Stephen A. goes off on Kobe's ranking.

[HOoopCityJones]

https://youtu.be/zUE6hmHWz5o

"You can't find 92 players on earth better than Kobe Bryant"

[dubeta]

Kobe's been protected by the media his entire career


This link is yet another example.

[catch24]

Skill/ability is another thing all-together.

There aren't 100 players "better" than Kobe per se, but at this point, there are MORE than a few dozen with greater impact. Probably a lot more.

Just being honest.

[JT123]

Skip totally owned Stephen A.

[Hey Yo]

Skip totally owned Stephen A.

They're both paid pretty well for being actors.

[HOoopCityJones]

Skill/ability is another thing all-together.

There aren't 100 players "better" than Kobe per se, but at this point, there are MORE than a few dozen with greater impact. Probably a lot more.

Just being honest.

That's obvious though. Kobe's no where near a Top 10 player in this league, but i'd argue if healthy he's like right outside that number.

Fact is, even old ass Timmy wasn't doing shit to better his Team last year, by himself.

It wasn't until Tony and Kawhi both got healthy again did they look like The spurs again.

But I bet Skip and some Duncan homers here or those same panelists would try to argue he's still their best player, it's simply because they like him more , Kobe's always been polarizing figure so it's easier to just tear down his name when he's playing on mediocre rosters , while his body fails him.

[Jameerthefear]

That's obvious though. Kobe's no where near a Top 10 player in this league, but i'd argue if healthy he's like right outside that number.

Fact is, even old ass Timmy wasn't doing shit to better his Team last year, by himself.

It wasn't until Tony and Kawhi both got healthy again did they look like The spurs again.

But I bet Skip and some Duncan homers here or those same panelists would try to argue he's still their best player, it's simply because they like him more , Kobe's always been polarizing figure so it's easier to just tear down his name when he's playing on mediocre rosters , while his body fails him.

[HOoopCityJones]

What were The Spurs record while Tony Parker and Kawhi were out pedo? I clearly said by himself.

Same circumstances as Kobe and Duncan looked old out there too.

[catch24]

That's obvious though. Kobe's no where near a Top 10 player in this league, but i'd argue if healthy he's like right outside that number.

Fact is, even old ass Timmy wasn't doing shit to better his Team last year, by himself.

It wasn't until Tony and Kawhi both got healthy again did they look like The spurs again.

But I bet Skip and some Duncan homers here or those same panelists would try to argue he's still their best player, it's simply because they like him more , Kobe's always been polarizing figure so it's easier to just tear down his name when he's playing on mediocre rosters , while his body fails him.

I feel you.

There's always been a double-standard with Kobe for whatever reason.

Like I said in another thread, he still has A LOT of game left. People scoff at this, but if you put Kobe on a contender, in any conference, he's immediately helping them on that end.

I see him averaging anywhere from 18-21ppg this season. Which is unbelievable for a guy in his 20th year.

[Levity]

i dont give a shit about rankings, not ESPN's, not ISH's. all i know is we should see a different Kobe this season. As long as russel stays healthy, we'll see kobe playing off the ball more than he ever has in his career. It's not going to be up to him to set up and offense (at least not entirely). so we'll all see just how effective he may or may not be this season, as a pure scorer for the lakers

[Naero]

I should have made an anticipatory thread to predict this exact reaction from him; it's that predictable. This has been a cyclic reaction from Stephen A. Smith ever since Kobe dropped out of the top-5-rankings, who is sensitive to how current rankings may sway perspective on a player's legacy.

[Rooster]

I feel you.

There's always been a double-standard with Kobe for whatever reason.

Like I said in another thread, he still has A LOT of game left. People scoff at this, but if you put Kobe on a contender, in any conference, he's immediately helping them on that end.

I see him averaging anywhere from 18-21ppg this season. Which is unbelievable for a guy in his 20th year.

Kobe just have to play like he did before he got injured and he should be able to help his team. I like the playmaker mode, like taking whatever the defense give him. And yeah I agree, Kobe always held highly regarded among his peers so there's always a double standard and that applies to all the great players. But as a Lakers fan, I can't complain and even though the Lakers have been mediocre in his last years, his era has been great. If DAngelo or whoever the next Laker superstar can do what he did or close to it then I'll be happy.

[HOoopCityJones]

I should have made an anticipatory thread to predict this exact reaction from him; it's that predictable. This has been a cyclic reaction from Stephen A. Smith ever since Kobe dropped out of the top-5-rankings, who is sensitive to how current rankings may sway perspective on a player's legacy.

@ ESPN stat fa9 rankings having impact on Kobe's legacy.

[JellyBean]

Kobe's been protected by the media his entire career


This link is yet another example.

[G-train]

I think we all know what happened here.

Of course he isn't top 30 anymore, but the 93 is just for headlines.

More to his impact than fg%.