Just the facts of an important issue.
I will make no secret, I love Kobe Bryant, and he’s my favorite player in the NBA, (besides the Birdman Chris Anderson….”Birrrrlll”!) But I am a journalist at heart, and I can analyze anything objectively. Thus, I need to put a stop to all this “Lebron has surpassed Kobe” talk that I am hearing from everywhere. Because the Kobe hatred and Lebron love seem to be inversely related, I have to squash all that and tell you why Kobe Bryant is the best hooper on the planet,..Still BETTER than Lebron James. Lebron’s statistics have largely been distorted, this year, so I will take each popular Lebron argument and dissect it to help you realize your mistake.
Argument. Lebron scores more points, has more assists, and grabs more boards. He gives your team more than Kobe.
True, but misleading for these reasons. In terms of points, Lebron plays in the East, plain and simple. There is less defense, less defensively sound big men, and most importantly, less coaching in the Eastern conference. If Kobe played in the East, his scoring would be off the charts, i.e.(81 against the Raptors, 61 against the Knicks, both of them away games!) Assists—I can admit that Lebron is a better passer and assist man, but Kobe plays on a team in which the offense goes through him. Lebron’s plays on a team in which he is the offense. No matter who shoots on the Cavs, the offense is designed so that Lebron is the one giving them the ball. It doesn’t work that way with the Lakers when you have players like Gasol, Bynum, and Odom who can score regardless of who is passing to them. Give Lebron his props, but don’t hold it against Kobe that he plays to his team’s strengths.
Same thing with rebounds, Lebron is required to do a lot of rebounding for the Cavs, but Kobe has 2 seven footers and the game’s best rebounding swing man in Odom, on his front line, rebounding is not his responsibility.
Argument. The only knock on Lebron was his free throws and defense, and this year he shot 78% from the line and made 1st team all defense.
Kobe still shoots better from the line at 85%. And defensively, it is not even close. Lebron made the Defensive 1st team because of his stats, lots of steals and lots of blocks. But when you’re 6 “8”, and leaving your man for weak side blocks, that’s not great D, that’s aggressive athleticism. Because what doesn’t show up in the stat line are the countless times his efforts for weak side blocks left his man wide open for jump shots, lay-ups, and offensive rebounds. Secondly, steals are also a misleading statistic. They too are NOT great defensive plays, but mere mistakes by the offense, they are turnovers.
Perfect example—Chris Paul made 1st team all defense this year, (largely because he led the league in steals) but in the playoffs against Denver, he got lit up by Chauncey Billups for 23 points and 7 assists per game. He’s supposed to be the BEST defensive pg if he is on the first team all defense, but the guy that he’s guarding scores 5 more points than his season average during the playoffs? Steals aren’t defense people, because Chris Paul and Lebron James can’t stop anyone from scoring unless they make a mistake. Kobe doesn’t make the 1st team all defense (this year for the 7th time) because of misleading stats. It’s because he defends multiple positions well, and locks you down, makes it hard for you to dribble, shoot, and pass.
Argument. Numbers don’t lie, in every major category, Lebron is better this year, including the win column.
The Cavs had the best record in the league.Let’s not forget this is just one season. Kobe is just one season removed from being the MVP so it’s ridiculous to say that Lebron has now solidified his spot above Kobe after just one season of having the numbers to back the claim. Secondly, sometimes, numbers do lie…..this year Kevin Durant averaged more points, more assists, shot better from the three point line and the free throw line, and made fewer turnovers than Carmelo Anthony….is Durant now better than Anthony? Of course not. Don’t be false “witness” to Lebron’s greatness, he had a great season, but stop saying he is better than Kobe.
9 comments:
I could make the argument with age... but even that is trivial, because by 24 Kobe had 3 rings. but since then he has collected 0. which begs the question, why? he played on an AMAZING team with THE MOST DOMINANT center in basketball history. so there is room to debate.
also kobe didnt collect his first mvp till 29, and you can argue that he deserved it in previous years, but not when he was 24. like lebron did.
yes, lebron plays in the weaker east, but by 22 he took a THEN terrible cavs team to the finals. kobe at age 29 needed an amazing team to reach the finals (by himself -- which only means without shaq, the most dominant center in history) and lebron will prolly take this OK cavs team to the finals once again at age 24. ALL BY HIMSELF. he didnt have one legit all-star on his team this year. mo williams only played after like 10 all-stars were injured. so he has a team of NO BODIES, and he is cruising through the playoffs.
yes kobe's 61 at madison square garden was impressive. but lebron posted 52 the following night. and if u watch both games, lebrons was WAY MORE IMPRESSIVE, for a couple of reason. his points came within the flow of the offense. shots were not forced, and collected a triple double that night. kobe's 61 -- he took almost every shot. forced a lot of them. didnt pass, his stat line was terrible. 61 points, 3 assist, 0 rebound? that sounds like someone who is only on the court to shoot the ball. lebron on the other hand, 52 points , 11 assists, and 10 rebounds. thats just a monster game.
THE MOST IMPORTANT question when debating, who is better than who... is simple. if ur starting a franchise, who are u taking first? kobe or lebron. and the answer EVERY TIME will be lebron. there isnt a person on this planet that would pick kobe. lebron is 6 years younger. has proven that he can take a shitty team to the finals ALL BY HIMSELF. and thats all without whining and demanding a trade. getting rid of shaq and phil jackson. lebron makes everyone around him better. everyone likes him (i truly believe kobe's teammates dont like him).
we can go on for hours about this. but i will leave it at that.
I will post the entire article for everyone to read. and please do. because it is told by a man who once scouted and brought kobe to the lakers. someone who knows more about talent than most nba scouts and talent evaluators. Jerry west said the following...
WASHINGTON -- LeBron James is the best player in the NBA, surpassing veteran Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, 14-time All-Star guard Jerry West said Monday.
West, a shrewd judge of talent who brought Bryant to the Lakers when he was their general manager, said the Cleveland Cavaliers forward could become the league's next Michael Jordan.
"I look at Cleveland [and] say to myself, 'How many games could they win without LeBron James?'" West told Reuters in an interview. "That's how great he is.
"He has a chance to be arguably the greatest player ever to play the game."
But please be sure to check out the ENTIRE article. as west adds to my already solid argument. and thus... proves my point. that lebron is better than kobe.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4178437
thank you beto for posting an article containing Jerry West's ill-advised comments.....West however is wrong and so are you....to address your assertions.......when Kobe won 3 rings he was certainly on an excellent team, with a dominate Shaq...but Kobe was the one shooting in the 4th quarter. Kobe was the one closing those games,...i'M SO SICK OF PPL ACTING AS IF KOBE'S FIRST 3 RINGS DON'T COUNT BECAUSE SHAQ WAS ON HIS TEAM. No superstar does it alone....Magic had an amazing team, so did Bird, and so did Jordan.....are they any less of an amazing player....a ring is a ring you boner.
Secondly, the age argument is valid, but you can not overstate the difference between playing in the East and the West.....perfect example is this year...the 8th seed in the East this year was Detroit, under .500 with a reg season record of 39-43. The 8th seed in the West was the Jazz bro, with a 48-34 record. The Eastern conference teams in beside the top 2 are weak as hell Beto, Lebron's route to the Finals has always been easier.
And your argument about his stat line is ridiculous....if you go simply by stats Rob, then Oscar Robinson should be considered the greatest player of all time...dude was averaging triple doubles for a whole season, but he's not...why? Because Jordan was better than him. Stats are not everything.
There is a reason why the Lakers were 2-0 against the Cavs this year,...it's because of Kobe. They won by a combined 17 points and you will see it again in the finals.....If im starting a franchise of course i take Lebron, because he is younger,...but that doesn't mean he is better than Kobe. Kobe is the BEST offensive player and one of the BEST defensive players in the game....Lebron is neither...he's just a triple double machine who plays in a system where he is the offense.....watch the Magic take game 1 you witness...move to Ohio
by simply stating that jerry west and i are both wrong, you have won the argument.
answer me this. in the media today, it is one of the hottest topics. and one that is debated daily on news talk radio. now... even experts vary on their opinions. so how are u going to tell me, just because u and gray have the same opinion (which u ALWAYS DO), u are both right? come on.
wilbon came on today and said he changes his mind every day. scot van pelt said lebron. west said lebron. another dude said kobe. i dont think there is a right or wrong answer.
all im saying is that by age 29, it will be fact, that lebron has 3 rings. if not more. kobe has had 6 years to get a ring since shaq left to prove himself and everyone else that he can do it on his own. and he hasnt. so... it does matter that he had shaq on his team.
lebron will collect 3 rings by himself by age 29, with not one allstar on his team. kobe has odom, who according to jason is the best swing man in the game. gasol, who was the third best big man in the game this year. thats 3 amazing players.
i love billups and melo, and really want them to get to the finals, but if i need to prove my point by having the lakers and cavs square off, so be it. cause i think the cavs will beat them. and then u wont be able to say shit, cause lebron has a way way way way worse supporting cast than kobe, and if he wins.... then... shut the fuck up. the argument will be settled. lebron is better.
you definitely cant argue facts that have not happened yet bro...how are you going to argue that Lebron is better than Kobe because "by his 29th bday, he WILL have 3 rings....who are you? Ms. Cleo?!....I can't believe you think it's a foregone conclusion that he will have 3 rings....just make sure he beats the Magic before you put him in the finals.
Alright, time for me to enter the arena. I see it fit to address Anonymous and Beto before I put my two cents in. I'll start with Beto because, well, fireworks are always interesting.
I take contention with 4 points that you made in your first comment post (I'm ignoring the second because you literally refered to "some dude" as being the only person who thinks Kobe is better than Lebron). You say that Shaq was the most dominant center ever. Now, I think we need to step back and look at this comment. He certainly was the most dominant center during his career. I won't argue against that. However, we can't compare eras of Basketball because we aren't able to see players play against old legends. We can never see Shaq square off with Chamberlin, Russell, or Jabar. I beg to differ that Shaq was more dominant in his era than Russell or Chamberlin were in theirs (whether you want to go by stats, championships, or how they performmed against the rest of the league).
The second point I'd like to contend with is this idea that Lebron is all by himself. It's getting a little ridiculous that this issue is really a main tenet of the "Lebron is better" school of thought. Mo Williams is a top point guard, Varajao is a top defender, Illgauskas is still an effective offensive center, Delonte West is a good defender and swing man, and the Cavs have the best bench in the playoffs (Gibson, Joe Smith, Ben Wallace, Scerbiack). While Kobe's team undoubtedly has more TALENT, Lebron's team has more CHEMISTRY. It's why the Celtics beat the Lakers last year in the playoffs, less talent, but a much better TEAM. The Cavs have defensive minded players, who can all shoot the rock, the Lakers have offensive minded players who are extremely inconsistent shooters minus Gasol and Kobe.
The third point I'd like to contend with is this question "If I had to start a franchise...". First of all, if Beto would like to bring this issue into the spotlight then you have to set the ages of Kobe and Lebron as the same. Like "Anonymous" pointed out, of course a 24 year old Lebron is more valuable then a 30 year old Kobe Bryant. Just like a 24 year old Lebron would be more valuable than a 30 year old Michael Jordan. However, let's not take age as constant and say this, "If you could have either player, at the very beginning of their respective careers, who would it be?" That is the right way to phrase that question.
The last Beto argument I must contend with is this idea that Kobe "dropped the hammer" on Shaq and forced the Lakers organization to get rid of him. This is something I'm going to get a little passionate about because I would like everyone reading this blog to look at the facts. Let's go back to the beginning of this fued, when Shaq hurt his toe and refused to have surgery in the summer so he could return at the start of the season. The famous quote, "I got hurt on company time, so I’ll heal on company time." Now I love Shaq, but when things don't go his way, he leaves his team out to dry. The players, the coaches, and the front office, none are immune; example, Miami. How about also during Bryant's legal troubles when Shaq would always tell the media that the whole team WAS in fact present. Come on Shaq, you wouldn't have a single ring if not for Kobe and Dwayne Wade. Also, you really think Kobe Bryant's teammates don't like him? I think that's an idiotic statement. Lebron and Carmelo love Kobe, he was the captain of the olympic team, and he actually can get the players on the Lakers to show a little intensity.
Now that I have shed some light on Beto's points, I would like to explain why I believe Kobe Bryant is a better player. I think Lebron James and Kobe Bryant are very similar Basketball players. They are both "5-tool" players, if you allow me to use a Baseball term. The shoot well, pass well, rebound well, defend well, and the are both natural leaders. I think what separates them is a very small thing, but nevertheless important. When there's two minutes left in a tie game, I would rather have Kobe Bryant on my team than Lebron James. Now this opens the door to, "What about the other 46 minutes?" Lebron's stats are better than Kobe Bryant's, he averages more points, rebounds, assists, blocks; makes it a little difficult to argue that. Lebron, however is the one bringing up the ball and Jason hit the nail on the head when he distinguished the Lebron is the offense and Kobe is the guy that the offense runs through.
I will agree with Beto on this, I think comparing these two guys right now is so close it's almost unfair. I think if Lebron beats the Lakers in the Championship this year then I think it will be time for Kobe to move over. However, in sports a team is the champion until another one wins, and Kobe who has proven himself in my opinion so much that until Lebron does so at that level, Kobe still gets the #1 rating.
First, I (Beans) have not made 1 comment on this blog until now, so Grey was agreeing with Grey earlier. Grey and Beans often disagree. Just had to set the record straight.
Now to who is better. Kobe Bryant. Did anyone pay attention this year when Kobe's Lakers took care of the Cavs by 17 in LA AND by 10 in Cleveland? Yeah that's right, the only loss this year at home (when the Cavs put an NBA team on the floor) was to the Lakers, Kobe's team. The arguement ends there.
Comparing all other numbers is almost mute. Yes Kobe plays in the much harder West but sports followers are dumb and won't acknowledge that. Sure the Cavs coasting through the 1st 2 rounds of the playoffs was impressive, but who did they play? The Pistons, come on now. They're not even good enough to be called hot garbage. And then they moved onto the Hawks. Who are just a bunch of athletic basketball idiots. They don't know how to play the game, watch Joe Johnson dribble 8 seconds off the shot clock only to take a 19 foot jumpshot for evidence. The Lakers conversely played the Jazz, who had one of the top home records in the NBA. Then they moved onto the Rockets who had Yao not become injured were serious contenders for the title.
The Lakers may not show up every night, and you can put some of that on Kobe because he is supposed to be the leader. But Kobe has been there and done that. Lebron hasn't done it once. The one time he got there, his weak East team was given the buisness by the Spurs (who Kobe must go through to win a title).
I hope this link works: http://sports.espn.go.com/stations/player?id=4199897
This is Bill Simmons' BS report, and I want everyone to start listening to it at 10:00.
Hopefully this will lay to rest the ridiculous idea that no one likes Kobe and everyone likes Shaq, and Kobe isn't a leader like Lebron.
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