People often overlook the point that it was Shaq who was the man in Kobe's first 3 rings. He has only won 2 w/o Shaq and even then he had a great team.

Kobe never will be better than Bird, even if he wins another Pacific Division title.

Who was 5-6 on this list?? Bird obviously is better then Kobe at this point but who else was he placed above?

I remember Bird playing witha pretty good cast of players like DJ, Mchale, Parish and Ainge in his timeframe

The problem is comparing the 2nd because there games are so different, Bird had a different set of specialities from Bryant but they both are greats of the game

I know I enjoyed watching Bird more than I ever have Kobe.

Opinions are like 'you know what', everybody has 1, and they're entitled to it. Kobe is better than Bird. Take a look at the numbers. If you like one player over another, so be it. But to rate a player you need some facts. Leglers facts will back him up.

QUOTE(#8):

Originally posted 10:11 AM ET  05.11 by Hllywd: Olskool

Opinions are like 'you know what', everybody has 1, and they're entitled to it. Kobe is better than Bird. Take a look at the numbers. If you like one player over another, so be it. But to rate a player you need some facts. Leglers facts will back him up.

Look @ Kobe's Shooting %. Bird's worst shooting year is the same as Bryant's career shooting %.

Kobe at 4?
Did he have Wilt and Russell behind Kobe too?

QUOTE(#1):

Originally posted 01:43 AM ET  05.11 by Sabih

People often overlook the point that it was Shaq who was the man in Kobe's first 3 rings. He has only won 2 w/o Shaq and even then he had a great team.

Every team that wins titles has a great team.

I personally would put Bird higher based on if Kobe retired today, but its very close and can be reasonably debated and considered both ways. I think Kobe will have had a better career by the time he retires. The very best players are pretty close in overall talent level, even though they have different skill sets. I can make an argument for Kobe being anywhere from 4th best through 15th best. I could argue Bird anywhere from 5th best through 10th best.

Peach's outrage is unjustified.

And it should be considered that the MVP award is regularly given to the wrong player and doesn't go to the best player in the game many years. Realistically Kobe should have 3 MVP's at this point, but the media wasn't going to vote for the best player as MVP when he was fresh off of rape charges and still had the stigma of egomaniac from running Shaq out of town and sacrificing potential (almost certain) titles in the name of "being the man" on his team.

QUOTE(#10):

Originally posted 12:40 PM ET  05.11 by YODA

Kobe at 4? Did he have Wilt and Russell behind Kobe too?

YES

QUOTE(#13):

Originally posted 01:24 PM ET  05.11 by SloppyJaloppy

And it should be considered that the MVP award is regularly given to the wrong player and doesn't go to the best player in the game many years. Realistically Kobe should have 3 MVP's at this point, but the media wasn't going to vote for the best player as MVP when he was fresh off of rape charges and still had the stigma of egomaniac from running Shaq out of town and sacrificing potential (almost certain) titles in the name of "being the man" on his team.

what ever you say, sloppy boi!

QUOTE(#14):

Originally posted 01:57 PM ET  05.11 by XXPCHXX.-LBJ6 wins game1!!

YES

"You Legler, had a nice shot and that's about it!"

Peachy, you just posterized Legs.

QUOTE(#13):

Originally posted 01:24 PM ET  05.11 by SloppyJaloppy

And it should be considered that the MVP award is regularly given to the wrong player and doesn't go to the best player in the game many years. Realistically Kobe should have 3 MVP's at this point, but the media wasn't going to vote for the best player as MVP when he was fresh off of rape charges and still had the stigma of egomaniac from running Shaq out of town and sacrificing potential (almost certain) titles in the name of "being the man" on his team.

This.

I like Larry Bird a lot. I respect him as an all-time great. People regularly criticize Kobe Bryant for being on teams with other talented teammates and try to devalue his accomplishments because his teammates were good. I wonder why people don't do this with Larry Bird or Magic Johnson? Sure Larry was the alpha male on his team, but he had multiple HOF players on his team. Magic was on Kareem's team towards the beginning of his career (just like Kobe was on Shaq's team). Magic ran their coach out of town and was perceived as a spoiled superstar early in his career (somewhat similar to Kobe). I'm not saying that any of these players should be criticized for having good teammates, but why does it happen to Kobe so much more than other great players?

It is not beyond reason that Kobe is front of Bird. He is one of the top scorers in playoff history. Besides Bird played with 4 hall of famers. Shaq is the only hall of famer Kobe played with. However, I do agree that the league was much tougher back in Bird's era. I can live with them both at 4 or 5.

Check my out "What I Saw This Week."

QUOTE(#18):

Originally posted 04:23 PM ET  05.11 by SloppyJaloppy

I like Larry Bird a lot. I respect him as an all-time great. People regularly criticize Kobe Bryant for being on teams with other talented teammates and try to devalue his accomplishments because his teammates were good. I wonder why people don't do this with Larry Bird or Magic Johnson? Sure Larry was the alpha male on his team, but he had multiple HOF players on his team. Magic was on Kareem's team towards the beginning of his career (just like Kobe was on Shaq's team). Magic ran their coach out of town and was perceived as a spoiled superstar early in his career (somewhat similar to Kobe). I'm not saying that any of these players should be criticized for having good teammates, but why does it happen to Kobe so much more than other great players?

Shaq's the most dominant to play the game.. 3 Final Mvp's.. ???

QUOTE(#20):

Originally posted 01:08 AM ET  05.12 by XXPCHXX.-LBJ6 wins game1!!

Shaq's the most dominant to play the game.. 3 Final Mvp's.. ???

Yup