Nobody will ever say..."Who is the next Kobe Bryant?"
Nobody will ever say..."Who is the next Kobe Bryant?"
Nobody will be the next Kobe not because he is so great its an impossibility, but rather because nobody cares enough to be looking for the next Kobe.
Kobe is great. An all-time great. His numbers speak for his talents. His longevity speaks for his determination and competitiveness. Kobe is a product of his obsessive need for perfection; his goal to become Michael Jordan. And to his credit, he is 90% there which is about 40% closer than any of the other "next Jordan" labels. But we've seen it before. And we have seen it done better. Michael Jordan is Kobe Bryant's basketball blueprint. The path that Kobe decided to take step by step, but we all know Jordan did it better (that is not debatable). There is nothing original about Kobe. Nothing new. Nothing we have never seen before. He's not an evolution of greatness before him. He simply sustained a perception of greatness which everyone yearned for when Jordan retired. So where does that leave Kobe's legacy. No Mount Rushmore, no staying power. He will be a number on the list of all time greats, likely top 10-15 of all time (now) and unlike the others, will likely slip as his retirement years grow long because Kobe's greatness is of imitation not transcendence.
15x All Star
10x All NBA 1st Team (3x 2nd Team, 2x 3rd team)
8x All NBA Defense (6x 2nd Team)
2x MVP (9x top 5 MVP voting)
3x Finals MVP (5 Championships)
Oh sorry. That was Tim Duncan's achievements. Here are Kobe's
17x All Star (4x All Star MVP)
11x All NBA 1st Team (2x 2nd Team, 2x 3rd team)
9x All NBA Defense (3x 2nd Team)
1x MVP (12x top 5 MVP voting)
2x Finals MVP (5 Championships)
3rd All Time in PTS (2x PPG Season Leader)
Is he even the best in the Post-Jordan generation? No he is not. There are others that are not only better, but original. Shaq, Duncan, Lebron.
Always talked about, is how Kobe came into the league at age 17. Rarely talked about is that he did not start until his 3rd year in the league. Unlike the likes of Lebron James who also came out of high school, Kobe didn’t go to the wasteland that is Cleveland or Minnesota (like Garnett the year before Kobe), he went to the mighty Lakers who just signed the pre-eminent center of his generation (Shaq), and had 3 all stars to learn from and compete against (Shaq, Van-Exel, and Eddie Jones) as he grew into his own. He was able to grow and develop without the pressures of every day #1 picks. This is not to discredit Kobe, but its a fact.
There is a lot to praise and admire about Kobe. He absolutely, 100%, maximized his individual god given ability, and I am not sure how many players in NBA history, if any, can truly say that. Nobody ever has to wonder what Kobe could have been individually, because he is every once of what he could have become individually. He is an all world athlete and talent, who through determination, will, and competitiveness became an All World Basketball Player individually, and to me that is what he will be remembered for. His work ethic. Mount Rushmore of work ethic. His work ethic is so legendary (though he got that obsession from Jordan as well), that this generation of greats have learned from him, and tried to emulate his work ethic.
As one NBA Legend fades into the history books and nostalgia, new legends are to be witnessed, in the mold of "we have never seen this before". Steph Curry is not comparable. He is literally the greatest shooter in the history of basketball and its not even close. He is light years ahead of his competition and it is translating to a complete team domination. The shots that Steph takes and makes would get even Kobe benched. His FG% is deflated by the difficulty of shots he takes and makes and its still at historic levels. His team is currently 18-0 with no signs of slowing down. The reigning MVP and Finals MVP (ok Iggy won it, but we all know it was Steph's trophy) is that "we have never seen this before". Yes he has to do it for a much longer time to be in the same breadth, but he is on pace. Lebron James is probably now at the peak of his greatness, and we have never seen anything like it. 5 straight NBA finals (likely 6 this year), and he is shattering all of Kobe's "Youngest to" lists. We had never seen a player so big and strong play with so much agility and thundering finesse. He is so great that people don't acknowledge his scoring prowess (he is 4th all time in Career PPG behind MJ, Wilt, and Baylor and has been top 5 in PPG in each of the last 11 years). When its all said and done, people will say, "who is the next Lebron?" or "who is the next Steph?" and like Jordan, Magic, Bird, Kareem, Wilt, Russell, and Shaq, the answer is likely going to be "so-and-so is the closest thing since." You know you have changed the game, when people are yearning for "the next you". That is the definition of transcendent player. Did he change the game? Did he change how people view the game? Is he the evolution of the game? Will he one day be the measuring stick of other greats? Kobe is an all timer, but he is none of those things.
Kobe deserves the praise and "retirement tour" he is about to get. The NBA owes him that. The Fans owe him that. He gave his heart and soul to his craft. He gave everything he had for 20 years. His number will go up in Staples Center and no Laker will wear 24 again, and rightfully so. He will be a 1st Ballot Hall Of Famer. But his "greatness" is not transcendent.
