The O'Brien Trophy has been awarded, Ron Artest's new single has been released and scores of sports journalists are waxing poetic about the Lakers winning back-to back NBA Finals, this off-season's crop of free agents and the legacy of one Kobe Bean Bryant. Let me cut through the buttery vernacular and state "Kobe Bryant is not the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time for the casual sports fan)." When the GOAT discussion arises he is definitely present, but "Kobe is not the GOAT." He may not be the greatest Laker. The biggest problem is people waver between deciding by strictly numbers or intangibles. I immensely respect numbers but you can't ignore the intangible of the "never seen before" factor. That's when a player takes changes the game. Those people deserve the GOAT title and Kobe Bryant has not done that.Jerry "The Logo" West was the all-time leading Laker scorer. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the all-time leading scorer in The Association's history, but if you asked anyone who is the greatest Laker ever most would respond “Magic" Johnson and he was never the Lakers all time leading scorer. But he was the engine that made the 80's Laker teams run like a Ferrari. At the age of 20, Kobe couldn't average twenty points a game and was throwing up air balls in Utah. At that same age, Magic Johnson made us realize that a 6'9" point guard could make no-look passes and move better than a six foot point guard. At the age of 20 as an NBA rookie, Magic walked into the hostile Boston Garden and played guard, forward and center in an NBA Finals Game 6. He would score 42 points, grab 15 boards and deliver 6 assists to win the world championship. We watched Magic in total awe because we had never seen anything like him. A 6 foot point guard, which was the norm, is now considered an anomaly because we have a generation of passing, 6'5" point guards because of Magic Johnson showing us what had "never been seen".
With Kobe winning his 5th championship ring, those who respect numbers and Kobe fans will state that, "Kobe has got to be considered the GOAT now." Well, if that's the case, so is Derek Fisher, who has won 5 rings and even former Laker Robert Horry, who has won 7 rings. And if we're going to measure by the number of rings then Bill Russell is the GOAT because he won 11 championship rings with the Boston Celtics. Kobe has been amazing, since taking the reins to lead "his" Laker team in 2004. I even felt he deserved more than one regular season MVP trophy during these recent, lean, Laker years or at least free back surgery for carrying the team so long. Many fans and pundits also say that Kobe is now worthy of Michael Jordan's GOAT crown, but I must adamantly disagree. Kobe was definitely one of the important factors on his Laker teams during the 3-peat years of 2001 to 2004, but you can't act like three time Finals MVP Shaquille O'Neal did not exist. Shaq sometimes accounted for two defenders and gave Kobe the court spacing to get his numbers. Who did Michael Jordan have in the middle? Luc Longley? Bernard Cartwright? Those two clogged up the paint like British Petroleum oil execs. My point is when you start calling Kobe the GOAT and speaking of his 5 championship rings, first consider he still doesn't have 6rings like MJ and three of them were on a Shaq-led team. Don't get me wrong, this is not a personal love of the good old 80's or MJ, but it is just a statement of facts. Let the court record the following facts for the man they called Air:
5 league MVP trophies. 6-time NBA champion (1991-93, 1996-98); NBA MVP (1988, '91, '92, '96, '98); 10-time All-NBA First Team (1987-93, 1996-98); All-NBA Second Team (1985); Defensive Player of the Year (1988); 9-time All-Defensive First Team (1988-93, 1996-98); Rookie of the Year (1985); 14-time All-Star; All-Star MVP (1988, '96, '98)
MJ won seven straight scoring titles. To win a scoring title in the NBA (home of the best basketball players on the planet), you have to average more than over 400 players over 82 games. MJ did this seven years in a row. He even shot over 50 percent for two seasons. Kobe has never shot over 50 percent for a season. I so respect his numbers but MJ's "never been seen" before factor is off the charts. We had never seen a man score 63 points on the Celtics in The Garden (and this was during a period in the NBA, if you weren't bleeding there was no foul). We had never seen a player get a mere few feet from the goal and then pass. We had never seen a player dunk sideways from outside of the paint. We had never seen a player change hands mid-shot as he falls and make it. We had never seen a player take criticism of his game personally every off-season and add another facet to his game to prove all the naysayers wrong. We had never seen a player take off for an entire season, to only return mid-season and drop 55 points on the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden. We had never seen a player sick with the flu be carried on and off the court during an NBA Finals Game. We had never seen a player average 41 points in an NBA Finals series. Kobe Bryant is no doubt the best basketball player on the planet Earth, but I will tell you, when I see something in Kobe that I've "never seen before". And I just don't see in Kobe's game the Wright Brothers flying for the first time, but I do see Michael Jordan getting ready for take off.
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