The Kobe Bryant disrespect has got to stop
There's a fine line of knowledge and other blasphemous.
Recently, Kobe Bryant has been the subject of some outlandish disrespect and it's getting to the point where it's becoming extremely clear - those who has never touched a basketball nor played at a high level don't really know what they are saying. If you aren't caught up to all the hoopla, Kobe Bryant was recently ranked the 14th Greatest Player of All Time on Bleacher Report's All Time List. This is shortly after placing 12th All Time in ESPN's list and 5th All Time on SLAM Magazine's list. Really, SLAM is the one who got it almost correct (Kobe is 4th on my list).
On Bleacher Report's list, Kobe ranked behind the likes of Oscar Robertson, David Robinson, Stephen Curry, Larry Bird, Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan. Bird, Shaq, and Duncan you can make seperate arguments for being ahead of Kobe and they may be reasonable. But there is no way that the Big O, the Admiral and Steph are ahead of Kobe - particularly Steph.
This isn't to degrade the greatness of Stephen Curry at all. He singlehandedly revolutionized the game with his three point shooting and made this league a 3 point shooting league. Curry is a 2 time Most Valuable Player and a 3 time NBA Champion. However, those accolades don't really come close to those of Kobe Bryant. Kobe is a 15 time All NBA Selection to Curry's 6. Kobe has a landslide of All Defensive teams compared to Curry. 12 to 0. And here's a stat that I will always find so amazing:
*Kobe Bryant has more 40 point games than Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry combined.
*Kobe Bryant has more 50 point games than Kevin Durant and LeBron James combined.
*Kobe Bryant has more 60 point games than Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Michael Jordan combined.
Kobe Bryant's career stats has been deflated due to the context of his last 3 years playing on basically one foot. It dropped his FG% from 45.8% to 44.7% and dropped his 3P% from 34.3% to 32.9% (Yes I did the math of all the years before those final years).
To top all of this blasphemous nature towards Kobe Bryant, I have a complete list of former or current NBA players and legends who has said Kobe is a Top 5 Player or at least better than LeBron James:
Shaquille O'Neal
Michael Jordan
Larry Bird
Kevin Garnett
Nate Robinson
Charles Barkley
Kenny Smith
Kenyon Martin
Caron Butler
Matt Barnes
Chauncey Billups
Ron Artest
Tayshaun Prince
Tony Allen
Mikael Pietrus
Are we really gonna not listen to these players who played the game over some media outlets who has never touched a ball before? Like I said, the Kobe Bryant disrespect has got to stop.