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.

[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?

[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]

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.

[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]

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.

[STLHAMMER32]

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.

Back up your argument with statistics....Kobe struggling offensively in the biggest game of the year isn't helping your argument. The Lakers outrebounded the Celtics like crazy last night which is ultimately why they lost....Kendrick Perkins was out so Celtics were overmatched on the boards.

Lebron averages more points, more assists, more steals, more blocks per game. Lebron also has more triple-doubles in his career than Kobe.. Kobe has 13 years in the league more than 2x as many as Lebron.

[joelsabi]

See answer to Question #2 and the signature at the bottom of the page.

[legaleagle92481]

Lebron's career regular season stats: 27.8 ppg, 7.1 boards per game, 7.0 assists per game, 1.7 steals per game, 0.9 blocks per game, 47.5 FG %, 32.9 3 point %, 74.2 FT %, 3.3 turnovers per game. 548 games, 547 starts, never less than 37.7 minutes per game in a season.

Kobe's career regular season stats: 25.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.7 assists, 1.5 steals per game, 0.6 blocks per game, 45.5 fg%, 34.0 3 pt fg%, 83.8 ft %, 2.9 turnovers per game. 1,021 career games 873 starts, 36.6 minutes per game with 15.5 minutes per game as a career low.

If not for Kobe's first two years when the Lakers did not start him their stats are fairly even.