Second-best? Yup.

Believe it or not people, but you're watching the second-greatest shooting guard to ever play in the NBA — J.J. Redick. Coach K just smacked his forehead. I mean Adam Morrison. His tailor just smacked his forehead.

The Black Mamba, ladies and gentlemen. He's here all week, or until he breaks his jaw from clenching it too hard.

Whether the Lakers win this series is irrelevant. Bryant's name is firmly etched in stone as the best shooting guard not named Michael Jordan. Jerry West is his toughest competition, but Bryant tops him.

West was a 14-time all-star, and one of the toughest and competitive players to play the game.
He also hit a 60-foot buzzer-beater to send Game 3 of the 1970 Finals against the Knicks into overtime, which only added to his legendary status as "Mr. Clutch." His numbers were staggering (27ppg, 5.8rpg, 6.7apg) and are better than Bryant's (25.1, 5.3, 4.6). But here's where Mr. West loses ground — he was 1-7 in the NBA Finals. If you want to play the But-wait-Kobe-had-Shaq-card, well, West had Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain, so explain that. Bryant is 3-2 right now, and that will likely improve to 4-2 in the next few days.

Figuring out the best at a certain position is hard. There are so many factors. Some people lean heavily on pure statistics while others label team success as the main barometer. It has to be a mix of both. West had better numbers, but played his whole career with two Hall of Famers. Bryant's best year, 2005-06, was with this team. Shivvers. Of course Bryant's numbers were inflated because of the inferior nature of his teammates, but it also says something that when Kobe was the man, he absolutely dominated. It's an unfair point because West never had that opportunity, but West also played with Baylor and Wilt and ended with just one title.

When I stop and think about it, labeling Bryant behind Jordan still seems ridiculous. It feels like only yesterday he was a cocky first-year guard who airballed like 3000 shots in a game one time. But then again, if Nike turns you into a puppet, you've got to be pretty good.