5 Reasons Why Kobe Will Never Be the GOAT

Steven Resnick by Senior Writer Written on October 03, 2009
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EL SEGUNDO, CA - SEPTEMBER 29:  Kobe Bryant #24 of the Los Angeles Lakers during Lakers media day at the Lakers training facility on September 29, 2009 in El Segundo, California.  NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading a
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There's a recent slideshow that lists five reasons why when Kobe Bryant retires he will be the GOAT. If you haven't seen the slideshow it listed his toughness, work ethic, desire to win, basketball IQ, and talent.

By the time I read the slideshow there were 13 comments and 11 of them were in agreement. Well, I'm here to give you the five reasons why Kobe will never be considered the GOAT.

Ego

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Kobe has always had a high opinion of himself, not that it's a bad thing, but when it effects your team that's when it becomes a problem. The Lakers were on their way to having a dynasty, all Bryant had to do was be the sidekick. But Kobe didn't like that too much.

Most NBA fans know what happened Shaq was traded to Miami and Kobe got to be the number one option for the Lakers.

Cheap Shot Artist

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Let's not forget that Kobe has been suspended for hitting Mark Jaric in the face. Before that Jaric suspension Kobe was suspended for doing the same thing to Manu Ginobili.

He should have been suspended during the Houston series for the blatant elbow to the throat of Ron Artest. He did get suspended for two games for elbowing Mike Miller in the throat.

Shot Selection

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Kobe is a streaky shooter and has never really been consistent, which shows because his field goal percentage is nowhere near Michael Jordan's.

There have been plenty of times that I've watched Bryant play and he'll force a shot up and you just kind of scratch your head and you're left to wonder what was Bryant thinking? He has teammates, why doesn't he pass to them?

Attitude/ Not a Team Player

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Kobe has a major attitude problem and it has been reflected for years. Only till now has he softened a little bit in terms of his attitude and began to be more of a team player.

What does it say about Kobe that he ran Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson out of LA? Jackson has even stated that Kobe is "uncoachable".

Part of that attitude also goes hand and hand with Kobe not even being able to make his teammates better. You cannot name one teammate of Bryant's that he has helped develop.

Andrew Ungvari will tell you that Kobe made Smush Parker better. The reality is Kobe didn't make Parker better otherwise he'd still be in the league and of course scoring will go up when a player more than doubles their minutes played per game.

Playoff Stats

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When playoff time comes, that is when the elite players step up their games. Kobe has never done that in his career. Every single year his playoff numbers are worse than his regular season numbers.

Michael Jordan on the other hand posted numbers in playoffs which remained either, around the same or better than his regular season stats in those playoff years.

Bryant in his career so far has averaged 30 points in the playoffs four times.

Jordan on the otherhand has averaged over 40 points per game once, 11 times scored over 30 points per game, and only once was he below 30 points per game.

And in that playoff year, which was his first time making it he averaged 29.3 points per game.

In terms of assists Kobe has never averaged more than 6.1, Jordan had four trips to the playoffs with over that amount.

While Kobe's most rebounds per game were 7.3, compared to Jordan's best of 7.9 rebounds per game.

Meanwhile Bryant has been named MVP in one Final compared to Jordan's six.

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written on October 03, 2009 Opinion

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