Who is better Kobe or Lebron?

[STLHAMMER32]

This is not even a contest (at this point) - Kobe has the results that count.

Well if thats the case then Robert Horry is better than both of them! 7 rings.....How do you judge how good a player is...to me its every aspect of the game. Rebounding, defense, passing, scoring...

Is Kobe a better rebounder....no.
Is kobe a better passer...no
Is kobe better defensively....no
Is kobe a better scorer...possibly

Kobe is a clutch player and one hell of a basketball player....but to me the ring argument does not make much sense....was bill cartwright better than Karl malone or John paxson better than John Stockton? My point is that rings don't necessarily mean you are a better player its just means you are very fortunate and in a position to win one. Kobe has been very fortunate with a successful franchise with a history of winning while Lebron entered Franchise that was a basement team....now he single handedly has rejuvenated the team....

If you put Lebron on the Lakers this year they still win a title, if you put Kobe on the Cavs they still lose....anyone think differently.

[legaleagle92481]

Well if thats the case then Robert Horry is better than both of them! 7 rings.....How do you judge how good a player is...to me its every aspect of the game. Rebounding, defense, passing, scoring...

Is Kobe a better rebounder....no.
Is kobe a better passer...no
Is kobe better defensively....no
Is kobe a better scorer...possibly

Kobe is a clutch player and one hell of a basketball player....but to me the ring argument does not make much sense....was bill cartwright better than Karl malone or John paxson better than John Stockton? My point is that rings don't necessarily mean you are a better player its just means you are very fortunate and in a position to win one. Kobe has been very fortunate with a successful franchise with a history of winning while Lebron entered Franchise that was a basement team....now he single handedly has rejuvenated the team....

If you put Lebron on the Lakers this year they still win a title, if you put Kobe on the Cavs they still lose....anyone think differently.

Your argument misses the point that Kobe unlike Horry, Paxton or Cartwright was a driving force behind the Championships he has won from day one of the season until the final game of the Finals. Even when Shaq was a Laker in his prime Kobe was still a huge reason that the team won.

Wilt Chamberlain was stats wise the best player in NBA history even better than Jordan but most people rank him below Jordan, Bill Russell and one or two other players on the list of all time great players because his teams failed so often in the postseason and often to Russell who had a far, far superior supporting cast and the greatest coach ever behind him. This is even more increadible when you consider that Wilt still managed to win two rings.

In the NBA very, very few alltime greats have not won a ring and they suffer for it when it comes to ranking them the same way NFL QBS do. I watched Marino and Elway their entire careers Marino was a much better QB especially stat wise but yet Elway is ranked higher by almost every expert because he won the big game.

Lebron has failed to get it done under pressure in the postseason time and time again especially this year. He is not exactely alone out there either Jamison, Williams and Shaq are not exactely slouches. The Lakers guys other than Gasol are not even allstars. Odom, Artest and Fisher are nice complimentary players but they are far from stars.

[legaleagle92481]

Well if thats the case then Robert Horry is better than both of them! 7 rings.....How do you judge how good a player is...to me its every aspect of the game. Rebounding, defense, passing, scoring...

Is Kobe a better rebounder....no.
Is kobe a better passer...no
Is kobe better defensively....no
Is kobe a better scorer...possibly

Kobe is a clutch player and one hell of a basketball player....but to me the ring argument does not make much sense....was bill cartwright better than Karl malone or John paxson better than John Stockton? My point is that rings don't necessarily mean you are a better player its just means you are very fortunate and in a position to win one. Kobe has been very fortunate with a successful franchise with a history of winning while Lebron entered Franchise that was a basement team....now he single handedly has rejuvenated the team....

If you put Lebron on the Lakers this year they still win a title, if you put Kobe on the Cavs they still lose....anyone think differently.

One final point Lebron may be the most SKILLED player in the NBA and noone can really argue that but that does not make him the best he lacks that drive that makes Kobe Kobe. Kobe pursues the title every single year like he has never won before and has the work ethic of a fringe roster player.

[STLHAMMER32]

Your argument misses the point that Kobe unlike Horry, Paxton or Cartwright was a driving force behind the Championships he has won from day one of the season until the final game of the Finals. Even when Shaq was a Laker in his prime Kobe was still a huge reason that the team won.

Wilt Chamberlain was stats wise the best player in NBA history even better than Jordan but most people rank him below Jordan, Bill Russell and one or two other players on the list of all time great players because his teams failed so often in the postseason and often to Russell who had a far, far superior supporting cast and the greatest coach ever behind him. This is even more increadible when you consider that Wilt still managed to win two rings.

In the NBA very, very few alltime greats have not won a ring and they suffer for it when it comes to ranking them the same way NFL QBS do. I watched Marino and Elway their entire careers Marino was a much better QB especially stat wise but yet Elway is ranked higher by almost every expert because he won the big game.

Lebron has failed to get it done under pressure in the postseason time and time again especially this year. He is not exactely alone out there either Jamison, Williams and Shaq are not exactely slouches. The Lakers guys other than Gasol are not even allstars. Odom, Artest and Fisher are nice complimentary players but they are far from stars.

Kobe has won 5 nba titles and for 3 of the 5 was not the most valuable player to his team....hence he only has 2 Finals MVP awards.

As far as support, Gasol was incredible this year and the reason for the back to back championships. The Lakers can't win a game win Kobe takes over 25 shots, the stats prove that.

Again, my question is would the Lakers have lost if they had Lebron?

[STLHAMMER32]

One final point Lebron may be the most SKILLED player in the NBA and noone can really argue that but that does not make him the best he lacks that drive that makes Kobe Kobe. Kobe pursues the title every single year like he has never won before and has the work ethic of a fringe roster player.

I think Lebron is better in nearly every category and the stats back that up but at this point Kobe does have the better drive your are correct about that for sure. I mean you can't go wrong with either player. My point is that Kobe is winning championships because of the situation. If you trade Lebron straight up for Kobe it would be hard to say Lebron wouldn't have the 5 rings right now. Lebron has many many years to catch up too lets not forget.

[legaleagle92481]

Kobe has won 5 nba titles and for 3 of the 5 was not the most valuable player to his team....hence he only has 2 Finals MVP awards.

As far as support, Gasol was incredible this year and the reason for the back to back championships. The Lakers can't win a game win Kobe takes over 25 shots, the stats prove that.

Again, my question is would the Lakers have lost if they had Lebron?

Yes, they would have lost with Lebron we all saw how well Lebron played against the Celts this year. Kobe and Shaq were both so valuable to the Lakers in the early 2000s that without either of them the team would not have won one ring. Both players came up huge throughout those seasons and the Finals who got the MVP is besides the point. As far as Gasol he did not win a single playoff game until he got on the Lakers and he played only 65 games out of 82 regular season games this year with except for grabbing an extra rebound and change per night was almost identical to every other year he has had. Yes he played well last night but he disappeared for a couple of games in the series as well. Plus Gasol does not get doubled since they are so worried about Kobe. He was far from the reason they won.

[legaleagle92481]

I think Lebron is better in nearly every category and the stats back that up but at this point Kobe does have the better drive your are correct about that for sure. I mean you can't go wrong with either player. My point is that Kobe is winning championships because of the situation. If you trade Lebron straight up for Kobe it would be hard to say Lebron wouldn't have the 5 rings right now. Lebron has many many years to catch up too lets not forget.

Its like Wilt and Russell. Wilt was much better in every category except Bill was the better allaround defender. Bill has 11 rings, Wilt has 2. Most people say Bill was the better player because of his drive and results. Wilt had the individual records, the scoring and rebounding titles and once even led the league in assists. Bill had Cousy, Sharman, Jones and Auberach on his side and barely scored 10 points a game. If you traded Wilt for Bill the Celts would have won 13 out of 13 championships instead of the 11 out of 13 Bill lead them to. But in sports there are no what ifs and situations are a chicken and egg argument. Would Odom have reupped without Kobe being there? Would Artest have signed there without Kobe being there? They could have went to the Cavs but chose Kobe because they felt correctly that he gave them best shot to win.

[Manram]

One final point Lebron may be the most SKILLED player in the NBA and noone can really argue that but that does not make him the best he lacks that drive that makes Kobe Kobe. Kobe pursues the title every single year like he has never won before and has the work ethic of a fringe roster player.

The reason lebron does not pursue the title every year is because he has no one on his team that is good besides him. He can only carry his team so far. I do not like kobe at all, he is a very arrogant player IMO and can not handle himself on the court. He whines if he gets touched

[gorilla777]

The reason lebron does not pursue the title every year is because he has no one on his team that is good besides him. He can only carry his team so far. I do not like kobe at all, he is a very arrogant player IMO and can not handle himself on the court. He whines if he gets touched

Show me an NBA player that doesn't whine. Paul Pierce deserves an Oscar for some of his work. And as far as Kobe, you will not find any fellow players that don't respect the guys work ethic and drive. I have always put MJ in his own category, but Kobe is damn close. He is one of the best clutch players of all time, top five. Off the court I never cared much for him, but that isn't what we are talking about. LeBron does not pursue a title? That sounds ridiculous.

[gorilla777]

Well if thats the case then Robert Horry is better than both of them! 7 rings.....How do you judge how good a player is...to me its every aspect of the game. Rebounding, defense, passing, scoring...

Is Kobe a better rebounder....no.
Is kobe a better passer...no
Is kobe better defensively....no
Is kobe a better scorer...possibly

Kobe is a clutch player and one hell of a basketball player....but to me the ring argument does not make much sense....was bill cartwright better than Karl malone or John paxson better than John Stockton? My point is that rings don't necessarily mean you are a better player its just means you are very fortunate and in a position to win one. Kobe has been very fortunate with a successful franchise with a history of winning while Lebron entered Franchise that was a basement team....now he single handedly has rejuvenated the team....

If you put Lebron on the Lakers this year they still win a title, if you put Kobe on the Cavs they still lose....anyone think differently.

Actually Kobe has the skills to match or better LeBron in most or all of those categories. He shot horribly last night, but went out and grabbed 15 rebounds.