This might be an unpopular opinion, but it needs to be said: Kobe Bryant is a great player, but he is overrated. I realize that he is an icon for people our age. I realize that he’s the “Mamba” or whatever, but he is overrated, and here’s why:
1. He’s not the best player at his position, arguably not even on his own team, and he’s certainly not the best player of his own era.
Michael Jordan exists (as Kobe is well aware, since he basically copied Jordan in everything), so Kobe will never be the best at his position. On top of that, the NBA logo is the silhouette of Lakers shooting guard Jerry West. A very real argument could be made that Kobe wouldn’t even start for the “All-Time Los Angeles Lakers” squad. Also, don’t forget that Tim Duncan, who played at the exact same time, is better. (I’m sorry if you don’t agree with that, but it’s just the truth.)
2. He owes three of his titles to Shaq and one of them to Ron Artest.
Kobe rode Shaq’s coattails to three straight titles in the washed-up post-Jordan era of the NBA, and people act like Kobe won the Lakers those championships. Those were Shaq’s teams. Kobe was the Robin to Shaq’s Batman for more than half of his titles. During his last one, in 2010, Kobe — who his beloved fans would have you believe is the most clutch player of all time — shot six of 24 from the field in a crucial Game 7 against the Celtics. He got bailed out by Ron Artest, who had the game of his life. Seriously, go look up the stats from that game. It’s bad.
3. He jacked up more bad shots than anyone ever.
Kobe holds the NBA record for most missed shots in a career. That’s not exactly a record with glory etched into it. In fact, Kobe shot 44 percent from the field for his career. That is abysmal — due in large part to a career’s worth of forced shots and ball-hogging.
4. He has almost singlehandedly driven his franchise into the ground.
That’s what happens when you handicap your team by accepting the largest contract in the league at age 38 when you can’t play anymore and refuse to restructure it in order to give your team money to go get better players.
Kobe has scored a lot of points and has been important to the league in dozens of ways. But we could have done without all of this “Goodbye Kobe” hoopla. He’s a great player, but let’s not make him bigger than what he is: the fourth or fifth best Laker.
