Are the Lakers better off without Kobe Bryant after their impressive back-to-back victories?
825537
Yes, because they play as a TEAM.\n\nNo, because they have no one to go to in crunch-time.
951216
Yes the Lakers are going just like they did last year and they will go past the 1st round. Thats an obvious statement.......\n\n\nTo the guy who said the last good Laker team was in Minneapolis...are u @#$%^*! Magic...Kareem, Worthy, SHOWTIME.......or did u forget......
557004
It was beautiful - Kobe tried to win it by himself, and of course the Lakers lost.  It was also great to see Jack Nicholson trying to put a useless hex on the Suns - he is the next most annoying Laker after Kobe!  I hope Kobe goes for 60 points the next game.  \n\nBut enough of Kobe.  The Suns were awesome - what a gritty effort with so many things going against them.  That's what a championship team does.  Go Suns, believe in yourselves!!!
600294
Hell NO!  He was the sidekick to Shaq to win all of those rings, and he hasn't done anything without him.  He is a ballhog and doesn't make his teammates better.  MJ did all of those things and did win with only Pipen as a decent player.  I would say that Shaq is closer to MJ than Kobe, and that is not even close.
467351
YES KOBE DESERVES IT WAY MORE!!! More proof...\n\nOutrageous scoring spree (45+ in 4 games???)\n*81 point game against Raptors\n*Takes record for total points in one season by a Laker\n*Outscoring Dallas in three quarters\n* Most points in one half by a Laker\n*43.4 points averaged in January \n*Scoring 40 or more in one season- 27\n* Games of 20 or more in a season (in a row): 62\n* One of only two people to score 80 or more in one game.\n*One of two players in NBA history to average 40+ in one month in two occasions (one this year)\n*Only player in NBA history with at least 2,800 points and 180 three-point field goals made in one season. \n*One of only two players in NBA history to score 35-plus points per game for 13 consecutive games\n*Scored 30 points in one quarter against Dallas
662720
Kobe is always gettting better and better and he always surprises everyone when everyone thinks they have him figured out. Lakers are going to win against the Suns
239675
lebron is already better than kobe, and when it's all said in done, it wont even be close.\nLebron's overall numbers are better, and he is a far better team player.\nif you compare kobe's first 3 seasons OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL to LeBron's first 3 seasons OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL, you'll laugh.
625642
Jackson is a very good coah and kobe is a good player and I am sure they will get some more good players for next year.\n\nI think the supporting players of the lakers where under hyped this year.\n\nYou have to remember that they took phoenix to seven games
417795
Only if they get a real team, and Kobe becomes willing to actually pass them the ball instead of jacking it up 30+ times a game.  You can't win a championship in the NBA with one player.  MJ had Pippen, heck Kobe had Shaq.  There needs to be more than one star if the Lakers are ever going to contend.
501368
Yes by far it could be Kobe's grestest moment of his career because he is the only star there, no Shaq, no Payton, no Malone, no Horry, and no more .4 second crap Fisher pulled off against my team a couple of years back. He is the one to carry them. He has a steady core of role players which have greatly improved their play over the last 2 yrs. Kwame Brown is starting to crash the boards really well, and Smush Parker has come alive as well. These guys are doing something they have not done ever playing with past teams, and that is that they are playing for eachother, or team basketball, trusting one another to make a good play. You only see that in my opinion, on the Spurs, and the Lakers are starting to take that characteristic as well. The Lakers will be in the second round against their across-the-street-rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers. That series will go 7 games, maybe six, and i do see the Lakers standing a fair chance in that series. If they shut down Elton Brand, they will advance to the Western Conference Finals, against the Spurs, that series would go 5-6 games, and that is when the Lakers would be knocked out. They are vastly improving, and it is thanks to Kobe Bryant. With that shot in Game 4, i think he deserves the Most Valueable Player Award.
970955
am i missing something here?...was steve nash voted mvp even tho kobe was better?.....have the lakers made even the finals again since shaq left?...i believe that those that think kobe is best belong in the twilight zone
673942
The Lakers are not going to win against the Suns in Pheonix. Even though the Suns are playing at home thats not the biggest reason why they are going to win. The biggest reason the Suns are gonna win is because of their depth. They have different makers coming off the bench and all the Lakers have is Kobe. Kobe is a fantastic player but as you can see in the last game they cant win if he scores almost more than half of his team's points. Basketball is a team sport and if you dont make your team mates better than you will lose the game. And who makes his team better than Steve Nash?? Thats why hes the MVP for the second time in a row.
314228
No. This is because you can't really compare the two of them yet, because kobe is still young- but so far, he isnt, because kobe doesnt pass the ball. all he does is shoot, shoot, shoot. but dont get me wrong- kobe is probably the most skilled player in the league today. jus think where the lakers would be without him.
340675
It looks like they'll be facing the Suns.  They have a legitimate chance of beating them because the Suns play no defense and the Lakers are not exactly inept on offense, especially with Kobe on the team.  Speaking of which, his experience and his ability to "turn it up" in the post-season will make the Lakers contenders ... at least until the next round.  The Lakers do play defense on the other hand and can make big stops if they need to.\n\nI am a Laker hater so I must be right!
70031
While glances at Kobe's moves every now and then might give one a passing thought at a Jordan comparison, my personal answer to this question is a resounding no.\n\nGenerally speaking, I don't think it's fair to compare a player to Michael Jordan, easily one of the top athletes in modern history, while Bryant is still in the middle of his career. Simply put, Kobe does not have comparable numbers to Jordan--he hasn't had the time. Yes, at the rate he's going, it's possible that Kobe could rack up some Jordan-esque numbers down the line, but we don't know that yet. There is no need to make premature assumptions.\n\nThat said, even now, Kobe should not be mentioned in the same breath as Jordan simply because of team success. Michael Jordan won six NBA titles with the Bulls. Yes, Kobe's won three champonships with his Lakers--but he has not almost singlularly contributed to them as Jordan did to his Bulls. Yes, Jordan had his Pippen, but Kobe had his Shaq--a future Hall of Famer. Now with Shaq off to the Miami Heat, the Lakers have been struggling, and Kobe cannot singularly handle other teams--like Jordan often did.\n\nWhile it's far to soon to make this comparison, I think Jordan is by far and away above Kobe, and the order will remain that way for a long, long time.
1015538
No. Just cuz he has a ring doesn't mean hes the best.... Lebron is an overall better player still and kobe is close if not better than Dwayne.
508297
This season it has been the Clippers. They have a all-around strong team. Chris Kaman has come out and played really well at center. Sam Cassel and Elton Brand are just great players. The Lakers have depended on Kobe for too much of the season, that is why they lost against the Suns...because he didn't shoot well in the second half. This season the Staples Center belongs to the Clippers