Nick ranks Kobe Bryant 6th on his Top 50 Players of the Last 50 Years | NBA | FIRST THINGS FIRST 

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I think the biggest knock on Kobe was his lack of efficiency. But Kobe did play elite defense which often gets overlooked.

Kobe’s inefficiency comes with the fact that he loves to take shots when he was double or triple teamed. As a Kobe fan, this was also my frustration during his playing days but I can’t complain much. His ability to hit those tough shots also gave his fans plenty of memorable and timeless highlights. He won 5 titles while being one of the best entertainers this league has seen since MJ. All is good.

The thing that makes Kobe so difficult to rank is the fact that the best teams he played on were when he had not reached his prime yet. He did not get a chance to experience a championship level cast as the clear cut number one option until the later half of his prime. He had to carry lottery level supporting casts to the postseason in a western conference where winning 50 games barely squeeks you into the postseason. The moment he got Pau Gasol the Lakers absolutely destroyed the western conference competition for 3 straight years. People forget that the Spurs were the defending champs going into the 08 season and despite only playing 25 games together and missing 2 starters the Lakers still took out the Spurs in 5 games. Then of course a few seasons later the Lakers rebuild to contention fell apart after 5 seasons when the Post Jerry Buss front office did a terrible job with roster building topped off with CP3 trade being vetoed. A lot of these circumstances made for bad timing which prevented Kobe from having a fair shot at winning enough regular season games to win multiple mvps. Also during the 3 peat outside of 2000, the years 2001 and 2002 Kobe and Shaq were clearly 1a and 1b. Shaq the the advantage of playing scrub centers in the Finals while kobe had to go toe to toe with the star guards of Reggie Miller, Allen Iverson, Jason Kidd etc so it put Shaq at an advantage to pour ridiculous numbers in the finals. But during the runs to the finals especially in the series against the Spurs it was Kobe who was the more dominant player. In fair circumstances Kobe went 4-1 against Duncan in the postseason. Another thing to understand is that guards especially out of high school were just not trusted back then and Del Harris played Kobe for like 17 minutes a game his rookie year and barely gave him enough run in his 2nd year. You need to have watched and notice the real details to understand how Kobe's impact transcends the stat sheet. Casuals just look at the box score with 0 context to what was happening. Not saying he is greater than LeBron or MJ. But he is not as far back as people claim he is.

People fall in love with the drive and determination of Kobe. IMO he has the greatest comeback story in sports history after the ‘03 case all while rising to the top of the league.

Nick: "you don't want the numbers or the intangibles, what are we allowed to use?" 🤣perfect victory!

Amidst all the subjectivity on this topic, let’s just acknowledge the overarching fact - whichever player you have as your goat or whichever players you have in your top 10 - these guys made you feel all types of emotions and made you fall in love with the game of basketball. What makes them great is the ability to fully captivate their audience and forever occupy a place in our memories. Respect to greatness 🤙🏾

Clutch time actually isn’t just one shot alone. I thought clutch moments happened within the last 4-5 minutes of a game. Nit picking clutch to one last shot is crazy to me.

"I don't want numbers I don't want intangibles I want the eye test... my eyes and only My eyes" - Ric n Skip

Ric got absolutely BODIED 😭😭he shot down stats and THEN shot down INTANGIBLES?? GG dawg

Ric has an average on his takes like a baseball player…

A lot of ppl don't realize if Duncan was not playing in a system in San Antonio for most of his career and he plays on a team with more freestyle play, he more likely would have put up bigger numbers in terms of points and assists specifically and Duncan is one the best passing big man of alltime.

Kobe 12 times All-Defence (tied most all time). These analysts always forgot that.

Duncan was the system and people use that as a way to detract from him…dude they won 3 in 5 years from 03-07.

Duncan is a great example of high IQ, efficiency and teamwork. One of my favorite players ever.

Thank you man for speaking up for Kobe and point out things that so many of these analysts overlook when it comes to him.

Kobe took more contested deep mid range shots than anyone especially at his time period . He shot a high percentage for someone always so heavily contested. Him shooting so many contested shots made him even more lethal in the playoffs . This is why numbers are bs unless you look at the advanced metrics to the type of shots they were compared to the rest of the nba . I think his effectiveness on tough shot making is ridiculously understated and it's disgusting that they just just look at raw number data . Just like when they said harden is the best isolation player of all time .

Kobe went to the finals with Shaq 3 straight times and without Shaq 3 straight times! Kobe is 5 and 7 in the Finals💪 RIP Mamba.

Nick and Bru - give stats, accomplishments, intangibles to defend their points Ric - “I saw them play”

Tim vs Kobe is a position paradox. That's like smaller scale version of Kareem vs Jordan.

I was surprised at Ricks list. I respect Rick now cuz he shows respect for Kobe. I don’t respect Nick and Chris anymore for not show how great Kobe was in the game

They embarrassed this man he couldn’t even keep a straight face 😂

Rick wouldn't take Shaq in his prime over Kode? This is why people make up the eye test.. because you can't argue with a ghost stat "eye test"

Nick: We dont use Numbers and Intangibles, what do we use? Rik: Feelings 🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂

There is a clear double standard when comparing different players. LeBron is consistently down-graded because of Heat's loss to Mavs in 2011. However, Kobe and Shaq simply get passes for the 2004 meltdown against the Pistons. Both finals results are excellent examples that teams with good supporting casts win championships, not individual stars.

People don’t give Kobe enough credit for his defense and those 2 finals in 3 years

What part of 8 straight finals don't people get? And as far as Duncan, he's not rated by all because he wasnt flashly

11:00 Nick's voice when he says "he left!" Lmao!

Respect to Rick for sticking for Kobe! the Mamba! Because I would take Kobe as well to start a team!

Nobody ever wants to talk about the Olympics. When team USA was getting SMACKED until coach K went and got KOBE...

“ Kobe didn’t have that nucleus of having the same head coach & Duncan never had a down year “ but when it comes to Lebron it’s “ he can’t will his team on his own “. Man pick a side.

I love we how touch on Kobe's shooting % and efficiency when we forget how many possessions Kobe had to throw up end of shot clock prayers bc he had teammates doing nothing with the ball. Off-ball movement was lacking, Kobe knew it and more than often had to throw up double team Think about how much you hate it when a co-worker doesn't pull his weight. How frustrating that is. How many teammate interviews where they state " I would just be "stuck" watching Kobe". That's how great the man was.

Kobe was an incredible player, definitely one of the greats.....but I am freaking amazed that no one is remembering that he had not only Shaq but also Horace Grant, Ron Harper, and Robert Horry on those teams! You cannot tell me the Spurs had a better lineup.

Broussard: Kobe shot 44% for his career and never shot over 47% for a season with Shaq drawing doubles. Nick: shaq scored 36 a game on 60% shooting for those finals Rick: oh you guys and numbers Lmao what a joke, all Rick cares about are his feelings about these players. He doesn’t like lebron so he isn’t top 5, he does like Kobe so he’s easily top 5.

I Saw Kobe And Duncan At The Same Time And I Never For A Second Thought Duncan Was Better Than Kobe

Kobe's skills, style, and competitiveness is so inspiring. Within 10 years from being drafted, he managed to win 3 rings in 3 peat fashion, be the best player in the NBA as a shooting guard, all defensive team 7 year straight, all star team starter for 9 year straight, be the youngest player to start in an all star game while not being a starter as a Laker, dropped 81 pts in a game, outscored a team in 3 quarters, and the face of the league all in one team as a Laker in the tough western conference. When the world watched the 2008 Olympics, they knew who the guy was that Led them to a gold medal..KOBE

Idk who that other guy is forgot his name already but he virtually said that his perception and opinion are more definitive, precise and credible than any statistics haha

This was, objectively, one of Nick's best takes. Hate him or not, but Nick roasted Rick B.

Ric Butcher ALWAYS has terrible takes in my opinion. Everyone else I agree with but Ric it's like "What? How is this man still here?"

No one ever mentions that Kobe has the most all defense selections among guards in the history of the NBA

Kobe DOMINATED the slowest paced, most aggressively played defensive era in NBA history....

“What you don’t want the numbers OR the intangibles?!?” classic Nick

It's funny how Nick doesn't mention how Kobe beat Duncan in the playoffs to those Lakers and Spurs battle were great.

As good as Magic was, the key thing is that the very second Kareem retired, the Magic-led Lakers never won another ring. Kobe won with AND without Shaq. Magic never won without Kareem. Kobe Bryant should be Top 5 but not over Duncan, but instead, over Magic.

One thing these analysts don’t tell you is that the finals series during the Lakers 3 peat that they played against cake walk eastern conference teams that really couldn’t deal with Shaq.. the series against Portland & the series against Sacramento.. which were way better opponents than the Nets & 76ers & Pacers ..The Mamba brought those series’ home 🐍

Kobe vs Duncan on an All-Time list is Intriguing for sure!!

Who beat more 50+ win teams in the playoffs than Kobe, made more three pointers in a game, scored more points in a game, and also made more than 12 all defensive teams, 🤔 please inform me

You could see when Rick realised they got him by his reaction to the Kobe efficiency thing😂😂

This was nicks best argument😂 Ric mind froze

People hate the number associated to the player, while not thinking to who should be before him

He said I watched all guys play up close and I’m taking Kobe over everybody

Kobe had an arsenal of moves and shots, and was guarding your best player. One vs One, Kobe wins! Magic said Kobe is the best Laker. Shaq said it too! LeBron was interviewed saying Kobe was better than him. Kobe killed the Spurs almost every time they played against each other. Not to mention these guys saying Kobe Goat... Iverson McGrady Billups

Shocking the way they downplay how good Pau Gasol was, particularly in 2010.

They forgetting Kobe went to the finals 3 in a row w out Shaq

The fact that Ric's whole argument got diminished to "I know what I saw" was sad to watch

I must correct myself. I said it wasn’t educational. But I did learn one thing from Rick. In sport you use the numbers as facts so you can measure success. Rick argument is that you should ignore the stats and go by who you like more. This one is gold. The ridiculousness is reaching unbelievable heights 😂😂😂😂

Points LBJ/ KB 40+ 69 135 Game 50+ 14 25 Game 60+ 1 6 Game 80+. 0 1 Game Kobe set on the bench the first two years of his career behind Eddie George. Me saying that he had more time than Kobe started since he came in the league. And y'all say he a better score if you don't believe Google it look at the stats above 🔝

If ric would have had lebron over kobe then I could at least listen to him. The fact that he doesn't automatically makes all the rest of his opinions suspect.

Nick fails to realize Kobe was nba all defense 12 times and 9 times first team defense. That's more than any other guard and second all time.

I love it Rick. That's why my name is Rick. Its Kobe for LIFE!!! I saw him on TV. You saw him in person and its final!!!

*My Top 10 Greatest NBA Players* 01.) Wilt Chamberlain 02.) Michael Jordan 03.) Magic Johnson 04.) Kobe Bryant 05.) Lebron James 06.) Kareem Abdul Jabbar 07.) Bill Russell 08.) Steph Curry 09.) Hakeem Olajuwon 10.) Shaquille O'neal

I agree with Nick on this one. Tim Duncan wasn't in the Spurs system. He WAS the system

I think a lot of people forget that without Kobe the Lakers vs Pacers finals goes 7 games. Shaq fouled out in OT of Game 4 and it was 100% Kobe who won that game for LA and kept that series from being tied 2-2 back when game 5 would have been at Indy and the Pacers realistically could have taken a 3-2 lead and only need to steal one of the last two at LA.

How can any list have Magic before Bird is beyond me and just ridiculous. Bird is the most underrated Superstar ever.

Tim Duncan won a championship with the finals MVP in 1999 before Parker and Ginobili came into the league. The second best player to Duncan in 98-99 was a far second, I'm talking about David Robinson. Duncan was the Spurs offense in 98-99 but one important thing to mention the 98-99 season was a short season because there was a lockout, so to some degree there is an asterisk on that championship but at the same time it's still an amazing thing Duncan was able to accomplish and that was in his second season in the league. The bottom line is Duncan is underrated to some degree.

Ric basically tears the spurs for being a great team and having multiple reliable pieces but then makes it seem like Kobe 3 peated and went back to back by himself 😂😂😂😂😂 WHAT?!

now mentioned who Shaq faced in those finals, and how the road TO those finals were dog fights and Kobe was very much needed in all facets during those wars

Bucher's final statement is the ultimate winning argument lol thank you

1. Jordan 2. LeBron 3. Kareem 4. Magic 5. Duncan 6. Kobe 7. Bird 8. Shaq 9. Steph 10. Hakeem

Wow 9 finals in 12 seasons. Why was that not in his docu-series. Magic sounds amazing.

Nobody is devaluing Kobe in the 3peat but when you have a teammate that averaged 37,17, and 7 you are the 2nd banana. Also people call Kobe so clutch, he would take the shot…every time but he missed more go ahead shots than anyone.

These boys really grilled Kobe for having shaq but praise magic for having that stacked squad. Literally the whole era is called showtime.

Ric Bucher was speaking straight facts. Duncan not messing w/ Kobe at all. While they played I never heard nobody say Duncan was better than Kobe.

As a side note, I feel that Kobe/Shaq team doesn't get anywhere near the respect nor the debate that the great teams get. That 2000 team was cutting through teams like there wasn't another team on the floor. If I remember right, my Sixers were the only team to put a loss on them in the playoffs.

Ric “Duncan was in a well run organisation with a great coach” Spurs are in the lottery with the same coach atm….

Total Achievements: (Titles / MVPs / Finals MVPs / 1st All-NBA / 1st All-DEF / Scoring Titles) 1) Jordan = 46 2) LeBron = 31 2) Kareem = 31 4) Kobe = 30 5) Duncan = 28 6) Wilt = 23 7) Magic = 20 8) Russell = 19 9) Shaq = 18 10) Bird = 17 11) Hakeem = 16 12) Durant = 15 There's a bunch of players with 14 Achievements. Stephen Curry has 13 Achievements. At the age of 27, Giannis has the best shot to make it into the Top 10...he already has 12 Achievements

The best argument for Kobe is the eye test. For a while there he was unbelievable to watch, there was no defense that could slow him down

Ppl forget Kobe ties the record with 9x all nba defensive team... and ppl act like that's nothing

You see they didn't have an answer about Kobes 2 rings without Shaq

Kobe is grossly underrated, Jesus Christ.

I love how nobody mentions that Kobe Bryant was playing with a broken or dislocated something in his hand shoulder or feet like every season he was hurt and that was one of the reasons he was so he didn’t shoot the ball effectively 1 season he was playing what a finger splint ON HIS SHOOTING HAND I dare you to go outside and play with a finger splint on your middle finger on your shooting hand and see how that works out for you

I only had to listen to 27 seconds of Rick Bucher, to determine that he was going to put his anti-LeBron bias on open display.

If you guys wanna do an actual breakdown of Kobe’s shootings you can check his percentages from 5-10 10-20 and so on and it’s the same for other greats and you can breakdown their play style and how they score and make your own decisions instead of listening to others

Steve Nash has one more MVP, was a better passer than Kobe and was more efficient than Kobe and nobody in the cosmos thinks that Steve Nash was a better player than Kobe. Efficiency doesnt necessarily equate to being a winning formula...the problem is, you need an actual gauge of the sport to understand this and 99% of ppl online talking about basketball have absolutely NO gauge of the sport whatsoever.

I love when Rick Beuker is on the show. Always keeps it real

The argument Ric made on Kobe's behalf vs Duncan is the same thing you can say about Lebron vs Kobe....This man said Kobe didn't have that nucleus of a good organization and good coaching and that's why he puts Kobe ahead of Duncan smh

Duncan over Kobe is the funniest thing I've ever heard.

Kobe is #4 on my list. I’m tired of hearing about efficiency. It literally a argument that people who never played ball make. Kobe is so inefficient that if he takes 20 shots he is going to make 8.5 of them and score 24-25 points. Meanwhile Steph someone we consider to be one of the most efficient players ever is gonna make 9.5 shots and score 27-28. Like we r talking about 2-3 points per game difference. Efficiency is so overrated that it’s not funny. That’s the difference between a inefficient Kobe and a AllTime efficient Steph. 2-3Ppg and 1 shot. Stop using that as a argument.

When did the success in San Antonio stop? When Duncan retired. Pop's still there.

Look at the 01 02 and 08 series between lakers and spurs Kobe was the best player on the court including shaq

Nick just roasted the man in the middle with facts.

People keep talking about efficieny...it is not much of a difference between shooting 50%(e.g. shooting 10 out of 20) and 45%(shooting 9 out of 20)

Thank you Rick. The disrespect for Kobe is mind blowing

Once you dominate for 10+ years, no one should have a longevity argument over you. It should be just apex and consistency. To me, that's why the Duncan/Kobe debate is so close. Kobe clearly has the higher apex but Duncan was constantly impacting his teams success more (Spurs never had a drop-off)

I like how the list is the past 50 years. It's always hard to rank guys like Russell and Chamberlain alongside guys like MJ, Kareem, Magic, LeBron, Bird, Kobe, Shaq, Duncan, etc. As far as Nick's ranking, it's all subjective. Everyone has their own list. I think Jordan, Kareem, LeBron, and Magic have to be the top 4 no matter what. Then it's Duncan, Shaq, Bird, Kobe in whatever order.

They should have added the fact that it was Gasol and Artest who won the 2010 title for the Lakers. Kobe frustratingly played hero ball in Game 7 of that series and almost cost the Lakers the championship if not for the heroics of Gasol and Artest.

Wildes' reaction to Nick's "clutch" statement says it all.

Kobe’s back to back championships cemented his GOAT level status

Ric lost this argument as soon as he implied he had Kobe ahead of Duncan, LeBron, Magic, or Kareem.

So ig the Kobe vs lbj thing is the same as Duncan & Kobe… lbj didn’t have a Hof coach, the most dominant player as a teammate, etc etc…. So how we put Kobe over lbj if what he said put Kobe over Duncan 🤦🏽‍♂️