Will Kobe be the Greatest?

In this week's Sports Illustrated, controversial columnist Rick Reilly presents a compelling argument that Kobe Bryant could wind up being better than Michael Jordan. Reilly points out that at Jordan didn't have as many rings, didn't shoot as well, had less impressive body and a worse all-around game than Kobe does at this stage of his career.

But the fact of the matter is that Kobe plays with the most dominant player in the game, (guy called Shaq) while Jordan carried his team on his shoulders for his entire career. No matter how good Kobe is, he won't be fully appreciated until he wins a title (or three) without Shaq. Charles Barkley said earlier this season that if you took Kobe off the team, the Lakers would still win the title because Shaq is so unstoppable.

All that said, I do agree with Reilly. Kobe has three rings and seven years of NBA experience. And he's 24 years old. His ridiculous run over the last two weeks shows that he is already capable of taking over the entire league, and he still hasn't hit his prime. Let's assume Shaq puts his jacked-up feet on ice for good and retires seven years from now (when he's 38). That means Kobe will have about nine seasons to go it alone, and that's plenty of time to create his own legacy. If he avoids injury, I think he'll have a good chance to retire as the best player the game has ever seen. But like many of the greats, most people won't recognize his greatness until he's almost gone.