Is Kobe the 2nd most marketable NBA player ever behind Jordan?

[Jasper]

that rapey thingy kind of ruined it.

Nailed it.

I never cared for Kobe , because IMO he is the ultimate ball hog... BUT
He could easily became equal to Bird , Majic and Jordan in the league in regards to carrying the league as well as marketable

Took over 6 years for officials to stop ignoring fouls on Kobe that weren't called because the league hated him for his rape ....

It cost Kobe millions not only paying her off , but sponsors dropping him like he had shit stuck to his face.

NO WAY IS HE 2nd MARKETABLE player to the NBA or for that matter 2nd most personal revenue in BBall history.

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Because of salaries starting with Majic and Bird and Jordan pushing the evelope ... it is really current 20 years are the players even in the discussion.

If the same kind of money was to be had in the 80's Kareem would of been the most marketable player ever , because of all the UCLA and NBA titles the guy carried.

Iverson most definitely is top 3-4..... he was the under-dog mobster gangster cred player of all time , and fans flocked to his persona ....

[livingby3's]

This is an excellent question!

Here in the plains of Mozambique, we have a saying, "You must be living under a rock if you haven't heard of the great Kobe Bryant." To tell you the truth, my god-parent Idowu actually does live under a rock, and even he has heard of Kobe Bryant! Hahahahahahahahaha!



Here I am jumping for joy in my brand new Kobe 2 Moon shoes. Quite an attractive shoe, wouldn't you say? My entourage certainly concurs!

Warmest regards,

Ayotunde Ndiaye

definitely a weak era of gimmicks

[Rubio2Gasol]

I think the rape thing hurts him in this category. He lost out on being the poster boy of the NBA in his prime because of that alone.

[SilkkTheShocker]

This thread is really stupid. Kobe's rape case cost him that chance awhile ago. Not to mention how Kobe was a sidekick for a huge chunk of his career.

[Dragonyeuw]

I think the rape thing hurts him in this category. He lost out on being the poster boy of the NBA in his prime because of that alone.

Question is, without the rape charge, would he have still been the poster boy with Lebron around? It's evident that Kobe was becoming 'the face of the league' and the 'air apparent' back in 2003 right before the Denver incident. Lebron's arrival later that year was very timely in terms of the league needing a new marketable star.

[dh144498]

This is an excellent question!

Here in the plains of Mozambique, we have a saying, "You must be living under a rock if you haven't heard of the great Kobe Bryant." To tell you the truth, my god-parent Idowu actually does live under a rock, and even he has heard of Kobe Bryant! Hahahahahahahahaha!



Here I am jumping for joy in my brand new Kobe 2 Moon shoes. Quite an attractive shoe, wouldn't you say? My entourage certainly concurs!

Warmest regards,

Ayotunde Ndiaye

dafuq did I just read?

[SilkkTheShocker]

Question is, without the rape charge, would he have still been the poster boy with Lebron around? It's evident that Kobe was becoming 'the face of the league' and the 'air apparent' back in 2003 right before the Denver incident. Lebron's arrival later that year was very timely in terms of the league needing a new marketable star.

I don't think there is a time where could have ever been the face of the league. And its simple. A large number of people simply never liked Kobe. For all the fans Kobe has, there have always been a large number of people that didn't like him. They thought he was a ballhog and didn't like him feuding with Shaq. The rape case was the final nail in the coffin. Don't get me wrong, he definitely had the potential. I will stand up for him though. Because I honestly believe that if Jordan played in the era of internet, he wouldn't be as liked as he is now.

[SilkkTheShocker]

I think what makes someone like Kobe marketable to the average person is that in terms of NBA players, he's not blessed with physical gifts like a Lebron or Shaq which is pretty much god given genetics. Kobe was/is a great athlete but he's mostly a product of incredible skill and fundamentals, things which are at least *realistically* achievable to someone who wants to put in the work( of course you have to have a certain amount of natural talent as well).

This is absolute revisionist history. Kobe was an athletic freak. Was he on Shaq or LeBron's department in that department? No, but few have ever been. Some of you act like he was Paul Pierce. The guy can still get up there now. And Kobe's fundamentals are very overrated. He still doesn't understand the concept of team basketball.

[dh144498]

I don't think there is a time where could have ever been the face of the league. And its simple. A large number of people simply never liked Kobe. For all the fans Kobe has, there have always been a large number of people that didn't like him. They thought he was a ballhog and didn't like him feuding with Shaq. The rape case was the final nail in the coffin. Don't get me wrong, he definitely had the potential. I will stand up for him though. Because I honestly believe that if Jordan played in the era of internet, he wouldn't be as liked as he is now.

This is absolute revisionist history. Kobe was an athletic freak. Was he on Shaq or LeBron's department in that department? No, but few have ever been. Some of you act like he was Paul Pierce. The guy can still get up there now. And Kobe's fundamentals are very overrated. He still doesn't understand the concept of team basketball.

[SilkkTheShocker]

I don't see how either of those statement's are wrong. Kobe being the face of the NBA was questionable before the rape case even happened. How can you market someone as the face of the NBA when half of the fans don't like you?

[Rubio2Gasol]

Question is, without the rape charge, would he have still been the poster boy with Lebron around? It's evident that Kobe was becoming 'the face of the league' and the 'air apparent' back in 2003 right before the Denver incident. Lebron's arrival later that year was very timely in terms of the league needing a new marketable star.

Oh , without a doubt.

People sometimes don't understand the vibe around young Kobe - This kid was raw - played the game as naturally as you will ever see. quick reads, picking apart teams, footwork we'd never seen before. I know I personally was very excited.

[Dragonyeuw]

This is absolute revisionist history. Kobe was an athletic freak. Was he on Shaq or LeBron's department in that department? No, but few have ever been.

I wouldn't go as far as to call him an athletic freak. Dr.J was an athletic freak for his time. Jordan was one, Dominique was one, Vince was one, Lebron is one, Orlando Shaq was one, Young Iverson (I'm missing a few names, but you get the idea). I don't consider Kobe on those guys athletic level so no, to me he's not an athletic freak. Is he a great athlete? Obviously. Either way it's a subjective opinion so not sure it's one worth debating about and it's certainly not revisionist history. I just don't look at Kobe as being some genetic freak and I recall his early days very well.

[cavsfanatic]

Jordan didn't have physical gifts? Jordan was clearly a more explosive athlete in his prime compared to Kobe. Not to forget he had hands as big and in some cases bigger than centers, which allowed him a degree of in-air ball control that Kobe never had, which aided all those creative finishes around the basket. Hell, youtube Phil Jackson comparing the two and he'll mention how Jordan physically was capable of doing things Kobe couldn't, and specifically mentioned his hands.

you said physical so I thought you meant body size. I was comparing Kobe's size to Jordan's. Kobe is one of the best athlete's I've seen along with Jordan.

If Kobe would have showed his personality more maybe he'd have more marketability. Lebron having that silly gene helped him in terms of marketability along with Shaq.

[TonyMontana]

I think what makes someone like Kobe marketable to the average person is that in terms of NBA players, he's not blessed with physical gifts like a Lebron or Shaq which is pretty much god given genetics. Kobe was/is a great athlete but he's mostly a product of incredible skill and fundamentals, things which are at least *realistically* achievable to someone who wants to put in the work( of course you have to have a certain amount of natural talent as well).

Kobes dad was an NBA player. You can't have better genetics for basketball than that. Dude was probably one of the best athletes to ever play the game when he was younger. Get that shit out of here.

[retaxis]

kobe doesn't 'own' china, China owns Kobe