Los Angeles Lakers: Three Reasons why Kobe Bryant is Overrated

2. Kobe Bryant Was Not a Good Teammate

Most likely because of the way Bryant would play, this led to himself not being a good teammate. Many Kobe enthusiasts that I know argue that Bryant literally had no help his entire career, and quite frankly, it is because no body wanted to play with him. Guys like Lebron James can build these super teams because guys like him, he makes him team better, something Kobe could not do.

In a sense, Kobe may not even be the greatest Laker because of this reason. If Magic Johnson could have had a full career he likely would have been, not only was he fantastic but guys wanted to play him. Guys don’t want to play with Kobe, and while he did win five rings (we will get to that later), he effectively screwed the franchise over in the long run.

Look at Dwight Howard, Bryant effectively pushed him away when the Lakers were trying to build him as Kobe’s successor. Although he is nowhere as good as Bryant and would eventually fade off, keeping Howard in the mix could have drawn in those big name free agents that the Lakers missed. Instead, the over reliance of Bryant was evident when the team fell to disparity as his knees started to fail.

Heck, if Kobe didn’t push away both Shaq and Phil Jackson early in his career then that Lakers team would have likely won at least two more rings. Kobe Bryant is a guy that had the talent, yet could not make his peers better – something that is key in every all-time great.