Kobe thinking of going solo

[Medvedenko]

No, I'm not kidding, save for the finals in those 3 years....

[RobinsontoDuncan]

med quit while your ahead buddy......

[jalbre6]

Medevenko, one question. It's true Kobe's stats were gaudier than Shaq's the last TWO years in the playoffs, for starters. I'll admit that.

Convieniently enough, Shaq's first season in LA was Kobe's rookie year, so he's never played without him (and to be fair, vice versa in LA).

Is your team better off having a starting lineup of:

(a) Cedric Ceballos, Nick van Exel, Elden Campbell, Vlade Divac, and Eddie Jones?

or

(b) Kobe Bryant, Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Chris Mihm, and Chucky Atkins?

If your answer is b, remember that the 95-96 Laker team listed as (a) went 53-29, and there's no way in this team is.

[SpursFanInAustin]

Kobe won 3 rings....he was pretty much equal to Shaq during their playoff runs. Has he reached his potential...maybe in averages, but not in effectiveness....Jordan's numbers dropped in the mid 90's but they still won. Kobe's still young, and you need help to win the L. No one has done this without help. 6'7 Iverson...please, 6 games in and he's shooting 38%....look at his shot attempts and ptns/game...Iverson...whatever. Also, throughout his career he's average 45%. I guess 6 games defines your whole career. Also, when Shaq struggled during the Spurs series, Kobe handed you guys your ass numerous times...this is getting ridicolous. If you read the interview when Kobe was saying he can go off for 50 or 60...the point he was trying to make was that he know that's not the answer to winning...read between the lines.

if Kobe was equal to Shaq then why does Shaq have all the MVPs? Jordan's scoring numbers dropped? What from 37 ppg in 1987 to 30 ppg from 96-98? Is Kobe averaging that now? He only had one season (2003) where he averaged over 30 ppg. so Kobe shot 45%, and that was WITH Shaq, meaning he got a lot of one-on-one coverage. He never faced the double and triple coverage that Jordan faced every night since 1985. Jordan shot 51% from the field for his career in all of his years with the Bulls, and he never had a dominant big man to demand double teams like Kobe had with Shaq. a 40yr old Jordan with the Wizards in his last year shot 45%. You make it seem like that's some big accomplishment. Jordan won his first MVP in 1988 when he was 25 years old. Let me know when Kobe wins his first, ok? After 9 years in the NBA, Jordan LED his team to 3 rings winning 3 FINALS MVPs and also winning the reg season MVPs in 91 and 92, during that stretch. So Kobe has 3 rings, but who led their team to the le? Heck, who was the leading scorer of the Lakers from 2000-02? The last 2 seasons, Kobe has led the Lakers in scoring and what happened to the Lakers in the postseason those years?

[Useruser666]

There was an article in SI the mag this month about Kobe and the Lakers. It's fairly interesting. I would post it, but when I drag my mouse over the magazine it just won't copy it. Hmmmm?