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Exactly!
Medvedenko has been catching a lot of flak lately for his failure to contribute any insightful basketball discussion and his Kobe Bryant manlove that borders on obsession, but this observation is spot on accurate. Why? Because context is paramount, and when it comes to Kobe Bryant, no other player has had the context so manipulated in his favor that he always comes out looking the better.
A recent example is a game against Dallas earlier this year. It was on a back-to-back following a loss against the Spurs. The game wound up coming down to a few crucial shots late in the 4th, one of which was made by Kobe.
If you didn't get to watch the game that night and had to rely on Sportscenter for a recap, you would've been led to believe that Kobe was the hero of that game. The shot in question all but put the Mavericks comeback on ice and ensured victory for LA.
But if you watched the game, you'd know that before that big shot, Kobe forced two horrible jumpers that found nothing but iron.
There's countless examples like this. Kobe playing a sub-par game, sometimes to the detriment of his team (forcing shots, not feeding it inside, etc) but the media takes out its magic editing wand and spins events to make them appear quite differently from what actually happened. And you dumbass Kobe fanboys eat it up. I said it before and I'll say it again, "Kobe is the greatest selective memory player of all time."
However, when Med wrote that he probably thought he was lending more credibility to the idea that Kobe Bryant far transcends statistical measurement. That said, I do agree that certain players are greater than the sum of their statistics, some are much greater. We deduce this by watching the games and trying to determine the amount of impact a player has in areas that can't be quantified.
Now, I admit that Kobe equals more than the sum of his stats, but not by the amount some people believe.
Fact is, Kobe's stats aren't favorable when compared to the other all time greats that are currently above him on most lists. And when you factor in his "intangibles," the sum total isn't as great as Jordan, Magic, Bird, etc. What is there to suggest that his intangibles are greater than that of his contemporaries like Wade, Duncan, or even Lebron? Because he can make a few clutch shots? Because he has great work ethic?
Context is everything, and if the Lakers lost game 7, Kobe's 6-24 would've been vilified on the same level as Lebron's game 5 against the Celtics. But oh how the context magically changes when your team wins. Suddenly, the media's praising your 15 rebounds instead of drawing attention to your terrible shooting performance.
Simply put, he's just not as good as the Jordan's, Bird's, Magic's, Shaq's, Duncan's, Oscar's, or Hakeem's, no matter how many more championships he wins, which if happens, will be because he's on the best team relative to the compe ion rather than because he's some indomitable force that can't be reckoned with.
This ain't hate speaking. I have Kobe 8-10 all time depending on how I feel that day, but for me to place him any higher, it's going to have to take some truly stellar performances, namely in the Finals.
Odor, hittin' 'em in their soft spot & ruinin' their Friday.
:fishin
Yes jess kent dew teengks like dat! 
