The decline of Kobe Bryant

Bryant has lost a step, as do most players who've logged as many minutes as he has. His shooting this season, however, is no worse than any of his previous seasons (except from 3-point range). In fact, it's slightly better this season (46%) than his career average (45.5%).

Even if his fingers heal completely by the start of next season, we cannot expect his shooting to improve by a significant margin. If anything, it's his weary legs that account for his dismal shooting from 3-point range. As Ray Allen has stated several times, success from that distance is largely determined by lift provided by the legs.

Bryant, whose legs have endured more NBA minutes than Allen, has begun to show the signs of age and wear. This season, he is averaging about two more minutes per game than his career average and his resultant fatigue has been reflected in his pathetic 32.5% shooting from downtown. Bryant has partially compensated for his shooting struggles from distance by developing a very solid mid-range, fadeaway jumper (similar to MJ) that will prolong his career somewhat, but this may not work over the longer term.

The problem, of course, is that many defenders have figured out that Bryant is no longer the long-range threat he once was. As a result, they play a step off him closer to the basket. This accounts, in part, for Bryant's seeming inability to get past his man and to the rim with the ease he showed in his youth. This problem will only be exacerbated as Bryant continues to slow down with age.

I don't believe Bryant will be able to enjoy the same level of success that Jordan did in the latter years of his career. For one thing, Jordan was a much better passer than Bryant and was able to pass out of double-teams in the post with a much higher degree of success than Bryant has ever shown. If Bryant becomes more of a post player, he will only make it easier for teams to double or triple team him. Will he be able to find the open man in such situations? I don't think so.

Secondly, Jordan never relied on his three-point shooting to the extent that Bryant has throughout his career. As a result, the shift to a mid-range game may be a bigger problem for Bryant. Bryant has used his range to draw defenders to the perimeter and create lanes to the basket in the past. Now, as defenders begin to lose respect for his 3-point shooting, the paint will be more clogged as they play a step closer to the basket.

Thirdly, Jordan was always a higher percentage shooter (roughly 50% over his career) than Bryant, so he and his teams were able to enjoy success with that shooting ability.

Bryant, as noted above, has never shot a high percentage (not even 47% during a single season), so I'm less certain that he and his teams can enjoy as much success if Bryant's perimeter game is deteriorating. You can only be successful shooting a lower percentage if many of your shots are worth three-points instead of two. But if you shoot a lower percentage than the opposition on two point shots, then you will struggle to keep pace with most teams.

Unless Bryant can raise his shooting percentage to 50% or above, the Lakers will increasingly have games where Bryant's inferior shooting hurts his team's chances for victory (as we have seen far too many times in the past). Personally, I agree that Buss gave Bryant too much money for what he'll be able to provide over the next 3-4 years.

I fail to see the point of this thread.

Yawn. Cant find nothing better to do with your day then write a long ass post of hate? :rolleyes:

I'll bump this thread after the playoffs...

He has more help now. He can take it easier. He's still one of the greatest players in the game.

[QUOTE=Freshprince619]Yawn. Cant find nothing better to do with your day then write a long ass post of hate? :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]

hate? reality bud.

[QUOTE=AJ2k8]I fail to see the point of this thread.[/QUOTE]

Then you must fail to see the point of most things...

[QUOTE=indiefan24]hate? reality bud.[/QUOTE]
You just said he is shooting better then his career average. So where do you see the great decline?
[IMG]http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o286/VespertineIconoclast/Obama-haters-gone-hate.gif[/IMG]

So basically what your'e saying is that Kobe is not as good as Jordan... Way to go.:applause:

[QUOTE=indiefan24]Then you must fail to see the point of most things...[/QUOTE]

Well so far you haven't provided a reasoning or a purpose for this thread, even when it was criticized...

well if it makes you kobe fans feel better, apparently Lebron at the age of 24 is already in decline according to some posters here.. :oldlol:

[QUOTE=DukeDelonte13]well if it makes you kobe fans feel better, apparently Lebron at the age of 24 is already in decline according to some posters here.. :oldlol:[/QUOTE]
Well all that hair he's lost since he's entered the league must take some sort of toll on his performance...

6 billion people on earth. Always someone going to be on kobe's ass.

[QUOTE=ZenMaster]So basically what your'e saying is that Kobe is not as good as Jordan... Way to go.:applause:[/QUOTE]

read it again

[QUOTE=Freshprince619]You just said he is shooting better then his career average. So where do you see the great decline?
[IMG]http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o286/VespertineIconoclast/Obama-haters-gone-hate.gif[/IMG][/QUOTE]

read

I think Kobe will decline rather quickly the next two years. He has some many games right now in his legs that this is not a shame though. I think in two years Kobe will a 20ppg 5 assists 5 rebounds at roughly 43 percent from the field.
In fact Jordan is the only shooting guard above 32 years who was still very effective and the best man at his position. I don't think Kobe can have the same level as Jordan from 32-35. Kobe has played a lot more games then Jordan had in his age, and Kobe was never on the athletic level of Jordan in the first place. Kobe at age 34 will be at best look like Jordan did at 38. Right now Kobe isn't even as good anymore as Jordan was at age 35.
This has nothing to do with Kobe bashing, its simply a fact.

he was playing in the post earlier in the season and he was doing fine. part of the reason he was shooting around 50% was because he wasn't taking stupid, off balanced 3 point shots. i think kobe's last couple months have more to do with his finger than anything else. he's still crafty enough with the ball to get by defenders, the problem is that his ball handling skills have noticably worsened since he broke his finger.

[QUOTE=indiefan24]read it again[/QUOTE]

Yeah you point out areas with him not being/will be as good as Jordan in the latter stage of his career.

Bryant isa aging and naturally declining...I mean why is that news to anyone? Isn't this a fact of life or what?:wtf:

[QUOTE=DukeDelonte13]well if it makes you kobe fans feel better, apparently Lebron at the age of 24 is already in decline according to some posters here.. :oldlol:[/QUOTE]

athletic decline and decline is different. lebron's obviously lost some explosion on his two footed leaps.

[QUOTE=LA_Showtime]athletic decline and decline is different. lebron's obviously lost some explosion on his two footed leaps.[/QUOTE]
:hammerhead:

Why do you keep insisting when you don't have a single shred of evidence of this assertion? :wtf:

Bryant is still a top five player. Probably top two, but I think it's legitimate to argue Wade or Durant. I may not agree, but you can argue it. He's obviously exiting his prime, but he probably has two to three seasons left at this level. With all the talent he has around him in LA, Kobe will contend for several years to come.

He will continue to play, play well with his team, but he won't be getting any better especially since he's out now for his fingers

I'm afraid that this finger injury thing will not go away, especially with the Fiba world championships coming up, and thats after a deep playoffs run. He should've went for surgery last year when this whole finger thing started, but he felt like he was tough and could handle it, i even remember posting that Kobe should never use his finger as an excuse for shooting horribly,since he had a chance to fix it but he passed on it.

[QUOTE=DukeDelonte13]well if it makes you kobe fans feel better, apparently Lebron at the age of 24 is already in decline according to some posters here.. :oldlol:[/QUOTE]

:wtf:

[QUOTE=DukeDelonte13]:hammerhead:

Why do you keep insisting when you don't have a single shred of evidence of this assertion? :wtf:[/QUOTE]

look at some earlier videos. lebron's two footed leaping skills aren't the same. hell, in general he's not as explosive as he used to be. he's still effective though because A) he's a freak athlete who is still plenty athletic and B) he's 6'9 260 and players bounce off him.

[IMG]http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Content/Image/06-02-2008/NBA-ref.jpg[/IMG]

Kobe has never been a good 3 point shooter. This year he is shooting only 1.5% worse than his career average. I don't see the significance to this given his injury problems.

Dumb thread

[QUOTE=tontoz]Kobe has never been a good 3 point shooter. This year he is shooting only 1.5% worse than his career average. I don't see the significance to this given his injury problems.

Dumb thread[/QUOTE]

Well Kobe has always been a volume shooter, shooting % has never been a true decider with Kobe.

[QUOTE=tontoz]Kobe has never been a good 3 point shooter. This year he is shooting only 1.5% worse than his career average. I don't see the significance to this given his injury problems.

Dumb thread[/QUOTE]

you're dumb for posting

[QUOTE=madmax]Bryant isa aging and naturally declining...I mean why is that news to anyone? Isn't this a fact of life or what?:wtf:[/QUOTE]

But it's not supposed to happen to [I]Kobe Bryant.[/I]

[QUOTE=dough]He has more help now. He can take it easier. He's still one of the greatest players in the game.[/QUOTE]
yup

[QUOTE=Kurosawa0]Bryant is still a top five player. Probably top two, but I think it's legitimate to argue Wade or Durant. I may not agree, but you can argue it. He's obviously exiting his prime, but he probably has two to three seasons left at this level. With all the talent he has around him in LA, Kobe will contend for several years to come.[/QUOTE]

I think next year is when Durant will likely overtake Kobe. Even at 32..Kobe will still average 26. 5 and 5 but he will no longer be feared offensively.

[QUOTE=King Lebron LBJ]I think next year is when Durant will likely overtake Kobe. Even at 32..Kobe will still average 26. 5 and 5 [B]but he will no longer be feared offensively[/B].[/QUOTE]


:banghead:

[QUOTE=crisoner]:banghead:[/QUOTE]


By that I mean he won't see as many double teams. Teams will be confident in guarding him one on one without him going crazy on a regular basics.

IndieFag24, stop hating!

A bunch of idiots in this thread. Kobe is in his 13th season and he's still a top 4 scorer in the league and top 5 player. Who else can be that good after 13 seasons?

[QUOTE=StacksOnDeck]Who else can be that good after 13 seasons?[/QUOTE]

Jordan won an MVP, championship and finals MVP in his 13th season, Shaq was number 2 in MVP voting in his 13th season and Kareem won a championship in his 13th season.

[QUOTE=ShaqAttack3234]Jordan won an MVP, championship and finals MVP in his 13th season, Shaq was number 2 in MVP voting in his 13th season and Kareem won a championship in his 13th season.[/QUOTE]

So basically comparing Kobe to Kareem and MJ? That's how good he is.

Shaq also missed a lot of games for a lot of seasons.Not comparable.

[url]http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2010/04/ted-green-is-kobe-bryant-getting-old.html[/url]

Did you copy and paste from the comment section of this article... or are you Gaz V?