Alright I am going to do my best to tackle this topic and hopefully spark some more comments. The debate between who is better has been going on since LeBron entered the league. Truthfully it is an unfair comparison in my opinion. They are two different types of players. I would rather have LeBron James on my team for a whole season, but I would rather have Kobe on my team for a must win game. The two compare like this, during LeBron's career he averages 27.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 7 assits, 1.7 steals, and .8 blocks. While Kobe averages 25.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.7 assits, 1.5 steals, and .5 blocks.
One could easily look at statistics and say LeBron is a better player, then the championship talk comes into play. Kobe has 5 championships while LeBron has yet to win a ring. Much can be said to the quality of teams that each player played on and I will leave that to the readers to decide. LeBron is still a young player and until last year with Bosh and Wade has not played with great talent like Kobe has for all of his career.
After watching today's game Miami vs Lakers I realized Kobe is almost an unstoppable scorer and impossible to guard when he is hitting his turn around jumper. I also realized how much of a all around player Lebron is. LeBron was guarding Pau Gasol a 7 footer. LeBron was doing more than holding his own guarding the much taller player.You may have noticed I have not really said who is better and that is because they are not very comparable. Kobe is a shooting guard that does not often hang out in the paint for rebounds and it is not his job because he has played with several 7 footers. LeBron is a big strong hybrid type of player that can play about anywhere on the court and often has the ball in his hands which can create more assists and plays for other people.
As a basketball fan that is not an expert I would say that LeBron is the better overall player because he fills the stat sheet, but Kobe is the better scorer because he can flat out shoot the ball. So with that said let me hear your input on these two players. I am just excited to possibly see them on the court together again in the Olympics.
Statistics retrieved from ESPN.Com
Lebron is definitely the better overall athlete and has a better all around game. Like you said they are both completely different players, in completely different parts of their careers. Kobe is definitely on the downside of his career (Not that far from his prime performance wise however. Lebron is playing in only his second season on a team that if he was injured for a significant portion of the season would be able to maintain anywhere near a .500 record.
ReplyDeleteI'm just gonna say this... It's like comparing Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer (Lebron being Nadal, Kobe being Federer). If both were the same age, Kobe would DESTROY Lebron in my opinion and let me tell you why. Kobe is a far superior shooter to Lebron. Lebron clearly can penetrate the lane, but he couldn't even dream of making some of the shots Kobe makes. The fact of the matter is, if you can drop a fadeaway like Kobe, you are unguardable. Lebron can be shut down as we saw in the finals last year, because he doesn't have an all around offensive game.
ReplyDeleteLebron puts up better statistics, but a legacy is measured in terms of rings and clutch. Once you get above a certain threshold of talent (which Kobe and Lebron are both above), it's not about statistics, but execution when it counts. I agree that Kobe has had far superior supporting casts, but that is why statistics are irrelevant in this argument because Lebron has had to do more so he's asked to score more. When Lebron scores, they double team him after awhile and then he gets easy assists. Alas, I digress.
My point is, until Lebron gets ringS (notice the plural), he shouldn't be in the discussion. I understand he is probably the best regular season player, but until he can win when it counts most, he has no case for being called "King."