[aamir543Participant]

I know Kobe is still in the late part of his prme, and the early part of it was spent with shaq, but i cant help my self to think that his absolute peak years were wasted by a mediocore supporting cast, but he was amazing in 05 06 and 07, but had no one to help him. Imagine if Pau arrived 3 years earlier. Teh Lakers would have been a serious contender at that time. 

[4th dimension]

What IF Jordan never played baseball, would he have 8-9 championships?

What IF the Blazers drafted Durant?

What IF I never made the mistake of thinking Colton Iverson was A.I’s brother, would I still have all these negative points?

All these “IF”s..

[BKKnicksfanParticipant]

What IF I never made the mistake of thinking Colton Iverson was A.I’s brother, would I still have all these negative points?

My guess? Yeah. Lol

[WizardofOzParticipant]

I agree. He really had to take up a bunch of the scoring load because of how weak his supporting cast was. He has guys like Smush Parker, Chris Mihm, Brian Cook etc in the staring lineup with him? SMH. No wonder why they use to call him a ballhog.

[TeamShowtimeLakersParticipant]

hey he still got championships…thats all the matters..

[4th dimension]

Your one to talk. You and your -800 pts. Shut your pie hole dummy, your one of the main reasons why I have bad reputation here.

[kobyzParticipant]

on other end he should be thankful he had Shaq al those years!

[SteroidParticipant]

First of all, Kobe wasn’t in his prime when he was with Shaq. He was still pretty young and didn’t even reach the climax of his potential yet, which is what prime means. In general, a basketball player’s prime isn’t until 27-28. They might continue playing the highest level of their career until 30 then they gradually decline because of athleticism loss, more supsceptible to injuries, etc. There are special cases, but that is how it usually is. That is the peak. Basically, Kobe wasted his prime playing with a bunch of scrubs.

[OhCanada-Participant]

This is funny, "shut your pie hole" almost made me spill my drink.4th Dimension is back with some fire! Redeeeem yourself, REDEMPTION!

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

What if Shaq and Kobe had actually gotten along?

What if they were able to motivate and teach each other rather than harp on each others weaknesses?

By the way, Steroid, those last couple of years Kobe and Shaq were playing together, Kobe was in his prime. He did not just magically hit it once Shaq left. He was still having those ridiculous February’s when Shaq was there.

 http://bleacherreport.com/articles/514596-remembering-the-2002-2003-season-kobes-streak-of-nine-straight-40-point-games

He did that while playing with Shaq, not to mention he averaged 30 ppg that season. The next season was the trial, which definitely took a mental and physical toll. But, nonetheless, Kobe’s prime was a very long one that has still not completely vanished. While age has caught up to Shaq, he and Kobe could have had some time left to win some rings. Ultimately, they both benefited from the split, Shaq was motivated to get into better shape, and Kobe somehow managed to have Caron Butler turn into Kwame Brown and eventually turn into Pau Gasol. Not to mention Odom was a nice little part of the trade, and the hindsight in drafting Andrew Bynum to comprise an intimidating front line. But, their were a lot of "what ifs" in the Shaq and Kobe saga. To me, there was a time where they were the two best players in the league, and if they are not both top 5 players of all-time (which in my opinion, they are), they are at least both in the top 10. I still have a hard time with the fact that they lost too the Pistons, and I was really disappointed in Shaq’s conditioning and in Kobe’s sometimes selfish play. But, when they were together, those were some great times for two incredible basketball players.

[Author]

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