Kobe's Low B-Ball IQ is being exposed badly now his athleticism's gone

[90sgoat]

Fact is that players who always shoot high jump shots don't age well. It's because they shoot too low an arch when they lose their jump. You saw it with MJ who had a very flat arch on Wizards and you saw it with Ray Allen who really didn't shoot well later on.

Don't know why Kobe is not able to understand this, he really should be self aware enough to take a step back if he wants to keep playing. On the other hand, no one really gives Duncan more credit for his role player ring nor do people remember Manu as a greater player for coming off the bench.

He should have retired after his achilles injury with his 2 rings fresh in memory. Go out on top.

[JT123]

Isn't it ironic?

The guy that's supposed to be the most skilled player ever and a basketball savant (albeit that's just according to his retarded stans) is actually not really that skilled and his decision making is WOAT level bad.

I never understood what peolple meant when they said Kobe is skilled. Why? He's always been an inconsistent shooter, his ball handling and passing isn't on LeBron's level, actually not even close. He does have good footwork in the post but he's a ****ing guard who can't shoot, so who cares?

Other than that, where are these skills that are supposed to make him an elite player even after his athleticism is no longer there?

I just see a dude who shoudn't have a job and that is stealing 25 million away from a franchise based on championships he was carried to when he was younger.

The Lakers are a ****ing mess and I love every second of it.

[Levity]

, or thinking he's the point guard after the team lured Nash.

cmon, if youre going to rewrite history, at least make sure there arent posters around that know exactly what happened.

Nash had the reigns to the team as early as the season opener against dallas. he played decent, but was still adjusting to his new team and a supposed good pnr big man in dwight, who was recovering from back surgery, and couldnt catch or roll to save his life. result, a shitty loss

game 2, against portland, nash started to look pretty good. developed a nice high pnr game with gasol, but by the 2nd quarter, took a knee to the shin from lillard and missed the next month (?)

upon his return, he just couldnt do much on the ball anymore. had trouble beating his man, even with a screen, and every other game, some sort of injury occured. during all this time, kobe still preached that nash should be the main ball handler for the team, in fact, he was exited about not having to initiate the offense (similar to quotes hes said about russel), but nashs body couldnt take that kind of game anymore. resulting in changing his role to an off ball player, which he was surprisingly good at (thanks to his terrific shooting) and kobe taking that facilitator role, that wowed fans and haters.

[IGOTGAME]

You can't become the kind of scorer Bryant became if you don't have a great understanding of the game. That's ridiculous. Bryant knew things like exactly where he needed to plant his feet on turn-around fadeaway to ensure that when he is spinning around and jumping backwards in the air he maximizes the chances that the shot goes in. Stuff that most players never really think about as to them the shots Bryant was mastering would just be bad shots that would get them benched by the coach. Bryant was and is a basketball genius, a fact that shouldn't have to be stated, it should be obvious.

The reasons why Bryant is struggling the way he's struggling are age and injury (should also be obvious). Please tell me which player in NBA history was not significantly worse than their peak self by the time they hit 37? And then you throw in the 2 or 3 season-ending injuries in a row. Every time an athlete suffers a major injury it changes the way a part of their body works. And it changes it for the worse. For a guy like Bryant that had finely-tuned skills that's catastrophic. And then you throw in the natural loss of athleticism that happens to a guy that's played 1,284 games so that now he can't explode past or leap over defenders the way he could when he was a dominant player and he's going to have a hard time scoring.

The ability to score like few players in the history of the game is the reason why Bryant made the NBA to begin with. To outside observers it may seem like it's simple: "You aren't a great player anymore, just be a spot-up shooter and defer to teammates." But if he had that kind of "reasonable" mentality he'd never have become the great player that he became. It's his nature, his basketball DNA. And as dumb as giving him that deal may have been, you don't pay a guy 25 mil per thinking he's going to be a roleplayer. It's not stupidity, it's nature.

Peyton Manning has fallen off greatly, but would anyone ever say he doesn't understand football? Of course not, it would be silly. Same principle applies.

End thread.

[oarabbus]

The reasons why Bryant is struggling the way he's struggling are age and injury (should also be obvious). Please tell me which player in NBA history was not significantly worse than their peak self by the time they hit 37? And then you throw in the 2 or 3 season-ending injuries in a row. Every time an athlete suffers a major injury it changes the way a part of their body works. And it changes it for the worse. For a guy like Bryant that had finely-tuned skills that's catastrophic. And then you throw in the natural loss of athleticism that happens to a guy that's played 1,284 games so that now he can't explode past or leap over defenders the way he could when he was a dominant player and he's going to have a hard time scoring.

Duncan 17/10

Paul Pierce (definitely worse, but still able to hit daggers and game winners in the playoffs)

Karl Malone (definitely a far cry from his peak, but still averaging 25/10)

Nash 12/10

KAJ (still was able to average 21/7)

Stockton (averaged 14/10)

Moses Malone 15/10

Pat Ewing 22/10

Hakeem 23/10

Shaq 17/8 (quite a drop, definitely)

Reggie 17ppg

Robert Parish (15/10)

Bird (0/0/0 - but at 36 he put up 20/10/7 )

Havlicek (17/5/5 on 45% and significantly less MPG than his peak)


Now sure some of those guys may have peaked significantly higher than the stats above when they were 37... but these guys were more than just SOLID, they were almost beasting at 37. compare to Kobe...

....



Kobe: 15/4 on 32% (small sample size, he may yet turn it around)


Obviously Kobe is a legend, and one of the most skilled players of all time unlike Troll OP is trying to say.

But to act like NOBODY is good at 37? Nope, all the other legends for the most part held up WAY better than Kobe.

[24-Inch_Chrome]

Nash was still an all-star at 37, scoring was low at 12.5 PPG but he was still shooting 53/39/89 and racking up 10.7 APG. He actually posted the highest eFG% of his career that year, 4th highest TS%.

[Real Men Wear Green]

Duncan 17/10

Paul Pierce (definitely worse, but still able to hit daggers and game winners in the playoffs)

Karl Malone (definitely a far cry from his peak, but still averaging 25/10)

KAJ (still was able to average 21/7)

Stockton (averaged 14/10)

Reggie 17ppg

Robert Parish (15/10)

Bird (0/0/0 - but at 36 he put up 20/10/7 )

Havlicek (17/5/5 on 45% and significantly less MPG than his peak)


Now sure some of those guys may have peaked significantly higher than the stats above when they were 37... but these guys were more than just SOLID, they were almost beasting at 37. compare to Kobe...

....



Kobe: 15/4 on 32%

So, all of the guys you listed other than Malone and maybe Parish had major decline. Throw in that Bryant had three consecutive seasons where his season was ended by an injury and I really don't see what you're expecting out of Bryant. Old players with a lot of injury decline. That's nature.

[catch24]

^I don't think any of those guys had the mileage Kobe had. Save for Kareem and possibly Malone. Not only that, but Kobe had 2 career-ending injuries.

I hope that Kobe can turn his play around, but dude just looks awful out there. I've also seen him adjust his "role" a number of times (first threepeat lakers, binge scoring in 2006-2007, all-around play in 2008, and playing PG in 2013), but his athleticism has totally faded. He has no lift and wears down FAST because of all the minutes he's played.

[HOoopCityJones]

So much disrespect for Kobe in his twilight.

Let's hope some of you are half as kind to Lebron.

[dubeta]

So much disrespect for Kobe in his twilight.

Let's hope some of you are half as kind to Lebron.

I doubt LeBron would still demand all the shots, demand max salary, demand all the attention, chuck bad shots, run every free agent out of town, b*tch to the media, talk smack to the younger players, stunt player development, hijack the offense, stop playing defense, give 0 effort, not accept a lesser role, and overall destroy team chemistry when he is 37


Noone is making fun of Kobe declining, the issue is that Kobe is literally cancerous to the Lakers right now, in ways no player in NBA History was ever.

[DaOldLion]

Duncan 17/10

Paul Pierce (definitely worse, but still able to hit daggers and game winners in the playoffs)

Karl Malone (definitely a far cry from his peak, but still averaging 25/10)

Nash 12/10

KAJ (still was able to average 21/7)

Stockton (averaged 14/10)

Moses Malone 15/10

Pat Ewing 22/10

Hakeem 23/10

Shaq 17/8 (quite a drop, definitely)

Reggie 17ppg

Robert Parish (15/10)

Bird (0/0/0 - but at 36 he put up 20/10/7 )

Havlicek (17/5/5 on 45% and significantly less MPG than his peak)


Now sure some of those guys may have peaked significantly higher than the stats above when they were 37... but these guys were more than just SOLID, they were almost beasting at 37. compare to Kobe...

....



Kobe: 15/4 on 32% (small sample size, he may yet turn it around)


Obviously Kobe is a legend, and one of the most skilled players of all time unlike Troll OP is trying to say.

But to act like NOBODY is good at 37? Nope, all the other legends for the most part held up WAY better than Kobe.

Shaq was averaging 12/7 at 37, Duncan was at 15/9, Hakeem was at 10/6, Ewing was at 15/10, Reggie was at 12 ppg..

why do you feel the need to lie so much?

[DaOldLion]

you lied about almost every single on of the stats

[DaOldLion]

Moses was averaging 5/4 at 37

[theoneneo]

I love Kobe, my favorite player ever(and I don't mean that in a troll way)

But he should have retired after the achilles tear. It would have been so fitting and legendary for a guy like him to go out like that, with the year the Lakers were having(I know the achilles tear sucked but just from a mythological perspective)

Tears his achilled carrying that team into the playoffs, retires with 5 rings, over 30k points, top 10 all time confirmed, all the sympathy boost he would ave gotten.

He's still capable of averaging 20, and I believe he will by seasons end but it won't matter at all. Hopefully the Lakers suck badly and get another top 3 pick(they got no other choice)

[dubeta]

I love Kobe, my favorite player ever(and I don't mean that in a troll way)

But he should have retired after the achilles tear. It would have been so fitting and legendary for a guy like him to go out like that, with the year the Lakers were having(I know the achilles tear sucked but just from a mythological perspective)

Tears his achilled carrying that team into the playoffs, retires with 5 rings, over 30k points, top 10 all time confirmed, all the sympathy boost he would ave gotten.

He's still capable of averaging 20, and I believe he will by seasons end but it won't matter at all. Hopefully the Lakers suck badly and get another top 3 pick(they got no other choice)

Lol sneaking into the playoffs with Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, Asrtest, Steve Nash would be a legendary ending?