Lakers Rumors & News Recap: Kobe Should Be Top Five

In yesterday’s post, I mentioned how I found it strange that Kobe Brant was ranked 6th in the #NBARank, and it turns out I am not the only one who thinks that way. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless find it blasphemous that Kobe Bryant (6) and Dwyane Wade (8) were not named as top five NBA players. Smith argued that Chris Paul and Derrick Rose should not be ahead of Bryant on the list, a five-time NBA champion and the second leading scorer in the NBA last season. Smith also did not find that Howard being in the top five as a justifiable position. He mentioned many of the concerns I had, mainly about Howard’s poorer offensive game. Bayless believes Bryant was not placed higher on the list because of his playoff performance against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Kobe Bryant is one of basketball’s greatest players. With the career he has had, staying on top this long is an honor in itself. Despite what the polling rank has said, being the veteran Kobe is and still competing, and in most cases, beating out the young pups in the league is incredible.

Congratulations Kobe.

For more Kobe related news, Lakers Nation teamed up with Tyson Beck to bring you a detailed graphic that compares the careers of Michael Jordan and Bryant in a side-by-side manner that allows you to focus just on the numbers. It is a really eye opening picture. What immediately stood out to me was the staggering differences in some of these numbers, where as I had previously thought Kobe was more matched than he is.

Training camp is in a number of days and Andrew Ungvari of Lakers Nation has done the unthinkable; told Kobe to back off, just a little bit. In his open letter to Bryant, Ungvari tells Kobe he needs to understand that he is no longer the player he once was, therefore his season strategy has to be different. To check out the letter, you can read Andrew’s post here.

Last but not least, if you haven’t seen Kobe make some kid’s day, here is a clip of his time on Ellen. Kobe took some time to meet a young fan and truly lit up the little boy’s life.

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Dwight Howard Ranked 3rd Best NBA Player by ESPN [LA Times]