Is Kobe the greatest Laker ever?

Earlier this week, Kobe Bryant passed Jerry West as the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Los Angeles Lakers -- an impressive feat considering the men he passed by include such greats as West, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, George Mikan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Magic Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal. Now the question is being asked (mainly by people on ESPN, who have run out of things to talk about before the Super Bowl) if Bryant could in fact be the greatest player in the history of the franchise.

Is Kobe Bryant the greatest Laker of all time? The answer: nuh-uh.

That’s not to say that Bryant won’t finish his career as one of the ten greatest players in the history of the game, which he almost certainly will. And with all the help he now has around him, it’s not impossible that he could wind up with as many championships (6) as Michael Jordan. However, greatness is not measured by statistical accomplishments alone. If that were the case, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar -- who has more points, rebounds, MVP’s and All-Star appearances than practically everyone, including Jordan -- would probably be the consensus greatest player ever. Instead that honor belongs to Jordan, who paved his legacy not only with numbers but by having the most complete game anyone had ever seen.

In that same vain, Bryant will never be considered better than Magic Johnson, who many still argue was the most-talented player in the 60+ year-history of the NBA. And while Johnson’s career was undone by his infamous HIV announcement, Kobe’s own sexual assault case and subsequent trade demands won’t make him the more sympathetic or respectable figure when all is said and done.

One advantage Bryant has in the argument is that he is playing in an era where people can actually see how great he is. Few people even remember what type of game Elgin Baylor, Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain had, and since game recordings from back then are almost never seen on television, people will have a tendency to knight Bryant as the better player by default. Truth be told, this may not be much of an injustice since those players played in an era where the amount of strength, quickness and athleticism in the league is vastly inferior to the amount in today’s game. As great as Wilt Chamberlain was, it’s hard to imagine he’d be anywhere near as dominant in the year 2010.

However, the biggest obstacle facing Bryant’s legacy ironically is also his biggest obstacle in this year’s postseason. Although Bryant has won four titles in his career so far, three of them came with Shaquille O’Neal, who no one would question wasn’t the primary, go-to player when the two played together. Because Bryant won a majority of his rings as the sidekick to a better player, it’ll be hard for people to look at Bryant and anoint him as the greatest ever over Johnson or even Abdul-Jabbar.

One thing’s for certain. If Bryant truly wants to establish himself as the greatest Laker ever, let alone the greatest player ever, four rings (one less than O’Neal and Magic, and two less than Kareem have) is not going to get it done. If he wants his argument to be stronger, he’ll need to collect a little more jewelery. Another ring in 2010 certainly wouldn’t hurt.