About Kobe Bryant ...

I don't like Kobe Bryant, not as a basketball player or as a human being. I never have. That doesn't change the fact that he is one of the greatest basketball players I have ever seen. And it doesn't change the fact that watching his career come to an end this way is nothing short of painful.

When Bryant announced on the Player's Tribune a few weeks ago that he was retiring at the end of the season (read it here), I felt a sense of relief. Not just because of my dislike towards him, or what he tends to do to the Toronto Raptors, but also because I thought ending his playing career was the right thing to do since his skills were clearly on a steep downslope and his health was rapidly deteriorating. Then I looked at his stats for the season ... and realized maybe he was a few years too late.

You never want to see the greats forced to call it quits. You never want to see someone end their career because their body simply can't do it anymore. You never want to see someone end their career because they are simply too slow or don't have the necessary skills to compete at the highest level anymore. When it happens, it's like watching a slow motion car crash. You don't want to see it happen, but when it does you just can't look away. We're talking about the 3rd highest scorer in NBA history going out and scoring 12 points on 20 shots (terrible) for 30% shooting from the floor (atrocious). It would have been like Derek Jeter batting below the Mendoza line in his final season. It is no way to end a career.

And wouldn't you know it, as I'm writing this, Bryant is in the process of putting up 21-8-4 while shooting 8-for-16 against the Raptors. Again, he has this knack for scoring points against the Raps.


Not surprisingly in today's world, basketball pundits have already taken on the task of determining where Kobe Bryant belongs among basketball's greats. First ballot Hall of Famer .. duh. Top five all-time .. maybe. All I can say is that the more I read the arguments, the more I realize that comparing players from different eras is damn near impossible in basketball.

As I've slowly but surely read my way through Bill Simmons' "The Book of Basketball", I've learned just how much the game of basketball has changed over the years. I've come to realize that comparing players over the course of history is probably harder with basketball than any other sport. The game now is drastically different than it was in the 1970s. The players have changed, even the court has changed.

So how do you place players among the greats? I honestly believe that you can't for many reasons. The game was so different in different times. Comparing centers to point guards is like apples to oranges. There were great scorers who didn't play defense, there were defensive stalwarts who didn't score a lot of points. I mean, how do you compare Bryant to Scottie Pippen even though they were both small forwards? Bryant was a pure scorer while Pippen was a distributer and a defender. Both great players, but very difficult to compare.

So how should we view Kobe Bryant? Why not call a spade a spade?

If remember one thing about Kobe Bryant it will be this: aside from MJ, I have never seen a better pure scorer than Kobe Bryant. Granted I never saw any of the greats before the 1990s like Bird or Kareem or Wilt, but only two players have scored more points in the history of the NBA than Kobe Bryant. Ever. Only one player has scored more points in a single game than Kobe Bryant. Ever.

But let's forget the numbers, because I'm sure we all know about the cray offensive numbers Kobe Bryant has put up over the course of his career. When I think of Kobe Bryant, I think of a guy who was capable of scoring at any moment the ball was in his hands. He could break you down off the dribble and take it to the rim or pull up for a jumper. He'd shoot threes right in your face. He could catch and shoot as fast as anyone. Yeah he was selfish, but that comes from his seemingly unwavering confidence that he could score from anywhere at any time. All he needed was the ball.

For me I think that's the most difficult thing watching his career wind down like this. He was such an incredible scorer for so long, and his confidence in his ability to score is so strong that he is either unable or unwilling to let himself let up in these final months of his career. He wants to believe that he can still put the ball in the basket even though it is painfully obvious that he is merely a shell of his former self. It would be great if he could go out averaging 25 a game, but unfortunately it doesn't look like that is in the cards.

You can try to rank the basketball greats if you want, but personally I think it's damn near impossible to factor everything in and come up with a definitive list. When it comes to Kobe Bryant, I'll remember the guy who I put with MJ as the greatest scorers I've ever seen play the game.

Even if I don't like him very much.

-matt