Kobe Bryant: Do Kobe's Fans Really Believe He Is Still the NBA's Top Player?
ESPN has been generating quite a bit of discussion with it's recent ranking of the NBA's top 500 players, and in the opinion of many Los Angeles Lakers fans, star guard Kobe Bryant's placement at seventh on the list is a crime.
In an article I recently posted concerning Bryant's ranking, several commentors came to Kobe's defense, arguing that the Lakers star definitely deserves a spot in the top five, and there were a few who even suggested Bryant was still the best player in the NBA.
Come again?
I'm actually not too surprised by ESPN's ranking of Bryant, since it can be argued that each of the players listed above him were better players at the end of the 2010-11 regular season.
But I am surprised that any fan of the Lakers or Kobe can say that he is still hands-down the NBA's top player while keeping a straight face.
Don't get me wrong, Bryant remains my favorite player on my favorite team, but that doesn't super-cede the need to inject a little reality into the NBA's top player discussion.
And the first reality is Bryant's 33 years of age, which figures in even more significantly when you consider that Kobe entered the NBA at the ripe old age of 17.
Bryant has endured 16-plus years of NBA warfare when you include the postseason, and in the past few seasons the, battle scars have become increasingly more visible.
Some Lakers fans point to Bryant's injuries last season to explain his mediocre showing in the playoffs, but Kobe has reached the point in his career where each month brings the potential for a new ailment.
Not to mention the recovery time for injuries increases with age, and there are several nagging issues like Bryant's knee and his finger which will likely trouble him until he retires.
Playing at an elite level on the other side of 30 with a gimpy knee and mangled finger is one thing, but competing for the mythical title of the league's greatest player with today's crop of NBA superstars is entirely something else.
Bryant's critics like to point to Michael Jordan and his ability to dominate the NBA at 35 as evidence of Kobe's inferiority to Jordan, but that argument excludes several important factors.
For one, Jordan had the benefit of three years of college basketball, which reduced the rate of wear and tear on his body. Jordan''s two-year hiatus from the game also gave him ample time to fully recuperate from the physical grind of the NBA.
But, most importantly, it was easier for Jordan to dominate at age 35 because there were simply not enough young, talented players who could challenge Jordan for league supremacy.
In today's NBA, there is an abundance of youthful superstar talent that is dispersed throughout the league, which means there are many more candidates to choose from than during Jordan's reign.
Fans in Miami, Oklahoma City, New York and Orlando can all find merit in their respective stars as the NBA's top player, and in that instance, an old man like Bryant can get lost in the mix.
But that doesn't mean Bryant is not capable of moments of brilliance, and ESPN, along with the NBA lockout, may have provided him with the fuel to tackle the upcoming season with renewed vigor.
Bryant should have plenty of time to recover from the minor ailments that plagued him most of last season, and the NBA's current work stoppage is providing Kobe with the opportunity to completely rehabilitate his knee after offseason surgery.
None of that means that Bryant will reclaim his status as the NBA's top player—but in all honesty, does it really matter?
With age comes wisdom, and Bryant has reached the stage in his career where he probably realizes that subjective debates mean a lot less than tangible hardware.
After all, it's pretty hard to put a mythical title in the trophy case.
For the record, in my opinion LeBron James is the most talented player in basketball and has been for the past few seasons. But has that invisible title contributed anything to James' NBA legacy?
