Sorry Pool, but I have to step in...
Ok, let's straighten this out...
With all the respect to poolhustler.. 22 yrs old lng ako. I'd been a big fan of NBA since grade 6. Sinabi ko lang na kobe is d best player in the history of d game simply becoz im a kobe fan hehehe. But i have nothing against Mike. Jordan is still the best athlete in d universe (wala akong duda dun!).
here you mentioned that Kobe is the best player in the history of the game because you are a fan. nothing wrong with that, and is respected. Kobe is great in his own right after all. However, if you mention Jordan as the best athlete in the universe and not acknowledge him as the best player in history, then you are contradicting yourself. You cannot call him the best among the best if you cannot acknowledge him as the best ever in his sport.
But here how it goes; Kobe enter the NBA at the age of 17 yrs & 10 months young (17 yrs & 7 months when he start train in lakers training camp). Kaya its so unfair ro compare kobe to mj. MJ plays 4 north carolina in his college career while kobe is just a hyskul senior when he drafted in the league.Straight from highskul,the good thing about kobe is mabilis cyang nag-mature sa pro basketball. What im trying to say is kobe is less experience than mike in their early yrs. But again, in his 10 seasons in the league,he already had 3-time NBA Champion: 2000, 2001, 2002, 9-time NBA All-Star: 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007(No All-Star game in 1999 due to league-wide lock-out), 2-time NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2002, 2007, 9-time All-NBA Selection (NBA version of mythical team), 7-time All-Defensive Selection, 2-time NBA scoring champ. In the history of kobe's career in the NBA, he never said na cya ang d best player ever or even close to jordan. He is a big fan of jordan actualy. Sports indusrty (media, press, magz, analysts, etc...) ang nagsasabi na cya ang "d next MJ" (kaya wag kau magalit sa kanya hehe). Even Magic (bigfan & a good friend of MJ) said that kobe is the closest player among all NBAplayers to become the next "MJ". MJ got his first ring at the age of 30-31..? while kobe did it when he's 22. Let's w8 until kobe turn 36 & by then we'll see what he had already accomplished ( he just turned 29). Hindi talaga macocompare c MJ and kobe sa isat-isa dahil hindi naman cla nag-kaharap in the peak of their careers. Para mong pinag-laban c Tyson at Ali. Gets? Kaya nga he dont like 2 be d second jordan, he just like 2b d first kobe.
On this one, first and foremost, it is not unfair to compare Kobe from MJ. Age may play a role in the maturity, but it has nothing to do with raw talent. On your argument that it's unfair that MJ played 4 yrs of college ball (actually, he only played 3 years) and Kobe got drafted after HS, that was all Kobe's fault. He had the choice, he made the choice, that was all him. There is no argument of unfairness in that. Now, you started citing Kobe's different accolades during his 10 seasons with the league. May i suggest that you also look at Jordan's accolades in his first 10 seasons with the league, then compare. Now, you are comparing apples to apples.
Next, you compared how early Kobe got his rings compared to MJ. Now, that defeats the purpose of your first argument that it is unfair since Kobe entered at 17 yrs old. How can you use the age argument in two different ways? You used it for Kobe as a disadvantage then you use it as an advantage. Where is the consistency in that? But aside from that, let's make this clear. MJ is the guy who won the six championships and Finals MVP's, while Pippen is the help. For Kobe, Shaq won the three championships and Finals MVP's while he (Kobe) is the help. Big difference, isn't it? So basically, and unfortunately, he didn't earn it as much as he should to call it his championships. To the world MJ's championships are his, and the Laker championships in 2000-2002 are Shaq's.
It is well-known that Kobe does not want to be compared or be labeled as the next MJ, cause he just wants to be Kobe. It is also known that Magic complimented him as the next best thing to MJ, in which I strongly agree. But when you start citing his achievements next to MJ's name, then you are insinuating a comparison.
And to MJ fans, have u all noticed the defensive strategy na ginagawa ng kalaban against the two? MJ is doubled team when he drives to the basket, while kobe is doubled team the very fist step he entered the half-court.
Marami nang nag-bago sa systems & rules ng laro sa nba (like defensive 3 secs, handcheck fouls,etc...) kaya we can never really say.
now, you argue on this based on changes of defense strategies and rules. The reason why Jordan is not easily double-teamed is simply because other teams know that Jordan is highly capable of distributing the ball to his teammates, thus, making their efforts futile. Kobe on the other hand is being double-teamed because teams can afford to do this. They know that Kobe forces a lot of his shots before choosing to pass. However, this is understandable because he doesn't have a good scoring support. But when he was playing with Shaq, did you ever see him double-teamed? And the answer is NO. Jordan is very dangerous in every aspect of the game., Kobe is merely a scoring machine.
Then you touched on the rules, and here is what I am going to say about that. As you can see in Pip's blog/article, he mentioned that the rules now are more relaxed than their era. And this only means one thing, easier way to score. Enough said about that.
And some says kobe is bakaw? Well. he has all the reasons to shoot the ball bec. he is a shooting guard w/ a high fg%. And he is payed to do that stuff. So dapat mas maasar kau kay AI kc cya lang ang bakaw na point guard (point guards should set offensive play for his team8s and not for his self.
Hindi ka bilib when he scores 81 against Raptors? How bout when he scores 62 in 3 quarters against Dallas? Hindi ka parin bilib?
My final dissection of your argument. Yes, Kobe is a ball hog..."bakaw" as you said. Though it is justified why he does it. The fact is, he still is a ball hog, and it still takes a lot away from his team. Then again, he has no choice since the support is weak. But when you mentioned AI, though he is a ball hog, before you start saying things like that, look at his stats too. Although his is not a pass-first kind of PG, he still plays like one. He dishes at least 7.2 APG this season, and 6.2 in his career. I think that is decent enough for a point guard. He's actually #8 in APG among the league's point guards. If you can justify Kobe's ball hogging, you can definitely justify Iverson's. Remember, Iverson didn't have the support he needed in Phillie that's why he resulted as a scoring PG. Familiar? Yes, the same situation as Kobe's right now.
On those scoring, though they are fantastic, I think Poolhustler's point is that those scoring barrages are done on defensively weak teams. And that's what takes away from how fantastic it is. It is unbelievable, no doubt, because it's rare. But again, on how it's was done and to whom dilutes it.
Again, I am not a Kobe hater, its just that MJ was insinuatedly compared to. That's why I have to react. But nonetheless, I respect doxx0710's views about Kobe. Kobe is great. But unfortunately, not the greatest.
