Jump to content

Player of the decade


Lkr
 Share

Recommended Posts

Good choice. Its close but the list should go

 

1. Kobe

2. Duncan

3. Shaq

 

I put Duncan ahead of Shaq because he was consistent all decade while Shaq really fell off towards the end of the decade, and to this day Duncan is still dominant while Shaq can barely play half a game.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The TNT guys made some good points on why Kobe shouldn't win it. He wasn't the focal point of 3 of the 4 championships that he won unlike a guy like Tim Duncan.

Or Shaq, like I said. Shaq dominated for 3 straight titles, and then turned Miami into a championship team, from a 6th seed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good choice. Its close but the list should go

 

1. Kobe

2. Duncan

3. Shaq

 

I put Duncan ahead of Shaq because he was consistent all decade while Shaq really fell off towards the end of the decade, and to this day Duncan is still dominant while Shaq can barely play half a game.

Kobe ahead of Shaq and Duncan? Uh no. Kobe hasn't been the dominant force Shaq was.

Edited by Lkr
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hes actually been more dominant.

name one guy in their career, that has been labeled as a Shaq-stopper, been seen as being able to slow down Shaq, or been a rival to him? Problem is, you can't. Obviously I'm talking about his prime here. When you look at Kobe, he has been challenged by Bruce Bowen, Raja Bell, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Shane Battier, Carmelo Anthony, and more. Shaq was so dominant, that you couldn't even mention a guy with his name. There was no debate whether anyone was better than Shaq. You can make an argument that LeBron is better than Kobe, but there was never an argument of anyone being better than Shaq.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Owner

Shaq dominated the decade for six years. Bryant had it since 2002.

 

I would give it to both guys, though, for the simple fact that Shaq was more dominant at his position...but you have to consider his position as well. How many dominant centers, from 2000-2009, challenged him?

 

I like Duncan, and I think he's the overall best big man (overall skills, at least) since Hakeem...but he wasn't dominant at his position.

 

When a guy scores 81, outscores a team through three quarters (62 vs. Dallas), averages 35 PPG in a season, has four consecutive 50+ point games, nine consecutive 40+ point games, 13 consecutive 35+ point games, facilitates the offense AND scores 25-30 PPG in three of four championship seasons, plays defense and has an MVP, Finals MVP and three all-star MVP's to show for it, you can't ignore that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

name one guy in their career, that has been labeled as a Shaq-stopper, been seen as being able to slow down Shaq, or been a rival to him? Problem is, you can't. Obviously I'm talking about his prime here. When you look at Kobe, he has been challenged by Bruce Bowen, Raja Bell, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Shane Battier, Carmelo Anthony, and more. Shaq was so dominant, that you couldn't even mention a guy with his name. There was no debate whether anyone was better than Shaq. You can make an argument that LeBron is better than Kobe, but there was never an argument of anyone being better than Shaq.

There is no Kobe stopper. All those guys are good defensive players, none of them ever came close to stopping Kobe. Lebron hasnt even been in the league this whole decade, so I dont understand how hes in this argument. The Lebron being better then Kobe argument started like this year, after Kobe won the title last year there was really no debate who the best was.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

you guys are arguing over the wrong topic. It shouldnt be how did kobe come first, it should be how the hell did LeBron come second?! Everytime the fans get to vote for something they never seem to get it right.

 

btw i voted for Duncan

Edited by BlueDevil
Link to comment
Share on other sites

you guys are arguing over the wrong topic. It shouldnt be how did kobe come first, it should be how the hell did LeBron come second?! Everytime the fans get to vote for something they never seem to get it right.

Casual fans outnumber the true knowledgeable fans. All they hear is "Kobe this" and "Lebron that." The results were actually not surprising to me since the fans voted. Anyone who cares about basketball knows who truly deserves the award. And the winner should be a tossup between Shaq and Duncan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Owner

Statistics and awards from 2000-2009:

 

Kobe - 28.0 PPG on 46% FG, 5.9 RPG, 5.3 APG, 1.7 SPG

4 NBA championships (25 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 5.1 APG in first three, by the way)

1 MVP award

1 Finals MVP award

3 All-Star Game MVP awards

10 All-NBA Teams (7 1st Team)

7 All-Defensive 1st Teams

2 All-Defensive 2nd Teams

10 All-Star Games

 

Shaq - 22.6 PPG on 59% FG, 10.4 RPG, 2.6 APG, 2.1 BPG

4 NBA championships

1 MVP award

3 Finals MVP awards

3 All-Star Game MVP awards

8 All-NBA Teams (7 1st Team)

3 All-Defensive 2nd Teams

9 All-Star Games

 

Duncan - 21.4 PPG on 50% FG, 11.7 RPG, 3.3 APG, 2.3 BPG

3 NBA championships

2 NBA MVP awards

2 Finals MVP awards

1 All-Star Game MVP award

10 All-NBA Teams (7 1st Team)

8 All-Defensive 1st Teams

2 All-Defensive 2nd Teams

10 All-Star Games

 

Include the achievements for Kobe that I listed here...

 

scores 81

outscores a team through three quarters (62 vs. Dallas)

averages 35 PPG in a season

has four consecutive 50+ point games

nine consecutive 40+ point games

13 consecutive 35+ point games

 

...and you can't leave out Kobe in this conversation, no matter how much you hate him.

 

Someone also made a good point...

 

people forget that when we were winning those titles kobe was the 2nd best player in the NBA, by far the #1 perimeter player in the NBA

 

so basically from 2000-2004 kobe was #2 in the NBA

 

from 2000-2009 he has been #1

 

duncan has dipped to as low as merely top 10

 

and shaq has dropped out of the top 20

 

thats why kobe deserved it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Owner

Bryant averaged 22.5 PPG (47% FG), 6.3 RPG and 4.9 APG in the Lakers' first championship season, shooting the ball 17.9 times per game.

 

He averaged 28.5 PPG (46% FG), 5.9 RPG, and 5.0 APG in the second championship season, shooting the ball 22.2 times per game.

 

He put up 25.5 PPG (47% FG), 5.5 RPG, and 5.5 APG in the third, shooting the ball 20.0 times per game.

 

What "sidekick" puts up those kind of numbers?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dont forget all the game winners, and clutch shots down the stretch B. Remember what happened every time Shaq had to go to the bench late in the game? Notice how you dont see any Shaq game winners from the 3 peat days on youtube. While Shaq was a great scorer you really couldnt count on him in the 4th, because of his free throw shooting. He also got in foul trouble quite a bit which Kobe had to bail us out, remember that Finals game in Indiana where Kobe took over and made the game winner. So you better not call him a "sidekick."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Owner

I actually went back and tried to find a "sidekick" that averaged those types of numbers, and I couldn't find one.

 

Pippen didn't even shoot the ball over 17 times a game with Jordan in the lineup. He didn't average over 21 points, either.

 

Even more interesting is the fact that Kobe actually took more shots per game than O'Neal in two of those championship seasons, and in that second season, he averaged just as many points (take 0.2 points off) as O'Neal, as his "sidekick" that championship season.

 

While Bryant wasn't the best player every single year from 2000-2009, he was #1 OR #2 from 2000-2003, and he was #1 from 2004-2009. That, alone, should be convincing enough (along with the stats) to stick him into the discussion, and ahead of everyone else, as player of the decade.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To chime in, don't forget what Kobe did during the 2008 Summer Olympics, and during the gold medal game. He took the game over and sealed the deal for Team USA.

 

Also, no other player has gone from one extreme to another. The rape allegations, the trial, the years after Shaq left and then finally redemption. I don't think there's as storied a player like Kobe out there in the past ten years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...