Using rings as an argument for which player is better

[Bring The Heat]

Am I the only one who thinks using this as a basis of your argument as to which player is better individually is BOGUS?


I'm going to use 2 examples here....

LeBron plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers for 8 seasons and not once is put next to a LEGIT 2nd option his whole career there. No dominant center, wing player, or point guard to assist him.

Kobe enters the league and joins the Los Angeles Lakers who have arguably the most dominant center to EVER play the game in Shaquille O'Neal who was virtually unstoppable every time he touched the ball in the post.. also with others solid role players in Fischer, Horry etc.

How is it fair to say Kobe 5 rings "say hello" he's better? when he had the luxury/opportunity not many others star players have throughout his whole career?! Kobe wouldn't have won anything without Shaq... and vice versa Shaq would've been ringless w/o Kobe.


I just think it's ridiculous how people use that as their reason... NBA Championships are won by great teams not just ONE great player on a crappy team... Duncan the best PF to ever play the game wouldn't have won **** without great players in Parker & Ginoboli

[jmoney85]

I think using rings in relation to comparing players is absolutely stupid... team accomplishments do not make 1 player better than the other

[ThaDubs]

This is the biggest problem I have with Kobe homers. I destroy them by proving them wrong with advanced stats and **** and then they go all like KOBE HAS 5 RINGS AND IS THEREFORE MORE SKILLED.

[GREATNESS ONE]

llullz destroy them

[Dade County]

You could have put any other player but Kobe, now your thread is going to be volume 2 of who is better Wade or Kobe...lmao

But yeah, I wish their always was a Hard Cap in the NBA from the beginning, just to see if free agents would have still went to big market cities cutting their salaries by a lot.

[LakersIn5]

as a kobe fan i dont use the rings argument vs lebron because lebron with prime shaq would also win 3 or more championship and its just that lebrons teamates arent that great.

same with why how i think wilt is better than russell. put wilt in boston and have him play with 5+ HOF im pretty sure he wins alot of rings too

[metsfan99999]

Rings are a supporting point, they can't be the meat of your argument. Yes, the goal is to win championships, but there are a lot of factors outside of an individual player's control that can lead him to fall short. When the stats aren't close, rings don't come into play. They can be useful as a tiebreaker between two players with similar production.

As for the Kobe/Lebron argument. The 5-ring argument is absurd. When Kobe was 28 he had 3 rings not 5, you cannot fault Lebron for simply being younger than Kobe. As for the 3 he won before age 28, Lebron had never played with players that are even close to a prime Shaq until he teamed up with Bosh and Wade. So applying the same standard as was applied to Kobe, Lebron should at most have 2 rings.

[magic0320]

winning ring is winning Ring! you can always bring that up. it's not kobe's fault wade and lebron had bad team. also it is really hard to win rings even with good team just like 10-11 heat and 03-04 lakers couldnt win ring. also kobe would have won more rings if he still had shaq and didn't play with scrubs from 04 to 06. i just hate what ifs. kobe won rings and deal with it. just like lebron left cav to heat.

[lakers4sho]

5 rings

[Auseranami]

Bill Russell is the best player ever because he has the most chips

[Hawkeye15]

Rings have no more weight than any of the multiple factors in rating a player.

Unless rings it the only argument a fan has for his boy over another, despite clear proof his guy doesn't stand up.

[ThaDubs]

Derrick Fisher is just a little worse than MJ.

[TRF929]

Am I the only one who thinks using this as a basis of your argument as to which player is better individually is BOGUS?


I'm going to use 2 examples here....

LeBron plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers for 8 seasons and not once is put next to a LEGIT 2nd option his whole career there. No dominant center, wing player, or point guard to assist him.

Kobe enters the league and joins the Los Angeles Lakers who have arguably the most dominant center to EVER play the game in Shaquille O'Neal who was virtually unstoppable every time he touched the ball in the post.. also with others solid role players in Fischer, Horry etc.

How is it fair to say Kobe 5 rings "say hello" he's better? when he had the luxury/opportunity not many others star players have throughout his whole career?! Kobe wouldn't have won anything without Shaq... and vice versa Shaq would've been ringless w/o Kobe.


I just think it's ridiculous how people use that as their reason... NBA Championships are won by great teams not just ONE great player on a crappy team... Duncan the best PF to ever play the game wouldn't have won **** without great players in Parker & Ginoboli

FYI, Parker and ginobili weren't great players in the beginning, Duncan carried the spurs in 01 behind an aging Robinson that retired afterwards and carried them in 03 with the other 2 avg maybe 25 pts combined.

[LakersMaster24]

Derrick Fisher is just a little worse than MJ.

Derek*

[samlo144]

Yes Bill Russell won 11 chips with all the hall of famers on his team, but you cant honestly say that all those players would have been hall of famers if the team never won anything.
people saying Stockton was better than Isiah Thomas, purely using stats is another one. Yea Stockton has better stats and everyone says pistons were stacked. But no way we look back at them and say they were stacked if they didnt beat Bird, Magic and Jordan. Dumars was a great player, and Rodman was a great player, but the rest of them are just role players. Stockton had a top 3 pf in Malone who had crazy stats and they didnt win anything. and people say its because of Jordan that they didnt win, but great players find a way to win
Same thing with LeBron and Kobe. Yes Kobe had a lot of great talent around him, and good coaches, but he found ways to win. Lebron had a contending team in Cleveland, with players that complimented his style of play from stretch 4's like Jamison, scorers like Mo Williams and knock down shooters. None of which are great individual players but still compliment his style of play perfectly.
Not saying Lebron isnt the best player in the world, just saying rings aren't just an on the court thing, its about elevating your teammates on and off the court and things that can't be quantified by stats.