Earlier in the year after watching Kobe Bryant drop 42 points on the Chicago Bulls in the “place that Mike built”, I could not help but think that he was a victim of the guy who won those 6 championships in Chi-Town. Having watched his late game heroics against Memphis in his first game back after being out of action for a few weeks, Kobe Bryant in any era of basketball could be mentioned as perhaps the greatest of all time. But we now must say “could have” and that’s because any player who plays after Michael Jordan will never get their just due. Just like we date things in history from BC to AD, we now need to start looking at basketball history the same way. There is the before Jordan era (BJ) and the after Jordan era (AJ). Depending on when you played will determine how fans can place you historically. I have said on numerous occasions as great a player Kobe Bryant is I can not put him in my top five as of yet. When I actually said that on my radio show was during last years NBA Finals that Kobe and the Lakers won in convincing fashion over Orlando. At the time I had Kobe ranked seven on my all time NBA player list. That’s right I had him trailing Jordan, Magic, Bird, Chamberlain, Russell, and Kareem. No one can argue that these guys at best can be mentioned with Kobe.
What keeps these players at the top of most NBA fan lists is that these guys played (BJ). Kobe is the lone victim who is playing (AJ). Sure LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Carmelo Anthony are great young players now, but they are not benefiting from playing in the Jordan era. Kobe is the last link to this greatness. He actually played against Jordan and had the torch passed to him directly. This helps his cause along with his great game to be mentioned along side the greats. All of the players that are on my list had one two special things in common. Dominance on the floor, and championships. At no time is Kobe the second best player on the floor. Never! He is at worst the second best player on a particular night if things are not going well.
Here lie the problems with me putting him ahead of these great players at this point in his career.
- He has benefited from a water downed league where he does not have a legitimate rival to his greatness. Until James and Wade came along there was no other player who had the burden Kobe has to carry Jordan’s torch. This may not seem fair to Kobe but that is the way it is.
- There has been only one “dynasty team” opposing Kobe’s Lakers during his entire career. That team is the San Antonio Spurs. All of the great players mentioned above had two and sometimes three “dynasty teams” that they had to conquer in order to win their championships. Magic and Kareem’s Lakers teams had to go through Boston and Detroit. Bird’s Celtics had to go through the Lakers, Detroit, and finally MJ’s Bulls. Michael Jordan’s Bulls had to go through Boston, Detroit, L.A., and to a lesser extent Utah who had a great team. Chamberlain and Russell had to go through each other and the Lakers when Wilt was playing in Philadelphia.
- Until last year when LeBron won the MVP there had not been a player or non-center to rival Kobe’s greatness. Tim Duncan and Shaquille O’Neal are the only players that could be mentioned with Kobe but the world would have liked a real rival from the non-center position.
Should Kobe win another championship which is highly probable I would have to put him in the top three trailing only Jordan and Russell? His career averages of 25.2 points per game, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.6 assist put him in this select category. More importantly he will have 5 NBA Rings to back that. That is where only the true greats can be mentioned because they dominated and won championships. Take nothing away from Kobe because he did not choose which era he was going to play in. He has been a true student of the game and has never shied away from greatness. When he plays the best players in the game you can see him take it upon himself to show those players that he is the “man”. This is what all of the games greats have done over time. They would rise to the occasion to show that they could not be equaled. At least in the (AJ) era Kobe is establishing the (KB) era. That’s not such a bad deal is it?
Lake Lewis is the President and CEO of the Sports Journey Broadcast Network.