Kobe Bryant: "Nobody has won more championships than me in my entire generation."

[KG215]

LeBron had a great defensive, three point shooting and rebounding team that is epitome of a great supporting cast that is comically underrated. Give any superstar in this league a great defensive team, a great rebounding team and a great 3 pt shooting team and they are going to be title contenders regardless of the names on the back of the jerseys.

Ok, that's one team and they weren't even overwhelming favorites. I think most people thought the Lakers were just as good or better, especially in 2009. Not to mention the Lakers didn't have to play Cleveland in the '09 or '10 playoffs.

What team did the Lakers play in '09 and '10 playoffs that were better than them? What other contenders in '09 and '10 had better players and more talent than the Lakers who had the best or second best player in the league and another top 10-12 player in the league, giving them the best 1-2 punch.

[TheBigVeto]

And nobody in his generation ever got as much support from David Stern as he's been getting. Getting championships gift-wrapped, bailed out of jail, etc.

No big deal here folks. Let's move on.

[Yao Ming's Foot]

Ok, that's one team and they weren't even overwhelming favorites. I think most people thought the Lakers were just as good or better, especially in 2009. Not to mention the Lakers didn't have to play Cleveland in the '09 or '10.

What team did the Lakers play in '09 and '10 playoffs that were better than them? What other contenders in '09 and '10 had better players and more talent than the Lakers who had the best or second best player in the league and another top 10-12 player in the league, giving them the best 1-2 punch.

Are we talking about the Lakers? or are we talking about Kobe's teammates? Kobe did not have better teammates than whomever you believe the Celtics best player was during that era. It's really as simple as that.

[crisoner]

He is right with his statement....
What's the bog problem?

[Big#50]

When you play in LA you have to get rings. We get all the great bigs.

[KG215]

Though I agree, the idiot-kid MiamiThrice is, as usual, wrong about Kobe having the best supporting cast every year he won the title. The Lakers were the favorites because the tandem of Kobe and Gasol was truly remarkable - they were not the favorites because they had a deep team, and far from "the best supporting cast in the league."

In 2009, for instance, the Denver Nuggets had a far more balanced roster. But the Lakers were considered favorites due to the talent of their best two players, compared to the Nuggets best two players. And, rightfully so:

in that series, Gasol averaged 18 PPG, 12 RPG, and 4 APG on 63% shooting while Kobe averaged an incredible 34 PPG, 6 RPG, and 6 APG on 49% shooting.

Kobe never won a title as an underdog because every year he won a title outside of 2000, he was one of the 5 best players in the league, one of the 3 best players in the Playoffs, and played with a formidable partner in crime.

When you win 5 championships, spend the majority of you career as the best at your position, and are considered one of the 10 greatest players of All Time, "not winning as an underdog" is not a portrayal of incompetence; it's a testament of consistent greatness.

That's a much more articulate way of saying what I wanted to say. The combo of their 1-2 of Kobe and Gasol offset any deficincies they had in their 3-9 players against the other contenders; because the 1-2 of those teams wasn't nearly as strong as the Lakers who, after Odom and Bynum (on a good day), were pretty mediocre or even bad compared to other contenders.

[SHAQisGOAT]

True, can't deny that.

But rings don't make you a better player, winning them leading the team helps to the case a lot, and Shaq did it in his first rings.

[NumberSix]

Derek Fisher has 5 too.

[Bandito]

Derek Fisher has 5 too.

Well in his defense he did say more than he does. Fisher is tied with him

[zizozain]

He is right with his statement....
What's the bog problem?

haters don't wanna heart it.

they have broken hearts since June 17 2010 -- 11:00 p.m. ET

[LakersFan626]

Oops...

Kobe 5, Duncan 4.

[Heavincent]

Just stating facts. Don't see what the problem is

[Heavincent]

Again, I think Miami Thrice's "Kobe never won a playoff series as an underdog" is dumb, what team in the 2009 playoffs did the Lakers play and beat that were better than them? Historically speaking, that wasn't a strong championship team but, in context, it was one of the two best teams in the league. The only other team considered as big of or bigger favorites to win it all were the Cavs, and were they really that good? They had LeBron, Mo Williams and a bunch of players no one will remember in 10 years.

Once again, the Lakers were always the favorites/best team in 09 and 10 mostly because of Kobe. Kobe was always the best player on either team in every series. For example, they beat the Nuggets in the 09 WCF mostly because Kobe was clearly a better player than the Nuggets' best player (Carmelo). Same with just about every series. The 2010 WCF is another good example. Was Nash's supporting cast in 2010 vastly inferior to what Kobe had? No. But Kobe was the best player on either team by far.

Some people seem to think it all comes down to the supporting cast a superstar has, when it really doesn't. It helps when your superstar is better than every other superstar in the league.

[poido123]

No, his roster never was as stacked as 2004, 2010, and 2013 Lakers.

His Bulls teams are some of the best in history because of their performance, not the content of their rosters.


Maybe not articulated on the surface, but he has been expressing how bad he wants that 6th ring for 3 years now.

Given Kobe's nature and the way he clearly has tried to fit himself into the Jordan mold.

It's more than insinuated that it's probably a MAJOR motivating factor for him to get that 6th ring to be in the same sentence as MJ.

Is there a bit of assumption there? Sure, but it's based profoundly in the context of Kobe for his entire career chasing Jordan.

NOt sure why you have red reputation, you write very well and make a plausable argument each time Ive seen you write. Ill rep

[poido123]

Insecurebe at it again. Most of his fans in this thread are disgustingly insecure and feel the need to justify every statement and thing that Kobe does.

The lengths people go to, manufacturing an argument that twists what Kobe has really acheived. Kobe has performed one of the greatest status 'smokescreens' basketball has ever seen. His achievements and success are real, but the way he got there, and the status he's placed on is very false and very misleading.