Ant vs Kobe

[Shaka_Zulu]

Its ridicolous to me people keep taking this OPs kobe troll baits. He has made multiple threads like these lol.


The flavour of the month is Ant so he keeps being dragged into the troll materials.

It’s just not that big of a troll job though. You’re allowed to compare players to Kobe, it’s not sacrilege. Guys like Shai and Ant are closer to Kobe than Kobe got to Mike.

Oh I agree, if its a genuine discussion, its fine, hella premature, but fine.

But I seen this OP sneakily troll about Kobe for some time now Even if he makes points I agree with, I doubt his intention is true discussion and more of a clear trolling agenda regarding Kobe.

[Wargreymon]

I mean it's kind of like asking which Spider man do you want? Tobey Maguire, Tom Holland, or Andrew Garfield? Ant, Kobe, Michael?

[tsherkin]

I mean it's kind of like asking which Spider man do you want? Tobey Maguire, Tom Holland, or Andrew Garfield? Ant, Kobe, Michael?

No, it isn't really anything like that at all...

[Shaka_Zulu]

I mean it's kind of like asking which Spider man do you want? Tobey Maguire, Tom Holland, or Andrew Garfield? Ant, Kobe, Michael?

[bledredwine]

Calling somebody "one of the top 25 players to ever play" is a pretty positive statement. Of the countless thousands to play ball, he is near the top. Only 20-24 guys are likely better.

Here's the obligatory monthly Lebron/Kobe reminder to ground fans back in reality.

Watch on YouTube

Reminder of what exactly? That a 24 year old LeBron gave props to a player he grew up watching.

Do you even know what you are trying to prove with that clip?

That Kobe was in fact known to be the better player at the time,

why? Because at the time, he was considered the better player, by the majority of fans and players.... and Lebron.

Lebron's always had the same ego- he'd call himself if he believed himself to be the best. He was not.

[One_and_Done]

Players say alot of stupid stuff. I think they've proven we shouldn't take their views too seriously.

[dygaction]

Those aren’t Ant’s real per 100 stats though from this season. That’s what he did in a 4 game sweep against a sorry Suns team.

If you look at the full season stats yeah Ant’s season this year and Kobe’s age 22 season are comparable. But it’d be hard to make the case that he’s “on track” to be greater than Kobe already… I don’t see that. He has a long way to go still.

I mean current Ant isn't just playing better than 22 years old Kobe, he's playing better than any version of Kobe. We'll see if he keeps it up, but the 1st half of today's game certainly suggests he's not slowing down.

why always focusing on Kobe ? Give him a break, and Ant has gone further than MJ ever did before him turning 24.

[xchange55]

Kobe didn't play in the advanced stats era. If he was same as as Ant he'd be better period. Kobe would have developed his jumper more in the post-Steph era where everybody has a jumper. Also he'd have been targeting advanced stats instead of ball hogging like he did in his era when everyone was copying Jordan's playing style.

I like Ant but Kobe had more raw talent.

You're saying Kobe would have adjusted his play style to pad his stats in a positive way? Did I really just read that?

[Black Jack]

Kobe didn't play in the advanced stats era. If he was same as as Ant he'd be better period. Kobe would have developed his jumper more in the post-Steph era where everybody has a jumper. Also he'd have been targeting advanced stats instead of ball hogging like he did in his era when everyone was copying Jordan's playing style.

I like Ant but Kobe had more raw talent.

You're saying Kobe would have adjusted his play style to pad his stats in a positive way? Did I really just read that?

Of course. Why do you think everyone started playing more efficient after the moneyball era began?

Google: reflexivity

[Stan]

We're really comparing a 22 year old who's won a single playoff series to a top 10-15 player ever? Give me an effing break

[Ol Roy]

For a long time, Kawhi was viewed as the next stylistic successor in this mold. I wonder if he'll be memory holed in favor of Edwards. There isn't really a need to, as there is a generation gap between all four.

[Wolfgang630]

I mean it's kind of like asking which Spider man do you want? Tobey Maguire, Tom Holland, or Andrew Garfield? Ant, Kobe, Michael?

Lmaooo no it’s not.

[tsherkin]

You're saying Kobe would have adjusted his play style to pad his stats in a positive way? Did I really just read that?

It's not about padding stats so much as adjusting to the league environment. We saw him improve just from league environment changes in his own actual career. There's a pretty good chance he'd still be a positive rTS guy in today's environment when he was healthy and in his prime.

[KnixtapeH20]

The “Kobe would be a better shooter now” arguments don’t hold any water, nobody practiced more more than Kobe did and if he’d have been a better shooter he would’ve made more. The guy made 12 threes in a game fairly early in his career, he knew what threes were, he was just a streaky shooter and overall just not as great of a shooter as from anywhere as some make him out to be.

It's less shooting ability, and more his shot selection at the time. That might change, given the era-specific emphasis on those shots.

Ex **** actly

Ppl make me laugh when the bring up Kobes "stats" like %'s lol did yall not watch him play? He WAS the team during crunch time or end of Q, end of half's.... this man LIVED for that 1 v 1 back n forth.... AND he GUARDED the best player not shyed away from it like players nowadays where it's about matchups...

lol this young generation

[Woodsanity]

Way too premature....

[socal74]

The “Kobe would be a better shooter now” arguments don’t hold any water, nobody practiced more more than Kobe did and if he’d have been a better shooter he would’ve made more. The guy made 12 threes in a game fairly early in his career, he knew what threes were, he was just a streaky shooter and overall just not as great of a shooter as from anywhere as some make him out to be.

It's less shooting ability, and more his shot selection at the time. That might change, given the era-specific emphasis on those shots.

Ex **** actly

Ppl make me laugh when the bring up Kobes "stats" like %'s lol did yall not watch him play? He WAS the team during crunch time or end of Q, end of half's.... this man LIVED for that 1 v 1 back n forth.... AND he GUARDED the best player not shyed away from it like players nowadays where it's about matchups...

lol this young generation

Exactly what's happening with these cats. They didn't really watch him play. They just remember the older post achilles Kobe. Hell I saw some post talking about Kobe like he was not even comparable athletically to Ant. WTF are some of these dudes watching? Young Kobe was athletic as ****. Go watch his dunks when he was #8. Like everyone forgot how he played before going to #24

[KnixtapeH20]

It's less shooting ability, and more his shot selection at the time. That might change, given the era-specific emphasis on those shots.

Ex **** actly

Ppl make me laugh when the bring up Kobes "stats" like %'s lol did yall not watch him play? He WAS the team during crunch time or end of Q, end of half's.... this man LIVED for that 1 v 1 back n forth.... AND he GUARDED the best player not shyed away from it like players nowadays where it's about matchups...

lol this young generation

Exactly what's happening with these cats. They didn't really watch him play. They just remember the older post achilles Kobe. Hell I saw some post talking about Kobe like he was not even comparable athletically to Ant. WTF are some of these dudes watching? Young Kobe was athletic as ****. Go watch his dunks when he was #8. Like everyone forgot how he played before going to #24

His dunks, his defense, his steals, his hustle, his **** Passion, DESIRE & competitiveness are UNMATCHED from ANY athlete in my opinion... even Jordan but that's another discussion.

[tsherkin]

Exactly what's happening with these cats. They didn't really watch him play. They just remember the older post achilles Kobe. Hell I saw some post talking about Kobe like he was not even comparable athletically to Ant. WTF are some of these dudes watching? Young Kobe was athletic as ****. Go watch his dunks when he was #8. Like everyone forgot how he played before going to #24

To one extent or another, this happens in every generation. At least now, we have better access to more games if the younger folks want to go back and actually watch a given player in question. It's a progressively harder each decade you go back, apart from epic games on Hardwood Classics.

Kobe was very, very good. He had his issues, as does basically any player, but any conversation about him should be prefaced with the underlying understanding that he was extremely good. And his numbers back that up. A lot of the negative talk about him comes from pushback against the Cult of Kobe... but you don't have like, a Cult of Trajan Langdon, you really only have fanbases like that for players who reached a certain threshold of popularity AND have some punch to the arguments pertaining to their ability, you know? Jordan, Lebron, Kobe, like that.

Ant is the right kind of personable and on-court exciting. He's certainly been a playoff monster so far. I think most folks are waiting to see it over an extend PS run and an actual full-ish regular season before anointing him, but he's clearly a skillful player who has huge promise going forward.

[Wallace_Wallace]

We're really comparing a 22 year old who's won a single playoff series to a top 10-15 player ever? Give me an effing break

There’s really no guarantee about Ant’s postseason success right after this run. Mike Conley, the team stabilizer, will need a new contract. Without Conley, they could barely make a pass in game 1 (good thing KAT and Reid stepped up). McDaniels and Edwards contracts will kick in, KAT and Gobert still making well over 40m per year. Five players (Ant, KAT, Gobert, Reid & McDaniels) will combine to make 175m next season. We’ll see how MJ he’ll get when the Wolves have to get rid of one or two of these guys. As it stands, they have nearly no flexibility to even get a point guard unless Conley takes a major pay cut next year.

He better light it up like Kawhi Leonard did for Toronto a few years back.

[Movics]

We're really comparing a 22 year old who's won a single playoff series to a top 10-15 player ever? Give me an effing break

There’s really no guarantee about Ant’s postseason success right after this run. Mike Conley, the team stabilizer, will need a new contract. Without Conley, they could barely make a pass in game 1 (good thing KAT and Reid stepped up). McDaniels and Edwards contracts will kick in, KAT and Gobert still making well over 40m per year. Five players (Ant, KAT, Gobert, Reid & McDaniels) will combine to make 175m next season. We’ll see how MJ he’ll get when the Wolves have to get rid of one or two of these guys. As it stands, they have nearly no flexibility to even get a point guard unless Conley takes a major pay cut next year.

He better light it up like Kawhi Leonard did for Toronto a few years back.

Conley re-signed until ‘25-‘26. His extension is 2/21