Kobe Bryant Discussion: Mamba Out!

As a kid, I once had a boxing match with Sugar Ray Leonard, and in between rounds as the lights dimmed, a lit doorway appeared with a descending ramp from the ring towards it with a bathroom inside. I proceeded to push and push to try to pee, and it turned out I was wetting the bed.

Good times.

 

Tells you a lot about someone when they take shots at you when you've passed.

T-Mac is pathetic. Never got out of the first round in the playoffs and wants to claim he could've won just as many titles playing alongside prime Shaq. LeBron, Luka, Giannis, Curry, etc., could... but not you, T-Mac.

One of the most overrated players in the league. He honestly reminds a lot of Paul George. Two players who put up great numbers but can never lead a team to anything.

The lone time he had any success as a star player was when he was playing for the Rockets... when Yao was the best player.

Kobe won titles without Shaq. Why couldn't T-Mac?

 

Poor form indeed

Hard to stay relevant for some guys when they didn't win anything except a scoring title.

 

Well done Natalia!

 

Seeing Pau and his family with the Bryants will never get old. Being there. Consistently. It's just really touching and i can't think of very many situations in sports history where part of the dynamic duo extended their responsibility to life like this. I guess, luckily, we haven't had very many tragic endings like Kobe's so the data sample is low. But there's not a single social post where i see Pau and his family there for Vanessa and the girls and not feel immense gratitude, pride and respect for the Gasols cause they don't have to do this. It's much easier not to do this.


Oh yeah, Rob was there too.

Joking with the undercutting of his role. They've been a strong anchor for the family too. I just have a much closer, warmer tie to Gasol than I do Rob.

 

the placement of Mr and Mrs potatoe head's eyes lol

 

he called Lebron a wuss basically

 

f***ing C Bags idiot strikes again

 

this guy's lifelong drinking problem has clouded his judgment at every turn.

 

Not “to be fair” because I can’t stand Pierce …. but “was” Kobe ever the face of the league? Colorado sure didn’t help and Jordan was in it for still years after Kobe arrived, and then LeBron came too.

Players knew and respect and awe and all that.

 

was PP even the face of the C Bags?

 

Stern and the NBA would not allow Kobe to be the face of the league but most all the players respected Kobe and thought of him as the best player in the league. Piece didn't because he couldn't stand Kobe. F Paul Pierce! He is a C bag tool and thought he was way better than anyone else thought he was.

 

He was the a** in the wheelchair who s*** his pants.

 

After MJ, who was the face of the league? It's hard because there was probably no immediate face of the league, until after the Lakers championships and then it was probably co-Shaq & Kobe, then Kobe until LeBron then Steph and LeBron.

Looking at it year by year is hard though. The Kobe to LeBron transition is particularly hard because in 2009 & 2010, LeBron was the MVP but Kobe won the championship. The Steph and LeBron years trade off or are co-faces. And the last few years are hard too, due to the sheer number of candidates, with Steph and LeBron still the biggest names but older and declining.

Anyone want to name the face of the league each year? Here are my top candidates:


1999: Malone, Shaq, Iverson
2000: Shaq, Iverson
2001: Shaq, Kobe, Iverson
2002: Shaq, Kobe
2003: Kobe, Shaq
2004: Kobe, Shaq
2005: Kobe, Nash, LeBron
2006: Kobe, Nash, LeBron, Dirk
2007: Kobe, Nash, LeBron, Dirk
2008: Kobe, LeBron
2009: Kobe, LeBron
2010: Kobe, LeBron
2011: LeBron, Kobe
2012: LeBron, Kobe, Durant
2013: LeBron, Kobe, Durant
2014: LeBron, Durant, Steph
2015: Steph, LeBron
2016: Steph, LeBron
2017: LeBron, Steph, Durant
2018: LeBron, Steph, Durant
2019: LeBron, Steph, Durant, Giannis
2020: LeBron, Giannis
2021: Giannis, LeBron, Steph
2022: Steph, Giannis, LeBron, Jokic
2023: Jokic, Steph, Giannis, LeBron
2024: Jokic, Luka, Steph, Giannis, LeBron, Shai
2025: Shai, Luka, Jokic, Steph, Giannis, LeBron

 

I don't think Kobe was ever the face of the league. I'm not sure there *always is* a face of the league. Who would that even be, today? MJ certainly was, but I don't think there was a face of the league again until LeBron, and then Steph. Kobe was just too disliked during his absolute prime. His image softened in the 2008-2010 run, but that's because people came to understand him--or more importantly, what DROVE him--better. But by then LeBron was winning his MVPs and it was off to the races there.

And btw, so what? All Kobe wanted was to be the best player in the league and to win championships. Check and check.

 

You can be the face of the league and be disliked, or even a villain. LeBron was very disliked and a villain after The Decision and was still the face of the league.

 

I think Kobe and LeBron were the co-faces of the league from like 2005 to 2016 until Kobe retired and Steph took his place.