I thought it would be interesting to have a discussion about Kobe's playing career and whether or not he is overrated, underrated or properly rated, and also a discussion in general about his strengths and weaknesses of his game. He is probably one of the most polarizing NBA players of all-time. Unlike LeBron, or Jordan, or Magic or Bird, I think there is a lot of room for debate when it comes to Kobe, in that he was widely recognized as being one of the very best players of all-time, but you can also paint him as a shameless gunner who shot his team out of games, and was also an egoist who drove away his best teammate and at times was extremely difficult to coach and build a team around.
Kobe certainly won a lot as a player, his five championships are more than all but very few players in NBA history outside of the Russell-Celtics. That being said, I feel like there is a revisionist history that has gone on for the first three titles. At the time, Shaq was clearly the dominant player on the Lakers. By the third title it had blossomed into more of a mutual thing, but even so, in the 2002 NBA Finals, Shaq averaged a 36 and 12 and Kobe a 27-5-5. Good stats for sure, but those were clearly Shaq's teams. I feel like Kobe gets to be mentioned in the same breath as Jordan due to the five rings, but Jordan never played with the best, most dominant player in the league for more than half of his titles.
Kobe was a tremendous scorer, and remarkably consistent throughout his career. Averaging 25 ppg for your career over 20 seasons is an amazing accomplishment. From 2000 to 2013, he averaged 28 ppg, pretty impressive especially when you consider the slower pace of the game. His career average of 35 ppg per 100 possessions is staggering. Only Jordan (40.4!!!!), Durant (37) and Lebron (36) have higher career ppg per 100 possessions, and Durant and LeBron could end up falling behind by the time their career ends. That being said, Kobe was also certainly a volume scorer, and he wasn't always efficient with his scoring. Out of all the post-merger players with 20,000 career points, only Pierce, Vince Carter, Allen Iverson and James Harden have a worse career FG percentage, although Harden is going to end up being much more efficient due to his free throw attempts and percentage of three point attempts.
Kobe seemed to walk a line between the ultimate basketball player that players wanted to model themselves after, and a basketball pariah. For some, he was the epitome of confidence and always had the courage to take the last shot, a warrior that killed himself in the off-season to get better and led his team to championships. For others, he was a ball hog who alienated teammates, forced the Lakers to trade Shaq when they could have just held onto him and won a half-dozen championships. There is a lot of truths in both narratives. Honestly, part of me liked that Kobe wasn't overly concerned with his shooting percentage, that he was willing to try and win titles without the help of Shaq, that he truly thought he could still be the best player in the NBA after tearing his achilles and heading into his late 30s. There is admiration in his infallible confidence, even if it probably came at the detriment of his team's success.
Kobe thoroughly enjoyed having a reputation for being a winner and for working hard. He starred in his own Spike Lee movie that was just about how hard he worked to get better, and the Black Mamba image reeked of Nike advertising and flagrant self-promotion, not coincidentally coming on the heels of his sexual assault trial. That being said, from the testament of former players, coaches and journalists, Kobe may have talked the talk but he walked the walk. Every player from that generation, especially the stars like LeBron, Wade, Durant, Melo, etc. have remarked how Kobe's work ethic had a strong impression on them and forced themselves to up their commitment.
In the end, I think he is probably a little bit overrated. Yes he won titles, yes he was a phenomenal scorer, yes he was durable and his work ethic was an inspiration for others, but he was also selfish, inefficient, an overrated defender, especially later in his career and it got pretty ugly at the end. I would have him rated somewhere between 8-12 all time.
Kobe certainly won a lot as a player, his five championships are more than all but very few players in NBA history outside of the Russell-Celtics. That being said, I feel like there is a revisionist history that has gone on for the first three titles. At the time, Shaq was clearly the dominant player on the Lakers. By the third title it had blossomed into more of a mutual thing, but even so, in the 2002 NBA Finals, Shaq averaged a 36 and 12 and Kobe a 27-5-5. Good stats for sure, but those were clearly Shaq's teams. I feel like Kobe gets to be mentioned in the same breath as Jordan due to the five rings, but Jordan never played with the best, most dominant player in the league for more than half of his titles.
Kobe was a tremendous scorer, and remarkably consistent throughout his career. Averaging 25 ppg for your career over 20 seasons is an amazing accomplishment. From 2000 to 2013, he averaged 28 ppg, pretty impressive especially when you consider the slower pace of the game. His career average of 35 ppg per 100 possessions is staggering. Only Jordan (40.4!!!!), Durant (37) and Lebron (36) have higher career ppg per 100 possessions, and Durant and LeBron could end up falling behind by the time their career ends. That being said, Kobe was also certainly a volume scorer, and he wasn't always efficient with his scoring. Out of all the post-merger players with 20,000 career points, only Pierce, Vince Carter, Allen Iverson and James Harden have a worse career FG percentage, although Harden is going to end up being much more efficient due to his free throw attempts and percentage of three point attempts.
Kobe seemed to walk a line between the ultimate basketball player that players wanted to model themselves after, and a basketball pariah. For some, he was the epitome of confidence and always had the courage to take the last shot, a warrior that killed himself in the off-season to get better and led his team to championships. For others, he was a ball hog who alienated teammates, forced the Lakers to trade Shaq when they could have just held onto him and won a half-dozen championships. There is a lot of truths in both narratives. Honestly, part of me liked that Kobe wasn't overly concerned with his shooting percentage, that he was willing to try and win titles without the help of Shaq, that he truly thought he could still be the best player in the NBA after tearing his achilles and heading into his late 30s. There is admiration in his infallible confidence, even if it probably came at the detriment of his team's success.
Kobe thoroughly enjoyed having a reputation for being a winner and for working hard. He starred in his own Spike Lee movie that was just about how hard he worked to get better, and the Black Mamba image reeked of Nike advertising and flagrant self-promotion, not coincidentally coming on the heels of his sexual assault trial. That being said, from the testament of former players, coaches and journalists, Kobe may have talked the talk but he walked the walk. Every player from that generation, especially the stars like LeBron, Wade, Durant, Melo, etc. have remarked how Kobe's work ethic had a strong impression on them and forced themselves to up their commitment.
In the end, I think he is probably a little bit overrated. Yes he won titles, yes he was a phenomenal scorer, yes he was durable and his work ethic was an inspiration for others, but he was also selfish, inefficient, an overrated defender, especially later in his career and it got pretty ugly at the end. I would have him rated somewhere between 8-12 all time.