"Kobe Bryant may still be a top-10 NBA star, but his days in the top five are over. Every star eventually fades and Kobe's brightest days are in the past.

First, let me say what I'm not saying. This is necessary because in the world of the Internet, if you don't explicitly say you aren't saying something, there will be those that feel it is implied, or at least feel the freedom to imply it is your "real meaning."

I am not saying that Kobe is "overrated." He is one of the 10 greatest players in the history of the game. Personally, I think that the whole conversation of "G.O.A.T." can become entirely too rigid with people yelling back and forth "How can you say Larry Bird is better than Kobe?" and then hurling the reciprocal. "