[ST]

Taken from SI Player's poll.

Which opposing player scares you the most to play against?

Kobe Bryant, Lakers G...... 35%
Shaquille O'Neal, Suns C...... 12%
Kevin Garnett, Celtics F...... 6%
LeBron James, Cavs F...... 4%
Dwight Howard, Magic C...... 4%
Allen Iverson, Nuggets G...... 4%
Tim Duncan, Spurs F...... 4%
Steve Nash, Suns G...... 4%
Tracy McGrady, Rockets G...... 2%
Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks F...... 4%

[Based on a survey of 242 NBA Players]

FAST FACTS: Poll was completed before O'Neal was traded from the Heat to the Suns last week.... Bryant particularly unnerves forwards, who gave him more than 41% of their vote.... Among players 35 and older, 63% voted for Bryant, who led the league in points, field goals and field goal attempts this season, as well as the last two.

My take is that there are two types of intimidation in the NBA.

One type is that of physicality. This is the intimidation felt when the opposing player is bigger,stronger,quicker,faster and/or more athletically gifted than you. This is particularly reserved for the physical freaks .The Lebrons,Dwight Howards,Iversons and Shaqs of the basketball world. It's tough to compete against players whom you know could outjump,outmuscle and outquick
you to the ball. Players guarding Shaq during his heyday would just flail away at him and sometimes he won't even notice, often carrying two to three other players with him as unleashes those powerful dunks. They knew that it's gonna be a tiring night if the Lakers flew into town.

The second type of intimidation and the one that I think, is the more overwhelming type of intimidation is the type of mind game that the opposing player projects upon you. It's knowing that whatever you do, the opposing player is one step ahead of you and he's simply better than you. I would reserve this for two players in the NBA right now. Kobe and Tim Duncan. These are the two guys that I believe, are able to impose their will on the opposing players' minds and render them helpless. It's interesting to note too that these two are two of the most fundamentally sound players in the game. They have every move in the book and the countermoves offshooting from those main moves. I believe it was Stephen Jackson, Golden State's best perimeter defender who said that "the difficult thing about guarding Kobe is that he [Kobe] has no tendencies."

What's amazing about this is that three players considered arguably in the top five all time greatest players: Magic,Jordan and Bird all had this ability to intimidate opposing players. All three are the ones whose names are in bold,highlighted and underlined in the opposing teams' bulletin boards. They all inspired fear but the ability to intimidate the opposing player's mind was most apparent in Larry Bird's oncourt dominance. You could argue that Magic was a Power Forward playing the point who could overpower and postup anyone playing the same position. And we all know about Michael Jordan's omnipotent combination of strength,quickness, leaping ability and overall athleticism. Larry Bird physically was nothing special. Oh yes, people say that he was quicker to the ball and more athletic than given credit for. But with Larry Bird, it was his omniscient ability to be two to three steps ahead of the opposition, his ability to know where the ball would go, where his teammates are, what the other player would do, that made him the legend that he is.

Frankly, I'm amazed that Lebron James doesn't rate higher. Physically, he has all the tools and with his triple threat ability, I would think more NBA players would mention him. But I guess it's his willingness to defer at times that sticks to the minds of those opposing players and make them believe that for the first three quarters, they could get in breaks in the action while guarding Lebron. With Kobe, you know that, he has no qualms whatsoever in embarassing the opposing player guarding him at the time. As Mike D'Antoni said," His [Kobe] intensity is almost criminal."

[KDOS]

Kobe's a cold blooded killer man. The respect and fear that he injects with his peers is uncanny.

[Fray]

Funny how high Shaq is on the list even now.

[23isback]

Originally Posted by Fray

Funny how high Shaq is on the list even now.

Would you feel safe around Shaq knowing he could eat you at any given moment?

[Dean the Master]

Nobody gives a **** about T-Mac. lol.

[KDOS]

Shaq's still a bruiser. People make fun of how he has declined rapidly (including me) but make no mistake, the Diesel can still pound it inside and hurt you if he puts his mind into it.

[Marcus13]

Im surprised Bruce Bowen's dirty *** didnt get more votes

[Sir Patchwork]

Kobe is good on a consistent basis, but it's his ability to absolutely go off on someone that intimidates his opponents. He has demoralized more players in the league than anyone. There is definitely reason to be intimidated by a guy who can (and has) dropped 25 points in a span of like 5 minutes, and other similiar type scoring outburts. Black mamba. The fear that he might have one of those unreal nights keeps them intimidated. Most superstars, you know what you'll get. They'll methodically beat you. Kobe does that too, but then there are those nights where it's not at all methodical, it's just plain cruel.

Kobe at his best is better than any player in NBA history at their best.

[ST]

Originally Posted by Marcus13

Im surprised Bruce Bowen's dirty *** didnt get more votes

I don't think Bowen's tactics make the other players "scared". If anything else, it makes them angrier since cheapshots have no place in the game. Instead of running away from Bowen, players all want to smack him.

[KDOS]

Kobe at his best is better than any player in NBA history at their best.

Whoa. Thats a very bold statement. Id like to believe it since I can be a sincere Kobe homer at times, but I still have to give that title to Mike though. No one can intimidate and cripple a player or team like ol baldy in his prime.