Is Kobe Bryant in The Same Position Allen Iverson Was Two Years Ago?

 Remember the trade that changed the careers and lives of one of the greatest basketball players ever? The trade that sent Chauncey Billups to the Denver Nuggets for future Hall Of Famer Allen Iverson changed Iverson's career and life forever and he was never the same since. Iverson was unfairly treated by the Pistons organization and the rest of the GM's in the league this past off season when teams were passing on him because he was too much of a distraction since that trade Iverson lost respect as a person and worst of all as a player even in his second run with the Sixers he was put in a situation where he had to sacrifice for a bunch of scrubs when he should have been the go to guy. Allen Iverson messed up one way and that was by not keeping his guards up and letting this happened to him. His career was at a crossroads but he never knew and if there is one player that should have a learned a lesson from that it is Kobe Bryant.

Weather Kobe Bryant likes it or not his career is at a crossroads just like Allen Iverson's was two years ago. The media and the GM's and coaches are ready to call LeBron James the best player in the game and some even think Kevin Durant and Dwyane Wade are better. Bryant may have slowed down a bit like Iverson started to two years ago but he is still a top 3 player in the league and he better make sure it stays that way. Two years ago Allen Iverson was averaging an amazing 26.4 ppg and 7.1 apg while shooting 46% from the field for a 50 win Denver Nuggets team that also featured Carmelo Anthony who demanded a lot of shots and touches himself. Iverson lowered his shot attempts to 18 a game because he had to share the shine with Anthony.

Today Kobe Bryant is in that exact same position he is averaging around 27 ppg and getting a lot of shots and touches but he has to sacrifice even more because he is on a team that might win a championship this year and he has to share with Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Ron Artest and Andrew Bynum. Bryant has tried taking less than 18 shots but he usually has under 20 points in those games. When Bryant shoots over 20 shots the media bashes him like they did with Iverson and demand that he shares the ball with Pau Gasol and get him more shots. Bryant like Iverson is a volume scorer with legendary career numbers and those numbers take a hit when you don't get to play your way. Kobe may have lost half a step because the old Kobe Bryant would blow by his man get his 30 points and let Pau and Andrew do what they want the rest of the game but now Bryant needs minutes, shots and touches to get his 30 points. If Bryant doesn't win the championship this season the media and GM's of the league are going to officially give LeBron the title of best player in the league and slowly and slowly Bryant will turn into another face in the crowd. Sounds crazy right but if it can happened to a cultural icon like Allen Iverson than it can happened to anyone. That is why this season Bryant needs that championship more than ever because it will determine how the rest of his career turns out. 

Next season Bryant is going to be another year older and the media is going to start unfairly labeling him and when his team loses games they are going to say its Bryant's fault he is too old and he should be sharing the ball with the young guys and take less shots. This happened to Iverson and it is the reason he isn't playing for a contender right now. Iverson would score his 30 points with the Nuggets but they would lose some of those games and all the blame would be put on him and people would be asking him to shoot less and give Carmelo the ball more even though he was averaging 7.1 apg and shooting only 18 shots a night which is a low number for one of the greatest scorers to ever play the game. Some were just saying it because they hated Iverson but some were saying it because they believed it was true even though it wasn't. This lead to frustration for Iverson because he was getting blamed for all the losses so in the off season after the 07-08 season Iverson said he was ready to shoot less and sacrifice if that is what everyone wanted him to do. Iverson let the media get to him and once he was traded to Detroit he continued sacrificing and taking less shots but the stats went down and Iverson was averaging career low numbers of 18 ppg and 5 apg but still was playing at an all-star level. The Pistons lost a couple of games and the Allen Iverson hate kicked in then the next thing you know he is labelled as a washed up player that needs to come off the bench and shoot even less shots despite taking 14 shots! 

Kobe needs to watch out because if he listens to the media and starts taking less shots, playing less minutes and getting less touches he will be put into that same situation Iverson was because many people out there hate Kobe and a lot of the critiscm he gets is unfair just like it was with Iverson. He will still probably be the main man on the Lakers simply because he is Kobe Bryant and though his reputation may not take as a big a hit as Iverson's did his value will decrease a lot. Next thing you know people will be calling Kobe a washed up superstar and he will be asked to come off the bench for the USA team which he won't be able to accept and all of a sudden he will lose respect from players, coaches and GM's even though they don't understand that he is still an elite player. It does sound crazy but again if it can happened to Iverson it can happened to anyone. 

Is it to early to say these things? no it isn't because when Iverson was putting up 27 ppg in Denver nobody was saying he was slowing down or he needed to come off the bench it all happened when the Nuggets fell to the Lakers in the first round of the 2008 Playoffs and people started blaming the cultural icon and then all at once his image took a hit and he lost respect as a player even though he still could have been putting up 27 a game for any team and leading them to the playoffs. If Kobe wins a ring this year it will be too hard to ask him to change but the way the Lakers are struggling right now it doesn't seem like they are going get that ring. Bryant needs to keep his guards up because like they did to Iverson they will try to do to Kobe and this destroy him.

When you lose the respect as a player once it is very hard to get it back. Iverson sacrificed in Detroit and he played less minutes took less shots and came off the bench all of a sudden every team in the league wanted Iverson to come off the bench, take less shots and play less minutes. Iverson did not like this so he left the Grizzlies than he went back to Philly and even there he was held to just 11 shots per game and 30 mpg. Iverson who had amazing career averages of 27 ppg and 6 apg didn't like this at all his stats were taking a hit and he was being labelled as a has been even though he could have been one of the leagues elite players and even though he left the Sixers for personal reasons it makes you wonder would he do this if he was getting his 18 shots putting up his 27 ppg and being allowed to lead a team to the playoffs like he should have been the truth was that Iverson's faced reality and reality was teams and GM's were delusional and they didn't want him anymore maybe it was because he was such an icon for so many years that they waited for the day he loses even half a step or maybe it was because of the cornrows, tattoos and his entourage that he was banished from the league. 

Kobe needs to keep his guards up because he is the kind of star Iverson was for so many years and he has had just as many haters, the same haters that can't wait till the day he falls off. When you are that big of a star and you lose half a step the media will turn it into one step and will starting writing about how you are washed up. Kobe won't end up as bad as Iverson though because he has had a better career even though he didn't accomplish as much statistically he did win 4 Championships and will go down as one of the 10 greatest players to play the game no matter what. So his reputation won't take that much of a hit and I am pretty sure he won't be banished from the league like Iverson was. But I can't imagine the day the stat line read for Kobe Bryant says: 19 ppg, 4 apg, 14 FGA, 43% and 30 mpg. Just like Iverson he won't be able to face it and take the unfair treatment and will be forced to retire early. 

You may read this and say Kobe is nowhere near that point but he is and his career is at a crossroads the same way Iverson was two years ago before he was trade. Nobody said these things about Iverson when he was in Denver but right when he got traded he was being destroyed by the media and GM's of the league. This was happening to a guy who is the best little man to ever play the game and will go down as one of the if not 20 than 25 greatest basketball players to ever play the game. It happened to a legend and first ballot Hall Of Famer like Iverson because he didn't keep his guards up and even though he should be averaging 25 ppg and 7 apg for a playoff time right now he is sitting at home. His career was at a crossroads two years ago and he listened to the media instead of himself. Kobe needs to continue taking his 20 shots and demanding his 37 mpg and he needs to play selfishly sometimes just to show people he isn't changing and this will have Kobe averaging 27 a game every season while going to the Western Finals ever year as well. His career maybe at a crossroads but he needs to learn a lesson from the Iverson situation and continue doing what has worked for him for so long. 

The number one thing Kobe Bryant should learn from the Iverson fiasco is that the bigger you are the harder you fall and now that he is turning 32 soon with LeBron and Kevin Durant dominating the league the way they are the media can't wait for him to fall.