FanPost

Top 9 Facts Why Timmy is Far Better Than Kobe

  1. Their final year. Timmy is about team success. Kobe, not quite. Timmy led the Spurs to its best season ever 67 wins 15 losses (82%). Kobe ended his career while leading one of the most legendary NBA teams to its worst ever regular season record at 17 wins to 65 losses (21%) while reveling in his farewell tour.
  2. Timmy attracted great talent while Kobe repelled them. After Shaquille O’Neal left the Lakers and Kobe became the official face of the Laker franchise, the most desirable players acquired by the team was not through free agency. Laker players like Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard as well as one-time All-Star Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza were all acquired by trade. Andrew Bynum and Sasha Vujacic acquired via draft. In Timmy’s time, the Spurs were able to recruit Robert "Big Shot Bob" Horry, Michael Finley, LaMarcus Aldridge and David West. (See ESPN )
  3. Timmy’s stats support his greatness while Kobe’s numbers also support and question his. A good example is Kobe being touted as the greatest scorer. However, despite not being the all-time leading scorer in the NBA, 2 years ago Kobe broke John Havlicek's all-time missed-field-goals record with his 13,418th miss of his career on November 11, 2014. At the time, he had played 18 less games than Havlicek.
  4. Timmy has worked with one coach and their relationship has made them both better. With Timmy the Spurs have always had a winning record of 60% or better (also known as 50 wins with the exception of the lockout season). Kobe has only found success as a "franchise" player under Phil Jackson who probably survived Bryant because he already had 6 NBA championships under his belt prior to having to coach Kobe. In six seasons that Kobe has had a coach other than Jackson, after his first stint with the Lakers, Kobe and the team had had six coaches and made the playoffs only twice. The team lost in the second round and the first round of the 11-12 and 12-13 seasons respectively.
  5. Players take salary cuts to play with Timmy’s team. Players take salary cuts to leave Kobe’s team. David West took an $11 million pay cut to go to the Spurs and Timmy. Pau Gasol declined offers of $22 for two years and $29 million for three years from the Lakers to stay in LA (Yahoo Sports and CBS Los Angeles) then signed a 3-year $22 million contract with the Chicago Bulls (although he declined the last year to sign with the Spurs). Dwight Howard declined a five-year deal worth $118 from the Lakers to sign with the Houston Rockets for $88 million over four years.
  6. Timmy’s last year was about making way for future success of the team. Kobe’s last year was about making people remembering his past. Timmy allowed Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus grow into their roles as the franchise players. Kobe's final season saw him continually firing away as the most inefficient scorer among 2-guard in the league. On the Lakers alone he was shooting 36% on over 21 shots per 36 minutes (6 more than the next player) and finished last on his team among the 10 players who played 40 or more games in effective field goal percentage.
  7. Timmy leaves the Spurs in good shape to contend for a title this season. Kobe leaves his team in good shape for the future. Kobe has led the Lakers to their best draft positions in their history, of 4th, 2nd and 2nd over the last 3 years. In fact, they are the 3 worst seasons since the Lakers first played in Los Angeles in the 1960-1961 season.
  8. Timmy's defensive awards have hardly been questioned unlike Kobe’s that have been attributed to marketing. Timmy was voted as an 8-time all-defensive first team and 7-time second team. Kobe’s has 9 defensive first-team and 3 second-team accolades. But unlike Kobe’s selection has been questioned by both statisticians and his own coach, 9-time NBA champion Phil Jackson.
  9. This would never happen to Timmy but it did with Kobe (interview with Jimmy Kimmel where Laker teammates celebrate win without Kobe).
I am sure there are more such facts so please feel free to add more. I also do not mind if someone can find some fact to top what I have noted.

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