I was never into the NBA when Kobe was in his prime. I got into the NBA around 2014-2015 when LeBron went back to the Cavaliers and the dominance of the Golden State Warriors which was during Kobe’s twilight years. So my view of Kobe is mainly at looking back at his career and I do not understand the hype. I can see how Kobe is a top 10/15 NBA players of all time but I do not see him being top 5. Honestly I have him barely into the top 10 at the 10 spot. So can someone explain to me Kobe’s greatness that should put him in the top 5 echelon? I am not trying to downplay Kobe or his achievements, I am genuinely asking.
He was an elite defender, 3 level scorer and one of the most driven competitors I’ve ever seen. He averaged 25 for a career when a chunk of his career came in arguably the slowest and most inefficient era ever. Hella scoring titles and countless clutch shots. One half of (imo) the greatest duo ever. He followed that up with back to back titles with a squad that was deep but wasn’t loaded with high end talent like other back to back squads we’ve seen (bad boy pistons, heatles, Kd warriors etc). Hé had a generation of kids yelling Kobe when they tossed a wadded up paper into the trash lol. He was also recognized as top dog by the rest of the 2008 redeem team which was loaded with hof’s. He not top 5 imo but for me, it’s hard to put him outside top 10.