Kobe was a great on ball defender and great off ball help defender.
What he was atrocious as he got older was the non glorious parts of defense and he’d absolutely die on screens and not fight through them and once he cheated to try and make an off ball play he was so lazy to get back to his man.
I get it tho he’s like that old guy that feels he does enough out there that he doesn’t need to do that grind house work anymore.
Let's see what his coach Phil Jackson thought about his defense during that time.
“Kobe’s defense, to be accurate, has faltered in recent years, despite his presence on the league’s all-defensive team.
The voters have been seduced by his remarkable athleticism and spectacular steals, but he hasn’t played sound, fundamental defense.
"Mesmerized by the ball, he’s gambled too frequently, putting us out of position, forcing rotations that leave a man wide open, and doesn’t keep his feet on the ground.”
but who knows maybe Phil is just some Kobe hater.
the problem is the numbers also bear this out.
this is from 03 onwards aside from a few season his teams were generally better defensively when he was off the court.
and here his on off as compared with ron artest for example.
Kobe vs Ron artest
Kobe Bryant is the Derek Jeter of basketball when it comes to defense,
Frobe was a very good defender, but every other Kobe was just somewhere between solid to inconsistent to bad depending on his age / level of effort.
The Pau-kobe lakers were an elite defense because of their size, rebounding and rim protection, specifically the front court of Bynum, Odom, and Pau, + Ron Artest.
Kobe was a helpful part of it , but the idea that it was him driving their defense performance is crazy.
He wasn't better than Ron, or Bruce Bown, at that time, he wasn't terrorizing people like Kawhi.
it's just a total rewrite of history to pretend that he was.
WASHED KING
