Los Angeles Lakers: Kobe Bryant on the All-Decade third-team is correct

Some of the brightest basketball minds got together and voted on the All-Decade team and some were surprised with the placement of a Los Angeles Lakers icon.

The Los Angeles Lakers have had some of the biggest superstars to ever play the game grace the purple and gold. Throughout the entirety of the franchise’s existence, there has always been a massive star that has carried on the legacy of the team.

The common favorite for current Laker fans is Kobe Bryant, who spent 20 years with the team and became an icon in his own right in the process. A lot of current Laker fans grew up with Kobe as he was playing at a high level for so long. That is why his fans are some of the most passionate in all of sports.

That is why there was quite the outrage when NBA.com unveiled its All-Decade teams for the 2010s. On the first-team was a current Laker, LeBron James, and on the third-team was none other than Kobe himself.

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Kobe Bryant, one of the greatest players to ever play the game, on the third-team? It does sound ridiculous on the surface, but it was the right call.

And I know that Laker fans are going to take exception to me agreeing with Kobe being on the third-team. I mean, c’mon, it’s Kobe Bryant we are talking about.

But at the end of the day, it would be unfair to the 10 guys that are on the second-team and first-team if Kobe took one of those spots. He is one of the greatest of all-time, sure, but his prime came in the 2000s, not the 2010s.

Kobe did get two late-career titles but only one of them came in the counted seasons, so we cannot really use the ring argument when he only has one ring in the decade. He has seven all-star appearances to his credit but we really cannot use those as justification when at its core it is just a popularity contest.

Bryant played 398 games in the decade, averaging 24.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists. Those numbers are impressive but he played on a virtually irrelevant non-playoff contender for three of his seasons in the decade.

Nearly every single person ahead of him on the list elevated their team to an entirely different level. Byrant was great, but he did not do that in the same capacity in the 2010s as he did in the 2000s.

The one exception that Laker fans have a rightful gripe against is Carmelo Anthony, who made the All-Decade Second-Team. Quite frankly, that is kind of ludicrous as he too should have been on the third-team, or maybe off the list.

If the list was comprised of the best players since the turn of the century, Bryant would either be number one or 1.A behind LeBron James. However, when we narrow it down to a time that was past Kobe’s prime, it is hard to call him one of the 10-best players of an entire decade which he barely played half of.

Everyone is going to have their own opinions about where Kobe ranks and I know that most Los Angeles Lakers fans are not going to overlook their bias and will disagree. However, that is what makes sports so fun — this kind of debate.