THIS!!
i'm not fan of him but i was growing up in his era (pre - lebron era)
We know you don't like the guy but be reasonable.
but so many other factors contribute to this such as change of times, media, social media, race etc.... I feel what you saying, but a good amount of players that will be legends nowadays...(not to take anything away from them) benefit greatly from media/social media.--One who is the object of great attention and devotion--
if you are in agreement that this is the general definition of the word, then most of the men mentioned so far ARE. You can add on to that definition, at least...the word... ENDURING
if u think Kobe is not an icon, i would with respect greatly disagree. He will be talked about til the game no longer exists, so forever, just like guys like magic, jordan, and so on
imho its easier to achieve icon status once u are done playing, when u r talked about, refernced, still loved, and still having millions devoted to u after yer playing days are over....well there arent as many as one would think. bill russell was a great great player, but icon ?????? he usually comes up when talking number of rings and best player ever yes, but other than that, he didnt nor did his 'style' effect too many. AI forced the league to install a dress code if im not mistaken, his hair among other things has been mentioned in this thread alot, still getting alot of attention and always will, good or bad dont matter
current players question ???? : lebron (yes) KD (by the end yes) kobe (yes) WHO ELSE THAT CURRENTLY PLAYS, seriously ?
i love cp3 to death but he will never be an icon, same as lets say...derek rose, blake griffin, dwade, kg ........
i put mr tim duncan in the bill russell category, great great great player, but as far as standing for something or effecting attitudes or style, no
just a few thoughts , hope i didnt bore ya too much
hope i didnt offend anyone
and fwiw whenever i saw mj in chapel hill, he was as cold as a whor3z goodbye to everyone ....... thats what u can do when u r tha GOAT
so was ai...matter fact until he had a few years in the league ai was bigger then even yao ming in china. I mean they had dedicated websites, they were even doing cornrows. Kobe fame/legacy is strictly for his on court accomplishments, while ai was a little of this, but mostly his persona and his image.People think MJ is a douche outside of the court, how did people form a deep connection with him outside of the arena? He is an icon because of his basketball skills. Lets not try to redefine the word icon now. Kobe is an Icon, maybe not to you but to plenty of people here and abroad. A way bigger icon than AI ever was. Dude is a god in China. I don't understand it but grown men where crying seeing this man.We know you don't like the guy but be reasonable.
jordan would have had even less time to himself , woulda been ridic
You have no idea what you're talking about. Seriously did you even watch basketball before this era?
Some cats are clueless. Dude was like a GOD to every young black kid
