And now a word on Kobe. Interestingly enough, the thing that MJ and Bron get picked at for a lot is “they didnt play anyone” But from 2008-2010 Kobe went to three straight Finals and played a 50+ win team every round of the playoffs. Dont think thats happened before or will again

And before you say it, Pau only made the playoffs twice in his first six seasons and never won a game. Lamar was talented but inconsistent. Bynum was out of the league three years later. (At 26!) Artest essentially was too. Farmar? Walton? Sasha? Nah.

(Don’t wanna unfairly diminish anyone else just to prop up Kobe. But don’t think the depth of what he accomplished during that stretch gets evaluated fairly enough either.)