Kobe Bryant: Is He Still the Best Shooting Guard in the NBA?
Kobe Bryant is in the midst of his 15th NBA season, and his lengthy career has really started to take a huge toll on his body.
He's gone through a number of knee surgeries as well as injuries to his fingers in recent years that make you think, "How much longer will Kobe be the best?"
Well, there's no doubt that Bryant is still up there with the top shooting guards in the league.
Even when playing hurt, he still has the ability to take over a game, to wow the crowd and to get the Los Angeles Lakers off to an undefeated start in a loaded Western Conference.
But there comes a point in every great athlete's career when he's no longer the best at what he does.
So is Bryant still the league's No. 1 shooting guard or has someone taken his throne?
Let's rank the league's top ten shooting guards to find out.
10. Kevin Martin, Houston Rockets
1 of 10
The biggest knock on Kevin Martin's game is that he is, um, defensively challenged.
OK, that was being a bit too nice. The guy is awful on defense.
Not only does Martin not have the talent on the defensive side, but he regularly doesn't hustle.
Still, Martin can score with the best of 'em, and he's a pretty efficient shooter, making 45 percent of his shots from the field and 38 percent of his three-pointers.
He's not going to get many rebounds or assists and he's injury prone, but he does fit his role well as a scoring two-guard who can go off for 40 points on any given night.
9. Jason Richardson, Phoenix Suns
2 of 10
Like Kevin Martin, Jason Richardson isn't going to win any defensive Player of the Year awards, but the guy has been the glue that holds the Suns together ever since going to Phoenix.
When Richardson scored 20 points last season, the Suns were an astounding 26-4 in the regular season and 5-1 in the playoffs.
With Amar'e Stoudemire now in New York, he'll have an even bigger load this season.
Richardson is a big shooting guard who likes to post up his defenders, but he lacks the elite athleticism that you see from other guys at that spot.
He's not going to beat you off the dribble very often, but he is a proven scorer.
One good thing about Richardson though is that he had the fourth-best turnover ratio among NBA shooting guards last season.
8. Monta Ellis, Golden State Warriors
3 of 10
I really don't think that Monta Ellis realizes he is the most selfish player in the NBA.
If there was no shot clock, the guy would probably dribble the ball around for an hour looking for a shot rather than passing the ball.
Ellis is widely considered overrated, a guy with bloated stats if you will--which is true--but Ellis is what he is: a scorer.
The guy is lightning quick and can push the tempo like not many players in this league can, but herein lies the problem: Ellis just doesn't know when to slow it down.
And he often shoots contested shots like he's Michael Jordan or something that actually make the Warriors worse when he's on the court.
Is he turning it around? Maybe. He's averaging more than four assists and four rebounds to go along with 27 points on better than 50 percent shooting.
The talent is there, I'm just not sure the mental aspect is.
7. Stephen Jackson, Charlotte Bobcats
4 of 10
There are plenty of knocks on Stephen Jackson, from his attitude to his love for shooting pull-up three-pointers.
But one thing I like about Jackson recently is his ability to defend in Larry Brown's system.
At 6-foot-8-inches tall, he's huge for a shooting guard, and he seemed to really excel in Charlotte on defense after coming over from Golden State.
Jackson also provided the Bobcats with a reliable scoring threat (more than 20 points per game) that the team didn't have before he was there.
I highly doubt that the Bobcats would have been in the playoffs last season without him, which is why I have him ranked at No. 8 even though he lacks the talent and statistics that some of these other guys have.
6. Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia 76ers
5 of 10
Andre has all the physical tools to be an elite player in this league--he's explosive, strong, quick and very athletic.
But he's struggled with his outside shooting his entire career, shooting just 32.1 percent from three-point range, and his shooting in generally is regarded as the one thing holding him back from stardom.
Obviously though, that's a pretty big problem considering he plays shooting guard.
But at 26-years-old, there's probably time for Iguodala to get that part of his game to improve.
He's already learned how to rebound (5.8 per game) and pass (4.6 assists per game), but it's time for him to come through with his shooting in order for him to join the upper echelon of NBA two-guards.
5. Manu Ginobili, San Antonio Spurs
6 of 10
At 33 years old, Manu Ginobili's been banged up a lot in recent years and his best days are most certainly behind him
But when he is on the court, Ginobili is a very efficient player, who plays solid defense and can handle the ball like a point guard when necessary.
In fact, Ginobili ranked second only to Kobe Bryant among point guards in John Hollinger's famous PER rating system last season.
Although Ginobili will probably be a limited-minutes guy the rest of his career, he's still the type of player who can burst through with big games despite not playing 40 minutes a night.
He averaged 23 points after the All-Star break last season, and still is as good at drawing fouls as almost every other shooting guard in the league.
4. Joe Johnson, Atlanta Hawks
7 of 10
I still don't think that Joe Johnson will ever do anything to justify that six-year, $119 million contract, especially given the fact the Atlanta Hawks had a cheaper option (Jamal Crawford) on their roster.
Anyway, Johnson is still an All-Star caliber player in this league and probably will be for another few years.
He's got that elite size at 6-foot-7-inches tall, the ability to play like a point guard and the size and quickness to guard twos or threes.
Johnson has also been a pretty reliable player, playing in at least 76 games in all but one season since 2002, including five seasons in which he played in all 82 games.
Again, I'll never try and justify that contract because Johnson has never been and will never be a superstar.
But he'll give you 20-4-4 each night, which is pretty much what's expected out of the shooting guard position.
3. Brandon Roy, Portland Trail Blazers
8 of 10
Brandon Roy is in that funny position of liking the ball in his hands despite being a more natural shooting guard.
Roy wants the rock, but it's hard to justify letting him run the offense very often when Andre Miller isn't going to get much done without the ball.
Because of that Roy may not be quite the playmaker that Dwayne Wade is, but I still don't think you can put him outside of the top three shooting guards in the NBA.
He's got good size at 6-foot-6-inches, he's pretty quick (although it may be deceptive) and he's a good outside shooter (35.4 percent from three-point range).
Much like Johnson, Roy will give you a solid performance across the board every night. He's averaged 20.2 points, 4.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals so far in his career.
2. Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat
9 of 10
Dwyane Wade is the total package at the two-guard position.
He's an incredible scorer who can draw fouls like it's nobody's business, and he often makes opposing defenders look quite silly when he drives to the basket.
Wade's numbers will probably dip slightly with LeBron James and Chris Bosh on board, but Wade will be the closer for that team as well as a guy who can do it all.
For his career, Wade's averaged 25.4 points, 6.6 assists and 4.8 rebounds, which shows he's not just a guy who's going to drop 30 points per game and fail to contribute in any other area.
Plus, despite being just 6-foot-4-inches tall, he's proven to be a great defender, averaging 1.8 steals and 1.0 blocks per game so far in his stellar career.
1. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
10 of 10
You already know how good Kobe Bryant is.
He makes more difficult shots than anyone in the NBA, he does an excellent job at creating his own shots, he's a great defender and he's a proven winner.
During his career, Bryant's averaged 25.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game on the way to winning five NBA titles.
It's hard to argue against putting Wade here, but Bryant still has it--whatever it is--despite coming off his third knee surgery over the summer.
In just 31.8 minutes per game so far in 2010, he's putting up 24.1 points, 4.3 assists and and 5.8 rebounds, and the Lakers are undefeated.
Maybe in a year or so Wade tops this list.
But right now, Kobe is still king.
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