wins and the leagues best record (at least once, not sure if they did this a few times). not like they were barely squeaking in.

[Sean Cagney]

Lets be honest Lebron is alot better right now...... Even LA fans know it.

[DMC]

It's hilarious to hear players lament about breaking up good teams when they were the ones wanting more money to basically provide the same results. If you want the team to stay together, you take the financial hit and you show that it's about winning, not just getting paid. Some have done that (Lebron comes to mind) and have prospered because of it.