John Wooden Says…

Matt on 12 9, 2009

I was listening to the BS Report with Bill Simmons from a few weeks ago, and Simmons had Bob Einstein on the podcast, also known as Super Dave Osborne.  This guy’s voice sounded like a cement mixer, by the way.  You really should give it a listen.  Anyways, Bob says he had lunch with John Wooden six months ago and asked him to name the best player he’s ever seen.  His answer?  Kobe Bryant.

…

Huh?  Has John lost his marbles?  He probably lost ‘em 30 years ago.

I know Wooden’s old, really old, like possibly older than basketball itself, but he’s not getting a pass on this one.  Sorry, John, but you’re about to get a basketball lesson from someone a quarter your age, even though you’ll never read this.

Wooden, being 99 years old, has clearly seen every damn player to come along.  The man was probably buddies with James Naismith (I kid, I kid).  So for him to make a statement like this is fairly shocking.  He didn’t go with Michael Jordan, like oh so many do, including me.  There are definitely at least 5 players to this point who have had superior careers than Kobe Bryant.

Let’s start with Air Jordan.  Michael Jordan never lost in the finals.  He was 6-0.  Kobe has.  Twice.  MJ has six rings, and Kobe has four (and counting).  Kobe still has a ways to go to catch Mike on the all time scoring list, but probably will do it eventually.  Jordan was a superior defender than Kobe is.  Jordan was the only player ever to win MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season.  How much more do I have to say?  Who’s going to argue that Kobe’s had a better career than Jordan?  Well, maybe Lakers fans, the most biased fans on the planet.  But that’s another story.

Next up?  Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, or as I like to call him, Lew Alcindor. (How lame is changing your name?)  This dude has 6 NBA titles, is the NBA’s all time scoring leader, won Finals MVP’s 14 years apart, in 1971 & 1985 (who else can say that?), and has the most famous offensive weapon ever.  Some think big Lew is the greatest ever.  Kobe has not had a better career or been a better player than Abdul-Jabaar.  Kobe will probably never catch him on the all time scoring list.  Seriously, go look.

How about Wilt the Stilt?  Some people think the Big Dipper is the greatest player ever.  My uncle is one of them.  I read a blog once where some dude wrote like 5,000 words on Chamberlain and how he’s the greatest ever.  I believe he’s had a better career than Kobe.  He’s 4th on the all time scoring list, has 2 titles, once averaged a whopping 50.4 ppg and 25.7 rpg.  He scored 100 points in a single game.  I think Kobe will surpass Wilt’s career fairly soon, but right now, I don’t think he’s had a better career than Wilt up to this point.  And can Kobe claim he’s slept with 20,000 women?  Hell no.  (You can’t mention Chamberlain with bringing up the 20K thing.)

What about Magic Johnson?  The greatest point guard ever has 5 titles, and there’s never been a guy who’s made his teammates better than Magic.  Kobe couldn’t dream of playing with the unselfishness that Earvin did.

John, ever heard of a freakishly competitive man named Bill Russell?  11 championships were all that he won.  Two of them were as a player-coach.  He’s had a better career than Kobe has.  No question about that.  Russell even puked before games because he was so nervous.  Now that’s a competitor.

I’m not sure if Wooden was sort of projecting out the rest of Kobe’s career assuming he’ll be healthy and continue to score a lot of points, and have a crack at a few more rings.  If he was, well, then Kobe still won’t be considered the best ever.  He’ll need even more than that.

Kobe has an outside chance to surpass MJ’s credentials, but he’s going to have to do a whole lot of work still.  I definitely think that Kobe, right now, is one of the 10 best players ever.  Maybe even higher.   One could argue top 5.  I wouldn’t be appalled.  But to say the best?  Ludicrous.  Dumb.  Insane.  Preposterous.  Common, John.  We get it, you’re biased.  After all, you did coach at UCLA for something like 357 years.

John Wooden, I respect you, but now, just a smidge less, after allegedly saying this about Kobe.  Wait, what am I thinking?  I’ll probably now disregard anything you say from here on out.  You fool.  I think your brain is mush.

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