NBA Finals 2010: Where Does Kobe Bryant Rank All-Time Without Another Ring?
Ever since Kobe Bryant came into the league, he has been compared to Michael Jordan more then anyone.
At the start of his career, people thought it was crazy and would hate on Kobe—but then he broke through in about 2000, and all of a sudden everyone wanted him to win six championships, six Finals MVPs, five season MVPs, 10 scoring titles, get selected to 14 All-Star games, and wanted him selected for All-NBA teams 11 times.
Once the critics realized he had potential and was a confident, exciting player, they put him under a lot of pressure, because they wanted him to be just like Mike—which was so hard to do.
But instead of complaining, Bryant took the challenge, and he has come pretty darn close.
Although he didn't accomplish the individual achievements Michael did, he still is close. If he plays for at least another six years, he could accomplish some of those things, but out of all the things Michael did, Kobe is the closest in the most important category: Championships.
Bryant, who currently is in the Finals trailing the Celtics 3-2, has four championships and is looking for his fifth. If the Lakers go on to win this amazing series in seven games, that would put Bryant just one ring shy of Michael.
Unless the LeBron, Bosh, and Wade free agency changes the league, then Kobe will probably be playing the same time next season—except he would be looking to tie Michael.
But he has to get this one first, because if he doesn't, then many can argue that Bryant may never win another ring. He may never accomplish the things that Michael was able to accomplish but who really will?
It is very very hard to do those things, and if anyone can, it is Kobe Bryant. It would be really sad if people judged Kobe Bryant's career by comparing it to Michael's, because he will never win that debate, even if he does accomplish more.
I mean, come on, it's Kobe Bryant—one of the most hated athletes of all time.
But say Bryant doesn't even get the fifth ring and decides to call it a career today (I'm pretty sure he won't), where would he rank among the all-time greats? Would he crack the top 10? Top five?
Well, let's take a look at in my ranking of the 30 greatest basketball players of all time. This is a list based off of career accomplishments and honors. Some of these guys are in the Hall of Fame already and about six of them are future Hall of Famers.
Here it is:
30. Willis Reed
29. David Robinson
28. Bill Walton
27. Scottie Pippen
26. LeBron James
25. John Stockton
24. Rick Barry
23. Julius Erving
22. Isiah Thomas
21. Kevin Garnett
20. Charles Barkley
19. Allen Iverson
18. Bob Pettit
17. Bob Cousy
16. Elgin Baylor
15. Karl Malone
14. John Havlicek
13. Moses Malone
12. Hakeem Olajuwan
11. Oscar Robertson
10. Jerry West
9. Tim Duncan
8. Larry Bird
7. Kobe Bryant
5. Magic Johnson
4.Wilt Chamberlain
3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
2. Bill Russell
1. Michael Jordan
So, if Bryant were to retire today without that fifth championship, he is still ranked as the seventh greatest of all time. Just because he couldn't do what Jordan did, he accomplished a lot!
The man will go down as a legend and as one of the greatest—not just basketball players—but athletes of all time. He did everything there was to be done multiple times and was the closest to Michael.
The weird part is that he is still this highly ranked when he still has a good six years left in him. I say good, because of his work ethic. Just like Michael, he is the one player who would take care of his body, so he can be the same player at 37 as he is now. If he is to win his fifth title, then it would be Kobe vs. Shaq all over again to see who will go down as the greater one.
There is a big "if" in there, so we can't really talk about the fifth title yet.
People always wanted Kobe to be Michael Jordan, but they didn't realize that there will never be another Michael Jordan. Next time people try comparing someone to Kobe, remember there will never ever be another Kobe Bryant.
He is just that great.
