The Summer of Answers: Kobe is the Biggest Cornerstone

Sells out visiting arenas, check. Moves ungodly amounts of merchandise, check. Widely worshipped and hated, check. Other players speak of him in hushed tones, check. A must read, guaranteed to get you page views, reactions, comments and therefore AD money, check. A ratings machine, check. Yep sounds like a franchise Player to me too.

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That picture blows my mind.

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Chris Paul, Steve Nash and Gilbert Arenas over Dirk and Yao. What a joke.

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While I agree with Kobe, Lebron, Wade, Duncan on the first four spots (not necessarily in that order, though), I would have liked to see at least Garnett (who might just be the best player of the last decade), Nowitzki (a future Hall-of-Famer), Pierce, and Bosh in the Top Ten. I cannot be convinced that Howard is a better leader, let alone a more complete player, than Bosh, and that Nowitzki is less valuable for a franchise than Nash. Over all, some freak picks on the list, but 70% ok.

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If age and potential are such a huge part of the criteria, then Duncan and Nash don't belong on this list at all. Because that's the only way you can justify putting Paul and Howard in the top-ten, for those two reasons alone.

But since Duncan at 31 probably is good for at least two more titles, and Kobe at the age of 30 might win another ring if he gets a supporting cast, then clearly the pool for consideration goes to players in their prime as well. For that reason, leaving off Dirk and Yao is utter stupidity. Maybe some white hipsters that make a living slobbing chocolate dong for AOL would make those choices, but I don't know how many GMs would take Chris Paul over Yao Ming, or Steve Nash over Dirk Nowitzki.

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Those 'Greatest Of All Time' whispers can start coming any year now... (let alone a damn MVP trophy).

Tom, I dont know if those whispers are justified... I mean he is good and all that....but he does not have a finals MVP either. All the greats have one of those.

BTW, I do agree with Kobe's cornerstone status.

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So, what exactly are the criteria? Let's see.
- Age: hm, Duncan is 31, this counts as a "con", but Kobe is "only" 29, which is a "pro", Nash's age isn't really an issue either.
- Winning: Except for Duncan and Wade, noone in the Top Ten is a proven winner (no, I've not forgotten Kobe).
- Shaq: Wade is probably only on the list because he has won a title with Shaq, Kobe would be considered to be a loser without Shaq. I believe Shaq is the main factor for that list, play a couple of years with Shaq, and the people from AOL start building a franchise with you.

My favourite blog just went madhouse.

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Also TZ seems to be forgetting that Kobe is a very old 29. He came into the league when he was 17. The guy is about to play his 12th season. He logs fairly heavy minutes. This guy has 4 more good years tops(I'd say 3), the same I'd say for Duncan. And big guys usually age better, especially a guy like Duncan who does not have athleticism and speed as his weapons but instead footwork, technique and smarts. He's not going to age like MJ, who came into the league at 22 and took a 2 year break. When his hops go(they already are slipping), he'll become a jump shooter(of which he is a very good one) who'll need smarter teammates to succeed.

He's the best offensive force in the league. But that's about it. So he stopped the Brazilian Blur(who conveniently disappeared against the Spurs this year for example). Leandro for all his talents is one dimensional. Kobe has trouble with more physical guards(Baron Davis, Deron Williams, Dwayne Wade)

Also franchise cornerstone's don't throw teammates under the bus, be loners and in general not be one of the boys. MJ for all his faults was never a loner and always could motivate his team. This guy? There's a distinct layer/distance between him and the rest of his team. MJ would never have lost that series up 3-1 against the Suns in 05.

I find it hilarious that somebody can rank this guy the top cornerstone after what happened in LA with Shaq the team's perilous decline and what happened this offseason.

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Hate it or love it Kobe is on top. He deserves to be, he works for it. All who disagree need to sit in a corner and come up with something good, not what espn and the media have made believe

1) Kobe needed shaq as much as shaq needed kobe, so stop the whole shaq gave him his rings debate

2)He is one of the few unstoppable forces, would get more rings if and only if the lakers management decides to give him a team to play with. He is one of the few players in the league that care about winning. Alot of players see it as a pay check and are content with just playing but he plays to win! Even with smush as a point guard and Kwame as a center

3)Just stop hating. Its ok not to like the man that you dont know. We all just watch him on TV. So just appreciate his game. He doesnt have to be a magnetic personality, his job doesnt call for that. You can hate the player but dont hate his game..He's got game for years

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But, ok, it's fair to say that you can't have 30 names in a Top Ten, basic math, you know. So, here is my list, and I thought about that really, really hard: (from 1 to 10)

Lebron, Wade, Kobe, Duncan, Nowitzki, Pierce, Yao, Bosh, Garnett, Arenas, Nash, Paul, Howard, McGrady, Brand.

But frankly, I would prefer to build my franchise around Tayshaun Prince.

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I must humbly disagree with the Tayshaun Prince assertion. He is in no way a cornerstone. And no stats breakdown or intangibles breakdown is convincing.

And Kobe is #1, hands down. Skill set? Check. Commitment to winning? Check. Rabid fanbase? Check. Enough good years left in him to build around? Check.

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this was a weird list. if you'd have called it "So and So is the 1st/2nd/3rd... Best Player Alive Right This Second" then I'd co-sign Kobe. but as far as "cornerstones" go, wouldn't you rather have Bron at 22 than Kobe at 29 (and an "old" 29 as someone pointed out above)?

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DFigs, please read my (soon-to-be-written) monography "How to build a franchise around a role player". Seriously, the more important problem in building a franchise is to find the -second- star on the team. The league apparently has too many franchise players, leaving too many teams desparately searching for the unselfish star sidekick. The Spurs miraculously found a way, and Boston just solved the problem twice.

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Those Similarity Scores are hilarious. Paul Pierce, apparently, played the majority of his seasons just like, guess what, Kobe Bryant. Best of all: Nowitzki evolved from John Ameachi to Larry Bird.

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ALL THE KOBE HATERS HAVE SURFACED AGAIN, JUST WATCH THE WORLD BASKETBALL GAMES AND YOU TELL ME OTHER THAN CARMELO, NO ONE HAS THE TEAM WINNING ATTITUDE SET LIKE KOBE...HATE HIM IF YOU WANT TO BUT NOT ONE OF YOU WOULD NOT WANT HIM ON YOUR TEAM. THE MAN IS THE BEST IN THE GAME RIGHT NOW.CORNERSTONE..CHECK, BEST DEFENDER, CHECK, WILLING TO DO WHAT EVER NECESSARY TO WIN...CHECK. WHO GETS UP THE EARLIEST TO TRAIN..CHECK, WHO WORKS ON THEIR GAME ALL THE TIME...CHECK....CAN SHOOT RIGHT OR LEFT HANDED....CHECK...WHO REFUSES TO LOSE AND WILL GO TO THE FLOOR AFTER A BALL.....CHECK...HATE THE PLAYER IF YOU WILL, BUT RESPECT HIS GAME...........CHECK!

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KOBE IS THE GREATEST BASKETBALL IN THE WORLD. YOU TELL ME WHO WILL EVER BE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH ALL THE RECOREDS THAT KOBE HAS SET AND EVEN PASSED UP IN SOME PLAYERS LIKE JORDAN, MAGIC, BIRD. KAREEM? COME ON NOW IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN NO ONE WILL SET THE RECORDS HE HAS AT THE AGE OF 29. KOBE FOR MVP? NO WAY KOBE FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!

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I get the feeling those Kobe fundamentalists are kind of weird.

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ONE MORE THING YOU TELL ME WHEN IN HISTORY HAS A LAKER PLAYER EVER ENTERED A GAME IN BOSTON AND HAD THE ENTIRE ARENA ON THIER FEET CHEERING FOR THEM?

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I guess that must have been the year when the Celtics sucked at everything.

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Dude, you left your "Caps Lock" on.

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