Who is better Kobe or Lebron?

[TheGreat#8]

Re: Who is better Kobe or Lebron?

By your argument of Kobe 5 to Lebron's 0. Then Bill Russell's 11 to Kobe's 5 would make Bill Russell better........

I would personally vote for Satch Sanders of the 60's Celtics with 8 Rings or maye Jim Loscutoff or Frank Ramsey of those same Celtics teams with 7 rings each. One of those three is definitely the best player of all time

One point that I think is interesting is that someone brought up how LeBron could not possibly be expected to win as many titles as Kobe to this point as he plays in Cleveland and the Lakers at least over the past 25 - 30 years have essentially been the class of the NBA or at least in the top two or three teams. I am not sure that is accurate in the same sense that the Bulls absolutely stunk when Jordan arrived. They had been somewhat competitive in the 70's but never played for a title. By the late 70's and early 80's they were horrible. Jordan's arrival and subsequently Pippen and the addition of role players changed all that.

LeBron has been in the league 7 years now. By all accounts Dan Gilbert their owner is willing to spend a ton of money to bring in support for LeBron. The argument that LeBron has to do it all due to the players around him seems silly to me. During the regular season when the Cavs are putting up 65 wins, nobody complains about Mo Williams, Boobie Gibson, Big Z, Big V, The Big Aristotle, etc. All of a sudden when they flame out in the playoffs, it is all those guys fault. If anything, they just don't know and understand how to play playoff basketball.

How many Cavs fans don't wish now that the Cavs had pulled the trigger on the Amare Stoudemire trade with Phoenix earlier this season instead of settling for Jamison. True, Amare could probably not have stopped Garnett either however he certainly would not have been missing in action on the offensive end as Jamison was especially against the Celtics.

If the Cavs have failed to surround LeBron with quality, that is somewhat their own dumb fault. If the front office is not shrewd enough to make good trades or bring in really good free agents it really has nothing to do with the city itself. True, the Lakers and Celtics have a rich tradition that Cleveland does not have however MJ proved that Chicago which was once a bottom feeder with zero championship pedigree could become world champions based on a great front office, player draft selection and development and surrounding MJ with the right players to get the job done.

I think LeBron will get his titles however I agree, he needs to get serious on a Kobe level about winning where it is obsessive to him to the point that almost nothing else matters. Those few players the MJ's, Kobe's, Bird's, Magic's etc. that cared for winning and little else are what sets them apart from others. I just wonder if LeBron has that drive. Only time will tell.

[joelsabi]

Re: Who is better Kobe or Lebron?

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

[legaleagle92481]

Re: Who is better Kobe or Lebron?

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.

[JasonM33]

Re: Who is better Kobe or Lebron?

Lebron is a talented player no doubt, however I just can't put him over Kobe. It's hard to say who's "better" because it's kind of apples and oranges because they don't play the same position and they have different roles on their teams. People get caught up with Lebron's stats vs Kobe's championships. I think it's more complex than that.

Kobe's stats are hurt but the fact that he didn't start until his 3rd year. Not that he couldn't have started but with Shaq there the Lakers could afford to be cautious with him. Kobe has done some amazing things scoring the ball in his career. 81 points in one game? Not even Jordan came close to that. 81 is more impressive to me that Wilt's 100 because Wilt was 5 feet from the hoop most of the time. Kobe is a perimiter player and he was hitting shots from way deep. Another time he hit 12 threes in one game including 9 in a row. That's still the record as far as I know. If Kobe was always on a team full of scrubs like he was in 2005-2007 you would see his career scoring numbers being off the charts. Even still he may retire as the all time points leader.

Kobe by anyone's definition is a better defender that Lebron from end to end. Lebron's blocks are impressive but they don't impact the game as much as Kobe locking guys down. He's made some clutch defensive plays in the postseason too. For as physically dominant as Lebron is, he should rebound a lot better than he does. If he can't get 10 reounds a game something is wrong.

Lebron is a great passer and he'll get you 2 or 3 more assists than Kobe in a game. However, the triangle offense is not a traditional inside-out offense. The ball has to move all to create opportunities and Phil Jackson encourages Kobe to get the "hockey assists" for than regular assists. Lebrons assists are dribble drive, 1 pass, shot. He essentially plays 1 on 5 most of the time. He creates all of the scoring opportunties himself.

One player can not win a championship by himself however it's very impressive that Kobe was able to be a dominant and important peice to the 2000,2001, and 2002 champions then rebuild from the gutter and win back to backs again. He still might not be done. I'n my opion Lebron's image is going to take a hit if he doesn't win a championship in Cleveland and then splits to a loaded team with two or three max salary players. It will be viewed as him failing to win as the main man. Kobe is most certainly the main man in LA even with a talented guy like Pau on the team.

I'm sorry this is so long and it could have been a lot longer. By the way Magic Johnson won 2 out of 3 championships against Boston. He did not lose to Boston twice as someone posted here earlier.