[valentine]

Anyone else see this article?

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/7640850/los-angeles-lakers-kobe-bryant-says-had-no-rivals-16-year-nba-career

He says that he has grown passed Iverson, McGrady, Carter and Wade is too young to be his rival.

Instead he is chasing the likes of Jordan and Magic.

I just realized that its true that no other SG or wing player competes against him on a nightly basis.

 I always thought that Paul Pierce or Ray Allen when he was with Seattle probably came closest to being a rival.

[Tongue-Out-Like-23Participant]

McGrady was supposed to be his rival but got injured.  Other than that, I can’t think of anybody that was ever on the same level as Kobe.  Iverson was a great scorer but either played point guard or guarded point guards in the Eric Snow years.

[iguapops420Participant]

 VC could have been a rival if he had, had any heart.

[aamir543Participant]

T-Mac, AI, and Carter were all supposed to be competing with Kobe, but he has creamed them and put himself in a class of his own. He doesn’t seem to be chasing a player, but rather a legacy, a legacy that no one has ever achieved before, is what he is chasing.

[Future_Scout]

 trust me, kobe is chasing mj

[Ahkasi ClayParticipant]

 Kobe is over rated.

[NYK2010Participant]

Old news, he said this a couple yrs ago.

Vince Carter should’ve been his rival but he’s just not on the same level.

Also the West veteran SG’s w/out Brandon Roy are nothing special except Ginobili.

Most of the better SG’s r all young Harden, Monta, Reke.

East had Joe Johnson, Wade, Ray Allen, Rip could’ve been a rival.

Never faced any of them in the playoffs outside of Rip, Allen n Ginobili.

[iguapops420Participant]

 None of the names you just stated were on the level Kobe was. Rip was a complimentary scorer who played with a true TEAM. The only guys IMO who were on Kobe’s level were T-Mac#1, AI #2, VC #3, Ray Allen/Paul Pierce were about the same as 4a and b.

Aamir put it right, Kobe isn’t chasing or competing against one man, he’s trying to compete against father time. Just trying to keep winning and be the only guard to never fall off and stop winning. Something MJ,Magic, nor the Big O were EVER able to do. Kobe is somewhat playing against the younger version of himself who made all of these outlandish claims of becoming the all-time Laker scorer, 10x NBA champion, the Will Smith of basketball, and the all-time GOAT. He’s chasing greatness.

[river09Participant]

 Kobe is constantly trying to become the greatest ever to play the game. In his mind everyone is his rival. 

[Johnny Chill]

Everyone is not Kobe’s rival. He is the #5 all time leader in scoring and has 5 championships,  Jordan is his only rival.

[Tobe BryantParticipant]

What river09 is saying is that everybody is Kobe’s rival in the sense that he goes at every opponent, every SG, whether they are a rookie, D-Leaguer, 6th man or whatever, he gets up to play at a high level every night. Hence the many magical performances that he has had against teams over his 16 year career. I REALLY hate that many people take for granted the greatness we are witnessing in LeBron and Kobe, it will be a sad day that they stop playing the game…

[aamir543Participant]

But generally, what was wrong with my comment? Early in Kobe’s career, guys like T-Mac, Carter, and AI were put in his class. There was even a time when people would take T-Mac over Kobe, but they are not rivals because neither was able to withstand father time, or themselves in the case of AI. T-Mac has broken down, AI has ruined his life, and Carter is still productive and getting it done, but nowhere near the Star he once was. But yet, there Kobe is, still knocking down shot after shot, doing his thing. Kobe is not chasing Lebron and Wade, they are chasing him. Kobe is chasing a legacy. MJ’s legacy. I have no doubt in my mind that Kobe thinks that when all is said and done, he will have 7 ‘Ships, and be the All-Time leading scorer. He is going for All-Time greatness, not that he hasn’t already achieved it, but perhaps the greatest career of All-Time. That doesn’t mean he’s the GOAT, but if he averages 25 a game for 3 more years, and 20 a game for another 3, that would make for one of the top three greatest careers ever, stats-wise. However unless Kobe averages 27 a game for the next 6 years, MJ will forever be the GOAT.

[SupParticipant]

Let’s be fair they were regular season rivals and Kobe outlasted them in the playoffs. Shaq plays a big role in that, but credit Kobe for demanding that trade on draft night.

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

 Jordan is his main rival. Shaq was also his rival. Kobe wants more credit for the Shaq championships and he will get more and more credit the longer his career extends past Shaq’s. Lebron James is his current rival.

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 I don’t understand what Kobe is tryna to say….He is saying a rival is somebody who he has played against for over a decade or something?

Because if you’re old enough to remenber then you clearly remenber that Allen Iverson was better then Kobe during them first few years.  Iverson won an MVP before Kobe and lead the Sixers to the Finals and set the stage for the most memorable game 1 in Finals history.  It was memorable because going into the game the Lakers were undefeated in the playoffs and absolutlly destroyed everybody in their way.  

The Sixers went into L.A. and Iverson put on such a show that he even had the Lakers fans at the Staples Center cheering towards the end when he was scoring.  It was the weirdest moment ever hearing them cheer when he scored because they were utterly amazed at the show he was putting on.  He dropped 48 points on Kobe, like literally atleast 20 of them points came on Kobe who had no way of stopping Iverson.  The Sixers won in overtime and then lost 4 straight because there was no stopping Shaq.

Had Shaq not of played and that would of been a Kobe vs Iverson Finals I think even most Lakers fans who saw that series would agree the Sixers would of won.

Jordan didn’t have any "rivals" who played throughout his career either.  Bird and Magic retired halway through and he invited new rivals onto the stage like Penny and Grant Hill.

Kobe was clearly motivated by the success of Allen Iverson and Vince Carter to step his game up.  Iverson had the biggest Basketball Brand Name in the world after Jordan and Kobe could never sell clothes like that which had to make him jealous.  Carter was getting all the highlight reel dunks on ESPN over Kobe.  

Iverson and Kobe and T-Mac were going back and forth for scoring titles for a few years which was a lot of fun.

Iverson and Kobe were scoring 30 ppg during a few seasons competing for the scoring title, that’s a rivalry.

Right now LeBron James is the best basketball player in the world and is about to break the all time PER efficiency record to prove how dominant he is being, how does Kobe not think he is being rivaled?  

Like WTF does this dude need somebody to challenge him to a duel or something?  The other great players in your position are always your rivals and if Kobe don’t think their are any other great swingment in the league well then….

[aamir543Participant]

 Wait, what is this all about demanding a trade from Charlotte? You do know that the Hornets were picking for the Lakers, and the trade was already in place. Kobe didn’t demand a trade, however he threaten certain teams by saying if they picked him he’d go overseas, however those were proabably hollow threats. The Hornets had no intention of picking Kobe, however.

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