Kobe Bryant says no rivals in career

[LamarOdom]

Many of the guys you mentioned had SHORT-LIVED primes and played in the EAST, which Kobe saw just 2 times a year. He literally has played against the top tier guards of his time just 17% of his career, and actually did a little better against them than against the average guys...

Matchups get WAY OVERBLOWN sometimes.

Two games is pretty much take any other sport except Hockey and Baseball and two games against each team is alot.

[bwink23]

It's not his fault that they played in the opposite conferences. In the end, like he said, he has outgrown them all. Plus, I believe Ginobili has been the third best SG in the 2000's, behind Kobe and AI, and Kobe faced him several times and got the best of him.

Oh Kobe is better than all those guys...people act like Kobe is matched and guarding top tier 2-guards every game, and that is far from the case...many times he's not guarding them at all.

[lilgodfather1]

Kobe's closest rival is Shaq lol. He never has had a rivalry. Kobe and LeBron see eachother twice a year, never met in the playoffs, same with Wade, same with all of the other SG's. He never did have a rival simply because he played in the weak West for his entire career.

[bwink23]

Two games is pretty much take any other sport except Hockey and Baseball and two games against each team is alot.

2 games is not alot....like i said, he played against those guys 17% of his career...and their presence on the court did little to nothing that effected his play....the 2-guard competition argument is a very WEAK one.

[longtime lurker]

Oh Kobe is better than all those guys...people act like Kobe is matched and guarding top tier 2-guards every game, and that is far from the case...many times he's not guarding them at all.

WTF are you talking about?

[bwink23]

It's not his fault that they played in the opposite conferences. In the end, like he said, he has outgrown them all. Plus, I believe Ginobili has been the third best SG in the 2000's, behind Kobe and AI, and Kobe faced him several times and got the best of him.

And yet Kobe didn't see a rivalry there despite being on the Spurs??

Apparently he doesn't see it the same way you do.

[pegasus]

And yet Kobe didn't see a rivalry there despite being on the Spurs??

Apparently he doesn't see it the same way you do.

I didn't say it was really a rivalry. He is/was a great SG, but Kobe is/was much better.

[bleedinpurpleTwo]

And yet Kobe didn't see a rivalry there despite being on the Spurs??

Apparently he doesn't see it the same way you do.

The problem with Manu/Spurs being a rivalry is that Kobe completely owned them... and Duncan was the man on that team anyway.

[bwink23]

I didn't say it was really a rivalry. He is/was a great SG, but Kobe is/was much better.

Manu isn't even close to Kobe Bryant, which is why he probably didn't see anything there.

[SilkkTheShocker]

I mean he has a point, who was his rival? Everyone that he got compared with either fell off or just wasn't on his level. As much as ESPN tries to pump up the Kobe/Lebron thing, they never really had any animosity (sp?) towards each other. And like Kobe mentioned, he was already a 7 year vet by the time Wade came in the league.

[get these NETS]

lot of the hunger and desire for pro athletes come from them dedicating themselves to improving their living conditions


one of the knocks against athletes that aren't from these backgrounds is that they don't have the motivation and focus to live up to their potentials

people said grant hill and david robinson lacked those motivational tools


kobe is from an affluent background and is more driven, hungrier and has more focus than any of the guys who came up the hard way.
kobe is just an incredibly driven guy..flaws and all ,selfishness...ballhogging..

dude is just a competitor...he goes after it...

[JellyBean]

Kobe is the man. The dude is too cool.

[bwink23]

The problem with Manu/Spurs being a rivalry is that Kobe completely owned them... and Duncan was the man on that team anyway.

Kobe in 29 games that featured Manu, including games where Manu hardly played and games where he wasn't in his prime, against the Spurs:


26.2ppg on 23.6 FG's, 29.4% from 3, 4.1 assists, 6.3 rebs, 42% from the Field..

Compared to how he CAN play, i don't see those numbers as "completely owning" them, that's just my take....



I forgot this....the Spurs were 19-10 in those games.

[Dizzle-2k7]

elementary school




kobe with the nas-like subliminal shot

[SilkkTheShocker]

T-Mac should'v been that guy. Sad to think about it really.

Not really, Tmac was always a loser.