His back or whatever?

LOL@you acting like playing at this level for 17 years is some detriment to his legacy. Bird retired earlier, that's on him and his health.

And Magic?

Hey, Kobe fucked bitches too, as we all know, but uh.... He hasn't retired for health reasons as a result.

Had those guys stayed healthy, who knows? What we know is that Kobe is dropping 29 per 17 seasons in.

Oh, I know, you like the idea that him playing long works against him (X amount of accomplishments in X amount of years and all).

Of course, let's forget he entered the league at 18 as a GUARD, of all things, which was unheard of, so if you want to allow for the age they came into the league and start there with Kobe, it's still a similar list that bolsters Kobe's position. If you think his first three years coming in as an 18 year old without college play aren't going to cause a dip in performance and stats, well, I dunno what to tell you. That was his college. Plus he showed up playing behind a well established back court.

Naturally, you hate Kobe more than you like basketball, so you'll pick and choose what context to accept. The fact that Kobe did the things he did with Shaq is a testament to his abilities, not a detriment. Further, it's telling how you ignore the steep drop off after ShaKobe on those teams in comparison to what Bird and Magic had. Unquestioned leaders be damned, the bottom line is they were surrounded by superior talent to what Kobe and Shaq had around them. You gloss over that though.

People talk up Pau, but they're iffy when you start talking about him for HOF based on his NBA credentials. Not so with Parrish and McHale and Worthy and Cap. Magic and Bird each had TWO "Top 50 All Time" players. Did Kobe have that luxury with Pau and Bynum? LOL. Nope. With Shaq, it was he had Shaq and a bunch of guys who played their roles well enough. So, despite LESS stacked teams, he put together a comparable career. Interesting.