Dennis Rodman 5-time NBA Champion, greatest rebounder of the 90s and 2-time Defensive Player of the Year.
Kobe Bryant:
5-time NBA champion
2-time Finals MVP
Regular season MVP
12-time All-Star
8-time All-NBA first team
2-time second team
2-time third team
2-time NBA scoring champion
8-time All-NBA first defensive team
2-time All-NBA second defensive team
3-time All-Star game MVP
Yet, you have no problem hand-picking certain stats to fit your agenda. Yes, Kobe historically struggles in the Finals. However, he does not play poorly in all of them (40-43%). He shot 51% in 2002 Finals. Also, he has always played his best in the Western-conference Finals, which until recent years, was MORE of a challenge than playing the Eastern-conference champion in the Finals. Until the Celtics in '08, the only team worth mentioning in the East were the Pistons. Then in '08 it changed, with the East having a few powerhouses.
Regardless, even in the first three-peat, Kobe was instrumental in getting the Lakers to the Finals with his spectacular play in the WCF. And as of the last three years- yeah, Gasol is a huge help. I'm not going to diminish Gasol as a player, but the Lakers would not have even sniffed the Finals if it weren't for Kobe. The entire team, minus Fisher, Artest, and Kobe got so complacent at times, just not giving a **** because "Oh, we're the Lakers, we can just win the next game." Kobe had to put them on his back and carry them to the Finals for the majority of these past playoffs. In '09 against the Rockets- what a joke. That series shouldn't have gone past 5 games once Yao went out. But the rest of the team, aside from Kobe, Fisher, and Ariza got lazy and didn't put forth effort. They would lose a game, then miraculously win by 20 the next. It was painfully evident when watching them play, including Gasol, that they were not putting out. They just expect Kobe to bail them out.
There is a lot more to basketball than just scoring buckets. Defense, passing, leadership, rebounding, etc. In the entire playoffs, Kobe played great defense. He set the tone with it. He left everything he had on the floor, which you can't say for the others. In that 6-for-24 game 7, he also had 15 rebounds and great defense. Both teams were stinking up the floor scoring-wise. It isn't like it was just Kobe. All of them were rushing, playing stupidly, and couldn't hit the Atlantic Ocean from 2-feet away. What largely gets overlooked though, is how both teams were fighting, tooth and nail, and playing great defense on one-another. There were a lot no-calls going on, especially in the first half, which is fine because it let's them play and that's how a game 7 should be played IMO, but it certainly helps to explain the poor play by ALL of the players.
Yes, post-Shaq/pre-Gasol, the Lakers never made it out of the first round. If you are trying to blame that **** on Kobe, what a joke. He was playing in the Western Conference, not the East, where you could (and still can) be sub .500 and make the playoffs. Should they have won the series against Phx? Of course, you have a 3-1 lead. However, they had no business having that lead in the first place. Phx was one of the hottest teams for a stretch of seasons, and should have swept those Lakers. Smush Parker as your starting PG and Kwame Brown as your starting C? Loooooooool. The same Smush who got ran out of the league for sucking horribly? Yeah, give me a break. In game 7, Kwame got fed at least 8 times in the first-half alone, right by the basket, where he bricked every one of those. Kobe had 23 points in the first half and the Lakers were still down, what, 20? He shot 3 times in the second half, yes. He realized that they weren't going to come back or win with him scoring all the points and taking all the shots. He tried getting the team more involved and they simply failed him. Kobe didn't have **** from '05-'07 to work with. The Lakers at the time weren't doing anything to get him a squad to build around him.
As for the current Gasol-era. Gasol is a great player (top-10/15 or so in the league right now). He was a good player before coming to the Lakers, but he also has the benefit of playing alongside Kobe. Kobe can penetrate and have the defense collapse on him, and bam, there he finds Gasol for the easy bucket. Gasol, Odom, and Bynum get countless easy buckets from Kobe's double-team attracting moves and play, especially Bynum. Gasol/Odom set him up a lot as well for the most easy baskets of anybody on the team. In '08 Gasol was still soft and scared. He got punked by the C's frontline. I like him, but please, let's not act like Gasol led the Lakers to the championship. He was instrumental, of course, in making that happen. He can run the floor, pass, shoot the mid-range, spin and hook with either hand, and dribble well for a big guy. He is one of the most versatile big men, if not the most, in the NBA right now. He has worked on his defensive intensity and definitely isn't the soft guy he was in the '08 Finals.
Kobe is a top-10 (lower, around 9-10) GOAT basketball players. How is that not a standard of excellence? He has great work ethic and does everything he can to win the game. Prior to last season, he worked with Hakeem Olajuwon on his post game to add more to his arsenal. His athleticism has gone down noticeably since '07, but he constantly looks for ways to improve so he can stay at the top of the game. He embraces competition and a challenge, not backing down from it. There is no way you would see him attempt an under-the-legs dunk in a game, much less a playoff game, much less a finals game, ESPECIALLY while down on the scoreboard. This the same guy, who when they are down, won't throw down dunks and just lays it in on a fast-break because he wants to make sure he scores.
