In the NBA Superhumans article from a week back I mentioned that Kobe Bryant’s success as a mere mortal would be the topic of an upcoming article. I was under the impression that Kobe as a normal human was possibly underrated. Unfortunately when I went to come up with the reasons I found the scales tipping much more heavily in the opposite direction. So here you have it Kobe Bean Bryant is actually overrated.
Another needless super hero comparison.
Since the article that originally brought this about was a comparison of superhuman players with popular super heroes. It seems only fitting that the first thing to do is compare a very human Kobe to a very human super hero. So Kobe Bryant is Batman.
Now I’ll admit that I didn’t grow up in the comic book era so I don’t know exactly how true to form the movies are, but Kobe Bryant is the Christian Bale Batman. It’s clear to see that he is at his best when he is the main man and he’s got clearly subordinate sidekicks, but just like Bale’s Batman surrounding him with other highly talented heroes doesn’t make for a better collective in the way you think it would because he’s still going to do his own thing.1
Great vs Dominant
Kobe’s greatest strength is also his greatest weakness. For all of his great moments peak for peak Kobe never dominated the game the way Shaq or MJ did, or even the way LeBron is right now. While Kobe’s peak wasn’t quite on the level of those other guys he’s continued to play at an extremely high level longer than any of them had. There is something to be said for that kind of longevity. 2
Unfortunately for Kobe longevity doesn’t totally make up for never having a dominant era as the best player in the NBA. 3 In fact when I looked at the stats Kobe barely had any years as the best player in the league.4 I went through each season that Kobe has been in the league listing the best player(s) for that year.
1996-98: MJ 5
1999 – 2003: Shaquille O’Neal
2003 – 2005: Shaq, KG, Duncan in some order. 6
2005 – 2006: This is the 1st time can make an argument for Kobe as the best player. It was very close between Kobe, Dwade, and Dirk, but Dwyane Wade’s all-time great finals performance seals it.
2006-2007: Wade continues to be the best player until his injury and then it’s probably Dirk. Actually on second thought, chalk this one up for KB24.
2007 – 2008: As the MVP Kobe makes a case for himself as the best player, but I still would have taken LeBron 7
2009- Present King James reign as the best player on the planet with no (logical) argument to the contrary begins.
So even with the most generous, but still logical, tally Kobe has been the best player in the NBA for three of the seventeen seasons he’s been in the league, none of which was a year that he won the Championship. Kobe’s lack of an “era” should be a mark against him that being very good for a long time can’t make up for.
Knowing what we know now the question becomes why do so many people have Kobe ranked so highly? I have a few theories about that, but seeing as this post is quickly approaching quadruple digit word territory I’m going to save those theories and turn them into Part two Ranking Kobe. Where we will also figure out where Kobe will ultimately rank.
