NFL
By: Christopher Jordan
Last week on First Take, former NBA player Kendrick Perkins who is now an NBA analyst, uttered something that was nonsense and flat-out laughable and disrespectful.
Perkins was asked a question by Mad Dog Russo, an analyst on First Take with Stephen A. Smith and Molly Qerim.
The question was would you rank Stephen Curry over the Great Kobe Bryant, and Kendrick Perkins said he would rank Curry over Bryant all time.
Perkins is entitled to his opinion, but you should just keep some things to yourself rather than telling the public because Kendrick Perkins needs to be drug tested after his foolish take.
When you look at Stephen Curry’s game vs Kobe Bryant’s game. The only thing Curry does better than Bryant is shooting threes, Curry has a fancier ball handle, and Curry is a better free throw shooter.
Besides those three elements in Curry’s game, Kobe Bryant does everything better than Curry.
Bryant has a better mid-range game, Bryant is a better finisher around the rim, Bryant is more versatile, Bryant’s by far a better defender, more athletic, a better player in the clutch, and Bryant is just a more complete player than Curry.
When you think about Kobe Bryant’s game and how didn’t have a weakness on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. Bryant is one of the greatest two-way players ever to play the NBA.
Outside of Michael Jordan and LeBron James, no other players could play both sides of the ball like Kobe Bryant.
Bryant made all-defensive first team 9 times and made the all-defensive team 12 times overall. While ago being one of the greatest offensive weapons this game has ever seen.
When you watch Curry’s game, it’s not hard to tell that he’s been a defensive liability since he came into the NBA. Curry is an all-time great and deserves to have his flowers as an all-time great, but he’s not in the same class as Bryant.
In Curry’s 13-year career in the NBA, he has never made a first, second, or third team.
During the Warriors, championship runs since 2015. Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and other players who contributed to the title run have always taken the challenge of guarding the opposing team’s best player.
Curry has never taken the challenge of guarding the team’s best player because the Warriors try to hide Curry on the defensive side of the ball, and most teams know the best way to attack Curry is to make him an on-ball defender and force him to play both sides of the ball.
In Bryant’s 20-year career, the Lakers never attempted to hide Bryant defensively because the Lakers and everyone that competed against Kobe knew he was a great defender, and he would always take the challenge of guarding the opposing team’s best player.
Curry is a great player, and he has definitely revolutionized the game and the way it’s played forever when it comes to the art of shooting from long range. Curry is the greatest three-point shooter of all time, and his legacy is still being written.
However, despite Curry’s greatness, he is not on Kobe Bryant’s level as a basketball player. Bryant is the closest we’ve ever seen to Michael Jordan.
Another reason why Curry can never surpass Kobe is the fact that Curry at the time needed Kevin Durant because the Warriors knew they would not beat LeBron and his Cavaliers again after blowing a 3-1 lead back in 2016.
Bryant would’ve never recruited Durant to come team up with him because he would’ve taken the challenge to beat LeBron or anybody that stood in his way to winning a championship.
