rookie, I'd definitely take the following players ahead of Kobe:
MJ
Magic
Kareem
Wilt
LeBron
Duncan
Shaq
And I'd probably take the following players ahead of Kobe:
Bird
Hakeem
Russell
And a case could be made to take the following players ahead of Kobe (although I probably wouldn't):
K. Malone
Oscar
So that puts Kobe at about #11 on my list.
As a talent, Kobe would rank much higher. But his downfall is the damage he did to his team due to his selfishness.