Never a fan. But a legend and a dad. This is terrible. I actually watched video of the entire crash up close and it is sickening. I wish i never watched

Might have been a fake bro.

I'm bored. Kobe came into the league in 1996. These are who I have as the best players every year since then.

1996/1997-1997/1998: Michael Jordan
1998/1999-1999/2000: Shaquille O'neal
2000/2001-2001/2002: Allen Iverson
2002/2003: Tracy McGrady
2003/2004: Kevin Garnett
2004/2005: Allen Iverson
2005/2006-2006/2007: Kobe Bryant
2007/2008-2012/2013: LeBron James
2013/2014: Kevin Durant
2014/2015: LeBron James
2015/2016-: Stephen Curry


1996-1998
MJ: 29.2/5.8/3.9
Kobe: 11.7/2.5/1.9

(Kobe is coming off the bench, fresh out of high school, so this isn't fair, but it will become fair by the next batch)

1998-2000
Shaq: 28.4/12.5./3.2
Kobe: 21.5/5.9/4.4

2000-2002
AI: 31.2/4.1/5.0
Kobe: 26.7/5.7/5.2

2002/2003
T-Mac: 32.1/6.5/5.5
Kobe: 30.0/6.9/5.9

2003/2004
KG: 24.2/13.9/5.0
Kobe: 24.0/5.5/5.1

2004/2005
AI: 30.7/4.0/7.9
Kobe: 27.6/5.9/6.0

2005-2007
Kobe: 33.5/5.5/4.9

2007/2008-2012/2013
LeBron: 28.2/7.7/7.3
Kobe: 27.1/5.5/5.1

I got Kobe at two seasons as the undisputed, best player in the NBA. You could maybe sneak two more, one in the T-Mac year (although I think that would be crazy), or the KG year (equally crazy). During no season of LeBron's reign could Kobe sneak ahead of him, including the two championship years, which is even more lopsided for LeBron (29.1/7.4/7.9 vs. 26.9/5.3/4.9). Wade actually comes closer than Kobe in 2008/2009 to having a better season than LeBron (30.2/5/7.5). Statistically, LeBron's most dominant run dwarfs Kobe's. I don't even like LeBron, but that's just the way it is.

Side note, I'm coming to the conclusion that Durant has been a superior scorer than Kobe. Kobe has led the league in shot attempts six times en route to only two scoring titles. Durant has led the league in shot attempts only twice en route to four scoring titles. Durant has a chance to sneak past Kobe when it's all said and done, although it seems much less likely now than it did a couple years ago.

Another side note, MJ wasn't human. Led the league in shot attempts nine times, and won the scoring title every single year he did that plus one more for good measure (Jordan averaged 32.5/8/8 the year he shot less than normal). Both Jordan and Kobe averaged an insane 27 shots per game one year. Kobe averaged 35 points that year. Jordan averaged 37. It's not even close. I'm proud nobody here is making the case for Kobe over Jordan. Although Ice hasn't chimed in yet.

The only advanced stat I looked at was PER, and Kobe never once lead the league in PER. MJ did it seven times. Lebron six. Shaq five. KG did it twice. T-Mac once in the year you would expect him to. In Kobe's defense, neither has Timmy Duncan.

I comfortably have Lebron and Shaq ahead of Kobe now, and I still have Duncan ahead of him by less of a margin than I would have originally thought. Plus the last two years of Jordan's prime, Kobe is the fifth best player I've seen since he came into the league. That is fantastic, but less than his reputation.