Kobe Bryant's Predraft Workout Has Become Stuff of Lakers, and NBA, Legend

[BigATLslim]

Never seen this article before.

Not a fan or stan, of Kobe, but have mad, mad, mad respect for this cat's NBA game.

Basically, he has HEART and A LOT of it, decided to work his skill set ad nauseam, and he still may have a couple of chapters to go in his career.

That was a good article.. funny about the Knicks picking a guy who didnt even make it a year... typical.

Now I see what sports talking heads mean when they talk about team "culture"...Knicks still making the same decision.

What I took away from this article is, these kids need to focus more on developing their skills.

Kobe clearly had that to spare, from the beginning.

Not to take anything away from Kobe, but I think it's easiER to create a Kobe than it is a Lebron James. You can't learn what Lebron has. Kobe is nothing special physically, by NBA standards, and he's not overwhelmingly athletic.

How he became what he did has to be summed up in a very high degree of skill, combined with very good athleticism. However, 'very good' athletes are kind of easy to come by.

The issue is, of course, the kind of skill Kobe developed came from an obsessive drive to improve. Always looking to add something new. I don't know if a lot of players have that. You'd think, when you're talking about the top 1 percent of players in the world, it would be common. Like how you'd expect most valedictorians to have excellent study habits. Apparently not.

Great points...

I was thought Kobe was athletically gifted. He dunked ON people, OVER people, and has ALWAYS beat cats off the dribble.

we can h8 kobe as a person...... rightfully so for that matter

but as a b ball player...... he is nufn short of a LEGEND....

Easily one of the top 3 gr8est players i have ever witnessed
with a drive and determination only 2nd to MJ

Man, I am the point now that I believe Kobe and MJ's killer instinct are ON PAR with each other, when you really and truly sit back and think about it.

 

[Spectrum]

Now I see what sports talking heads mean when they talk about team "culture"...Knicks still making the same decision.

It's crazy how you see some franchises just keep that culture for decades. I'm a Lions' fan so I know how it is.

 

[gene cisco]

It's not. He was in the league at the same time with a similar player that was more skilled than him. Lebron has no athletic equivalent in his era.

What era ever had a Lebron? Before Shaq, there was Wilt. But there is no precedent for a freak like Lebron. The comparisons often heard for Lebron are Magic and Oscar. Oscar was a freak at 6'5 due to era. He's not a 'freak' past the mid 70s. And as you stated, Magic was around Lebron's size but not nearly as athletic.

Defensively, Magic's length helped him more than athleticism ever did. Lebron actually beats much smaller guards to the spot(along with having length).

 

[Spectrum]

What era ever had a Lebron? Before Shaq, there was Wilt. But there is no precedent for a freak like Lebron. :

Oh. I agree. I was just using this "era" solely to prove that one point: That Kobe came into the league with shooting guards that were more skilled than him and who remained more skilled than him. So while he's rarely skilled, it's not that rare as to not have others to directly compare him to.

Lebron on the other hand (athleticism) doesn't have any comparison. You have to start comparing him to athletes in other sports. That's why NFL coaches were even discussing his athleticism.

I'm talking about atheticism only. Ming is taking it out of that very myopic scope and talking about championships and mvps and shit.

 

[Ming Fei Hong]

Stop. I watched Magic's entire career. He wasn't even remotely as fast as Lebron. And you're trying to argue that he was faster? Stop. That's so outrageous that it's silly. It's obvious to everyone but you that you're taking it as a knock. Why are you mentioning anything about 5 time champion and 3xs finals MVP? The OP is talking about athleticism not about accomplishments. It wasn't inferred. It's OBVIOUS you are taking this some type of way. It's not about who was the better player. The OP is talking about purely from an athletic perspective

Because only you watched Magic his entire career? I didn't "argue" he was faster. I said he covered the floor just as fast if not faster. It's obvious you have no clue what I'm referring to by "covered the floor" and have even less of a clue what my motives are. You seem to be intent on arguing against points that aren't even being levied. Speak for yourself, not "everyone", duke. Magic didn't have to physically RUN from one end of the court to the other to "cover the court." As I said, he was a superior ball handler who had the ability to use a combination of his legs and hands to get the ball where he wanted it on the court to execute a play. You should ask for clarification before a-s-s-uming you know what you're talking about.

Lebron is stronger, faster, and has a higher vertical. Those aren't even up for argument. We have combine numbers and just the eye-test is enough for anyone to see that.

Magic was often a defensive liability because of his LACK of foot speed. He made up for it with vision and intelligence but he had average speed for a man his size. He would tell you that himself. I can't even believe you're trying to argue he could get up and down the floor faster than Lebron. That's just stupid.

Again, what just stupid is you for assuming my use of covering the floor meant "he could get up and down the floor faster than Lebron." That was in fact inferred by you, not said by me.

And Ball-handling is a skill that is developed over years. It's not an athletic gift. You can't be blessed with ball-handling ability. So the argument over ball-handling just further displays you don't understand what the OP means (and what people generally are saying) but using the term "athletic".

You're confused about what the OP is arguing. He's not arguing about the most versatile skill-set either.

He's talking about freakish athleticism. Lebron looks like a lab experiment.

Your argument show you don't know what MY "argument" (point) is. The more I read your comment, the more pointless replying seems. You literally jumped up in the middle of exchange, acting more brolic than the OP and don't know what the fuck you're talking about. You wildin', b.

So what. It doesn't matter about the era or their style of play or the options they had. The OP is not talking about their playing styles. He's talking about pure physical athletic ability. The options they had on their teams is irrelevant.

That man is fully capable of saying for himself what he's talking about. I'M saying there's a difference between "couldn't" and "didn't."

Because Kobe is highly skilled. Just like Federer. Federer is the goat at this point (Nadal will overtake him) but he was never extremely fast, strong, etc. He was the most skilled in terms of shot placement, variety, ability on multiple surfaces (though grass was his best surface), etc.

The reason why I compared him to Federer is because of that. However, Nadal is a much rarer player physically than Federer. We'll see another Federer (and have before already) before we'll see another Nadal. However, the reason I didn't use Nadal as the counter in the original is because he's not nearly as dominant physically as say a Djokovic. The only equivalent to Lebron in tennis is Serena on the women's side.

Stop that. You compared Kobe to the GOAT of tennis when there are plenty of other examples of intensely competitive players.

It's not. He was in the league at the same time with a similar player that was more skilled than him. Lebron has no athletic equivalent in his era.

I disagree.

 

[Ming Fei Hong]

Never seen this article before.

Not a fan or stan, of Kobe, but have mad, mad, mad respect for this cat's NBA game.

Basically, he has HEART and A LOT of it, decided to work his skill set ad nauseam, and he still may have a couple of chapters to go in his career.

Now I see what sports talking heads mean when they talk about team "culture"...Knicks still making the same decision.

Great points...

I was thought Kobe was athletically gifted. He dunked ON people, OVER people, and has ALWAYS beat cats off the dribble.


Man, I am the point now that I believe Kobe and MJ's killer instinct are ON PAR with each other, when you really and truly sit back and think about it.

^^^ Basically.

 

[Spectrum]

Defensively, Magic's length helped him more than athleticism ever did. Lebron actually beats much smaller guards to the spot(along with having length).

Exactly. Lebron and Magic are similar in their versatility in terms of Magic having teams where he has played multiple positions (like starting at center when Kareem went down). His size helped him. However, Lebron has also started at Center.

On the other end, Riley would put Cooper on the smaller + faster guards because Magic COULDN'T defend them consistently. With his height, it's not expected so it's not really a knock. Also, magic was not very quick..in terms of lateral movement so quick players would cause him problems. Again, Scott and Cooper would be given those assignment and Riley would often move Magic to the less athletically gifted players.

On the other end, Lebron has times when he's given the assignment of defending the quick/small PG because although he's big, he's quick enough to do it.

 

[Spectrum]

Because only you watched Magic his entire career? I didn't "argue" he was faster. I said he covered the floor just as fast if not faster. :

Man. I'm not going to do another respond after this one with you because you have this type of tendency when it comes to Kobe. So I'm done after this.

You can make any type of subjective meaning for "cover the floor". It does not matter how you define it, Lebron does everything on the floor MUCH faster than Magic.

That you're even trying to make an argument in terms of speed or quickness, lateral movement, acceleration, etc.. anything within that realm between Magic and Lebron is silly.

And that you responded with the ball-handling-get up the court shit further illustrates that you still don't fucking get it. We are not arguing about ball-handling skills + the ability to get up the court quickly or that he had vision to get the ball up the court. It's not the argument. You're injecting irrelevant arguments.

Anywhere on the court when you have to move from point a to point b...whether running, dribbling, first step, drop back,..you name it.. Lebron does it MUCH faster than Magic. I didn't say BETTER. I said FASTER. There is no argument there. He's a more explosive athlete than Magic. Magic wasn't even the 3rd best "athlete" on his squad. He was definitely the best basketball player but far but not the best athlete...and damn sure not the fastest or quickest.

Have a nice night. I didn't even read the rest of your response.

 

[Ming Fei Hong]

Man. I'm not going to do another respond after this one with you because you have this type of tendency when it comes to Kobe. So I'm done after this.

I disagree.

You can make any type of subjective meaning for "cover the floor". It does not matter how you define it, Lebron does everything on the floor MUCH faster than Magic.

I disagree.

That you're even trying to make an argument in terms of speed or quickness, lateral movement, acceleration, etc.. anything within that realm between Magic and Lebron is silly.

I disagree.

Have a nice night. I didn't even read the rest of your response.

I disagree.

 

[Art Vandelay]

Very good article.

The argument that Bryant was born to play basketball most logically lies in his height and skills, gifted to him genetically by his father and his mother's brother, both of whom played in the NBA.

I didn't know Kobe's mother's brother played in the NBA.

Funny how he's seen as this everyman since LeBron came along.

Ryan walked his own path, also shaped in some way by that day. He is now assistant scouting director for the Lakers, observing every one of the current prospects, looking for lightning to strike again while knowing it is unlikely.

 

[Chitownheadbusa]

we can h8 kobe as a person...... rightfully so for that matter

but as a b ball player...... he is nufn short of a LEGEND....

Easily one of the top 3 gr8est players i have ever witnessed
with a drive and determination only 2nd to MJ

Good ball player.....most impressive when he had Shaq big ass commanding most of the attention, hence helping Kobe in a major way....but yeah. that drive and determination was to be like Michael. Nothing more, nothing less. I can never consider him a top three player when his purpose in life was to copy someone elses legacy instead of create his own.

 

[april69]

Kobe is the greatest of all time

 

[unknownsoldier]

don't know if I could agree that Kobe was "above average" athletically...a dime a dozen? Yes, but to say above average...nah. Dude had ridiculous hops, quick first step, end to end speed & great body control earlier in his career.

 

[TruDat]

great article

I am not a lakers fan but
I respect Kobe basketball skills.
I dont know how people can shit on his game.
Maybe his personality sucks just like MJ; however,
he is a good example if you want to attain greatness
you have to work hard to get it

 

[Better]

Kobe's athleticism was never the eye-popping type of athleticism, to me.

What Kobe has, that very few ATHLETES in the 20th and 21st century has, is audacity. When you have that to the degree Kobe has it, coupled with above average athletic ability - and remember, we're talking about by NBA standards - you're going to being exciting.

However, it still gotta be kept in perspective. Kobe definitely wasn't, for instance, jumping as high as J.R. Smith, or jumping as far or running as fast as Lebron.

don't know if I could agree that Kobe was "above average" athletically...a dime a dozen? Yes, but to say above average...nah. Dude had ridiculous hops, quick first step, end to end speed & great body control earlier in his career.

 

[Big Philly]

When I was 25 years old I had just stopped trying to make a pro team and took a job running the pool at the Kaiserman Jewish Community Center in Wynnewood PA right outside of Philly. I was surprised to see Joe "Jellybean" Bryant running the fitness center. He told me his 14 year old son played and a couple of days later I met a 6'2" Kobe Bryant. We were both in the gym and I was working out. Kobe, his cousin, 12 year old John Cox who went on to play at San Francisco and another 14 year old cousin, I forget his name but he was just as good as Kobe, were working out on the other court. At first I wasn't paying the youngsters any attention but after a second I looked to see they were working on things I didn't do until I was playing ball in college. It was crazy to see these three barely teenagers going after it in a no-nonsense professional way. They worked out as hard as any adult trying to make the league.

Kobe and his two cousins worked out for hours like that two or three times a week for the three years I was at the center. I had little doubt he would be a pro. I didn't know he'd be an all-time great but with a work ethic like that and with both parents and uncles being elite ball players you knew he'd be playing on tv.

 

[Better]

Based on what I read, he didn't really blossom until his junior year, I think?

He wasn't like some of these guys who are known throughout the nation before they're in high school. Not that he wasn't good, but most would've have predicted he'd be the player he'd become.

I read her played in the Sonny Hill league when he was 10, and didn't score a point the whole summer, because the American game was so much more physical.

When I was 25 years old I had just stopped trying to make a pro team and took a job running the pool at the Kaiserman Jewish Community Center in Wynnewood PA right outside of Philly. I was surprised to see Joe "Jellybean" Bryant running the fitness center. He told me his 14 year old son played and a couple of days later I met a 6'2" Kobe Bryant. We were both in the gym and I was working out. Kobe, his cousin, 12 year old John Cox who went on to play at San Francisco and another 14 year old cousin, I forget his name but he was just as good as Kobe, were working out on the other court. At first I wasn't paying the youngsters any attention but after a second I looked to see they were working on things I didn't do until I was playing ball in college. It was crazy to see these three barely teenagers going after it in a no-nonsense professional way. They worked out as hard as any adult trying to make the league.

Kobe and his two cousins worked out for hours like that two or three times a week for the three years I was at the center. I had little doubt he would be a pro. I didn't know he'd be an all-time great but with a work ethic like that and with both parents and uncles being elite ball players you knew he'd be playing on tv.