Donald, nobody in their right mind disputes that Kobe is an excellent defender. That would be just ridiculous... almost as ridiculous as claiming that Kobe shuts down Westbrook. NOBODY shuts down Westbrook, especially not an old man with a lot of mileage.
I really think that you need to accept that Kobe is old and that he is NOT the greatest player ever, and not even the best player is his era. He is no MJ, and he is no LeBron, but there is no shame in that. Not being better than MJ or James doesn't mean he wasn't a great player. Ridiculous arguments and claims, such as the one you made really undermine reasonable arguments about how great of a player Kobe was (and still is, frankly.)
Kobe is the best player of his era. LeBron is the best of his era (they are not the same, though they overlap a bit, just like Kobe and Jordan's did). Kobe dominated the 2000s, Lebron will dominate the 20teens. Jordan dominated the 90s. Magic dominated the 80s. Drugs dominated the 70s. Russell Dominated the 60s.
I don't think Kobe's the greatest player ever. Magic is, then Jordan. But you'll say Jordan and someone else. After those two, IMO, there's a pretty big gap.
Kobe IS old, and is not the best in the game today. However, he's coming off of a stellar season at 34 years of age, which is freaking remarkable. His drive and determination are what set him apart. He's not a freakish athlete any longer, but he still puts up 27 or so a game, and had one of his most efficient seasons this year (top 3 in scoring, top 20 in assists, 3rd best FG% among SG for a guy who has 50% plus of his shots from long range, and only 21% at the rim). If LeBron can pull of the same type of feat, he'll probably enter into the Magic/Jordan discussion. I just don't see it happening though, based on his play style. Who knows though, both Kobe and Jordan successfully adjusted their games to play amazingly as they were older. LeBron is no doubt capable of the same.
And yes, Kobe shut down Westbrook in two games, of which I posted the information from, one of which was a playoff game. This year, he did not in the one time they put Kobe on Westbrook. But again, he's 34 and old. Kobe is an overrated defender because he tends to gamble and sag off players who aren't stars, but when focused he's locked down a lot of players, including Westbrook. He's a frustrating team defender because he's always out of position. His game is scoring, and making difficult shots look easy. I enjoy it.
