It's ridiculous how quickly people forget how good a defender Kobe was when he was younger. He's a 9x All-Defensive First Team and a 3x All-Defensive Second Team. For those of you who have only paid attention to his play during the last few aging and injury riddled years, you don't know anything about Kobe as a defensive player in his prime. He was a lockdown defender, one of the best in the league for most of his career. Age and injuries have naturally slowed him down but don't dismiss where he's been and what he's done, respect it.
+Tiiger Kobe was a statistically average defender his entire career. Yes he had moments of brilliance like this one, but he was never a truly great defender night in and night out like MJ. He did turn it on when he needed to but to call him a great defender would be an insult to the players who put that effort in night in and night out.
MycroftPlays The bias is easy to spot when you make the leap from not being as good as MJ to average. Nobody's comparing him to MJ but just because someone isn't MJ, one of the best defenders of all-time, doesn't immediately mean they're average. Ridiculous and incredibly ignorant comparison and statement. I'll take the word of the head coaches, who watched him defend their players "night in and night out" and who voted for him as one of the best for 12 years, over your uneducated one. He was a consistently great defender who locked down some of the best opposing players and his footwork is second to none. Anyone who watched him during those years and has a shred of basketball knowledge will attest to this.
+nutella4eva Then I guess all the coaches and broadcasters do too, eh? They seem to agree with me and I think they know a little bit more about basketball than you do.
Textbook full court man defense. Footwork is the key. Credit to Scottie Pippen. Kobe used to do this on a game to game basis against quicker point guards when he had Shaq to help shoulder some of the offensive load.
wade was not in his prime, he was coming off a shoulder dislocation surgery. how in the world is that his prime. you really want to see them prime as prime, go watch videos where they’re both healthy and you won’t find a sequence like this. you’ll actually find wade playing the better defence.
For all of you #’s people out there: Just some perspective here…Kobe didn’t record a stat on this play. Numbers don’t lie but they don’t tell the entire story.
Wade or any player couldve easily gon around kobe.. the point ppl miss is that everyone knew wade was gonna try and run clock and take the final shot... u saw how bad his team was they were no where to found no screens or anything.
How is locking someone up with 5 secs more impressive than a clutch chase down block to get a needed stop ... he's running out the clock he could've blown past him if he didn't care about the clock
This is why i get mad when people say stuff like "The NBA today is soft, the defense in the 90s was better". Defenses in the 90s weren't better, they just were allowed to lay hands on everybody. This is masterful defense, legal in any era, Kobe didn't lay his hands once in Wade and yet put him through hell. Keep in mind this is prime Dwyane Wade, one of fastest players in the league at the time.
wade got cocky and thought he could take bryant 1v1.....he and lebron, get all their points by calling for pick screens on kobe. watch all the great games lebron and wade had against the lakers, they never guarded kobe, and always called for a screen. Kobe would embarrass them 1 on 1
That's not true at all dwade guarded Kobe many times and dwade calls screens all the time doesn't matter who's defending him that's just a part of his game dwade has scored on Kobe many times 1 on 1 but I agree Kobe would beat wade 1 on 1
I'm more so surprised that Kobe had never won defensive player of the year. Ever. And he was robbed a couple MVP awards. Especially the year Steve Nash won it. RIP to Kobe man
LOL best defenders always find a way to test best offensive players by putting them in their weak hand.. kobe took his right side, the only option wade had was left dribble which Kobe put a little pressured on and then wade stumbled because he can't perform his ritual LOL.
Most Nba players cannot dribble and shoot with their left hand. They can perform whatever ritual to stall, but eventually they will have to comeback to their right hand to complete the task and do anything meaning meaningful. Just sit on their right hand and you will shut most players down. Kobe basically sat on his right hand the entire time, and when wade got ready to shoot, kobe immediately close the gap on his right hand, which prevented wade from forming a proper shooting arc with his right hand, ultimately picking up his dribble and traveling. Knowing shock clock situation also helps. You can better time when he has to pick up the ball with his right hand to shoot.
Wade gets more blocks and steals because he is 1. faster 2. Takes more chances 3. Plays in the paint more 4. Chases down offenders on fast breaks. Kobe has 7 years on Wade of course he's a better defender, he has defended MJ.
Watch him last year. He can be a strong on the ball defender, but also watch his off ball d which is lazy now. Look at the game winner Green had against the Lakers.
not his fault,that is the result of him getting the reputation of a hard worker in the gym,an assasin,a competitive and a very tough player over 17 season of playing, that y the media and fans love him..
Kobe deserves no credit for the defense in this video though. That season, Wade was playing with one good knee & one good arm. Kobe was actually faster than Wade that season. Enough said.
Lmao 🤣 yup the year Wade came back after a dislocated shoulder. That’s why Kobe pressed him on the sideline with Confidence. Wade was even thinking of retirement due to the injury
Wade wasn’t thinking about retiring during this time he was only 25 and still playing at a high level, he didn’t start thinking about retirement into the knee issues started in 2013. But yea this wade wasn’t healthy either.
Kobe right now is sorta overrated as a defender. Still a quality defender, but idk if he's still an All-NBA Defender. Actual overrated defenders are people like Shawn Marion and Ron Artest, I mean Metta World Peace, those guys were great in their prime (like Kobe) but they've gotten worse because of their age.
People say he's overrated defensively because he keeps getting 1st team all defense selections which he certainly doesn't deserve. He was a great defender in his prime but these days he isn't even a 10 top perimeter defender anymore. You really can't judge the guys defense by a 40 second UA-cam clip, he simply is an average defender now at his age.
kobes a great defender- but he seldom guards the best scorer on the other team for whole stretches. its been metta or barnes, or ariza or harper , etc, etc. nor did michael either. wade however has always guarded the other teams best swingman, and has more blocks and steals than kobe every year. kobes a great defender- but alot of it is reputation, i think wade is deserving of an equally high rep is all.
Kobe was so underrated on D. People don't understand that he wanted that assignment. Bron hasn't played D the entire 2nd half of his 20 years and people think he's the GOAT? Kobe made Dwayne Wade look like a fan who found a jersey and snuck on the court.
how convenient people forget this was a post shoulder dislocation surgery dwade. but what else is new, people always hating on dwade and playing him down.
cos he doesnt put in effort in defense night in night out.other guards for example avery bradley does that in every possesion.hes one of the best defenders when he wants to,but he doesnt want to do it enough
Kobe couldn't play D like this now if he wanted to because he's OLD. Kobe is still a good defender, and he plays good D every night. He's not all up on guys because guards now are faster than he is, so it's imperative that there's space between them.
tell me how when shaq left the lakers kobe could bareley lead his team to the playoffs but when wade was by himself he could lead his team too the 5th seed and in 2005 and 6 shaq was injured the whole so it was basically wade and good role players and don't say kobe won those two rings by himself cause he didn't he had paul gasol and Bynum and good role palyers like odom
No, you can't play better on ball defense than that. He didn't do it against some role player either, it was against at that time a Top 5 player in the league. And where would their even be a foul at? Kobe played him perfectly.
Dude it was a Joke .. I'm just saying that you can't even play defense like that in today's league cause they always call a foul on defense like that unless its Lebron !!
The thing is wades team was 🗑 look again no screeners or anybody getting open... everyone knew wade was gonna hold the ball to try and get the last shot. This is why wade did not run around kobe.. and kobe knew he wouldn't... the biggest risk of picking someone up full court is that they can get around u and sprint to the basket but in thi situation kobe was smart enough to know wade was trying to run clock so he wouldn't want to drive it immediately.
When did I mention anything about Kobe's injuries? All I'm saying is the props given in this comment section aren't deserved. This is Kobe, during his MVP season, playing good defense on an injury-riddled Wade.
Just because people call Kobe an overrated defender today doesn't mean they're oblivious to the fact he was a great defender in his prime. Kobe's been an okay defender these past few years & really hasn't deserved the 1st-team All-Defense awards he's been receiving.
It's ridiculous how quickly people forget how good a defender Kobe was when he was younger. He's a 9x All-Defensive First Team and a 3x All-Defensive Second Team. For those of you who have only paid attention to his play during the last few aging and injury riddled years, you don't know anything about Kobe as a defensive player in his prime. He was a lockdown defender, one of the best in the league for most of his career. Age and injuries have naturally slowed him down but don't dismiss where he's been and what he's done, respect it.
+Tiiger
Kobe was a statistically average defender his entire career. Yes he had moments of brilliance like this one, but he was never a truly great defender night in and night out like MJ. He did turn it on when he needed to but to call him a great defender would be an insult to the players who put that effort in night in and night out.
MycroftPlays The bias is easy to spot when you make the leap from not being as good as MJ to average. Nobody's comparing him to MJ but just because someone isn't MJ, one of the best defenders of all-time, doesn't immediately mean they're average. Ridiculous and incredibly ignorant comparison and statement.
I'll take the word of the head coaches, who watched him defend their players "night in and night out" and who voted for him as one of the best for 12 years, over your uneducated one. He was a consistently great defender who locked down some of the best opposing players and his footwork is second to none. Anyone who watched him during those years and has a shred of basketball knowledge will attest to this.
+Tiiger You must use the word "consistently" very loosely then.
+nutella4eva Then I guess all the coaches and broadcasters do too, eh? They seem to agree with me and I think they know a little bit more about basketball than you do.
+Tiiger Well said
Textbook full court man defense. Footwork is the key. Credit to Scottie Pippen. Kobe used to do this on a game to game basis against quicker point guards when he had Shaq to help shoulder some of the offensive load.
some? you mean half
jefferson cristobal no, he meant some. Kobe was just as good as Shaq after 2000, and was a top 3/5 player despite being 21/22 🤷🏿♂️
*it a shame he let AI win 1 game. cudve had a had a perfect playoff recod.*
He didn't even have Shaq in this year lol
Miss Kobe still….
Masterpiece defense here!
Might be the best defensive series ever without a block or a steal
Damn Kobe lockdown a prime wade here
Sze Pin TAN nah he came outta surgery that year
They were both in their prime.
wade was not in his prime, he was coming off a shoulder dislocation surgery. how in the world is that his prime. you really want to see them prime as prime, go watch videos where they’re both healthy and you won’t find a sequence like this. you’ll actually find wade playing the better defence.
@@LucrativeLessonsWithLandy Kobe had a bum ass knee had to g to Germany and get it operated
@@LucrativeLessonsWithLandy acting like Kobe didn’t have a dislocated pinky and always have a messed up right shoulder after 03 😂
That was the first and last tie Dwyane Wade was called for a travel.
and never argue with it he just accepted the right call 👏
Was it really?
For all of you #’s people out there:
Just some perspective here…Kobe didn’t record a stat on this play. Numbers don’t lie but they don’t tell the entire story.
When Kobe locked in on you it wasn't nothing you could do.He was relentless on stopping you.Dwade knew he had no where to go.
Not once in my life have I seen Lebron pick someone up full court like this.
When Kobe starts defending you from your own baseline, only way you could score is right at your own basket.
Unless you're Iverson and you can reset that shit and blow by him so long as there's not defensive help.
@@andregant9980 when Kobe was switched on to iverson one time he was held to no points while Kobe guarded him
Wade or any player couldve easily gon around kobe.. the point ppl miss is that everyone knew wade was gonna try and run clock and take the final shot... u saw how bad his team was they were no where to found no screens or anything.
@@tazziotomas4110that’s not the point….if he could’ve easily got around him he would’ve been at the basket
Its like the little brother tryin to score on the big brother
By far more impressive than a chase down block. Especially against one of the greatest players of all time. Kobe was different.
How is locking someone up with 5 secs more impressive than a clutch chase down block to get a needed stop ... he's running out the clock he could've blown past him if he didn't care about the clock
Gangsta defense! RIP Mamba.
and yall gotta realise the person hes guarding is one of the greatest nba players of all time
This is Prime Wade by the way… on ball perimeter defense against a top 3 SG all time.
lol how can we have any dislikes on this vid? it's a perfect bball defense! whatever if u like Kobe, Wade or not! it's just MJ defense legacy!
Probably people that became heat fans in the LeBron bandwagon
One of my favourite kobe highlights.
This is why i get mad when people say stuff like "The NBA today is soft, the defense in the 90s was better". Defenses in the 90s weren't better, they just were allowed to lay hands on everybody. This is masterful defense, legal in any era, Kobe didn't lay his hands once in Wade and yet put him through hell. Keep in mind this is prime Dwyane Wade, one of fastest players in the league at the time.
Kobe was averaging 30+ playing this hard on defense. In a league where you could still play defense. 🤯🤯🤯
You can still play defence now
Dwyane Wade talked about this on his podcast on the 7:00 mark of this video (ua-cam.com/video/oCa9i1C4F5k/v-deo.html)
Kobe picking up a hall of famer 94 feet and all you see in this generation is a bunch of entitled superstars sitting out 20-30 games a season
wade got cocky and thought he could take bryant 1v1.....he and lebron, get all their points by calling for pick screens on kobe. watch all the great games lebron and wade had against the lakers, they never guarded kobe, and always called for a screen. Kobe would embarrass them 1 on 1
That's not true at all dwade guarded Kobe many times and dwade calls screens all the time doesn't matter who's defending him that's just a part of his game dwade has scored on Kobe many times 1 on 1 but I agree Kobe would beat wade 1 on 1
Too bad he doesn't do this consistently in his later years. Then again he has to shoulder all the offensive burden.
Kobe goat
Kobe force him left the whole time. Dwade was trying to switch to his right but Kobe footwork was amazing.
I'm more so surprised that Kobe had never won defensive player of the year. Ever. And he was robbed a couple MVP awards. Especially the year Steve Nash won it. RIP to Kobe man
I am a Kobe hater and I believe he should win 2-3
9× NBA All-Defensive First Team (2000, 2003-2004, 2006-2011)
3× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2001-2002, 2012)
Terrible defender.
Terrible?
Whos watching this right now
LOL best defenders always find a way to test best offensive players by putting them in their weak hand.. kobe took his right side, the only option wade had was left dribble which Kobe put a little pressured on and then wade stumbled because he can't perform his ritual LOL.
You do realize Dwyane wasn't even trying to blow by him that much.... and I have seen Dwyane do the same thing to Kobe ahaha.
Jacob Morton I'm not saying Kobe is the best bro.. I just love watching great defenders like Wade, Kobe, Pippen, Jordan, Bowen, Prince, Artest, etc..
+Jacob Morton Dwayne never did it to kobe
glo he did
Most Nba players cannot dribble and shoot with their left hand. They can perform whatever ritual to stall, but eventually they will have to comeback to their right hand to complete the task and do anything meaning meaningful. Just sit on their right hand and you will shut most players down. Kobe basically sat on his right hand the entire time, and when wade got ready to shoot, kobe immediately close the gap on his right hand, which prevented wade from forming a proper shooting arc with his right hand, ultimately picking up his dribble and traveling. Knowing shock clock situation also helps. You can better time when he has to pick up the ball with his right hand to shoot.
He had 2 knee surgeries by 2008
This is from the '07-'08 season (his MVP season), so no, he didn't.
Because he doesn't do this for an entire game. I don't blame him, but he does it in spurts to conserve energy.
Wade gets more blocks and steals because he is 1. faster 2. Takes more chances 3. Plays in the paint more 4. Chases down offenders on fast breaks. Kobe has 7 years on Wade of course he's a better defender, he has defended MJ.
Alot of credit???? Ummmm ALL THE CREDIT!!!!!!!
I feel like his defense from probably like 2000-2011 is better than kawhi. Kobe’s defense effected a lot of star players before the injury in 2013.
"Kobe didn't anything"
What?!
Watch him last year. He can be a strong on the ball defender, but also watch his off ball d which is lazy now. Look at the game winner Green had against the Lakers.
the people saying that kobe is an overrated defender are the young ones who didnt have the chance to see kobe in his prime..
because the last time he played defense on a gamely basis was back in 2004. since then he plays defense on maybe 10-15 plays a season.
:( miss you kobe who is watching this on 2020
What amazing defense~Nice Kobe~
Kobe can be a lockdown defender when he wants to be, but unfortunately chooses not to be the vast majority of the time.
Yeah well shit get’s tiring that’s why
cadxc If he defended like this all game his offense wouldn’t be as well because it gets tiring
not his fault,that is the result of him getting the reputation of a hard worker in the gym,an assasin,a competitive and a very tough player over 17 season of playing, that y the media and fans love him..
That's a foul in today's league ..
hes a good defender when he wants to be
What??? Are u serious he's 9 times 1st all defencive team and 3 times 2nd
Who knows what game this was.. year and date please??
Now that's lockdown defense
Blame the person who should have came up
nah if dwade blow by him from the get go i don't think he can lock him down.. he was bringing the ball with slow pace for the last shot ..
The thing is Kobe didn't let him blow by
Kobe deserves no credit for the defense in this video though. That season, Wade was playing with one good knee & one good arm. Kobe was actually faster than Wade that season. Enough said.
Shut up Kobe had multiple knee and surgery surgeries at that point and a bum finger
That Why D wade broke Kobe noses
Lmao 🤣 yup the year Wade came back after a dislocated shoulder. That’s why Kobe pressed him on the sideline with Confidence. Wade was even thinking of retirement due to the injury
Wade wasn’t thinking about retiring during this time he was only 25 and still playing at a high level, he didn’t start thinking about retirement into the knee issues started in 2013. But yea this wade wasn’t healthy either.
Put that nigga in tha clamps #kobe
Man. All over him
Travel?
Kobe right now is sorta overrated as a defender. Still a quality defender, but idk if he's still an All-NBA Defender. Actual overrated defenders are people like Shawn Marion and Ron Artest, I mean Metta World Peace, those guys were great in their prime (like Kobe) but they've gotten worse because of their age.
People say he's overrated defensively because he keeps getting 1st team all defense selections which he certainly doesn't deserve. He was a great defender in his prime but these days he isn't even a 10 top perimeter defender anymore. You really can't judge the guys defense by a 40 second UA-cam clip, he simply is an average defender now at his age.
kobes a great defender- but he seldom guards the best scorer on the other team for whole stretches. its been metta or barnes, or ariza or harper , etc, etc. nor did michael either. wade however has always guarded the other teams best swingman, and has more blocks and steals than kobe every year. kobes a great defender- but alot of it is reputation, i think wade is deserving of an equally high rep is all.
Kobe was so underrated on D. People don't understand that he wanted that assignment. Bron hasn't played D the entire 2nd half of his 20 years and people think he's the GOAT? Kobe made Dwayne Wade look like a fan who found a jersey and snuck on the court.
how convenient people forget this was a post shoulder dislocation surgery dwade. but what else is new, people always hating on dwade and playing him down.
cos he doesnt put in effort in defense night in night out.other guards for example avery bradley does that in every possesion.hes one of the best defenders when he wants to,but he doesnt want to do it enough
Kobe couldn't play D like this now if he wanted to because he's OLD. Kobe is still a good defender, and he plays good D every night. He's not all up on guys because guards now are faster than he is, so it's imperative that there's space between them.
tell me how when shaq left the lakers kobe could bareley lead his team to the playoffs but when wade was by himself he could lead his team too the 5th seed and in 2005 and 6 shaq was injured the whole so it was basically wade and good role players and don't say kobe won those two rings by himself cause he didn't he had paul gasol and Bynum and good role palyers like odom
No, you can't play better on ball defense than that. He didn't do it against some role player either, it was against at that time a Top 5 player in the league. And where would their even be a foul at? Kobe played him perfectly.
them not having the ability to see him in his prime and still make half-baked claims is senseless. i'm 15......judge my comment how you want
not terrible, just not great. wade is pretty big for his height so he can't stay in front of guys as good as kobe.
Dude it was a Joke .. I'm just saying that you can't even play defense like that in today's league cause they always call a foul on defense like that unless its Lebron !!
Kobe had 2 knee surgeries already by this season and broken fingers so your making excuses
Full-court press! But why there's no one from the team screened Kobe though? Or Wade could have passed the ball.
ppl didnt use high screen and shot 3's and missmatches against bigs... guards didnt do that all the time like today
@@the333er5 wow you’re 100% correct. Dang I missed the old days :(
@MrEdongzki He is sorta overrated now though. All veteran superstars in their primes were amazing. ie) Tim Duncan, KG, Ron Artest etc etc.
Pau looking at Kobe défense like, “wtf he gonna do to me at the olympics”
so ur tellin me that odom ,ariza, fisher, and artest had no impact on them winning the title because they did
@Charnames if kobe wants to play defense, which 90% time he doesnt, then he is just scary
0:10 offensive foul
At 0:30 Phil's like "YOU! Yah you, tell me you just saw that shit over there."
Wade is nothing without his flop
Most of lakers old roll players are now clippers roll players
Before wade developed his left hand handles.
Back when NBA isn't a 3 point contest
He really does get caught watching the ball quite often.
yea but the west sucked at that time
i'm not a kobe fan, but that is some damn good D
No body came near to D-Wade to help him out
i almost felt embarrassed for wade....
Dwyane Wade disliked this video.
Kawhi did it better
no one ever says tht
I got tons of videos for you.
this is how you do it
Fooking shook
Underrated defender.
Wade lebronned.
Lol a push
Yes that was good defense by Kobe, but it was the presence of Luke Walton that made Wade nervous.
How when he could dunk over him
Rip
that was when miami had the worst record in the nba and Wade lost a lot of games
That was the time he injured his shoulder i think, but when he was healthy he destroyed kobe, he scored 40+ points compared to kobes 16 pts
From my nonprofessional eye, it looks like wade wasnt prepared for that type of press from kobe hahah kobe just wanted all that very fun to watch
The thing is wades team was 🗑 look again no screeners or anybody getting open... everyone knew wade was gonna hold the ball to try and get the last shot. This is why wade did not run around kobe.. and kobe knew he wouldn't... the biggest risk of picking someone up full court is that they can get around u and sprint to the basket but in thi situation kobe was smart enough to know wade was trying to run clock so he wouldn't want to drive it immediately.
역시 코비 ㄷㄷ 수비 개잘해
When did I mention anything about Kobe's injuries? All I'm saying is the props given in this comment section aren't deserved. This is Kobe, during his MVP season, playing good defense on an injury-riddled Wade.
Just because people call Kobe an overrated defender today doesn't mean they're oblivious to the fact he was a great defender in his prime. Kobe's been an okay defender these past few years & really hasn't deserved the 1st-team All-Defense awards he's been receiving.