Read this last night. Chris Mannix is one of my favorite NBA writers. People will overreact to this article, but he makes some compelling cases. Kawhi will never be Kobe, but that's a good thing imo. He's a much better defender than Kobe ever was and he's not nearly the black hole Kobe was offensively, either. He's much more of a team player and can fit in any system.
Agreed Kawhi has the skill set, but he's not the selfish d-bag Kobe is.
More and more, Kawhi is making good decisions. Kobe never saw a shot he didn't like - as long as he was the one taking it.
Then again, you have to wonder what Kobe could have been like, playing under Pop and with other players to be good examples.
Seriously...he could be up there as GOAT had he played under Pop and with the Spurs organization. If they could have checked his ego from early on.
I agree with the sentiments in this post about Kawhi being a far better defender. My question is this Kawhi's peak defense? Can he improve there? I think he is at the level of Jordan/Pippen on defense without the luxury of having a Jordan/Pippen next to him. The scary question is where is the offensive ceiling for Kawhi?
It's hard to conceive of a Spurs offense that would allow Kawhi to go off for 30 ppg. I think Kawhi is most comparable to Duncan. He has that DNA. He wants to win more than he wants to be famous. I think Tim is just as compe ive as Jordan was and now we are getting to see what Duncan mentality looks like in a player with the physique and skill set of a Jordan/Kobe.
Kobe and Duncan under Pop?
There's a give and take playing for the Spurs. Even if you have Kobe/Jordan level talent, you'll never reach that kind of superstar level in the San Antonio market playing for Pop. The flip side is you will make the playoffs every year and you will be on a team that can compete for the le.
When your whole career, moves, (among other things), is based on Michael Jordan there are very slim chances that somebody, in this case Pop, could have done anything to fix said ego imo. He didn't want to be MJ's successor, he wanted to be Michael Jeffrey Jordan.
Pop with the subtle beatdown."He has the ability to do what a Michael Jordan did at both ends,” Popovich said last month. “I don't mean he's Michael Jordan, but Michael played both ends of the floor. Kobe does the same thing, when he so desires."
You just never know... after last game's shooting performance... and that weird running hook shot he took... I don't know what Leonard's limit would be.
Kobe would have ended like Stephen Jackson tbh.Kobe and Duncan under Pop?
That mentality sets great talent up for failure. Lebron faced it too. Wizards Jordan was so much better than 2015-16 Kobe. What Kobe has done to Lakers this year is the single most selfish season I've ever witnessed in any sport.
I don't disagree. But if he had been with the Spurs from the beginning, it implies that he would also have had to have been willing to listen to Pop and curb his ego. Otherwise, he would have been gone.
Jackson got mad about money in 2003. Spurs wouldve coughed up the dough for Kobe.
I was talking more about character and demanding more playing time.
I hope not. Kobe Bryant stopped working on defense in 2001, focusing 100% of his attention on offense. The fact he made so many All Defensive teams is a tragedy.
Pop with the subtle beatdown.
Nobody coughed up the money for Jackson. He went FA because he didn't like the offer the Spurs made him, but ended up signing for less than the Spurs offered.
Totally agreed. For all the accolades he got on offense, determination, leadership, championship pedigree, etc., he at least earns most of them if not deserving all. But on defense, he stopped playing defense at least 10 years ago. However, due to his offense outburst and his fierce/compe ive image, he was added to All NBA defense team year after year since he was All-NBA First Team. Many times, even over TD and Bowen. While in actuality, he was playing at best league-average defense. It's a shame that advanced statistics like defense RPM was not existing at that time, and casual fans would never see how poorly he played on defense during all those years.
I thought the story was that he wanted to resign with the Spurs for the amount offered but was talked out of it by his agent?
Whether it was his agent's idea or his, he still declined the offer...along with some offers by other teams, IIRC. And his Atlanta contract was significantly less (I want to say $4M offer from SA, $1M signing with Atlanta, but I won't guarantee that...some other old hands may remember the numbers better...)
My first thought was that Kobe was good enough to get his contract, unlike Jackson. But if you were talking about "going out" the way Jackson did, demanding more playing time, and pouting when he didn't get his way? Yeah, that may have worked for Kobe in LA. But it wouldn't have played here. Even for Kobe.
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