Kevin Love says Kobe is the best player in the game

Oh look, another Kobe thread from "greatone1978".

 

Vanessa Bryant might not have been in the gym while Kobe was shooting but Greatone1978 sure was.

 

Kobe: vs. MIN: 35 points on 29 shots, 2 assists

LeBron vs. CHI: 35pts on 23 shots, 5 assists
vs. NYK: 31 on 18 shots, 7 assists
vs. DET: 32 on 20 shots, 7 assists

Who's more valuable to his team?

 

You realize that LeBron attempts 6.9 shots/game at the rim, second only to Blake Griffin and more than Dwight Howard, Kevin Love, and DeMarcus Cousins?

Love was commending Kobe more for the degree of difficulty of his shots. Kobe takes over 9 shots/game from 16-23 feet, considered "long 2's" or the worst shot in the game, and he connects at an absurd 45% clip while having the opposing team's top perimeter defender draped all over him. I'm not praising his shot-selection, as I think he definitely does need to make more of an effort to involve Bynum and Gasol, but he's one of the most impressive shot-makers to ever grace the game.

Take Kobe off the Lakers, and they're a post-oriented offense w/ arguably the weakest guard play in the NBA. Take LeBron off the Heat, they're still contending for an Eastern Conference crown w/ 2 superstars. LeBron's clearly the more complete player, but to answer your question... Kobe's more valuable to his team.

 

Switch 09-10 Bron and Kobe, which team would more likely win a championship? Kobe with Cleveland or Bron paired up with Bynum, Gasol, Fisher,...?

 

Also I don't think hitting highly difficult shots is a mark of greatness or value.
Iverson, Maravich would have to be considered as one of the most valuable players of all-time then. I would always take the more efficient player with better allround-stats.

 

I should change it to, would Kobe have reached 60+ wins with that Cleveland squad? I highly doubt it. And Lakers with Lebron would've crushed the NBA.

 

In '09-'10, the Lakers won the championship. LeBron and Cleveland were bounced by the Celtics in the conference semis. Switch LeBron and Kobe that year, LeBron and the Lakers win it all. LA was simply a more talented team, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

We can play the "what-if" game for days, but the fact is, LeBron doesn't have a ring. He promised 8 ("not 1, not 2, not 3...") before even playing a single game for the Heat, and I do think he'll eventually win a title, but like Jordan's pointed out on numerous occasions, he and Kobe are just on another level.

 

Agreed.

 

Did he really say 8? "not 1, not 2, not 3" could mean zero. The man knows his stuff.

 

Kobe is better.

 

But can you really be sure that the Lakers beat the Celtics in the finals with Lebron? Kobe had a terrible game 7 but he was an absolute monster for most of that series. Lebron had the perfect opportunity to prove his ability to close in the finals last year and blew it. Who is to say that if Lebron had made it there a year earlier with a talented Laker team he doesn't do the same?

 

this last game kobe did not even get ONE free throw beside the technical threethrows, even kevin love admits he hit kobe couple times and refs never called it

 

the interesting thing, time after time, from Steve Nash, Kevin Love, Michael Jordan, Robert Horry...it seems the Majority of the players past and present Respect and hold Kobe to a higher regard than Lebron and feel he is the better player/winner....yet ever stats guy and espn guy, and most casual fans looking at box scores find lebron to be better without a doubt...interesting

 

Not just the boxscore. Also the scoreboard.

Kobe has an edge as a shot-maker in the half court. Maybe that matters more in crunch time or in key playoff possessions.

But game-in, game-out over the course of a regular season, LeBron will win you more games.

 

It does matter more in the playoffs. Lebron is at his best when he can penetrate and during the regular season teams don't play as aggressively and he can dominate doing that. When it comes playoff time those easier buckets are harder to come by and Lebron is not at his best when he is made into a jump shooter. During the Chicago and Boston series he was on fire but when he cooled off during the finals he became less effective.

 

So Chicago and Boston didn't play aggressive defense in the playoffs?

 

LOL, Lebron would be miserable with 2 bigman clogging the lane all day long. He's efficient with Cavs since Z could draw the bigman out. AndLeBron with Shaq in the lineup didn't work out at all. Kobe didn't choke like Lebron in playoff, period.

 

So, we are knocking LeBron for actually getting better looks at the basket, and making them? Maybe that's why Kobe is shooting 45% and LeBron is shooting 55%. LOL at props for the "degree of difficulty on his shots". That kinda goes against what the goal should be...get the best shot possible. I'm actually more impressed by the guy who can get "his shot" more, and hit it.