Very underrated defender, on ball and help. I personally think he's one of the better off ball defenders. People sleep on Kobe's defense. Anyone remember that stretch when he had to defend a series of all star point guards? The western conference was stacked, with all star guards. Kobe was the only one who could guard them. I'm talking Michael Conley, Russel Westbrook, Stephen Curry ect. at 34 no less. That was the year of the Achilles tear for those who want reference. Plays both sides of the ball, a real MVP.

For a Superstar Kobe sure gets called for a lot of fouls on clean blocks

True fans of the game know Kobe has 4 MVPS: 03, 06, 07, 08. The fact Steve Nash has 2 MVPs and Dirk has one, says it all. Around the end of Jordan retiring from the Bulls, the MVP almost never went to the best player in the league, which it does in almost every other sport. Also people never point to the fact Kobe has played in arguably the hardest conference ever in the NBA throughout his whole career. Had Kobe's prime when Shaq left started somewhere on a team in the Eastern Conference, he would have earned those MVPs he was robbed out of.

The way Kobe plays defence is just totally empowering . . .

No one can ever play and love the game the way Kobe did.

Heart, desire, and intelligence are what has made Kobe SO great on both ends of the floor.

kobe deserves more than juss 1 mvp in his prime 05-07 steve nash won mvp really shame

At 6'6" to be a able to block shots from bigger guys up front is a great feat.

Most blocks was came from his left hand. Damn!

1:55 Kobe has been watching film of TD for years, the way he timed his shot from that far back is not a fluke.

KB is the most competitive and handworking athlete ever.......

I watched Harden's defense and come watch this lol...NBA these days and back then. I will stop watching NBA once Kobe retires

I miss Kobe

4:10 what an absolute monster.

Kobe's blocks are beast when he wears that arm sleeve.

This video shows how much the NBA hates Kobe Bryant

That block on Duncan's shot while it was mid air was insane.

Look at Kobe in his prime, guards literally couldn't get past him. His offense is so famous that no one realizes how good of a defender he really is

Kobe d great..NBA will never be exciting as it is without kobe...

that block to kirk was clean . The contact to the face was just the aftermath of a great play . kobe hit the ball with so much force it pushed novitski's hand back after stoping it at impact, so kobes hand with the strength put, like a windmill with force, spins on around ! lol

I will miss him...I used to cut class to watch his game, he brought the game to another level, the intensity and passion he had will always impact other people. OGs showed no love, Like KG and KB. Not like these days young players have friends all over the league and playing soft. kinda miss the old time right now.

Lmao at shaq just booked it after Kobe blocked his shot at 7:29

The last block, man nobody would try to block that because of the possible result but my man Kobe is on a different level. He doesn't care because he knows that he can do whatever he wants. That is Mamba Mentality at it's finest.

Kobe was the best player in the league multiple times but in total he should have one 2 mvps instead of one. When he was averaging 35 a game yea he was probably the best player on the earth but it's hard to give the MVP to a player on an 8th seed team. Only time I felt Kobe was truly robbed was when Nash won his second MVP. I love Nash too don't get me wrong but he was never truly the best player in the league those 2 years or through any year during his career. Shaq should've taken Nash's 1st MVP and Kobe should've gotten Nash's 2nd. Kobe only won MVP because, although yea he earned it, it was mainly because the league fucked up and realized this is going to be a top 10 player in NBA history and we haven't given him an MVP. Technically during kobes MVP season Chris Paul had all around better numbers.

24 says are you kidding me? I'll meet you at the top

Kobe is a 9x NBA All defensive first team and 3x defensive second team selection. In 16 seasons Kobe has earned defensive honors in 12 of them and he wasnt really given consistent playing time and starts until his third season.Take away the 04-05 season and basically every season Kobe Bryant can compete healthy he is recognized as one of the best defenders in the league. He is one of the most skilled players to ever play the game

7:57 Kobe got speed 👀

kobe is the most underated defensive player in the leauge. If he decided to have a mindset of wanting to win defensive player of the year he could do it EVERY YEAR! he just has to reserve his energy for offense.

Kobe's a great defender.

Kobe is almost 36 years old and had some severe injuries, do not expect too much from him. He already had his time.

NO matter his block attempt is a clean block or a foul, you can clearly see Kobe's determination to win a battle

The batman theme in the background suits kobe so well. He pretty much is the batman of basketball.

Great 9 minutes of footage 🙌

Heart . Desire . Intelligence .

Dang I See Why Kobe Is All Defense 1st Team All the Time Amazing Video

unlike lebron who only can do chase down blocks..... smh for those who says leflop's defense > kobe's def

3 defensive experts in one team wow kobe , metta and dwight .

for all you ppl complaining about fouling, just to be clear, the hand is considered to be a part of the ball when its in contact with the ball

In his prime Kobe was the Charles Woodson of the NBA on defense, he was an intimidating on ball defender and plays like a free safety with blocks and steals to help his teammates

agreed. he's a pretty clutch defender.

Kobe's defense isn't about stealing or blocking, it's his ability to be able to lock down a player.

i've noticed, this is what drives him to the championship, DEFENSE

I might be the only guy within a thousand miles who watches defensive highlight videos on half speed playback.

the most underrated defensive player in the league

I don't understand about the dislike. People don't like the game now. they don't like good defense? Even in LBJ block highlights I wouldn't dislike that. I like good defense highlights. People that dislike this are just in denial about kobe's defensive talents.

Best player from like 04-2012

For example, like when a defender is tall and the player taking the shot is shorter, the shot needs to be arched more and it will hit the glass on the way down. Basically, any high arcing bank will probably be on its way down by the time it hits the glass, but a regular bank shot's highest point is when it hits the glass. Its just how the mechanics works. I used this as an experiment for a project in physics my sophomore year in college. haha if you were wondering how i know.

you are crazy. kobe goes hard on defense every single possession, especially when he was younger.

I'm a LBJ fan and I came to witness a great defender in Kobe.

Kobe is Top 5 of All time

I miss you... Kobe

kobe shoulda won at least 4 mvp he was the best in the nba for most of his career

MVP MVP MVP . . . !!!

Kobe is ambidextrous.

After watching this I feel really bad for Yao and Duncan, the Mamba was RUTHLESS!

if you ask me, all those blocks were clean

@DSOTL well said. not a lot of NBAers want to risk being put on a poster, ESPECIALLY not superstars.

i hate not seeing kobe swat some people this season cos of his knee and all. when he decides to go up for a block, you know he's gunna connect and its gunna be good. one of the most emphatic shot blockers.

he is the best

This is all in one season!

hes like "right kobe, im goin to wait for u on the other end.."

2:33 just vicious!!

TMUDE = The Most Underrated Defender Ever

Kobe blocks Yao and Shaq, many times. Just amazing. Miss you Mamba.

All those blocks are spikes but kobe plays great defense and those fouls were clean blocks

Its not a rule per se. But how the shot works is that the peak point of the shot hits the backboard on a bank. That just how the physics of the shot works. That is subject to change, however, depending on how it is shot and that'll be the referee's call. But typically on a lay-up or a bank shot, the peak point is when it hits the backboard.

Kobe isn't much of a steal and block defender, but he is a deadly perimeter and lock on defender.

The Dark Mamba .

MVP~MVP~MVP~MVP~MVP~

My only greatest of all time Kobe.

love the block on shaq i bet that felt good for kobe

@AuthenticBlaze Because he's trying to avoid unnecessary injuries on his right hand. and we all know he has numerous injuries on his right hand. but as great as he is, he can use both hands. and that's what great players are, they can use both hands offensively and defensively.

Call me a Lebron hater, but as long as I can remember I've been a die-hard Laker fan. Kobe and Shaq got major hate when they won 3 titles in a row, the media said that the duo wasn't as good as other duos such as Jordan and Pippen or Stockton and Malone..but mind you, Lebron James wins ONE title with the help of other stars and all of a sudden he's the greatest player alive you Kobe haters/Lebron lovers might hate me when I say this but when Kobe retires he will be remembered as one of the GOAT.

yeah it was some throwback special they did but they changed back to the regular shorts at half time cuz they said they weren't comfortable.

you guys should try to block like kobe is here... not jumping straight up all the time but swiping it at a horizontal level... it works . ty kobe, mj, and pippen

Anyone else notice that Kobe is blocking those shots with his left hand? Kobe's right handed but blocks shots with his left hand? That my friends, is called dexterity.

Kobe Bryant is top 3 perimeter defenders all time. and best scorer of all time. Just an amazing talent.

@tntrocksbb Yes that's so true, people like to look at the stats blocks and steals, but you don't get stats for smothering a player all night long on the perimeter. By the way just to toss it out there look at Kobe reject guys eye to eye even the Centers, other players not naming any names, only blocks shots from behind a guy when he doesn't expect it, it takes more shot blocking skills to block when the offensive player is attacking the defender with strong dunk attempts.

Kobe didn’t get a lot of calls when he got fouled but got called for a lot of fouls when it was clean.

love how lamar odom flys by at 2:40

@NEL0061 agreed. when he wants to be, he is the best on ball defender in the league. he plays defense to get stops not to get stats. thats how it should be

the last one was nice !

this should be the "blocks" section. much more to defense than just blocks

Kobe got MVP chants In Boston. Nuff said

Oh shit Halo # soundtrack intro!!!! lol cool vid!

So true.

Im an LBJ fan and i liked this.

kobe not only offense but as much in defense :)

i liked this video, even though im a lebron fan, thats all i wanted to prove

Loved the Halo music in the intro.

if you have noticed, most of Kobe's blocks are with his left hand

I like to think of it as this, He plays good defense when he has to

@NEL0061 This is one of those times when the difference between 'then' and 'than' is very important.

Damn on the last Bonzi Wells block I though it was a hard foul at first then I saw he got a lot of ball, impressive

fuckin love watching kobe play...hes a winner, not out there to make freinds!

good shot blocker doesn't mean good defender but i agree kobe is 1 of the best defender in the nba history

it just made me laugh so much when shaq sprinted after Kobe blocked his shot ! . he didn't wanna hear a word from Kobe !! lol haha

Amazing and exciting!

"Watch this dunk #24" "Are you kidding me? I'll meet you @ the top" Haaaaa

@thug8200 he does that because the shooter is going up with his left so if he is across him his left hand is closer to the shooters right.