Kobe proved to us last season that without Shaq, he would win a championship (although he needed another dominant big man in Pau). Like it or not, the fact is Shaq was the main man on that Lakers three-peat. If Kobe wins 2 more as the alpha dog in the team, maybe I’ll consider him as the best.

No matter how you try to spin it. Even if he wins a championship every year until he retires at 40, he won’t be better than Jordan. Also, LeBron is a three, not a four, although he might migrate towards the latter as his career progresses.

REC AND REC

Very well put together

especially in the defense because all lebron does is steals and blocks, things that kobe also does but kobe makes his defender miss the ball, like Bill Russell said, the idea is not to block the shot, the idea is that the opponent think you might block every shot, and that is what kobe does, kobe contains the defender and doesn’t let him penetrate and makes him take an uncomfortable shot, also lebron doesn’t have clutch, lebron has made just like 4 gamewinners compared to kobe’s 14 since 2002, lets talk about leadership, there is nobody in the NBA more leader than kobe bryant, no doubt about it, also kobe’s IQ in basketball, he is the best in that, he knows when to shoot, he knows when to pass the ball and he knows the situation the ballgame is. when lebron reaches kobe’s age i dont think he will dominate because the mayority of his points he makes them penetrating and he will not have too healthy knees in the future and if he doesn’t develop a jumpshot that could be trouble for him. by the way hell of a good post rec’d

WOW, that is one outstanding post and I agree with the others in that fact that this should be it’s own post. You covered everything very well.

Also, don’t forget that he has been playing with injuries and is still lighting it up and hitting game-winners when everyone in the world knows he is getting the ball.

JOKE! I looooooovveee your post.

I’m not a Lakers fan, but I certainly believe that Kobe is still the best in the league right now. Agree on your points, especially the kicks. Boo! for Lebron’s. LOL

I think that’s the most in SSR history. Make this a fanpost. Hell, I’d consider frontpaging it, but that’s C.A’s decision, not mine.

Yes, Lebron may be more athletic and be able to get to the rim whenever he wants, but Kobe doesnt necessarily have to. I dont feel that Lebron has the skill set that Kobe has. Kobe has a better post game, jump shot (even with two busted fingers on his shooting hand), & 3 pointer. Lebron could easily work on these as Kobe has since joining the NBA, and pass Kobe as one of the all-time greats, but not at this point.
If there were ten seconds left and my team was down by 1 or 2 or 3, I would much rather have Kobe on my team than Lebron. If there was such thing as a “closer” in the NBA (as their is in baseball), Kobe would be it. No other player since Jordan has been able to close out/tie games consistently as Kobe has. When Kobe hits a game winner, he acts like he expected it to happen. When Lebron hits a gamewinner, he acts like he was shocked that it went in (ala ECF Finals last year vs Magic). The man has 6 game-winning shots this year. Probably the amount that Lebron has in his career. I cant even imagine how many game-tying shots Kobe has this year on top of his game-winnning shots. The man is clutch. Something that Lebron still has to conquer in his future with the NBA.
I still want Kobe.

He was healthy to begin the year, relatively since his pinkie was broken but he had long ago stopped using it to shoot. The team was on a tear to begin the year without Pau Gasol and Kobe was shooting the highest % of his career. It wasn’t until Gasol came back and he returned to shooting more mid-range, i.e. lower-% shots, that his % started to fall. Even still for him to shoot 46% from the field on mostly jumpshots and shots around the paint is really good. 45% from mid-range is a high-%, he shoots 44% including all of the horrible shooting games on the year. He also shoots 47% around the paint. Don’t believe me. Look at his hotspots and then add them up. Lebron shoots about 40% from beyond the painted area. He is not a great or even good jump shooter, if anything he is right at average. And from around the paint shots, he is a paltry 35%. Not to mention, the fluidity of movement during execution of the finer aspects of the game such as a fade-away or normal shooting motion. The only player who shoots exceptionally better from mid-range is Ray Allen, and he’s like the best mid-range shooter in the league. Even with that, you have to take into account how they’re shootin and how many picks Ray Allen runs through to get those wide open shots
On defense, Lebron is bigger and faster, it is to be expected that he would have more blocks and better overall defense, the only problem is he doesn’t play better overall defense. His size makes him a better matchup for bigger players like Melo and Durant that are taller than Kobe, but he is not that much better of a defender, which given his athleticism and size is really a shame. He can do it, I’ve seen it. But he doesn’t do it nearly enough. Case-in-point Melo should not be able to score 40 on Lebron James due to how much bigger and faster he is than Melo. And this wasn’t blimp on the radar shooting, this was in your face spot-up jump shots and spin moves and dribbling around him. Kobe is much older guarding people like Wade and them, which is why they got Ron Artest because Kobe is neither big enough nor fast enough to counter the speed of some of the younger elite wings for an entire game.
Places where Lebron is better are from 3 and from right at the basket. The latter is obvious because Lebron is one of, if not, the best finishers in the league when he gets to the rim. He’s practically unstoppable when he gets there. The 3 he has worked on and it shows and he’s shooting well from there. I wrote it off earlier because it is normally a blip on the radar in February when he goes on his hot streak, but he has actually improved a lot this year on it. Now, the debate on whether he shoots too many is up in the air.
Finer points of the game where Lebron is better, I’m hard-pressed to find any. Some say passing, but thats all relative given that Lebron plays with a far better shooting team than Kobe and therefore gets more credit in the ast column. Both have thrown nice passes and the art of passing isn’t lost on Kobe, its just a product of the offense that you don’t get as many asts. Plus other people run the offense besides Kobe, so he doesn’t have the ball in his hands nearly as long. I guess I would give Lebron better finishing ability, which is a finer point of the game. He’s practically unstoppable to score near the rim. As there aren’t many with the body to stop his forward progression and there aren’t many with the defensive prowess to truly alter his shot at that point. So I give him that. Overall, I still think Kobe is the better player and Lebron the better athlete, but to each his own.

he’s actually 7-11 now on clutch shots. he made and missed one in the last 24 seconds of the last game.

because then we would just blame it on the refs this is the nba we are talking about

In fact, I have great respect for the L-Train. It’s more of we are Kobe fans. And as Kobe fans, we will do our best to defend our player, plain and simple. and I believe my defense here is pretty valid. Kobe won’t make excuses. But we will.

I believe if he has the will power and drive, he could become one of the best their ever has been in the NBA. Kobe wasnt as polished when he entered the NBA. However, he had the drive to create his incredible jump shot, post game, etc. If Lebron works at it like Kobe did in the early part of his career, I believe Lebron will easily be mentioned as the top 5 to ever play the game. Lebron has already made huge strides on his jump shot, 3 pointer, free throws…. But I think if he doesnt finely tune these parts of his game, his career wont be as promising as we all think it could be. Eventually (when he is in his 30’s), his speed and brute force will go away and he wont be able to rely on those parts of his game. He will have to rely on his jump shot and post game. I hope he does become an all-time great, as i think he is the next person in line to carry the NBA & its fanbase, as Kobe has done for the past decade+.

To think about how good Lebron could get, think about this…… what if you put a healthy Kobe’s skill set into Lebron’s body. You would have an unstopppable player. Even more unstoppable than Lebron is now. Thats how good Lebron could become. If only…… he has that drive in him, that Kobe has.

Kobe is better than Lebron James. That’s not disrespect.

I don’t like Lebron’s antics on the sideline, his “chosen one” mentality, and his poor-sportsmanship as evidenced in dancing/not shaking hands, etc.

I’m in awe of his ability, athleticism, and potential. I don’t think he has anywhere near the skill set that Kobe does, and I’m not sure his body-type will let him develop that set.

I’m also a Lakers fan, and Kobe is one of my favorite players.

Finally, your user name basically sums up most of our thoughts on Cleveland: They’re Lebron fans first. If and when Lebron leaves, the “glory” that is Cleveland b-ball will leave with him.

if we don’t kiss Lebron because we prefer women? No. Just like me showing preference for another player is not disrespect. You already know how I feel about LBJ. I told you he’s a great player. This isn’t about respect, maybe more about admiration for another.

Uhhhhh, NO. Lebron is an outstanding player. Kobe is just better.