LOS ANGELES, CA – JUNE 17: Derek Fisher #2 and Kobe Bryant #24 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrate after the Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics 83-79 in Game Seven of the 2010 NBA Finals at Staples Center on June 17, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Robin Lundberg took to Sports Illustrated’s video studio to offer the hot take that Kobe Bryant is overrated.
To say it is hot take to call a former MVP, five time champion, and 18-time All-Star overrated is putting it lightly. It’s the summer, which means hot take season is in full effect and on Friday morning Robin Lundberg of SI went full Mr. Fantastic reach on us.
Lundberg dives deep into the “Mamba Mentality.” The argument does seem to made more in response to Michael Jordan’s recent comments than actually thinking that Kobe Bryant is a bad player.
In the video, Lundberg references Kobe’s high profile clashes with fellow superstars on his team and even famed coach Phil Jackson. He also goes on to discuss the possibility of how we would look at Kobe’s career had he not been traded to Los Angeles on draft night. Perhaps the most controversial position he took was that Ray Allen or Tracy McGrady may have had the same or greater success if they had Kobe’s situation.
He also argues that the greatness of Kobe is not aging like one of his fine wines, is because of his late career highjacking of the Lakers. As Lundberg says, he alienated teammates at every opportunity and threw up shots almost every time he touched the ball. The icing on top of this hot take cupcake was that Lundberg stated that “at his peak, I’d take Dwyane Wade over Kobe Bryant.”
There is all sorts of fire in this video, from top to bottom. Agree or disagree, there’s more than enough here to spend the rest of the day arguing about. Lundberg clearly does not sip Kobe’s vino or consider himself a mamba, or he would have doused this hot take before it even hit Twitter.