Kobe: "Put me Jordan and Jerry West on the court 1 on 1..."

[CavaliersFTW]

http://www.streetheattv.com/video.php?vid_id=13592

"Put me Michael Jordan and Jerry West on the court and roll out a basketball for 1 on 1 and there'll be a lot of blood on that court"

Kobe respects the hell out of Jerry West, he never hesitates to bring him up, this isn't the first time I've heard him in interview talk about Jerry as if Jerry could ball with the likes of he and MJ in 1 on 1 type situations. Don't know if anyone on ISH here will agree with that but it's good to know Kobe at least admires his game that much. He also says MJ stole Jerry West's moves in particular. And he's right, above the rim MJ was definitely mirroring David Thompson and Dr. J but below the rim he was all Jerry West. One of these days I'm gonna update my Jerry West mix because there's a lot more footage I haven't shared before.

[TheMarkMadsen]

It physically pains Kobe to not have the chance at playing these guys 1 on 1


He's a student of the game that's for sure

[kennethgriffin]

hes only saying that cause

a) he drafted him

b) hes a laker

c) jerry publicly sucks kobes meat about 500 times more than any other guy

d) kobes the most politically correct guy ever when talking about legends



however.. i think jerry would have a bit better chance competing 1 on 1 with todays greats rather than playing them in a 5 on 5

cause its allot more 1 dimensional and straight up shooting/basic dribble moves. not allot of free style dribbling, dunking or full court speed needed

but on the same level as kobe/jordan? not even close

[AintNoSunshine]

the blood sure isn't gonna be Jordan's

[kennethgriffin]

the blood sure isn't gonna be Jordan's

didnt jordan say he'd lose to kobe

[Chrono90]

hes only saying that cause

a) he drafted him

b) hes a laker

c) jerry publicly sucks kobes meat about 500 times more than any other guy

d) kobes the most politically correct guy ever when talking about legends



however.. i think jerry would have a bit better chance competing 1 on 1 with todays greats rather than playing them in a 5 on 5

cause its allot more 1 dimensional and straight up shooting/basic dribble moves. not allot of free style dribbling, dunking or full court speed needed

but on the same level as kobe/jordan? not even close

I think Charlotte drafted Kobe then Kobe got traded to Lakers for Divac.

[kennethgriffin]

I think Charlotte drafted Kobe then Kobe got traded to Lakers for Divac.


i think charlotte drafted kobe knowing they were gonna trade him to LA

its basically jerrys pick. they probably had a deal already in place

[andgar923]

Kobe is always cute with his tough guy talk.

[AintNoSunshine]

didnt jordan say he'd lose to kobe


If English is not your first language: MJ said he'd beat everyone. And then mocked Kobe for being a little copy cat and stole his moves

[La Frescobaldi]

hes only saying that cause

a) he drafted him

b) hes a laker

c) jerry publicly sucks kobes meat about 500 times more than any other guy

d) kobes the most politically correct guy ever when talking about legends



however.. i think jerry would have a bit better chance competing 1 on 1 with todays greats rather than playing them in a 5 on 5

cause its allot more 1 dimensional and straight up shooting/basic dribble moves. not allot of free style dribbling, dunking or full court speed needed

but on the same level as kobe/jordan? not even close

My all-time starting 5 (all of guys I've watched live, not 40 years later looking back):
Center ~ Wilt Chamberlain
Power Forward/High Post Center ~ Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Small Forward ~ Larry Bird
Combo Guard ~ Michael Jordan
Combo Guard ~ Jerry West
6th Man ~ Magic Johnson

Kobe Bryant surely would make the roster but not starting. I've never seen better players at their positions than those first 6. LeBron James is up there for sure.

Jerry West is still the standard and they broke the mold when he retired. Do guys today have more skills? Of course they do. Training & coaching has changed for the better at every level. Do they have his talent, brains, and will to win? Nope. Not even Kobe.

[kennethgriffin]

My all-time starting 5 (all of guys I've watched live, not 40 years later looking back):
Center ~ Wilt Chamberlain
Power Forward/High Post Center ~ Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Small Forward ~ Larry Bird
Combo Guard ~ Michael Jordan
Combo Guard ~ Jerry West
6th Man ~ Magic Johnson

Kobe Bryant surely would make the roster but not starting. I've never seen better players at their positions than those first 6. LeBron James is up there for sure.

Jerry West is still the standard and they broke the mold when he retired. Do guys today have more skills? Of course they do. Training & coaching has changed for the better at every level. Do they have his talent, brains, and will to win? Nope. Not even Kobe.


theres no realistic reason to ever put jerry west ahead of kobe

even the most biased old stubborn man doesn't have an argument


infact its insulting to put anyone in the position to even have to make a detailed list of the things kobes done and does better than jerry west

any time a guy has 1 ring as 2nd best player, lost nearly 10 nba finals, has no regular season mvp and was a 1 hand dribbling pre historic 60's guard.. i find it hard to have him ranked any higher than 15th all time just based on his career average thats inflated to begin with due to a higher volume/pace of scoring/rebounding back in the day

for instance... if elgin baylor was able to average nearly 20 rebounds per game for a few seasons at the height of 6-5.. and guys like russell at 6-11 could grab 25rpg...

then a guy like west averaging 5-6 is like a guy today averaging 1 rebound

and stats is actually the only thing jerry did

its actually pathetic really.

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

MJ and Kobe are both huge fans of Jerry

[bizil]

Jerry West was the first SG in L history to be a great scorer, great passer, great defender, and great rebounder (for a SG) all in one. And on top of it he was likely the most athletic SG in the era or close to it. So MJ did indeed take those things West pioneered and combined it with Dr. J size and Doc-Skywalker aerial shit. But I gotta give props to Gervin for really putting the big SG (6'6 and up SG's) scoring skillset on the map as well. Gervin was EPIC at postup, slashing, and midrange game. Just like MJ later down the road. And of course Kobe came along and was the closest thing to MJ. But West was really the guy who was THE BLUEPRINT for the dominant SG who could do it all. U gotta remember that many of the legendary SG's that came along after West in the 70s such as Pearl, Pete, Iceman, etc. didn't have the all around game of West.

[kennethgriffin]

Jerry West was the first SG in L history to be a great scorer, great passer, great defender, and great rebounder (for a SG) all in one. And on top of it he was likely the most athletic SG in the era or close to it. So MJ did indeed take those things West pioneered and combined it with Dr. J size. and Doc-Skywalker shit. And of course Kobe came along and was the closest thing to MJ. But West was really the guy who was THE BLUEPRINT for the dominant SG who could do it all. U gotta remember that many of the legendary SG's that came along after West in the 70s such as Pearl, Pete, Iceman, etc. didn't have the all around game of West.

just because someone did something a long time ago and before another guy doesnt mean its any more important or significant

i find that allot of athletes get a retirement boost and a nostalgia or creative originality luster

take a guy like lebron... i dont like the guy. but hes obviously a top 10 player all time already.

but if you watch most sports shows. he wont even get mentioned when theyre listing a top 10 rank

but i bet the minute hes done playing theyel s*ck his all time meat status...

[TheReturn]

My all-time starting 5 (all of guys I've watched live, not 40 years later looking back):
Center ~ Wilt Chamberlain
Power Forward/High Post Center ~ Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Small Forward ~ Larry Bird
Combo Guard ~ Michael Jordan
Combo Guard ~ Jerry West
6th Man ~ Magic Johnson

Kobe Bryant surely would make the roster but not starting. I've never seen better players at their positions than those first 6. LeBron James is up there for sure.

Jerry West is still the standard and they broke the mold when he retired. Do guys today have more skills? Of course they do. Training & coaching has changed for the better at every level. Do they have his talent, brains, and will to win? Nope. Not even Kobe.
I haven't watched most of those really old school players, but I can't help but wonder if that team would beat a team like this:

C - Shaq
PF - KG
SF - Durant
SG - Lebron
PG - Curry

[BoutPractice]

1 on 1 I'm not sure... But within a 5 on 5 game, it would be an epic matchup. (Assuming Jerry West learned to play today, so he would probably be an excellent 3 point shooter on top of doing everything else so well)

[Kblaze8855]

I haven't watched most of those really old school players, but I can't help but wonder if that team would beat a team like this:

C - Shaq
PF - KG
SF - Durant
SG - Lebron
PG - Curry


Easily. It wouldnt take an old school team of guys on nearly that level to do it either.

A team led by Carlos Arroyo and 2 NBA scrubs beat team USa who had Duncan, AI, Lebron, Wade, Melo, Amare, Marbury, Odom, Marion, and so on. Not all in their primes(several were). But it was miles more talent than anyone else had.

The 2000 team with Vince, KG, Ray Allen, Kidd, Zo, Payton, and other stars only beat Sarunas Jasikevicius, Darius Songila, and some guys nobody here knows by a single jumper.

Durant, Lebron, Kobe, Wade, Dwight, Paul, Deron, and Melo were in a good close game with Spain and they were all in or near their primes.

You take some random all star roster or today and play vs the best of the 70s-80s-90s they have a better chance of winning than these european teams do who manage to hang in and sometimes steal one.

Swap Sarunas for Stockton, Price, Hardaway, Kevin Johnson, Tiny archibald, West, Frazier, or whoever give him Jordan next to him, maybe Cuck Person, Drexler, and any 2 of a dozen of the best bigmen they had and they would compete with or beat any team you could assemble without even needing the Magics, Birds, and so on..

Stars have been about as good as they were gonna get for a long time.

And it doesnt take stars to beat stars anyway. It takes smart basketball and having a hot shooting night.

Nobody doubts Jerry Wests ability to do either of those.

[TheReturn]

Easily. It wouldnt take an old school team of guys on nearly that level to do it either.

A team led by Carlos Arroyo and 2 NBA scrubs beat team USa who had Duncan, AI, Lebron, Wade, Melo, Amare, Marbury, Odom, Marion, and so on. Not all in their primes(several were). But it was miles more talent than anyone else had.

The 2000 team with Vince, KG, Ray Allen, Kidd, Zo, Payton, and other stars only beat Sarunas Jasikevicius, Darius Songila, and some guys nobody here knows by a single jumper.

Durant, Lebron, Kobe, Wade, Dwight, Paul, Deron, and Melo were in a good close game with Spain and they were all in or near their primes.

You take some random all star roster or today and play vs the best of the 70s-80s-90s they have a better chance of winning than these european teams do who manage to hang in and sometimes steal one.

Swap Sarunas for Stockton, Price, Hardaway, Kevin Johnson, Tiny archibald, West, Frazier, or whoever give him Jordan next to him, maybe Cuck Person, Drexler, and any 2 of a dozen of the best bigmen they had and they would compete with or beat any team you could assemble without even needing the Magics, Birds, and so on..

Stars have been about as good as they were gonna get for a long time.

And it doesnt take stars to beat stars anyway. It takes smart basketball and having a hot shooting night.

Nobody doubts Jerry Wests ability to do either of those.
So what is your point? Anyone can beat anyone on any given night? I like the make up of my team and I think they have plenty of basketball smarts and ability to have hot shooting nights.

[pauk]

I haven't watched most of those really old school players, but I can't help but wonder if that team would beat a team like this:

C - Shaq
PF - KG
SF - Durant
SG - Lebron
PG - Curry

To be honest they would be a pretty good matchup if only you could replace Curry with somebody else, someone bigger, much much bigger.... at PG he will be going against a 6'9" guy that did nothing but abuse his mouses in the houses in the post..... Curry is not really a traditional PG either, at PG that team needs more of a passer offensively and a big versatile defender to go against Magic... so it would be better if you had Lebron at PG, giving SG to Kobe perhaps....

[Kblaze8855]

So what is your point? Anyone can beat anyone on any given night? I like the make up of my team and I think they have plenty of basketball smarts and ability to have hot shooting nights.

Pretty much.

There isnt much difference at all between groups of NBA level players. Not when a bunch of stars are on each side. Or just one or two stars and good role players vs an all star team.

The Shaq/Kobe Lakers plus maybe....Scottie Pippen and a decent 6th man...they could probably compete with every olympic team ever assembled.

Including the dream team....which sounds odd if you dont know that they lost to the 92 College all stars with Alan Houston, Mashburn, Penny, and Bobby Hurley. Webber too perhaps.

It wasnt a do or die game and wasnt taken that serious....but it happened.

Dont need equal top to bottom talent to win.

[#number6ix#]

Kblaze you still making nba videos on youtube???

Where can I find that Eddie jones layup from near the 3pt line

[TheReturn]

Pretty much.

There isnt much difference at all between groups of NBA level players. Not when a bunch of stars are on each side. Or just one or two stars and good role players vs an all star team.

The Shaq/Kobe Lakers plus maybe....Scottie Pippen and a decent 6th man...they could probably compete with every olympic team ever assembled.

Including the dream team....which sounds odd if you dont know that they lost to the 92 College all stars with Alan Houston, Mashburn, Penny, and Bobby Hurley. Webber too perhaps.

It wasnt a do or die game and wasnt taken that serious....but it happened.

Dont need equal top to bottom talent to win.
I completely agree. You're talking about single games though. if those teams played against each other 100 times you know those USA teams would beat Arroyo + scrubs 90+ times.

In the end you need talent and versatile players. I like my team.

[Kblaze8855]

I dont know that they would win 9 of 10. They lost by 20to PR. barely beat greeze and Australia. And lost to Lithuania. And they had only beatem them by a single shot in 2000. We beat them in 06 but only by 10. They blew us out in 04 and stayed with us for some time in an exibition game that didnt count.

Its mostly America not caring enough to send its best and work long enough to become a team....but still.

I think a group of 60-90s guys would play as a team better than current guys dropped together. Not because they are just....less selfish or more skilled. But the games played in their time stressed ball movement more and they played a game easier to mesh with other talent.

NBA turned ISO happy in the mid to late 90s. Stars do not play the same way they used to. Even gunners in the 60s-70s...you watch their games its not as isolation based. Harder to blend these guys together id say.

[La Frescobaldi]

theres no realistic reason to ever put jerry west ahead of kobe

even the most biased old stubborn man doesn't have an argument


infact its insulting to put anyone in the position to even have to make a detailed list of the things kobes done and does better than jerry west

any time a guy has 1 ring as 2nd best player, lost nearly 10 nba finals, has no regular season mvp and was a 1 hand dribbling pre historic 60's guard.. i find it hard to have him ranked any higher than 15th all time just based on his career average thats inflated to begin with due to a higher volume/pace of scoring/rebounding back in the day

for instance... if elgin baylor was able to average nearly 20 rebounds per game for a few seasons at the height of 6-5.. and guys like russell at 6-11 could grab 25rpg...

then a guy like west averaging 5-6 is like a guy today averaging 1 rebound

and stats is actually the only thing jerry did

its actually pathetic really.
LOLOLOLOL have a great day

OK lemme ask you just one question.

Do you know what free agency is?

[Psileas]

LOLOLOLOL have a great day

Seriously. This "ignore list" feature has to be improved. I have the guy in that list and don't blame you for quoting him, but lots of troll messages that I ignore can't be resisted becoming quoted by others, resulting in being seen anyway. It's at least mildly irritating...

[SilkkTheShocker]

It physically pains Kobe to not have the chance at playing these guys 1 on 1


He's a student of the game that's for sure

He is also a r.apist and snitch.

[SamuraiSWISH]

MJ would be the last man standing ... but he would spill blood like any predator would facing another aggressive animal.

He'd spill mostly to his knock off clone. Because it's basically like a version of himself.

I love West. He has a flame jumper, and size. But I don't think he has the athleticism to really hang in there with these modern guys.

In his day, he'd wipe the floor with his contemporaries though.

[bizil]

just because someone did something a long time ago and before another guy doesnt mean its any more important or significant

i find that allot of athletes get a retirement boost and a nostalgia or creative originality luster

take a guy like lebron... i dont like the guy. but hes obviously a top 10 player all time already.

but if you watch most sports shows. he wont even get mentioned when theyre listing a top 10 rank

but i bet the minute hes done playing theyel s*ck his all time meat status...

NO SHIT Lebron is a top ten player of all time. And I feel he's eclipsed Bird as the GOAT SF or will do as such after this year. And what West did in his day for the SG position was MONUMENATAL for the position. He was regarded as the GOAT SG for a long ass time until MJ took the mantle. And EVEN TODAY he's regarded as no lower than the 4th GOAT SG ever. West was SO EPIC that HE'S THE LOGO OF THE L! Or did u know that? LMBAO How dare u come on here and DISS Jerry West. I'm just giving West his props and its NOT ABOUT a retirement boost or nostalgia. To quote HHH, West was THAT DAMN GOOD! That's why MJ and Kobe give him props!

And sure West may not be in the top 10 GOAT anymore. But he's in the top 15. Which is awesome considering he retired in 1974. I give all the legends their props, so I pay HOMAGE to those cats. I frankly think that's BITCH SHIT on your part to conclude West isn't worthy of his just due. He was THE SG who dominated ALL FACETS (scoring, passing, rebounding, defense) FIRST! So much so it took MJ MANY YEARS LATER to top what West did at SG!

It's not about it being ANY MORE IMPORTANT OR SIGNIFICANT! But West was DAMN IMPORTANT AND DAMN SIGNIFICANT! And that's the WHOLE POINT of this site! To discuss the players, games, and elements which MAKE BBALL GREAT!

[bizil]

MJ would be the last man standing ... but he would spill blood like any predator would facing another aggressive animal.

He'd spill mostly to his knock off clone. Because it's basically like a version of himself.

I love West. He has a flame jumper, and size. But I don't think he has the athleticism to really hang in there with these modern guys.

In his day, he'd wipe the floor with his contemporaries though.

U bring some good points. I agree Kobe would be a better matchup for MJ than West. But I feel West's athletic ability is underrated. If anything, I think MJ's size IN ADDITION to his athletic ability would be his problem. For guys 6'3 and under, I would be comfortable taking a peak West against nearly ANYBODY!

[bizil]

Pretty much.

There isnt much difference at all between groups of NBA level players. Not when a bunch of stars are on each side. Or just one or two stars and good role players vs an all star team.

The Shaq/Kobe Lakers plus maybe....Scottie Pippen and a decent 6th man...they could probably compete with every olympic team ever assembled.

Including the dream team....which sounds odd if you dont know that they lost to the 92 College all stars with Alan Houston, Mashburn, Penny, and Bobby Hurley. Webber too perhaps.

It wasnt a do or die game and wasnt taken that serious....but it happened.

Dont need equal top to bottom talent to win.

Exactly right! The deepest team or the most talented team DOESN'T always win! It all depends on execution and which teams can execute better. U brought up the Shaq and Kobe Lakers. Man for man, those Blazer and Kings teams in that era had MORE TALENT top to bottom than the Lakers. BUT the Lakers had the most dominant big man arguably ever in Shaq and the best perimeter player in the world in Kobe. Plus a great coach and system with the triangle.

[LAZERUSS]

theres no realistic reason to ever put jerry west ahead of kobe

even the most biased old stubborn man doesn't have an argument


infact its insulting to put anyone in the position to even have to make a detailed list of the things kobes done and does better than jerry west

any time a guy has 1 ring as 2nd best player, lost nearly 10 nba finals, has no regular season mvp and was a 1 hand dribbling pre historic 60's guard.. i find it hard to have him ranked any higher than 15th all time just based on his career average thats inflated to begin with due to a higher volume/pace of scoring/rebounding back in the day

for instance... if elgin baylor was able to average nearly 20 rebounds per game for a few seasons at the height of 6-5.. and guys like russell at 6-11 could grab 25rpg...

then a guy like west averaging 5-6 is like a guy today averaging 1 rebound

and stats is actually the only thing jerry did

its actually pathetic really.

Interesting...West averaged 30.9 ppg in the 68-69 playoffs, and topped that with a 37.9 ppg seven game Finals, in an NBA post-season that averaged 104.5 ppg, and on a team that averaged 103.7 ppg in that post-season. And in that game seven, all he did was put up a 42-13-12 game. Yep...truly inflated numbers.

And you would never see a 6-5 Barkley leading the NBA in rebounding. Nor a 6-8 Rodman dominating the rebounding titles in the 90's. And certainly not a 6-7 Ben Wallace winning two straight rebounding titles as recently as a decade ago. And wouldn't it have been truly laughable if a 6-8 white guy could have run away with the rebounding title (at 15.2 rpg in 35.8 mpg) as recently as 2011? BTW, 6-5, 6-7, and 6-8 guys never won rebounding titles in the 60's.