Kobe Announces Retirement

In the midst of one of the worst statistical seasons ever put up by any player, Kobe finally decides to call it quits -- but he will keep chucking up shots until year end.

Look, this is certainly no great surprise.  I know I have a Blog entry about Kobe - Pre-Quitter somewhere.  What he SHOULD have done is just quit and get out of the way.  But then he wouldn't be Kobe.  Instead he played 33 minutes last night, went 4 for 20 and was a negative 12 in a game the Lakers lost by 4.

I have rated Kobe the 18th best player of all-time:  http://hoopramblings.blogspot.com/2015/03/best-12-next-12-trash-12-part-iii.html  Nick Young says Kobe is #1 and Jordan is #2.  This demonstrates what an idiot Nick Young is.

If you allow a really broad filter (so as to insure that you get 95% of the players who were consistently good for a long time as an NBA or ABA player) you get this:   http://bkref.com/tiny/mXeFq

Then if you start clicking through for various rankings for Kobe, you get:

3rd in points
6th in turnovers
7th in steals
8th in assists
11th in games played
18th in Win Shares
21st in fouls
26th in Defensive Win Shares
30th in WS/48 and blocks
39th in TS%
46th in eFG%

Let's be blunt here.  These are not the sort of rankings you would expect from a top 5 or top 10 all-time player.   Certainly being 18th in WS and 30th in WS/48 is disqualifying.  If you cut off at a WS/48 ranking of #30 and then look below, only Moses Malone would be considered a top 20 all-time player.  But if you look at a ranking of #15 and above, probably only Barkley should be excluded as a top 15 player. 

Playoffs?  Nothing in his playoff stats indicates that Kobe should move up many spots.  http://bkref.com/tiny/qb6hK  3rd in Games, 8th in WS, 17th in WS/48.  Shooting percentages 15th and 16th place.

Kobe played a lot and took and made a lot of shots, but not at a  really high level of efficiency.  He has only 1 MVP.  What his stats tell you is that he was and is an overrated player.  He was, in my opinion, the 18th best player who ever played in the NBA or ABA, but he is rated far higher in many people's eyes.  I see two primary reasons for this -- he played in L.A. and he was an off guard.  There simply are not that many great off guards (make a list of all-time off guards, then make a list of all-time great centers - after Jordan v. Wilt and Kareem v. Kobe, you will get matchups like Shaq against Dwyane Wade and Bill Russell against Clyde Drexler and George Mikan against Ray Allen).

Good bye, Kobe.  I will not miss you.  But at least I did not just rip Kobe without any regard for his accomplishments, like this guy did:    http://deadspin.com/fuck-off-kobe-1745231527?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+deadspin%2Ffull+%28Deadspin%29