This topic contains 15 replies, has 12 voices, and was last updated by AvatarAvatar BothTeamsPlayedHard 11 years, 5 months ago.

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  • #43945
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    bazaowaoozao
    Participant

    He’s 34 going on 35, and has shown no signs of slowing down despite haters “thinking” he can’t penetrate as easily as before. There has been no noticeable decline in his athleticism.

    When do you guys think he will start slowing down? I really can’t see it happening anytime soon. Physically, he hasn’t had any serious injuries. He doesn’t have any nagging injuries. His knees seem to be as solid as they come.

    I don’t think we see him even hint at declining until he’s 42 or something horrible happens. Reason is, usually by 27/28, we have an idea of the general health of a player’s knees/ankles. He seems to be superhuman in that department, and with recent medical breakthroughs like Kobe’s knee treatment, he is probably going to have one of the longest and most dominant primes we’ve ever seen.

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  • #721989
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    F_S mock

     "I don’t think we see him even hint at declining until he’s 42." LOL

    .

    he was physically declining two years ago before the magical knee surgery. he was struggling to get past his defenders and too ofter settled for shooting over them…. he couldn’t get past kidd against dallas two yrs ago.

    and even after the surgery, he uses a lot of footwork and shiftiness to get past defenders as opposed a tremendous first step or quickness

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  • #721996
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    Meditated States
    Participant

    Jump shooter now.

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  • #721998
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    cuseflynn10
    Participant

    I think it could take him another 3-4 seasons for him to average under 20 ppg assuming he stays healthy and in the league for that long. Could you imagine a 38 year old Kobe dropping 15-20 ppg? Probably won’t happen, since he’s after the rings now and not the personal achievements, but he will likely pass MJ for #3 on the all time scoring list, and could pass Malone for #2 depending on how long he stays. I don’t see him getting 9000 more points though, so #2 is likely his best case scenario.

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  • #722000
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    BasketballJunkie224
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    i mean i wouldnt say that hes not as good as he was in his prime but he has definitely showed some signs of slowing down in the sence that there are a few better players than him right now. i mean think about it, at 1 point he was the nastiest player in the nba for a good stretch of time. i feel like even tho we dont see him slowing down he is slowing down slowley

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  • #722001
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    Hitster
    Participant

    There are guys in the NBA this year who are 2 to 4 years older than Kobe and they all got 3 year contracts so Kobe playing to 40 could well be possible. But altough younger than all these guys, Kobe probably has more games and minutes on the clock than them and this has to be considered.

    He will lose his speed but he will compensate this by using his basketball IQ and experience to read the game and create openings. Also I see Kobe as wanting to go out at the top and as a Laker so I think we have to see how the next two seasons go and then a mutual decision could be made. The easy way around this would be for both sides to agree that post 2014 they do it a year at a time or any second year in the contract is a player option.

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  • #722003
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    TallmanNYC
    Participant

    If you think he doesn’t have a hint of declining you haven’t been paying attention. Do you think he shot 43% from the field last year because he wanted to miss the most shots in a season by any player in years. Do you think he shot 43% in the Olympics because he was out partying too much?

    The dude has declined. Big time. If your question is, when will he no longer be a good shooting guard? I don’t know, he still has such a complete package of skills. This year will be a big test for him. He has to get that shooting percentage back up. Playing with Nash and Howard there is no excuse for him to take so many bad shots. But then he had Bynum on his team last year and he still took way more shots than any other player in the league. So maybe nothing will stop Kobe from getting his shots up even if they don’t go in the basket very much anymore.

    I don’t think Kobe’s ego will allow him to play much longer though. A huge number of shots per game and many trips to the FT line kept his points per game up last year. But he can’t keep shooting this much unless the shots go in and the refs might stop giving him quite as many calls.  He could play and be average at 40, but I don’t think he will want to do that. So I would guess three more years, tops.  

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  • #722060
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    Bostonkings
    Participant

     Kobe has already started rapidly slowing down since 2009, once again he is not the best player on "his" team.

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  • #722140
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    mcbailey
    Participant

     Do you really think he’ll still be playing at 42? Because I don’t. 

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  • #722144
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    ph90702

    He’s still the best player on the Lakers, but he has definitely lost some of his athleticism. However, he’s more than skilled enough to offset his loss in athleticism. 

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  • #722152
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    druneave3
    Participant

     Great first post. 

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  • #722159
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    aamir543
    Participant

    As long as he continues to get lift on his jumpshot, and his speed stays at somthing decent, he’s going to average at least 25 a game, no doubt. I could see him having at least one more season at this season, but after this season you never know especially given his knee history. There’s a reason he’s considering going only two more seasons, he knows that right knee of his doesn’t have much cartilage in it, but I hope he makes the most out of the rest of his career. But you have to bet that if that knee is still going strong in two more years that he probably won’t hang ’em up. And remember, I think he wants more than to just match MJ’s 6 rings, I think he wants to pass him. If he really does play till he’s 38 or 39 and passes Kareem on the All-Time scoring list, than you can say that Kobe has had the greatest career in NBA history(that doesn’t mean he was better than Jordan).

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    • #722428
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      TallmanNYC
      Participant

       We don’t know how bad that knee is. At some point soon he might not be able to play on it. 

      I don’t think Kobe will take enough shots this year to average 25. There are too many other weapons starting now and all of them shoot a higher percentage than Kobe. If Kobe averages 25, then something will have gone horribly wrong. If he averages 15 and a career high in assists, then Lakers could be champions. 

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  • #722329
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    Jlv2012

    Kobe has slowed down alot.  He’s not the best anymore.  It’s Durant’s turn now.

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  • #722394
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    Lipstick
    Participant

    I’m sure if he’s hellbent on breaking the scoring record and adding onto it, he could take a paycut and spot-shoot 3s in the corner through his early 40s.

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  • #722438
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    BothTeamsPlayedHard
    Participant

    Kobe has slowed down. He will never again be the guy he was from 2003 through 2008 or 2009. It doesn’t mean he isn’t still great, but he has been on a decline for a while now. Jordan was never again as good as he was in 1992, but he still won more titles.

    If Bryant was smart, he would lessen his minute load in the regular season like Tim Duncan has and keep himself fresh for the playoffs. Dumb people might think less of him because he won’t mean as much in fantasy, but he has grown beyond regular season numbers.

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