ESPN Page 2 Writer thinks

[CantTouchThis 23]

You know, it is possible for someone to be "better" than Jordan. To say there will never be someone better really can't be said. How can anyone say that?

 

I didn't say no one would ever be better than him, i am saying Kobe isn't, and more than likely never will be(unless he keeps up this pace and wins about 2-3 more championships for the rest of his career) as good as MJ. Also, as of right now, i would rank MJ #1 as the all time best player. Obviously, i think Bron' has a great chance to be as good as MJ, if he starts to get players around them, he will be very dangerous.

[itsbigmoni 1]

John Hollinger at ESPN has a thing called TSP or TS% or True Shooting Percentage. Its basically points per shot. The number is pretty high actually for good players. I think Dirk is at 60% this year and kobe is at like 58%. I'm not sure if he goes back and applies it to Jordan though.

[BMoney 0]

this was just a ploy by a new writer to SHOCK people and get her name out there..

 

and its working....

 

 

no one under 20 years old thinks jordan is better than kobe because they never saw the young womanizing jordan..

 

i HATE hoops and even i watched mj and dominique....

 

spare me the crap about kobe playing D...he fires it up until he gets 50..big deal...the minute anyone tries to play D on him, he thorws vicious elbows...

 

so besides that..he usually faces no D...

 

he is still shaqs b1otch...

 

I didn't say no one would ever be better than him, i am saying Kobe isn't, and more than likely never will be(unless he keeps up this pace and wins about 2-3 more championships for the rest of his career) as good as MJ. Also, as of right now, i would rank MJ #1 as the all time best player. Obviously, i think Bron' has a great chance to be as good as MJ, if he starts to get players around them, he will be very dangerous.

 

 

i agreed with u until the lebron part..

 

i have every reason to like lebron..he seems like a good kid..but hes overrated...he rarely finishes..and his playoff history is pretty lame...

 

hes no arenas...and with his hype..he should be...

[Vince44 208]

Do you think shaq would even have sniffed the finals without Kobe???? Shaq wouldn't have made it past the first round of the playoffs.

 

I can no longer sit back and let this annoying moron go unchallenged anymore. I know you say your a Spurs fan but all of your posts reak of Kobe lover who hates Shaq cause ANY time there is a topic on this board about Kobe Bryant you go off on a long tired rant about Shaq. I want you to read this and offer a comeback...let's see what you are made of cause based on your posts...not a lot.

 

The Lakers were 41-12 from 96-04 when Shaq played and Kobe had a DNP. This is a .733 winning percentage when Kobe was out and Shaq was the lone superstar. Shaq and Kobe were both DNP around 10 times those 8 years with the majority coming in the 03-04 season. What now punk? The Lakers were 25-7 from 00-02 in the 3 NBA title years when Shaq played and Kobe had a DNP. The following year when Shaq missed the 1st 12 games of the 02-03 season they started 3-9.

 

I dare you to go look it up big mouth and then come back to me and tell me Shaq wasn't the MVP of those teams. Shaq was the MVP of all those teams and it's common knowledge to everyone but you Kobe homers who are by far the most annoying fockers to ever breath air. Teams results are what matter. Individual talent is for talk. I am telling you these numbers are legit as I've dealt with your kind before. The stats were all counted up after the 04 Finals and I copied them and doubled checked and they are REAL.

 

Shaq has NEVER been on a losing team since his career began 15 years ago. You fool. Shaq has been to the Finals pre and post Kobe. Do your homework. Shaq has won 11 playoff series without Kobe. Can't get out of the 1st round huh? Shaq teams almost always play till June in either the Conference or NBA Finals. Shaq went to the Magic in 92 they improved by 20 games. Shaq went to Miami they improved by 17 games and had their best playoff run ever in 05. Shaq was the MVP and leader of Three Lakers Championship teams so obviously he did amazing things for them. Shaq has won with the likes Brian Hill, Del Harris, and Stan Van Gundy.

 

Shaq has won without Kobe and Phil. Phil has won without Shaq and Kobe. Kobe hasn't won a focking thing...not even a single playoff series...without Phil or Shaq. The one year he had a chance to prove himself as a leader he only won 34 games and that team had more talent with Odom AND Butler. Phil is the reason for the Lakers even being 5-10 games over .500 the past two years. The facts are if Phil didn't come back and save Kobe after 04-05 then that team would still be out of the playoffs and wouldn't have the honor of finishing 6th/7th every year to go home so early. The facts are neither Shaq or Phil have anything to prove. But you do and so does Kobe.

[Riddlen 1]

who wrtoe this ESPN is blocked at work...

[KSB2424 3,174]

I can no longer sit back and let this annoying moron go unchallenged anymore. I know you say your a Spurs fan but all of your posts reak of Kobe lover who hates Shaq cause ANY time there is a topic on this board about Kobe Bryant you go off on a long tired rant about Shaq. I want you to read this and offer a comeback...let's see what you are made of cause based on your posts...not a lot.

 

The Lakers were 41-12 from 96-04 when Shaq played and Kobe had a DNP. This is a .733 winning percentage when Kobe was out and Shaq was the lone superstar. Shaq and Kobe were both DNP around 10 times those 8 years with the majority coming in the 03-04 season. What now punk? The Lakers were 26-6 from 00-02 in the 3 NBA title years when Shaq played and Kobe had a DNP. The following year when Shaq missed the 1st 12 games of the 02-03 season they started 3-9.

 

I dare you to go look it up big mouth and then come back to me and tell me Shaq wasn't the MVP of those teams. Shaq was the MVP of all those teams and it's common knowledge to everyone but you Kobe homers who are by far the most annoying fockers to ever breath air. Teams results are what matter. Individual talent is for talk. I am telling you these numbers are legit as I've dealt with your kind before. The stats were all counted up after the 04 Finals and I copied them and doubled checked and they are REAL.

 

Shaq has NEVER been on a losing team since his career began 15 years ago. You fool. Shaq has been to the Finals pre and post Kobe. Do your homework. Shaq has won 11 playoff series without Kobe. Can't get out of the 1st round huh? Shaq teams almost always play till June in either the Conference or NBA Finals. Shaq went to the Magic in 92 they improved by 20 games. Shaq went to Miami they improved by 17 games and had their best playoff run ever in 05. Shaq was the MVP and leader of Three Lakers Championship teams so obviously he did amazing things for them. Shaq has won with the likes Brian Hill, Del Harris, and Stan Van Gundy.

 

Shaq has won without Kobe and Phil. Phil has won without Shaq and Kobe. Kobe hasn't won a focking thing...not even a single playoff series...without Phil or Shaq. The one year he had a chance to prove himself as a leader he only won 34 games and that team had more talent with Odom AND Butler. Phil is the reason for the Lakers even being 5-10 games over .500 the past two years. The facts are if Phil didn't come back and save Kobe after 04-05 then that team would still be out of the playoffs and wouldn't have the honor of finishing 6th/7th every year to go home so early. The facts are neither Shaq or Phil have anything to prove. But you do and so does Kobe.

 

BOOM..... goes the dynamite!

 

 

 

who wrtoe this ESPN is blocked at work...

 

Jemele Hill

[IN$TANT REPAY 11]

I'm a big Jordan fan. I have watched countless videos of Jordan. Apparently Kobe has too. Every move Kobe makes is exactly a Jordan move. The post up, lean backwards to create space for the turn around jumper, is vintage Jordan. Look at his jumper it is Jordan. I always said Kobe is the next Jordan. We all heard that phrase before, especially with Harold Miner. But, Kobe is the only one who actually was and is believable. He is not better than Jordan however. He is not as graceful and smooth on the court. He is a great emulator of Jordan's moves but he will never be better.

 

you forgot about kobe letting his tongue hang out of his mouth like jordan did and even doing the "jordan-like walk" when heading to the bench or the opposite side of the court.

 

 

[DBZFan2K 0]

I would take Michael Jordan in his prime over any basketball player that ever lived in any era without hesitation. Kobe Bryant is certainly the closest thing to Jordan there is, but he's not Jordan's equal, nevermind being better.

[KSB2424 3,174]

Bill Simmons response to the ridiculous assertion that Kobe is better than MJ.

 

A. Kobe's scoring took off only after they changed the hand-checking rules and made it impossible for anyone to play defense. That's why Kobe scored 50-plus points in four straight games, that's why Steve Nash has a chance to win three straight MVPs, and that's why guys routinely score 50-60 points these days. If the 1987-93 MJ played in the current era, he would have obliterated every non-Wilt scoring record there was. That had to be mentioned.

 

B. MJ played in the most competitive era in the history of the league (1987-93) and emerged with three titles from 1991-93. Jemele argued that Kobe's current competition is tougher than the teams from 1991-93, which is just plain wrong. There's no comparison. The league sucks right now. Back in the early '90s, you had Magic's Lakers, Drexler's Blazers, Riley's Knicks, Isiah's Pistons, Price's Cavs, Hakeem's Rockets, Robinson's Spurs, Malone's Jazz, the TMC trio in Golden State, some underrated Celtics teams (they averaged 52 wins a year during Reggie Lewis' prime), some great Suns teams (including a 62-win team in 1992-93 with Barkley) and a Sonics team that was just taking off with GP and Kemp. It was a top-heavy league back then, unlike now, when 80 percent of the teams are mediocre and there are only four good teams (Dallas, Phoenix, San Antonio and Detroit).

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/blog/index?name=simmons

 

[The Moz 71]

KObe is a better athlete than Jordan , even IMO has a better attitude than Jordan ( Jordan wasn't a really liked Teamate either - was a d!ck to everyone on the entire team - just he was MIcheal so players just took it ) , Jordan was a better passer and had a better player with him. Pippen in his era was the third best player in the NBA ! ONly Hakeem was better ( not counting Jordan of course ) . IMO Pippen was a better player than Shaq in his prime.

 

As for comparing the 2 - If it was a game of 1-1 I would take Kobe over Micheal - a team game I would take Micheal only becasue only becasue I KNOW he did it before.

 

Anyone that says OH Micheal made his teamates better -- of course he did ! he was getting double and tripple teamed and they were open - How many wide open shots/lay ups did Horace Grant , Paxon , Armtrong , Cartwright get ? ? KObe gets the same double / tripple team just Kobe only has Odom who couldn't hold Pippens jock and a bunch of misfits -- THEY GET FOCKING WIDE open shots they just can't connect on them !

 

In todays game as far as pure ath;ete goes Kobe is by far the greatest. Overall player I would take Lebron as he is better than Kobe on D and passing . Wade if healthy is right up there.

[KSB2424 3,174]

IMO Pippen was a better player than Shaq in his prime.

 

[The Moz 71]

 

 

Put Shaq on the Bulls right after Micheal retired - see if they would of stil made the conference finals !

[KSB2424 3,174]

Put Shaq on the Bulls right after Micheal retired - see if they would of stil made the conference finals !

 

Itsatip that the 94' Bulls lost in the second round of the playoffs. They never made it to the Eastern Conference Finals.

 

Some of ya'll need to get your focking facts straight.

[itsbigmoni 1]

I don't question all the facts you looked up nor the ones you presented. Yea, its a fact that shaq won a title without kobe. But umm, have you heard about that guy named dwyane wade aka finals MVP? Shaq also had penny back in the day. I'm not saying shaq didn't help those guys, because without him, those teams wouldn't have done anything. Shaq has always played with a top-tier SG. Kobe and Wade are probably the consensus two best SG right now. Penny, at the time, was top-5, maybe even a top-3 SG.

 

I'm not denying what shaq has meant to any team he is on. He's an all-time great center no doubt. Without him, the heat wouldn't have gone past the 2nd round. The laker dynasty wouldn't have sniffed a championship.

 

The reason i stick up for kobe is because everyone discredits his contributions to those teams. I'm a big time spurs fan like you mentioned. I HATED the lakers during their run. It all started when phil said they should put an asterik on the spurs 98 title. Then shaq didn't help matters by thinking he was gods gift to basketball fans. It pissed me off how the media loved to suck his cack and didn't give him sh1t for saying retarded ass things. Lately i've come to hate him less with all the po-po work he's been doin.

 

But yea, because im a spurs fan, i came to fear kobe. I remember one year in particular, i think it was the year or two before dereks .4 ridiculous shot. It seemed like EVERY game the spurs had the lead going into the fourth and i would get comfortable. But kobe would take those games over and they ended up winning the series. It tore me up seeing them lose their 4th qtr lead every game. I think the lakers won in 7 and in all 4 of their victories they were down (sometimes not much, even as little as 2, but some games it was like 8-12) at the start of the 4th qtr. I know shaq use to own d-rob because he dissed him when shaq was in high school and all that. But by the third game, i didn't care about shaq in the 4th. Only thing i was concerned about was Kobe killing.

 

I'm not denying shaq is an all-time great player nor the importance of him being on all those winning teams. But he deserves his fair share of criticism. If he hadn't been so lazy in the off-season they probably could've won more championship. If it didn't take a trade for him to actually come into camp in shape. If he wasn't just as much of a drama queen as kobe things could've came out better. If he didn't start demanding a PAY RAISE things could've turned out differently. The whole trade thing falls on Buss, Kobe, and Shaqs shoulders.

 

We can go on for days about this, but you're a kobe hater. I do stick up for kobe, because he gets way too much blame for things. Like what he said to the cops about shaq. He told that to the cops in confidence in the interrogation room. Isn't that sh1t confidential? Or the whole ring thing for his wife. He ordered it like 2 months before the whole thing blew up but it was a better story to say he bought that to apologize. People love to hate on him because they think he's pompus or whatever. And since he's not all cozy with the media, the media likes to give a bad portrayal of him.

 

Just like i hate it when people say phil isn't a great coach because he only coaches great players, i don't blame shaq for getting to play with premier SG's. But you can't deny the fact that he's been on great teams. So all those stats you threw out there aren't as shaq-centric as you make them seem.

 

Besides all that, you can not honestly say you think shaq would've won 3 rings if you replaced Kobe with someone like Cuttino Mobley or some avg SG.

[CantTouchThis 23]

IMO Pippen was a better player than Shaq in his prime.

 

 

that deserves 3 bigtime laughers, that is perhaps the most rediculous thing ever said about basketball ever, i mean, how could anyone seriously think that??? Pippen was a great player, but, w/o Jordan he would've been just another run of the mill top knotch SG/SF, kinda like say Rip Hamilton(not saying Rip is as good as him, just a comparison to eras)

 

Also, SHAQ makes the SGs. Don't you think it's funny that Shaq had the leagues best SG on every team he has been on??? That is not because he is lucky, that is because he makes players better, and really allows them to explode and become great players. Wade was an up and comer when Shaq came in, now, he is just gigantic. Same with Kobe, same with Penny.

[itsbigmoni 1]

that deserves 3 bigtime laughers, that is perhaps the most rediculous thing ever said about basketball ever, i mean, how could anyone seriously think that??? Pippen was a great player, but, w/o Jordan he would've been just another run of the mill top knotch SG/SF, kinda like say Rip Hamilton(not saying Rip is as good as him, just a comparison to eras)

 

I'd say more like a KG, but i get the point.

 

But yea, i think 99% of gm's would take a shaq in his prime over a scottie in his prime any day.

[t.j 35]

Also, SHAQ makes the SGs. Don't you think it's funny that Shaq had the leagues best SG on every team he has been on??? That is not because he is lucky, that is because he makes players better, and really allows them to explode and become great players. Wade was an up and comer when Shaq came in, now, he is just gigantic. Same with Kobe, same with Penny.

 

Wade nearly beat out Lebronfor Rookie of the Year without Shaq on his team yet. 18.0 pts, 5.6 ast, and 4.0 reb to LeBron's 20.9, 5.9, and 5.5, not too shabby without the Diesel. In year 2 LeBron posted 27.2/7.2/7.4 and Wade (with Shaq) posted 27.4/6.6/5.7 If you want to give Shaq credit for the fact that Wade improved by 3 ppg more than LeBron did from rookie year to second year, that's fine. But to say Shaq made Wade is ridiculous.

 

Kobe was 4th in the league in MVP voting last year, Shaq helped him win (as any great player would) but he didn't make him.

 

Penny's career was primarily derailed by injuries. Shaq's last year in Orlando was 95-96, and Penny didn't have another season where played more than 60 games until 01-02.

[Strike 6,023]

 

 

Also, SHAQ makes the SGs. Don't you think it's funny that Shaq had the leagues best SG on every team he has been on??? That is not because he is lucky, that is because he makes players better, and really allows them to explode and become great players. Wade was an up and comer when Shaq came in, now, he is just gigantic. Same with Kobe, same with Penny.

 

If Shaq had the best SG on every team he's ever been on you're saying Wade > Kobe. Am I reading you correctly?

[Team Revell 1]

People always get it wrong. Everyone agrees that Shaq is way way past his prime. Everyone and their mother has a mancrush on Wade and calls him the MVP of not only his team but also the league.

 

This season both players have missed significant time.

 

The Miami Heat record without Shaq.... 18-22

 

The Miami Heat record without Wade....12-5

[Foghorn Leghorn 0]

As someone that hated the Bulls with a passion in the 90s, I think there's a point that hasn't gotten nearly enough attention: Jordan's ability in the clutch. The guy was money. I don't know how many times I was cursing at the TV because time after time after time, in a tight game Jordan would sink someone. The guy just didn't miss. The ball was going to him - I knew it, the announcers knew it, the other team even knew it, and still couldn't stop him. And as soon as he got the ball, I had this sinking feeling in my stomach that sure enough was validated moments later. The guy was lethal.

 

I also hated/hate the Lakers (I grew up as a Celtics fan). Kobe has never given me that knot in my gut.

[Black59Razor 0]

you forgot about kobe letting his tongue hang out of his mouth like jordan did and even doing the "jordan-like walk" when heading to the bench or the opposite side of the court.

 

EXACTLY!!! And of course his interviews. The deep talk, and look away and then look down as if to really be listening to what the reporter is asking then the snappy one liner for the last question with a million dollar smile. It is almost laughable how much Kobe wants to ummmmmm "BE LIKE MIKE" Didn't he even have a flu-like symptoms game a few years ago? If not one will be coming.

[DrJ 0]

426-438? 12 teams? Was that the strike shortened season where they played only 72 games?

There were only eleven teams in the Eastern Conference in 87-88. Their cumulative record was 464-438, for a winning percentage of .514. Four teams won more than forty two games and two more won 42 games, thus six of eleven teams - 54% - finished at .500 or above.

 

Currently the Western Conference is 553-490 for a winning percentage of .531 and 8 of 15 teams - 53% - are below .500.

 

Yes, the winning percentage is higher, but marginally so. It's not quite the slam-dunk you make it out to be.

 

Also, the Bulls played in the Central Division which had a .561 winning percentage, with five of six teams finishing over .500. The Lakers Pacific Division has a cumulative winning percentage of .535 and three of the five teams are below .500.

 

Yeah, went back and readded and your numbers are correct. Not sure where my calculator went bad the first time.

 

Nontheless, an argument that says Jordan is clearly better because Kobe is only on pace to win 45 this year while Jordan won 50 in 87-88 is pretty flimsy.

 

The whole issue spiraled out of tard boy insisting that Jordan had no supporting cast during the title runs, a supporting cast that won 55 games and went deep into the playoffs without him. Since he can't argue against that point in any way, shape, or form tard boy has chosen to try and grab at any straw that he can.

[parrot 789]

Yeah, went back and readded and your numbers are correct. Not sure where my calculator went bad the first time.

 

You missed Indiana's wins I think.

[GobbleDog 1,010]

I don't know if he's technically better, but Kobe is a lot more fun to watch.

[KSB2424 3,174]

I don't know if he's technically better, but Kobe is a lot more fun to watch.

 

You're prolly one of those that is voting for Sanjaya too.