His actual ability, impact, and presence in his era FAR overshadow every other player in history. No other player presents such a mythical figure. We should be looking at Mike's greatness in awe
as we already do, however there should be, without question, the following caveat whenever his name is mentioned as GOAT: "....but he's no Wilt Chamberlain".

Has there ever been a player so singularly dominant to return such little in the way of team success in terms of titles? For all the talk about Kobe being selfish, NOBODY has been more about getting theirs than Wilt. Further, his era was unbelievably undersized in comparison to him. So sure, he put up unreal numbers, but titles matter at this level. 2 is great, but he's on the short list of guys you expect to have a whole lot more. Sure, he had the Russell/Celtics buzz saw to contend with, but.... he really should have been that buzz saw everyone else got slaughtered by en route to a title.

It's funny that Kobe is mentioned, because he's that rare player with individual accolades and immense team success. Odd for a guy labeled as selfish his whole career. While people like to knock him for having great players around him, go look at the hall of famers Magic, Bird, Russell, and Wilt had around them when they got their rings and compare it to the number Kobe had on his teams when he got HIS rings. That's the most illogical, unfair and one sided argument imaginable for the 'Kobe is over rated' crowd, and yet it remains perhaps the most commonly consistent and adamant arguments in use.

Further, Kobe gets lambasted for not having as much in the way of overwhelming statistical seasons as, say, O- who put up all kinds of numbers that ultimately netted a solitary title. Basketball fans have such a hard time reconciling the divide between team and individual success when it comes to Kobe, because there's a VERY short list of guys who had such a balance of individual+team greatness. I mean... Jordan... Magic... Bird... Shaq, Cap......and uh... Russell... and who else really? Not much cake-and-eat-it-too action going on there on that level. 5 titles is a LOT.

Oh, and lets not forget his sheer consistency over time. How many guys played at this level 17 seasons in, plagued with injuries over the last few years?

Lets not forget his injuries over the past four years. How much time did he take off? He laid his eggs in that Boston series in 09, sure, and yet he still found a way to contribute in major ways (18 boards in a title game for a guard? lol. Come on.) despite a gaggle of injuries at the time. We give other players a pass for their injuries, yet Kobe played through and WON with injuries that realistically begged for time off. Oh, and he played in the Olympics during that period.

Wilt though... for all his greatness, team success was more limited than it should have been based on just how immense his individual talent is. That balance isn't there; his individual accolades FAR outweigh his team accomplishments.

It's laughable that Kobe has so many votes, but then I know where I am an who I'm talking to.