Marc Stein, analista di Espn abbastanza famoso
:
3. Who is the player of the decade?
• Kobe Bryant
• Tim Duncan
• Kevin Garnett
• LeBron James
• Shaquille O'Neal
The 1990s were obviously owned by Michael Jordan. The 1980s were co-owned by Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the most feared force in the 1970s, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain bossed the 1960s and George Mikan and Bob Cousy are synonymous with the 1950s.
If only the 2000s broke down so neatly.
You can't even get to the likes of LeBron or KG because of the thickly layered debate generated by this most complicated of triangles: Shaq, Duncan and Kobe.
O'Neal is the most dominant post man of his generation and the first big man in hoops history to truly connect with the mainstream public … but the next team he leaves on good terms will be the first.
Duncan can match Shaq's four championship rings and won them down in unfashionable south Texas with three different supporting casts -- as well as the sweetest bank shot in the modern game -- but treasures his privacy as much as those rings and thus might never be fully appreciated for the sort of champion and teammate he is.
As for Bryant, well, No. 8-turned-No. 24 is only the most polarizing figure in NBA history, concurrently beloved and loathed worldwide.
You get dizzy just thinking about the various highs and lows on the Kobe Coaster over these past 10 years, from his 81-point game and last spring's championship breakthrough sans Shaq to the dark days of Colorado and a forever tense coexistence with O'Neal that remains somewhat of a Hollywood soap opera to this day.
But let's be honest.
No one has ever shouldered the Next Jordan burden like Bryant, who would suddenly appear to have a decent shot at surpassing MJ's six titles in Chicago with the crew he's got in Lakerland now. He's been the consensus top talent in the league for years and is widely considered its hardest worker.
List all the negatives you want to satiate the haters, but the NBA player you're most likely to remember when someone asks about the first decade of the new millennium is not O'Neal or Duncan. Close as this call is, Kobe Bean Bryant has to be the choice. Has to be.
Bill Simmons, altro analista già citato in questo topic:
The other obvious change: Kobe's section needs to be rewritten. I can't remember anyone reinventing himself historically as well as Kobe did these past 16 months. The Olympics, then the 2009 Finals, then the media victory lap that everyone ate up … and then, when it seemed as if we were headed for a decline, he reinvented himself as the second coming of post-baseball Jordan and developed an even nastier, more physical post-up game than MJ had. I can't believe what I am watching. It's staggering. He's like a 6-foot-6 Hakeem Olajuwon. I went into this season thinking Kobe would be able to last just one or two more seasons at a high level; now I'm wondering whether he could play like this well into his late 30s. Why not? I mean, Karl Malone did it. Like Malone, Kobe is a workout freak who takes care of his body and seems predisposed to staying healthy, anyway. Malone averaged a 26-10 and made second-team All-NBA in the 1999-2000 season when he was 36 years old … and then he played four years after that. Kobe is only 31. Could he replicate Malone's longevity and consistency?
Let's say he plays five more years at this level and averages 25-26 points a game, plays in two more Finals (winning one) and makes three first-team All-NBAs and two 2nd-team All-NBAs. (Conceivable.) Here's how his hypothetical résumé would look after the 2014-2015 season: five rings and eight Finals appearances in all … 34,000-plus points (third all time) … 1,300-plus games (the record is 1,611, held by Robert Parish) … nearly 6,000 playoff points (close to the record of 5,987, held by MJ) … 10 first-team All-NBAs, four second-teams and two third-teams. Again, that's a reasonable scenario. So if he stays healthy and keeps playing at this level, he would eventually become the Kareem of non-centers: either the third or fourth best player in the history of the league. Meanwhile, just 26 months ago, the Lakers were shopping him and he seemed destined to leave. I think this is startling.
Giusto così per darvi altri due spunti di riflessione e per aggiungere ulteriore materiale al topic, altra carne al fuoco per la nostra discussione preferita...
:figo: